The Baseball season may’ve just concluded, but it’s never too early to begin looking ahead to 2019. The Red Sox are favored to repeat as champions at +650, conveniently followed by the three teams that they knocked off during their postseason run — the Astros +700, Yankees +800 and Dodgers +900. The only other team with less than 10-1 odds to win the Fall Classic is the Cubs at +950 to round out the five favorites.
The last team to go back-to-back was the 2000 Yankees, who were finishing up a three-peat, including a run of four titles in five years. The current 19 year gap suggests it might be foolish to take the worst odds on the board for a team to repeat, but Boston should have most of it’s star power back to make another run at it.
The most talented team in the American League is arguably the Astros, who broke through in 2017 for a World Series victory. But with injuries and free agents on their once lethal pitching staff, +700 feels a bit optimistic on their chances.
Somehow, the Yankees — who are relatively equal in talented to Boston and Houston — find themselves being slightly overlooked here. After a disappointing 3-1 series loss to the Red Sox in the ALDS, they’ll be back and hungry as ever — not to mention willing to spend million to bring in another big name talent to put them over the top. If you’re taking one of the heavy hitters in the AL, +800 on the Yanks might be the way to go.
As for the NL, it’s tough to look past the Dodgers. They’ve now lost consecutive trips to the World Series to better teams — 4-3 against Houston and 4-1 last month to Boston. But their stranglehold on the NL can’t be ignored. The Cubs were terribly disappointing down the stretch last season, while the hunger for the Dodgers should continue to grow. The Dodgers at +900 feel like the right call, even though they own the worst odds in their league.
Now for the fun part — Let’s talk long shots.
It’s tough to see an AL team getting through the trio of favorites, so I think focusing on the NL makes more sense. The Nationals were a huge disappointment last season, but have all the talent to be one of the best teams in baseball. Of course, Bryce Harper is a free agent, but we still don’t know for certain he’s leaving. With his status in doubt, we can get terrific odds on the Nats at +2200. I’m not even willing to say it’s abad bet if Harper bolts for another team.
The Diamondbacks are another team that make a lot of sense. They were neck and neck with the Dodgers for the division until a late collapse. If they can fix that this season, they belong in the conversation with teams like the Indians at +1200 and Brewers at +1500, yet you can get the D-Backs at a wild +6000.
Below you can find the rest of the World Series odds for teams not mentioned above:
Braves +1200
Phillies +1800
Cardinals +1800
Rockies +2500
Mets +3000
Athletics +3000
Angels +5000
Rays +5000
Pirates +6000
Mariners +6000
White Sox +6500
Twins +7500
Blue Jays +7500
Giants +10000
Reds +12500
Rangers +12500
Padres +15000
Tigers +25000
Royals +25000
Marlins +25000
Orioles +35000
