In many ways the 2017 major league baseball season has snuck up on gamblers. There were no earth-shattered trades or free agent signings in the off-season to stoke anticipation of new faces in new places. The biggest news in the off-season was the abolition of four pitches on intentional walks. Spring training was also mostly uneventful. The biggest fireworks were generated by the World Baseball Classic tournament that produced exciting games and the first time crowning of the United States as the champions of the sport it invented. Part of the lack of pre-season drama can be laid at the feet of the Chicago Cubs.
Not only are the 2016 world champions roundly acknowledged as baseball’s best team but they are still one of the youngest with one of the best-run organizations. The result is short favorite odds punters are not used to encountering in baseball where the best teams win only three out of five games. Online bookmaker bet365 has listed the Cubbies as 1/7 favorites to win the Central Division, 6/4 to win the National League and 7/2 to repeat as World Series winners.
【2017 World Series Outright Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 1, 3:00 p.m. (GMT)
Latest Odds: 2017 MLB Season (courtesy of bet365)
Chicago was the toast of the sports world after winning its first world championship since 1908 and virtually the same cast of characters is back on board for 2017. Centerfielder and lead-off hitter Dexter Fowler has moved on to the St. Louis Cardinals but his absence opens up an everyday outfield spot for hitting and on-base machine Kyle Schwarber. Flame throwing Adoldis Chapman will no longer be around to close out games but he has been replaced by 31-year old Wade Davis, a two-time All-Star and winner of the 2015 Babe Ruth Award as baseball’s best player in the post-season. The holdover Cubs will only be a year older and a year better and their presence has certainly muted optimistic talk from other teams around the league.
The Los Angeles Dodgers (1/2 to win the division) provided Chicago’s biggest challenge last year and are expected to do so again. The names on the jerseys of Dodger Blue will also be much the same but that is not necessarily a good thing with regards to the everyday line-up. Corey Seager could become a break-out star at shortstop and so could Justin Turner at third base but this is a team that will go as far as its pitching, to trot out an old truism. Transcendent Clayton Kershaw is still baseball’s best starting pitcher and Kenley Jansen may well be the game’s best closer. Rich Hill, in the midst of a late career resurgence with his magical curve ball, will be around all season for the Dodgers this year.
The Dodgers will be challenged in the West by their long-time rival, the San Francisco Giants. The Giants made the post-season in 2016 and could have derailed the Cubs early in their championship run if the bullpen had not imploded. The Giants have added All-Star closer Mark Melancon to right that deficiency. Otherwise the Giants, 15/2 to win the National League, are another team where the parts remain the same.
The National League’s closest tussle is expected in the East Division where the Washington Nationals are posted at 5/8 and the New York Mets are close behind at 7/4. The Nationals 2016 campaign was overshadowed by the season-long batting woes of wunderkind Bryce Harper who had enjoyed an historic campaign in 2015. Second baseman Daniel Murphy stepped up to be an MVP-candidate and Trea Turner arrived as a rookie spark plug to make up the difference and both return primed for 2017. Last year’s Cy Young Award winner, Max Scherzer, still leads the pitching staff and this team is built to win a World Series now, especially with Harper’s potential free agency immediately on the horizon.
【2017 American League & National League Outright Winner Odds】
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 1, 3:00 p.m. (GMT)
Bettors looking to back the New York Mets (13/2 to win the National League) will be casting their money on the same hope as each of the past several years: that the potential all-world pitching staff of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Steven Matz and Matt Harvey can stay healthy for the entire season.
Oddsmakers see the 2017 American League pennant chase as a toss-up between the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians, both at 11/4. Like most of the other top contenders the Indians, who had the Cubs down three games to one in the 2016 World Series, are going into battle with most of last season’s regulars. But this year’s version has healthy All-Star fly ball chaser Michael Brantley back in the outfield and starters Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar on the mound. The Tribe has also added the 40+ home run power of Edwin Encarnacion to the line-up. The bullpen, led by nearly unhittable Andrew Miller, is back in force and the main reason this team never lost more than three games in a row in 2016.
The Red Sox benefited greatly in 2016 by two phenomena no handicapper could have seen coming – an MVP-caliber farewell season from David Ortiz and a Cy Young season from down rotation starter Rick Porcello. Ortiz is gone in 2017 and no one is counting on Porcello to duplicate last year’s heroics but Boston landed the biggest prize of the free agent season in ace Chris Sale. Andrew Benintendi in left field could be the next big thing in New England and Pablo Sandoval has shed enough off-season pounds to have fans expecting a return to his .300-hitting form.
The Toronto Blue Jays, 7/1 to win the American League flag, are one of the few top contenders to re-tool. Toronto has been to the post-season in back-to-back years and are seeking a new combination to push them back to a world title that has eluded the franchise for a quarter-century.
The young and improving Houston Astros are the pre-season choice in the American League West, which promises to be baseball’s most competitive race. At 23/20 the Astros are the only division favorite offered at greater than even-money odds. Houston has added old hands Carlos Beltran and Brian McCann to steady the youthful line-up. The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are each listed at 13/5. It’s hard to differentiate the squads in the West on talent alone and like so many prognostications in baseball it comes down to who you think is ready to have a good season.
