MLB Futures: Not Too Early to Place Your Bets
Pitchers and catchers will report soon to Florida and Arizona for spring training. That is except for the those participating in the World Baseball Classic. at Bovada they have odds on every team winning the World Series. Here are some of the ones we find interesting:
Toronto Blue Jays 15/2- They are the preseason favorite which we find interesting based on the fact that they got there by acquiring Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes and Mark Buerhle from the Miami Marlins and R.A. Dickey from the New York Mets. While all are really good players, none helped their teams from last season much. Would we be shocked if he Jays were better this year? No. Do we think they will win it all? Doubtful.
Los Angeles Angels (17/2)- The Angels have one great batting order. With Mike Trout hitting leadoff, Albert Pujols hitting third and Josh Hamilton fourth, that should get the Angels out to plenty of early leads. But they did lose Zach Grienke to their cross town rivals, the Dodgers, so pitching might be a bit of a problem. They have Jared Weaver at the top of the rotation and C. J. Wilson and Tommy Hanson for the two and three spots. After that it gets a bit weak.
Los Angeles Dodgers (17/2)- With Josh Beckett, Clayton Kershaw and Zach Grienke, the Dodgers could be tough to score on. If Carl Crawford gets back to the player he was in Tampa Bay, along with Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp, they could be really good offensively as well.
Detroit Tigers (10/1)– Detroit is bringing back the same team as last year plus Torii Hunter. We know how good the Tigers were last year, now with Hunter they might be even better.
San Francisco Giants (14-1)- You don’t get too many repeat World Series Champions, but the Giants are a team you would not put it past. They did it last year one an off year from Tim Lincecum. If he gets back on track they could really be tough.
Tampa Bay Rays (22/1)- The Rays made some moves in the off season. They traded one of the American Leagues’s top pitchers, James Shields to the Royals for one of the top outfield prospects in baseball. They also added James Loney and Yunel Escobar. If you think they weakened the starting rotation, not necessarily. Chris Archer was very good in spot duty a year ago and should Jeff Niemann get back to form they should be more than fine in that department.
Kansas City Royals (50-1)- The Royals seem to be serious about contending this year. With Shields and Wade Davis, they got two good starting pitchers who have the potential to be dominant. They also got Ervin Santana from the Angels who has the potential to be dominant as well.
St Louis Cardinals (25/1)- Is it ever smart to count the Cardinals out? After the last two seasons, probably not.
