The hunt for October is over, but the World Series chase is just beginning! With the MLB playoff picture set, we break down which teams are worth a championship futures bet. Red Sox? Yankees? Dodgers? The reigning champion Astros? Read our in-depth betting guide ahead of the league divisional series to set yourself up for victory come the Fall Classic!
The hunt for October is over, but the World Series chase is just beginning! With the MLB playoff picture set, we break down which teams are worth a championship futures bet. Red Sox? Yankees? Dodgers? The reigning champion Astros? Read our in-depth betting guide ahead of the league divisional series to set yourself up for victory come the Fall Classic!
As of today, here are the top playoff team's odds to win the World Series on Bovada:
We're going to make this easy for you. If you're going to place an MLB World Series futures bet, then make it one of these four teams:
It's only right to start with the Red Sox. Not only were Boston's 108 wins the most in the majors, it was also the franchise's most ever in a single season. This historic run isn't complete without the team hoisting its ninth World Series trophy, and the Red Sox are more than capable of finishing the job.
If it feels like Boston has everything going for it, it's because they really do. Home-field advantage throughout? Check. An offense that can turn it on seemingly at will? Check. Strength on the pitching mound? Check.
Here's a list of offensive categories the Red Sox lead in this year: runs, doubles, on-base percentage, OPS with men on base, and the list goes on. The offensive attack is scary good and led by a pair of AL MVP candidates in Mookie Betts (the award frontrunner) and J.D. Martinez.
Betts (.346) and Martinez (.330) finished one and two in the batting race, respectively. Betts became only the second player in franchise history to join the 30-30 club, while Martinez finished second in home runs at 42. If these two are on — which is most of the time — good luck stopping them, especially at hitter-friendly Fenway Park.
We could spend the rest of this article talking up Boston, but we don't need to. They've been MLB's best team all year. No matter what you do, throwing some money their direction is an absolute must.
The perfect antidote to Boston's prolific offense is Houston's shutdown pitching. After all, October baseball is more about pitching than anything. Well, there's not a better rotation in baseball than the Astros.
We're very much living in a "golden era" for offensive hitters as record after record is broken. That makes the Astros dominance on the mound this year even more impressive. They allowed a league-low 534 runs — 76 less than the next-best team (Dodgers, more on them later). Whether its at home or on the road, lefty versus righty, bullpen or starters, Houston leads in every pitching metric. Every one.
The Astros starting playoff rotation — Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Dallas Keuchel, and Charlie Morton — all finished top-20 in hard-hit rate. Even the best offense will have a handful against them, and that's before Houston's vaunted bullpen comes into play.
No franchise has won consecutive World Series since the Yankees in 2000. Playing with a giant target on your back — like Houston has this season — is a very real thing. However, if there's a team that can end this drought, it's Astros. Their pitching is that good.
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
Compared to the American League, the National League is there for the taking. Brewers and Braves are both inexperienced, while the Rockies are already on tired legs after playing three straight games in three separate time zones just to get here.
That leaves Los Angeles with a golden opportunity. It's no question the Dodgers have been consistently inconsistent throughout 2017, but they've seemingly flipped the "on switch." With their season on the line, Los Angeles won its last four games by a whopping 33-9 difference. October baseball is very much about getting hot at the right time, and Los Angeles is scorching at the moment.
The six-time defending NL West winners have perhaps the deepest roster in all of baseball. It's the reason they still managed to win 92 games despite Corey Seager's injury and "down years" from ace pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Kenley Jansen.
Despite all of the Dodgers inconsistencies this year, they still led the National League both in runs scored and ERA. You just never know which Los Angeles team will show up in October. However, if it's the same one that came within one game of last year's World Series, then that's more than enough reason to bet them here.
Admittedly, this pick is for bettors looking for a bang-for-your-buck bet. Cleveland has a tough ALCS matchup with Houston, before presumably facing off Boston in the ALCS. That's an incredibly tough stretch and we're not saying they'll pull it off. However, it wouldn't surprise us if the Indians somehow, someway survive the AL gauntlet.
They actually mimic some of the best qualities you see in the Red Sox or Astros. Like Boston, Cleveland's offense features a two-headed monster in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. The two combined for 71 homers, and are AL MVP candidates themselves. Not unlike Houston, the Indians also have a pair of pitching aces in Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco.
Despite these obvious strengths, Cleveland is being overlooked, which honestly is to their benefit. We saw them crumble under pressure in the 2016 World Series. Now, though, a more experienced Indians club could thrive without sky-high expectations. You won't find a better darkhorse bet than them!
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