MLB Opening Day is at the end of the month on March 30. Now, amid spring training, is a good time to lay futures bets for the season. In particular, we’re eying the MLB teams to win the 2023 World Series. Keep reading to get our early bets to take the title at year’s end!
Let’s start with the current World Series odds, which are available across the top-used baseball betting sites. As it stands, the following teams are most favored to win the championship:
| Team |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Astros | +150 | +150 | +150 |
| New York Yankees | +350 | +350 | +350 |
| New York Mets | +475 | +475 | +475 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | +850 | +850 | +850 |
| Atlanta Braves | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| San Diego Padres | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
Best Bets To Win 2023 World Series
Anytime you’re betting on future champions in the preseason — whether it’s baseball or another sport — you want to practice risk management. By that, we really advise betting on multiple teams to win, not just one. The 162-game season is long, after all, and bad luck can and usually will strike over that span. So that’s why we’re giving you three bets to win the 2023 World Series below:
Houston Astros
This one’s obvious, isn’t it? The Astros are reaching “dynasty” territory after last year’s World Series victory — its second in six years (four Fall Classic appearances in that span too). The franchise has brushed off a cheating scandal like nothing and continues to win. They’re starting to become automatic bet-material in the same way the NFL’s Patriots and NBA’s Warriors were in recent memory.
Houston returns the overwhelming part of its 2022 championship team. Perhaps the biggest loss, though, is pitcher Justin Verlander who departed in free agency. Losing a WAR of 6.1 and the reigning Cy Yung winner isn’t easy, but it’s not like the Astros are out of pitching. Even without Verlander’s WAR a year ago, the rest of the staff would’ve combined to finish in the top-10 league-wide regardless. So we’re confident they can shrug off Verlander’s absence.
Expect any pitcher to get a heavy dose of run support from the Astros’ offense. With the offseason signing of Jose Abreu, there’s just about no weak link in the team’s batting lineup. Houston should be one of the league’s best offenses, which makes betting on them to repeat all the easier.
New York Mets
Look, if you’ve bet on baseball long enough, there’s a good chance you’ve been burned by the Mets. No organization has perpetually underachieved as much as them, evident by last year’s wildcard loss despite winning 101 games. But let bygones be bygones because if there’s a New York roster that can FINALLY turn the corner, then it’s ths year's Mets.
Here’s why: owner Steve Cohen wrote $500 million in contracts to new players over the offseason. Pick-ups include the aforementioned Verlander ($86.6), Brandon Nimmo ($162), Edwin Díaz ($102), and Kodai Senga ($75), among many others. They tried to grab Carlos Correa too, but that deal fell through. But here’s our point: the Mets are in win-or-bust mode, and that’s worth backing as a bettor.
And don’t mistake it, 2023 is probably their window of opportunity. That’s because its starting pitching staff, while filthy, isn’t getting any younger. Verlander is 40 and the other ace, Max Scherzer, is 38. But in those two, New York has the league’s two best pitchers of the last six years or so (four Cy Young’s between them since 2026). We think that duo can get them over the hump barring injury (which is always a risk at this age).
Toronto Blue Jays
The way we see it, the more open conference in the league is the AL. Just getting to the World Series will be a blood bath in the NL with powerhouses like the Braves, Dodgers, Mets, and Padres in the mix. So that’s why we wanted to make an AL team our third and final World Series bet. The Astros are obviously the team to bet in the AL, but that’s only one super team compared to the NL’s four.
If a team is going to catch Houston slipping, it’ll be Toronto. The Blue Jays will likely have just as good of an offense as the Astros. Trading key hitter Teoscar Hernández to Seattle is a hit to the lineup (pun intended), but a necessary one at that. Bullpen pitching held the Jays back in 2022 but Toronto got pitcher Erik Swanson in return. The reliever posted a 1.68 ERA in 53.2 innings pitched last year, which could bolster the Jays to a title run.
How To Bet On 2023 MLB Futures?
There’s a load of 2023 MLB Futures bets worth betting on beyond just the World Series. You can pick conference and division races too, or individual awards such as Cy Young and MVP. To get all those bets in one spot, start with the bookmakers listed below. They’ll have odds for all of those, plus many more.
The underneath table features unbiased sportsbook reviews if you need help deciding where to park your money. There are also details on the latest sign-up bonuses too, which if leveraged, could make all your MLB bets free of cost.
