{"id":9776,"date":"2010-12-14T21:21:15","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T21:21:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/?p=9776"},"modified":"2010-12-14T21:21:15","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T21:21:15","slug":"mlb-world-series-odds-and-preview-after-cliff-lee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2010\/12\/mlb-world-series-odds-and-preview-after-cliff-lee\/","title":{"rendered":"MLB World Series Odds and Preview After Cliff Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2010-11 offseason has been a busy one in Major League Baseball. After a huge free-agent signing yesterday shifted the MLB futures<\/a> significantly overnight, it\u2019s time to take a look at the current top 10.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philadelphia Phillies (+160)<\/strong><\/p>\n

After snagging Cliff Lee for five years and $100 million last night, the Phillies vaulted into World Series frontrunner status at virtually every sportsbook<\/a>. With a rotation of Lee, Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, the Phillies could have four guys win 15-20 games. Unbelievable.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New York Yankees (+500)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unless you count Russell Martin, the Bronx Bombers haven\u2019t joined the big spending party yet, watching their rival Red Sox get stronger. But that doesn\u2019t mean this team still isn\u2019t stacked. With Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Alex Rodriguez part of an aging nucleus, however, bettors may be better off picking a younger, higher-upside team.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Boston Red Sox (+600)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Phillies are the National League\u2019s big winner but perhaps no team has improved as much as the Boston Red Sox this offseason. Carl Crawford got the biggest headlines but Adrian Gonzalez, one of baseball\u2019s best-kept secrets while in San Diego, is the real key to Boston\u2019s MLB betting<\/a> hopes.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 St. Louis Cardinals (+1500)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Cardinals are consistently contenders, not because of their depth but because of their talented pillars. Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday anchor the offense (with Lance Berkman joining up to fill the Ryan Ludwick role); Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter anchor the pitching staff. Barring injuries, it\u2019s almost impossible not for St. Louis to contend.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 San Francisco Giants (+1500)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Where\u2019s the love for the defending champs? It looks like the oddsmakers view 2010 as a fluke. We can at least admit that it\u2019s rare for a team to win the World Series with such a patchwork offense. Then again, pitching wins championships and the Giants still have it in spades.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Detroit Tigers (+2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Tigers sixth after an 81-81 season? Hmm. I know Victor Martinez is a solid addition but giving the Tigers better betting<\/a> odds than Texas, Cincinnati or Atlanta seems excessive.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cincinnati Reds (+2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a team that could give you good bang for your buck. The Reds have the reigning National League MVP in Joey Votto, who\u2019s joined by a solid young lineup that plays outstanding defense, If one of the Reds\u2019 young pitchers can step up, look out.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Minnesota Twins (+2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a given to put the Twinkies on this list, as they\u2019re competitive every year. Bettors should watch Justin Morneau\u2019s health closely before making their wagers, however; comebacks from concussions are unpredictable.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Texas Rangers (+2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Is this the best value pick in the entire top 10? This team reached the World Series and almost all its top players \u2013 Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Ian Kinsler, Neftali Feliz and so on \u2013 are either in their primes or not even there yet. It hurts that the Rangers couldn\u2019t retain Cliff Lee but maybe they\u2019ll look at converting Feliz to a starter.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Atlanta Braves (+2000)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like the Giants, the Braves are contenders because of their outstanding pitching. But Atlanta has much greater offensive potential. Jayson Heyward will only get better and the underappreciated, power-hitting second baseman Dan Uggla was a nice offseason grab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2010-11 offseason has been a busy one in Major League Baseball. After a huge free-agent signing yesterday shifted the MLB futures significantly overnight, it\u2019s time to take a look at the current top 10. 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Philadelphia Phillies (+160) After snagging Cliff Lee for five years and $100 million last night, the Phillies vaulted into … Continue reading MLB World Series Odds and Preview After Cliff Lee<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports_betting_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9776"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9778,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9776\/revisions\/9778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}