Full World Series futures odds on a delayed Opening Day

There aren’t many days that can rival a crisp spring MLB Opening Day as the sun treks across the yard, covering your seats, warming you up right as the starter goes into his windup for the first pitch of the season. Unfortunately, that day is pushed back to an undetermined date this season, as we all band together to slow down the spread of coronavirus by staying home. But, we still get to think about MLB the season, whatever form it takes this year. And that means getting our future bets down on the next world champions.

We’ll garner our World Series futures odds from DraftKings Sportsbook to see where teams stand as they enter this unconventional season.

Favorites

Los Angeles Dodgers: +375
New York Yankees: +400
Houston Astros: +550

Your favorites are the Dodgers and Yankees, while the Astros are up there as usual — but they have some baggage draped around their necks going into this year to be sure.

The Yankees made the biggest free agency signing of the offseason when they signed Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million contract after a masterful 2019 season. They also are somewhat fortunate to get time before the season starts for Giancarlo Stanton time to heal his calf strain. They did lose pitcher Luis Severino for the year already, so will need Cole to repeat his amazing 2019.

The Dodgers missed out on Cole, but landed former MVP Mookie Betts from the Red Sox. With Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and David Price as their 1, 2, 3 in the rotation and possibly the best lineup in the league, there’s no reason they shouldn’t be favored to win it all.

The Astros are going to face a rough road back to the World Series after trash can-gate, but they still have Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke anchoring their rotation along with an offense that had the highest batting average last season. Maybe the team is able to dig in and band together to show the league they don’t need pitches tipped to win

The Contenders

Atlanta Braves: +1200
Washington Nationals: +1600
Minnesota Twins: +1800
Philadelphia Phillies: +2000
St. Louis Cardinals: +2000
Tampa Bay Rays: +2000
Chicago Cubs: +2500
Cleveland Indians: +2500
New York Mets: +2500

The Nationals are fifth in the odds to repeat as champions and after losing Anthony Rendon, their offense could take a hit. However the rotation is still strong after retaining Stephen Strasburg, and young phenom Juan Soto could take yet another step forward after his 110 RBI, 34 home run season at just 20-years old.

The NL East has a strong group of contenders and could beat up on each other, as the Braves, Nationals and Mets and even the Phillies have talent to win. The Braves are the favorites to win after a strong 2019, winning the East by four games and giving the Cardinals a run for their money in the divisional series.

The Twins look to repeat their 101 win season and added Josh Donaldson this offseason to help. They’ll be a strong offensive team once again this year. If they can get new pitching additions Kenta Maeda, Homer Bailey and Jhoulys Chacin to contribute with Jose Berrios and Jake Odorizzi, the Twins have a real chance to do damage this season.

Tampa Bay’s pitching was outstanding last season, ranking first in ERA in the American League. We know that pitching wins championships, but they’ll need their hitting to take a big step forward to stay in contention.

Odds and lines subject to change. See website for actual odds.
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