The Favorites
Los Angeles Dodgers +450, New York Yankees +600, Boston Red Sox +900
This group includes the newly crowned World Champs, Behemoths of the AL East, and consistently excellent Dodgers. Despite the early exit, the Dodgers are still the class of the National League and will likely find their way back to October.
The Yankees figure to be a favorite for Gerrit Cole this MLB offseason and will be bringing back the elite parts of their bullpen. Even if Chapman and Betances walk, the Yankees will still be a top-ranked bullpen with limitless financial resources and a strong player development machine. Mix that with health that couldn’t possibly be any worse than this year and the Yankees are a contender to watch.
Chaim Bloom could be a better version of Ben Cherington (who did win a World Series and created the current Red Sox core) so the Red Sox can’t be counted out even if they are in a bit of flux right now. Yes, Dombrowski gutted the farm system and got the Red Sox into some questionable contracts, but the Red Sox are still a large market team and Bloom has operated and succeeded with a shoestring budget in Tampa and can find values in the fringes.