2020 MLB Season: Checking in on Division Odds
NL Central
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The NL Central might be the most fascinating division in all of baseball. They have co-favorites at +190 in the Cubs and Cardinals. The Brewers and Reds sport +350 odds and the lowly Pirates round out the group at +3300.
The Cubs blew the division with a horrid September but still (for now) maintain most of the core from last season. Theo Epstein and co have been largely quiet as they await a resolution on Kris Bryant’s service time grievance hearing.
The Brewers won the Division in 2018 and still only finished two games out in 2019 despite losing Christian Yelich all September to a fractured kneecap. David Stearns as proved adept at building teams but he’s getting the same odds as the Reds? The same Reds who haven’t won over 76 games in a season since 2013? Give me the Brewers as a value play here.
The Cubs look primed to take a step back and the Cardinals will continue to churn out average players from nothing, but can still be beat.
NL West
This Division is basically spoken for. The Dodgers are the clear favorite at -455. Deservedly so because they have won the West every year since 2013.
The closest its realistically been was the 2018 tie-breaker game with Colorado.
The Books think the Padres have the “best” odds of any team to dethrone the Dodgers at +450. The path for the Padres would be every prospect shows up and performs above expectation and the Dodgers end up hurt. The rest of the teams find themselves with virtually no shot (Diamondbacks +1200, Rockies +1600, Giants +4000).