We’re 22 days away from Chicago Cubs pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, 27 until position players check in. Spring training will be here before you know it, reminding us that Major League Baseball offseason is actually quite short. It only seems long right now because the free agent market is so lifeless right now.
Of course, once the MLB hot stove warms up again, you could see the World Series odds shift again, just as they did when reigning National League MVP Giancarlo Stanton was traded to the New York Yankees.
Acquiring Stanton helped make the Yankees the odds on favorite. Whether it’s offshore gambling sites or sports books taking action on who might win the 2018 World Series, you’ll see the Bronx Bombers up at the top of the list. Pairing Stanton with the big boy Aaron Judge brought the Yanks’ odds down from +1000 to +500, and that places them just ahead of the Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers, who currently reside +600. The Yankees took the defending World Series champion Astros to the seventh game of the ALCS, so they don’t have very far to go.
The Dodgers are of course a leading contender to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy, as their entire roster is locked and loaded again. Of course, it’s up to one of their players, superstar pitcher Yu Darvish, to decide his future and thus shift the betting lines again.
Darvish made us all laugh to the point that we were on the floor when he quote-tweeted the idiot “reporter,” billing himself with #ScoopCity, who claimed Darvish to the Cubs was a done deal. Darvish took the tweet and added “fake news,” making it one of micro-blogging platform’s most priceless moments ever.
Darvish also quote tweeted a real reporter who listed out his potential landing spots: Chicago Cubs, Yankees, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and the Astros. Darvish added that one more team is in the mix (his current side of course). It’s been since reported that the Milwaukee Brewers are also in the mix now.
Whoever lands him will no doubt see their odds shoot up the boards, and after the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers, the next three teams with the most bullish sentiment right now are the Cleveland Indians +750, Washington Nationals +900 and Boston Red Sox +1000.
Then comes the 2016 World Series Champions, the Chicago Cubs at +1200, with their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals right behind them at +1800. The Cubs have made it to the postseason the past three years, and they last time they accomplished that feat was 1906-1908. They have never been to four straight postseasons. They won’t be moving up into the top five odds to win the World Series though, unless they make a major signing.
There’s still time for Theo Epstein and company to make that happen.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud, LinkedIn and YouTube.