The Postseason Favorites for the 2019-20 World Series
With the postseason barely a few weeks away in the 150th edition of Major League Baseball, things are slowly reaching a fever pitch. Only one team has managed to clinch the Division title so far – the Dodgers with their 7th consecutive capture of the NL West division.
Time is running out for the others, especially those in the running for the two wild-card spots in their respective leagues. The season has already ended for nine teams, with three of them hailing from AL Central – the White Sox, Royals, and Tigers.
The other half a dozen who failed to make the cut this year include the following:
- AL East – Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles
- AL West -LA Angels and Seattle Mariners
- NL East – Miami Marlins
In the other two NL divisions, the teams are still in with a chance to qualify for the wild card slots.
Who will join Dodgers as Division Champs?
If the season ended right now, these teams would join LA’s finest in the postseason and their quest for World Series glory. In the three AL divisions, the Yankees, Twins, and Astros would qualify based on their current lead in the tables.
Of those three, the Yankees look the strongest with a ten-win lead over their nearest challenger, the Tampa Bay Rays. They have 0-1 odds to qualify, which simply means a 100% chance! Both the Twins and Astros also have a commanding lead in their respective divisions and are just awaiting mathematic certainty.
In the National League, the Braves and Cardinals look similarly well-positioned to make it to the postseason. Most of the big live betting sites give them at least a 95% chance of qualifying as Division Champions to join the Dodgers in the post-season.
Only the wild card slots are still up for grabs
In the American League, it is a straight three-way duel between Tampa Bay Rays, the Cleveland Indians, and the Oakland As. While the Indians have the weakest odds at 3-4, write them off at your own peril. But the Rays do look best poised with a 75% chance or 1-3 odds, with the As just behind at 69% (5-11).
In contrast, the NL wild-card race is still quite open, with just the Nationals looking locked on for the top spot. There are a bunch of teams still in the mix for that all-important second wild card slot.
In the driver’s seat right now are the Brewers and Cubs, with 78 wins each in NL Central. Both have very close odds, with the Chicago team currently running 14-11 while the Brewers have a slightly lower 3-2 chance.
The Mets and D-backs are a bit further behind at 76 and 75 wins respectively. Things can still change in this race, but at the moment it looks like one from Cubs and Brewers will be joining the Nationals for that Wild Card battle.
What that means for the postseason and the World Series
At the moment, this is how the playoffs are shaping up –
- Yankees will face off against the winner of the wild card match between the Rays and the Oakland A’s
- In the other AL division playoff, it will be the Astros Vs the Twins
- The Dodgers will have to play one of Nationals/Cubs/Brewers based on how the wild card contest finishes
- The other playoff in the NL will be between the Braves and the Cardinals
As to who will progress beyond the play-offs and into the World Series, things are not at all cut and dried. A whole lot can happen in the post-season. Still, a couple of teams have emerged as the favorites for punters.
The Astros and Dodgers have similar odds of 5/2 to win the World Series this year. Since they are in different leagues, it would not be farfetched to envision a World Series where they fight for the top prize.
From the AL, the Yankees are next in line with a 4/1 projection. The Braves are the next best thing from the National League, with offered odds of 10/1. Twins trail slightly behind with 12/1 being the common prediction. In the end, these odds matter little for in a few weeks, baseball will tell us how right (or wrong) we were!
