The Boston Red Sox won the World Series in 2013, becoming the first AL team to do so since the New York Yankees defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in 2009.
World Series Odds: Dodgers very early favorite to win 2014 title
Boston is the defending World Series champion but not the betting favorite heading towards 2014. The Dodgers top the current World Series betting menu, according to Odds Shark.
Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
But the championship trophy will switch back to the National League in 2014 if oddsmakers are correct in pegging the Los Angeles Dodgers as early favorites.
Topping the list is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who were one of the hottest teams in baseball down the stretch in 2013. Los Angeles managed to advance to the NLCS despite having one of its best players, Matt Kemp, sidelined for the postseason.
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SB Nation polled its network of team bloggers to recognize MLB's best, unfettered by any of the pretensions that warp the ballots for the "real" awards. Returning all of the key players from last year’s team and having an ownership group that isn’t afraid to spend money to bring in even more talent, the Dodgers are the current favorite to win it all next year at 7/1, according to TopBet.eu.
Not far behind are the Detroit Tigers at 9/1. While Manager Jim Leyland has retired, the core returns with Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer leading an excellent pitching staff and Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder leading a great offense.
The Tigers were one of baseball’s best teams last year and should be again in 2014.
Each going off at 10/1 are the defending champion Boston Red Sox, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Washington Nationals, according to the latest World Series odds update at OddsShark.com. All three have something in common, and that is deep, elite pitching staffs.
Year in and year out, the team that gets the best pitching in the postseason usually comes out on top, and that was proven again this year with Boston and St. Louis getting such great production from their staffs. Of course, Boston also has David Ortiz, who will go down as one of the most clutch postseason hitters of all time.
Could 2014 be a post-hype year for the Los Angeles Angels? Widely considered to be the favorite to win the World Series last year with the addition of Josh Hamilton, the Angels fell flat and missed the playoffs entirely.
A new year and some new free agent acquisitions could get the Angels back on track, and make them a bargain at 14/1.
Other teams expected to contend for the title that are all going off at 16/1 are the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland A's and Texas Rangers.
Odds for other teams can be seen daily at Baseballodds.ca.
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