Pirates climbing World Series odds ladder, face Cubs this weekend

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t had a winning seasons in 20 years and haven’t won a championship in 35 years.

But finally, not only does this look like the year they’ll break that dubious losing streak, they’re also headed full-sail for the playoffs.

Now, the Bucs aren’t there yet, but bettors who like to bet on baseball futures got upwards of 75/1 back in March on Pittsburgh to win the World Series. They must be tempted to start thinking about how they’re going to spend their winnings in October.

Heading into a series this weekend with the Cubs at Wrigley Field the Pirates led the NL Central by two games over second-place St. Louis.

But as of earlier this week the owners of the best record in baseball had been bet all the way down to 12/1 on World Series betting odds boards tracked by Baseballodds.ca.

Last year the Pirates contended for a good chunk of the season, then faded down the stretch; can they avoid a similar showing this Summer?

Elsewhere on the World Series futures market the St. Louis Cardinals, who began this season getting 20/1 to win the Series, had been bet down to 15/2 ; the AL West-leading Oakland A’s, who were getting 30/1 to begin the season, were now getting 12/1; and the Baltimore Orioles, who started off this season getting 40/1 to win the Series, were now lined at 16/1.

This weekend St. Louis hosts Miami for three games; Oakland is in Kansas City for three games; and Baltimore visits the Yankees for three games.

On the other end of the spectrum it’s interesting to note that the top four teams on the preseason World Series betting board are all struggling just to play .500 ball. And accordingly, their World Series odds have gone up.

The LA Angels, after adding Josh Hamilton, went off this season as the favorites on many World Series betting boards at right around 7/1. But heading into a weekend series at home against Boston

Hamilton was batting .225, the Angels were four games under .500 and their odds on winning the World Series had jumped to 25/1.

Staying with that “trouble in SoCal” theme, the LA Dodgers began this season vying with the Angels for the top couple of spots on most World Series boards at odds of right around 8/1. But going into a weekend series at San Francisco the Blue Crew was three games under .500 and its World Series odds had been boosted to 22/1.

The Washington Nationals, who led the Majors in wins last year with 98, were just one game above .500 going into their weekend series at home against San Diego. Washington started this season also getting around 8/1 to win the World Series; as of earlier this week the Nats could be gotten at 16/1.

Finally, the Toronto Blue Jays, with their infusion of veteran talent, also went off this season lined at 8/1 to win the Series. The Jays then started terribly, as the new pieces had a tough time meshing.

A recent 11-game winning streak got Toronto to .500, but heading into a weekend series at home against Minnesota it’s still 10 games off the pace in the AL East. Toronto was now getting 16/1.

MLB odds on every game, visit the SBNation baseball lines page.