America League Pennant Betting Odds
After six weeks into the start of the season, the American League hasn't had a clear-cut standout team emerge. We have had some teams take advantage of hot starts like the Royals but faded fast and currently have a losing record. As it stands, the AL League is wide open. The following are the latest America League Pennant betting odds.
AL Pennant Betting Odds
All MLB Future Odds available at BettingData
Let's take it, division, by division, the AL West has been predominantly run by the Houston Astros for the past few years. However, the difference with these Astros is that they continue to lose key players year by year. First, it was Gerrit Cole to the Yankees, Justin Verlander to Tommy John's surgery, and then George Springer to the Toronto Blue Jays. That's three all-stars within the span of 24 months, on top of the pressure of the cheating scandal, now they also have to deal with a sharp decline of Jose Altuve which has been dating back to last season. There are some positives within the team as they currently have the most runs scored within their division, they also are the only team with a positive run differential. At the end of the day, the best chance they have of winning the pennant is getting any semblance of a top starting rotation in order. Jake Odorizzi has yet to get anything going this season but is expected to return sooner rather than later if they are somehow able to get anything out of Verlander that would be a huge plus but that's too many question marks for a rotation that doesn't scare teams like it used to. At the price of +900 on DraftKings and +800 on PointsBet, they come in at the third-highest price within the league and the highest within the division. This is a solid number for them if they can pull off the division win but with that suspect staff in a potential winner-take-all wildcard game, I don't like them at this point.
For the Oakland Athletics, they are the only other team that has the proper talent from top to bottom on their roster to fight for this pennant over the course of a 162 game season. A common question about the Athletics isn't just about what they will be able to do in the regular season but whether or not they can pull it off when it matters most. It has been 31 years since the A's have gone to the fall classic, they are awaiting news of a possible relocation as well putting potential pressure on the franchise and more. Very few times have they even reinforced the roster at the deadline as well to push them over the hump, despite that there is a lot of talent on this roster spearheaded by their corner infielders, Matt Chapman and Matt Olson who have both proven to be some of the best players in the American League. They sit with the same odds as the Astros on DraftKings with +900 but they are a bit more valuable with +900 on PointsBet. At this rate with the two teams discussed in the AL West, it seems to me that they present the best value to win the division and give themselves a chance in whatever series they are in with their pitching. Currently ranked second in MLB with 18 quality starts it's certainly something that will prove to be massive at the end of the day.
The Mariners are too young and inexperienced, the Rangers aren't a complete team with a suspect pitching staff despite having a respectable lineup. For the Angels, once again they have failed Mike Trout and put together one of the worst rotations in baseball preventing them from doing any damage throughout the season and especially any chance come October.
As for the AL Central, I will personally keep this one short and sweet. I am not fond of many of these teams within the division at all. The Indians have already been no-hit twice and ownership has signaled they are in a rebuild after the trade of star Shortstop Francisco Lindor, they have lost tons of pitching with Carlos Carrasco and Mike Clevinger being traded this offseason too. Despite them being off to a nice 18-14 start there is no way I envision this ball club making it to October with the lack of offensive talent and pitching depth. The Tigers are perhaps the worst team in baseball so there isn't much to address there at all.
The Minnesota Twins are maybe the most intriguing of all with their success the past two years but they have gotten off to a horrid 12-20 start to the season but they're at a sky-high +1900 on DraftKings, there is no denying the value that this presents. However much like the Athletics, the Twins struggle mightily to have any success during the postseason, how can we put our trust and money into a team like that? They check the boxes with talent but do they have what it takes to get over the hump? I don't necessarily think so at the end of the day, so with that, now is one of the best times to bet on the Twins because they won't be this poor all year, but this is probably nothing more than a long shot type of bet to place now.
As for the Royals, there's a collection of talent spread throughout the roster but not much star power to roll with. A competitive team that will have a better record than most would anticipate due to the weak division they are in but sitting at the price of +2500 it doesn't present anything other than another longshot bet.
Lastly, the Chicago White Sox are without a doubt the most talented team within the division but have been snakebitten by injuries early on. I anticipate them to win the division and maybe if they get back Luis Robert and potentially Eloy Jimenez this team certainly has a chance to do something dangerous. The pitching talent is top-notch with Lucas Giolito leading the way and Liam Hendriks being their massive signing to sure up the bullpen. If healthy this team has good a chance as anyone to make it to the World Series. My favorite value in this division by far at +400 on DraftKings and +450 on PointsBet.
Our final stop of the day comes to the powerful AL East. A division that is the home of last year's pennant winners, the Tampa Bay Rays. We'll start with them for the simple reason they have lost an ace in Blake Snell after the puzzling decision to take him out in the World Series and Charlie Morton to the Braves. They have maintained most of their lineup and still have a reliable staff while having the very talented Wander Franco waiting in the minors. For me it's not about trusting the Rays in October, it's about them having enough in this grueling division to get into October in the first place. Listed at +1200 & +1000 there is value to play with here so it's worth taking a shot since they are currently in second place.
The Orioles are much like the Tigers, there's some young talent but nothing there to indicate anything other than a losing season, sorry O's fans, at least John Means is a terrific pitcher!
The Blue Jays are stacked with offensive talent and got a taste of the playoffs last season and have proven they can compete with the best teams in baseball. However they still have some issues with the starting rotation, they need more depth and quality starters if they want to have a good record coming out of this division. Being priced at +1000 and +900 respectfully has some draw to it, they could make another move for a pitcher but there's going to probably be a steep price to pay and I don't think this team is ready to go all-in just yet. It's a year too early for me to bet on the Jays to win the pennant, however, don't be surprised if they make it and cause disruption because that lineup is ruthless.
The Red Sox will be getting Chris Sale back at one point and if he is anything close to his former self they can be as good as anyone in the league. Considering their success overall in recent years in the playoffs I love this value at +900, the offensive is as talented as anyone and the bullpen is improved, Alex Cora can manage a baseball team as well as anyone so they are my favorite value play in all of the AL.
Value Pick: Boston Red Sox +900
Martino Puccio
Martino is a freelance writer for The Athletic for Soccer Sports Gambling and is also an Alumni of Iona College with a Masters degree in Sports Communications in Media. You can follow him on Twitter at @Martinopuccio.
