MLB Baseball Futures Betting - Wagering on the AL West
BetUS Sportsbook has sports betting
odds up on who will win each of Major
League Baseball's six divisional races,
and in the AL West another aspirant has
recently entered the fray. Will the Texas
Rangers remain as contender all year
long? How about Oakland? Or will the
Angels coast to victory?
Let's take a look at the divisional
online betting odds as they are currently
posted at BetUS:
BetUS MLB Futures Odds
To win American
League West
LOS ANGELES
ANGELS OF ANAHEIM -280
OAKLAND ATHLETICS +250
TEXAS RANGERS +700
SEATTLE MARINERS +3500
The LOS ANGELES
ANGELS OF ANAHEIM (-280 in the BetUS
odds) have been holding on to their baseball
betting lead largely through the efforts
of the pitching duo of Joe Sanders and
Ervin Santana, who are 11 games over
.500 between them. And one of the things
that is interesting about their success,
and which may provide the potential for
an upside, is that future Hall of Fame
outfielder Vladimir Guerrero is not even
hitting all that well (7 HR, 28 RBI,
.249). Others like Torii Hunter and Garret
Anderson have not produced numbers that
are overwhelming. In fact, the Angels
are just 22nd in the majors with a .255
batting average.
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But manager
Mike Scioscia has historically been
able to play "small ball" with
success, and so his team can still produce
enough runs despite not getting much
in the way of power (catcher Mike Napoli,
a .214 hitter, leads the team in homers).
And the bullpen, led by Francisco Rodriguez
(21 saves, 2.25 ERA), has been solid.
The questions are these - will Los Angeles,
or Anaheim, or whoever they are, get
more offense as we approach the halfway
point? Will Saunders and Santana continue
to have career seasons? The Angels don't
really have much of a cushion, because
many would argue that the Oakland A's
are capable of making a move on them.
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And speaking of those OAKLAND ATHLETICS
(+250 in the BetUS odds), you are certainly
talking about a team that has been able
to get things done without an abundance
of offense. That's why it was so critical
to pick up Frank Thomas after he was
released by Toronto. Thomas has batted
.319 with a .516 slugging average and
16 RBI's in 91 at-bats since the Blue
Jays dumped him, and he appears more
comfortable with the team he helped lead
to the playoffs as the Comeback Player
of the Year a couple of season ago.
Otherwise, the A's have a no-name lineup
and a lower batting average at this point
(.252) than even the Angels do. Justin
Duchscherer (2.27 ERA) has been the ace
of the staff, with youngster Dana Eveland
providing a nice surprise. And setup
man Santiago Casilla (0.93 ERA, 0.84
WHIP) has been a revelation. The A's
have managed to keep the ball in the
park (37 homers allowed is second in
the majors), but without a lot power,
speed, or proven veteran pitching, you
get the impression that Oakland is doing
this with smoke and mirrors. I understand
the sports betting argument; the artful
management team, led by Billy Beane,
has done this before. But Oakland faces
more of an uphill battle than its 3.5-game
deficit (as of Monday) would seem to
indicate.
The TEXAS RANGERS (+700 in the BetUS
odds) are another team that is playing
much better than logic would seem to
dictate. The Rangers ARE hitting homers,
and they ARE scoring a lot of runs (3rd
in the majors in both categories), and
by now there should be no questioning
the credentials of Josh Hamilton (15
HR, 63 RBI, .328), who is a leading MVP
candidate. Second baseman Ian Kinsler
(7 HR, 15 steals, .299) is no big surprise,
but the guy I'm taking the wait-and-see
attitude about is Milton Bradley, a nine-year
veteran who leads the AL in on-base percentage
and is on pace to set career highs in
just about everything.
Vicente Padilla (7-2, 3.67 ERA) has
been excellent for them, but I'm still
very skeptical about their pitching,
and that's what they're going to need
in order to stay in this thing. Even
if Sidney Ponson (4-1 so far) continues
to pitch reasonably well, there is no
real stopper in the bullpen. Right now
the staff has allowed opposing hitters
to bat .280, and only two teams are worse.
The SEATTLE
MARINERS (+3500 in the BetUS odds)
are out of it. The feeling was that
the acquisition of left-hander Erik
Bedard in the off-season was going to
kick this starting rotation into high
gear. But Bedard has been up-and-down,
and veterans Jarrod Washburn and Miguel
Batista are shopworn. Richie Sexson (.200)
is further cementing his reputation as
the Dave Kingman of his time. The great
constant in this lineup for the past
seven seasons, Ichiro Suzuki, is stealing
bases (24 so far) but he's hitting "only" .288.
That's how bad things are right now.
I don't know if there's any reason to
move against the Angels right now. But
we'll continue to check back during the
season!
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