The baseball offseason is far from over and the biggest free agents haven't even picked a home yet, but Vegas is already setting lines for how many wins each team will have.
Caesers released its first win totals for the 2019 season and the news is split for the two Chicago teams.
2019 MLB Season Wins now available @CaesarsPalace ... Always fun! Available in NJ and MS in the next hour pic.twitter.com/tnyyhXIhrp
— Jeff Davis (@The_Junkyard) January 8, 2019
The Cubs are set at 89 wins, which is six wins fewer than the team had in 2018 and would be the team's lowest win total since 2014. Apparently Vegas isn't impressed with the Cubs' lack of activity this offseason. Still, that is the highest total in the NL Central. The Cardinals are projected to be right there with the Cubs, coming in at 88 1/2. The Brewers are expected to have quite a dropoff at 83 1/2.
The White Sox come in at 74.5 wins, which is an upgrade for a team that won 62 games in 2018. The arrival of Eloy Jimenez, another year for the younger players to develop and a beefed up bullpen with Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera could make the White Sox a better team in 2019. Oh, and the chance they sign a marquee free agent like Manny Machado and/or Bryce Harper.
That would put the White Sox at third in the AL Central, ahead of the Royals (69) and Tigers (67). The Indians (91 1/2) are projected to win the division againwith the Twins (84) chasing .
The Astros have the highest projected win total at 97 1/2, just ahead of the Yankees (96 1/2) and Red Sox (95 1/2). The Orioles are last at 59, which would be still a significant improvement on the team's 47 wins in 2018.