At the beginning of the offseason I posted Bodog.com’s gambling odds on each team winning the World Series in 2011, so now that we’re about halfway through the offseason and most of the major free agents have signed I thought it would be interesting to re-examine the same odds for all 30 teams.
First, here are the teams Bodog pegged as improving their World Series chances since November 2:
OLD NEW
Phillies 6/1 7/2
Red Sox 10/1 9/2
Tigers 35/1 28/1
Mets 40/1 35/1
Brewers 65/1 40/1
Nationals 80/1 65/1
Not surprisingly, the Phillies’ addition of Cliff Lee and the Red Sox’s additions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford significantly improve their odds. Detroit added Victor Martinez and Joaquin Benoit while re-signing Magglio Ordonez. Milwaukee traded for Zack Greinke. Washington signed Jayson Werth. And ... well, I’m not sure what the Mets really did to improve their odds, other than hiring Sandy Alderson as general manager.
Next, here are the teams Bodog pegged as decreasing their World Series chances since November 2:
OLD NEW
Yankees 4/1 6/1
Giants 10/1 12/1
Twins 16/1 18/1
Cardinals 14/1 20/1
Rays 14/1 20/1
Rangers 16/1 20/1
Rockies 18/1 20/1
Braves 18/1 22/1
Reds 20/1 25/1
White Sox 22/1 25/1
Dodgers 22/1 30/1
Padres 20/1 35/1
Cubs 30/1 35/1
Astros 65/1 75/1
Orioles 75/1 80/1
Mariners 70/1 100/1
A much longer list, which makes some sense given that Philadelphia and Boston were already among the favorites and significantly improved their odds. Bodog initially had the Yankees as the clear favorites to win the World Series at 4-to-1, but now they’re behind the Phillies and Red Sox at 6-to-1. Surprisingly the Rangers’ odds didn’t get that much longer despite losing Lee, but the Padres’ odds got much worse after dealing Gonzalez.
And finally, here are the teams with the same World Series odds they had on November 2:
Angels 25/1
Marlins 35/1
Athletics 35/1
Blue Jays 50/1
D-Backs 80/1
Indians 80/1
Royals 125/1
Pirates 150/1
Apparently trading Greinke doesn’t change anything for the Royals when no one would have ever bet on them winning the World Series in the first place.
