As the ice caps melt and the seasons slowly turn from winter to spring, the long awaited Baseball season comes to a start. Preseason has been in full swing since the start of February with pitches repairing their accuracy and gaining speed, while the offense has been practising their swing and timing. It only feels like yesterday that the Chicago Cubs claimed their first world series win since 1908 when they beat a gallant Cleveland Indians in game seven.
With Cubs fans no doubt still celebrating, a fresh new season approaches with hope they can go back to back. As we break down the league and offer our 2017 MLB Season Preview & Betting Tips, we see which teams will be leading the divisions and which teams will most likely to cause problems for those teams.
NL Central
The Chicago Cubs will be the team to beat but a repeat of 2016 will once again be a challenge and the odds are against them as only one team in 30 years has gone back to back. The Cubs have so much versatility in their lineup and it's hard to spot a hole with both their offense and defensive. They will though have to replace Dexter Fowler who was their top leadoff hitter, he reached the base 216 times last season and now will start fresh in St Louis. Kyle Schwarber joins the team now with big shoes to follow, but will have a All star batting lineup by his side.
Chicago Cubs $4.75 Outright
The St Louis Cardinals are always within arms reach of the postseason and now with two major signings in the offseason the team is once again prepared for another long season. Leadoff hitter Dexter Fowler joins the team alongside lefthand ex Bluejay reliever Brett Cecil. Early injuries and bad defense kept the Cardinals out of 2016, with the Pitches having to throw more which produced errors. With a team that has made to Postseason 12 times in the last 17 there has to be speculation around seeing them in October.
St Louis Cardinals $26 Outright
NL East
Washington Nationals finished the year off with the second best record in the National League. They have been terrific in the regular season the previous two years and was only able to reach the first round of playoffs as they were defeated by the Dodgers in five. Maybe the addition to Adam Eaton may provide a spark on offense as Bryce Harper tries and stay healthy and young gun Trea Turner providing that fast explosive sprint between bases. With a strong offensive and defensive team, the only question really surrounding the Nats is the bull pen. Can it hold up? As there is no established closer.
Washington Nationals $11 Outright
The New York Mets were defeated by the Giants in the wildcard game last year after the Giants hit three runs in the ninth to secure victory. Injuries played a big part in an up and down 2016 and may do the same in 2017 with Steven Matz unlikely to be with the team from the scheduled start. There are some small holes to be filled early, but a healthy Syndergaard and Cespedes resigning there definitely is hope in the core.
New York Mets $17 Outright
NL West
The LA Dodgers are high favorites for the World Series this year, with the offense set to take over again with the re-signing of Justin Turner and hard hitting veterans Scott Kazmir and Brendan McCarthy looking healthy again. Injuries de-railed their plans for a world series appearance in 2016 and Clayton Kershaw was forced to carry the workload through the postseason. Kershaw is healthy once again and he will be backed up in rotation with Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill. The Bull Pen is having trouble with some early injuries but they should have a healthy Pedro Baez and one of the best closers in Kenley Jansen ready to roll.
LA Dodgers $11 Outright
The San Francisco Giants have the complete roster and have made the right steps to repairing the bullpen, as Mark Melancon joins the team. The MLB All-Star joined the team after being passed on by Nats as a free agent. He will support number one pitcher Madison Bumgarner who was 15-9 with 251 strikeouts last year and Johnny Cueto who will be in rotation with left arm pitcher Matt Moore. A healthy offensive team sets to challenge the best as Brandon Belt, Joe Panik and Denard Span lead the team. Injury prone Right Fielder Hunter Pence is also ready to go again as he tries to gain confidence heading into the season.
San Francisco Giants $15 Outright /
AL Central
Cleveland Indians should control this division especially after last years success. The Indians have made inroads acquiring ex Blue Jay Edwin Encarnacion after trading Mike Napoli to Texas and making it clear they needed a game changer. After a devastating game seven loss to the Cubs, the Indians have made the right trades to fix some issues they previously had, including picking up a quality left hand pitcher with Boone Logan joining the team. Expect the Indians to go deep into 2017.
Cleveland Indians $9 Outright
The Detroit Tigers have kept the same roster with no huge off season trades, the Tigers come into 2017 possibly being the only threat to the Indians. They look to have a solid core behind Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, but maybe lacking variation. Rookie of the year Michael Fulmer will back Verlander in rotation with Jordan Zimmermann and Anibal Sanchez hopefully providing more than they did in 2016.
Detroit Tigers $26 Outright
AL East
The Boston Red Sox have improved considerably with the addition of ex White Sox Chris Sale. The Red Sox have a stacked offensive roster despite losing David Ortiz to retirement. Hanley Ramirez is the most likely candidate to replace Ortiz as he tries and fill the hole by one of Boston’s best.The offensive list goes on and on including Andrew Benintendi providing that x factor punch. The Pitching has immense depth with Porcello the number one pitcher and now a healthy David Price, big things are expected in Boston this year.
Boston Red Sox $7 Outright
Toronto Blue Jays took 11 innings to beat the Orioles in the first 2016 wildcard game. Which gave the team hope, until the Indians came to play winning the next series 4-1 and only allowing the Jays a disappointing eight runs in five games. Now with Encarnacion exiting and Michael Saunders departing ways ,the team may be concerned with strength on the offensive side. Hopefully the signing of Kendrys Morales can lift the spirits of the fans. But look with a team who missed the postseason for over 20 years, there is reason why they have made the postseason the last two previous years. The pitching seems to be in better order than battling with Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ sharing the rotation in an explosive pitching roster.
Toronto Blue Jays $17 Outright
AL West
The Houston Astros are looking to make their mark. The team finished third last season in their division and have made some important trades coming into 2017. Brian McCann looks set to make a statement has he was acquired by the Astros and sets to be side by side team mates Carlos Correa and George Springer as they light up the offense. The return of Dallas Keuchel sparks the pitching roster as the the starting pitching collapsed last year with all starters having ERA’s above four. In a tight contest Houston are my number one pick in the west.
Houston Astros $13 Outright
A disappointing postseason saw the Texas Rangers end with a loss to the wildcard team the Toronto Bluejays. With exits to Mitch Moreland and Carlos Beltran the team may miss that punch they had in 2016. They do claim back Mike Napoli who i believe was one of the Indians best throughout the postseason. Pitches Cole Hamel and Yu Darvish provide one of the best one two punch duo in the league, and ex Padres Andrew Cashner and Tyson Ross join the team to help with bullpen.
Texas Rangers $23 Outright
Here are the MLB World Series odds at CrownBet:
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