Major League Baseball would love to see handicappers be right in 2017.

In World Series futures released this week, gamblers are pouncing on two teams as the favorites for the MLB season — the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs.

Both teams made the playoffs last season, with the Cubs eventually erasing their curse and winning the World Series. Obviously, this matchup would draw major ratings once again for the Fall Classic, and there’s good reason to believe both teams have the inside track at making it to the season’s final series.

The Red Sox and Cubs employ two of the best offenses in Major League Baseball. Boston finished first in total offense last season, while Chicago placed third. Both teams return pretty much their entire offense, so we should expect both teams to be elite once again on offense.

What should scare other teams, especially in the American League, is that Boston bolstered its rotation in the offseason, adding Chris Sale, who will join Rick Porcello and David Price as formidable starting pitchers.

The Cubs, meanwhile, will feature a strong starting rotation once again, with Jake Arietta, Kyle Hendricks and Jon Lester leading the way. I have some concerns with that rotation repeating its performance from last year, but the offense will be good enough, it should mask any issues from pitching.

Both teams are +450 to win the World Series, according to Oddsshark. Boston has steadily gotten more action, going from +600 in December to its current number. Chicago has seen its number dwindle, going from an overwhelming favorite in December at +375 to its current odds.

The only other team in triple-digits is Cleveland, going off at +800.

But Major League Baseball has done a solid job in recent years of creating parody. Teams can come out of nowhere to compete (see Baltimore last season).

So what teams could come out of nowhere to compete this season? Here’s one from each league that could produce major value at season’s end for the 2017 World Series futures.

Robinson Cano had a bounce-back season last year. Flickr/Keith Allison/http://bit.ly/1Qqk4s0

American League

Seattle Mariners

This was my team to come out of nowhere last season, and they almost did. Seattle opened the season as 40-1 to win the World Series and finished second in the AL West.

Heading into this season, they’ve gotten more consistent in their rotation with Drew Smyly and Yovani Gallardo, and they still have enough bats to do well on offense.

The AL West always seems to change hands consistently and I’m not too sold on Texas’s staying power. Seattle was close last season and they should be even closer this season. Seattle currently has odds of +3300 to win the World Series, ranking toward the lower half of Major League Baseball.

That provides solid value in a league that has shown good depth in recent years.

National League

Colorado Rockies

This is a trendy pick, but the value is still amazing for a team on the cusp of being much improved.

Gamblers have taken Colorado from ++7500 in January to +4000 in February to win the World Series. There’s a reason for such a move. The pitching is emerging, with Chad Bettis and Tyler Chatwood providing starting pitching that could give this team an actual advantage on the mound.

The infield is as powerful as ever with the addition of Ian Desmond joining D.J. LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story. The Rockies also addressed their bullpen in the offseason, too, meaning this team is ready to compete now.

The NL West isn’t easy with San Francisco and Los Angeles, but the Rockies are poised to be in the thick of the postseason race in September.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*