Steve Starr
- BetOnline has updated World Series odds for all 8 teams in the MLB Divisional Round
- The Dodgers (+225) are favored to win their first championship since 1988 while the Yankees (+375) and Rays (+400) are viewed as the top American League contenders.
- Scroll down for Series Prices on all four ALDS and NLDS matchups
After an entertaining best-of-three Wild Card Series round, baseball’s 16-team playoff field was cut in half with six teams needing just two games to advance. The best-of-five Division Series starts Monday from neutral locations in Southern California and Texas with no off-days in between games.
Let’s look at the updated World Series odds for the remaining eight teams at BetOnline and preview all four matchups in the AL and NL.
2020 WORLD SERIES ODDS
| MLB Team | Odds |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | +225 |
| New York Yankees | +375 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | +400 |
| Atlanta Braves | +750 |
| San Diego Padres | +850 |
| Oakland Athletics | +900 |
| Houston Astros | +1200 |
| Miami Marlins | +2000 |
HEATED RIVALRIES
The Dodgers (+225) will square off with the NL West-rival Padres (+850) at Arlington’s Globe Life Field after sweeping the Brewers in the National League Wild Card Series. San Diego managed to win four of 10 contests against Los Angeles this season, which isn’t too bad considering LA went a league-best 43-17.
The two favorites in the American League, the Yankees (+375) and Rays (+400), will renew their heated rivalry at Petco Park in San Diego. Tampa Bay enters the ALDS on an eight-game winning streak while New York just played the longest nine-inning game in Major League history (4 hours, 50 minutes), a 10-9 Game 2 win over the Indians to sweep the series.
Grab your popcorn.
Dusty Baker warned the A’s ahead of the ALDS to “be careful what you ask for” https://t.co/vsOR9HmfaJ pic.twitter.com/4g20mgipeO
— A’s on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) October 4, 2020
Over at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Athletics (+900) and Astros (+1200) ALDS series could get ugly. Oakland pitcher Mike Fiers, the whistleblower to Houston’s sordid cheating scheme, will likely face his old teammates for the first time after avoiding them in the regular season.
Finally, from Houston’s Minute Maid Park, the Braves (+750) will take on the underdog Marlins (+2000), who advanced to the NLDS against all odds. Miami was 300-1 to win the World Series when odds posted for the season restart in July
ALDS AND NLDS ODDS
| Team | Odds To Win Series |
| New York Yankees (#5 AL) | -128 |
| Tampa Bay Rays (#1 AL) | +108 |
| Team | Odds To Win Series |
| Oakland Athletics (#2 AL) | -133 |
| Houston Astros (#6 AL) | +113 |
| Team | Odds To Win Series |
| Los Angeles Dodgers (#1 NL) | -285 |
| San Diego Padres (#4 NL) | +240 |
| Team | Odds To Win Series |
| Atlanta Braves (#2 NL) | -275 |
| Miami Marlins (#6 NL) | +230 |
BEST BETS TO WIN EVERY SERIES
Gerrit Cole, New York’s $324 million offseason acquisition, will get the ball in the series opener against the Rays. Given that the winner Game 1 of a best-of-five series goes on to win approximately 70 percent of the time, there’s tons of pressure on the Yankees ace to replicate his ALDS performance against the Rays last year, where he struck out 25 and surrendered only one run in 15 2/3 innings.
However, it’s Tampa that has the better pitching staff, finishing the regular season with the second-lowest ERA in baseball. After they led the AL with 20 comeback wins, we like the resilient Rays (+108) to win the series.
The Yankees and Rays have never faced each other in the playoffs…
…Until now.
Get ready for an ALDS for the ages. pic.twitter.com/b2SJeZW7wO
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) October 3, 2020
In defeating the White Sox in three games, Oakland advanced in the postseason for the first time since 2006. They’ll now face their AL West-rivals in Houston, who they beat seven out of ten times in the regular season. The Astros are the only under-.500 regular season team (29-31) playing in October and simply don’t have the pitching to outlast Oakland. We like the A’s (-133) to advance.
Fernando Tatis Jr. went 5-for-11 with two homers, a double and three walks in San Diego’s Wild Card Series against the Cardinals, but it’s tough to see the Padres toppling the Dodgers considering the state of their pitching staff.
Dinelson Lamet and Mike Clevinger are both questionable to play while the break in between rounds will allow Los Angeles to reset their rotation and roll out Walker Buehler and Clayton Kershaw to start the series. While there’s no value in betting on it, expect the Dodgers (-285) to book their ticket to the NLCS.
FERNANDO TATIS JR. IS SUPERHUMAN 😱
Second homer of the game and the Padres have the lead 😤 pic.twitter.com/3kJRfVVpgD
— ESPN (@espn) October 2, 2020
Braves pitchers held the Reds scoreless through all 22 innings of their NL Wild Card Series sweep, becoming the first club in MLB history to win a multi-game postseason series without surrendering a run, and advancing past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
Atlanta finished second in the majors in runs scored this season, so assuming their pitching can stay hot, they should have no trouble chopping down the Cinderella Marlins. We like the Braves (-275) to win the series, but again, it’s hard to bet at that number.
Go to BetOnline for the latest series prices and updated World Series odds.
