With just four weeks remaining until pitchers and catchers report for spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays continue to lag on the 2017 World Series odds, pegged at +2500 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
It has been a tumultuous offseason for the Blue Jays, who opened at +1800 on those betting futures after reaching the post-season for a second straight year.
Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders have both departed the club via free agency, with slugger Kendrys Morales and utility man Steve Pearce joining the team. However, the biggest news of the winter in Toronto might be the re-signing of free agent outfielder Jose Bautista.
While the return of Bautista is expected to give the Blue Jays a lift in the upcoming campaign, Toronto still sits well back of the Boston Red Sox, who lead all American League clubs with +500 odds of claiming the World Series.
The Red Sox went from worst to first in the AL East standings with 93 wins last season before getting swept in three games by the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS, and they have failed to win division pennants in back-to-back years since the start of divisional play in 1969.
The World Series champion Chicago Cubs continue to lead the way on the futures at +400. The Cubs led the majors with 103 wins in 2016, but will be without a pair of key components of last season’s championship squad following the departure of closer Aroldis Chapman and outfielder Dexter Fowler via free agency.
Losers in their first World Series appearance since 1997, the Cleveland Indians have bolstered their offence with the free-agent signing of Encarnacion, and remain among the World Series betting favourites at +800.
The Indians are closely followed at +850 by the defending NL East champion Washington Nationals. Following a disappointing 83-win campaign in 2015, Washington tallied 95 victories last season. However, following their third straight NLDS loss, the Nationals remain winless in post-season series since relocating from Montreal in 2005.
A trio of clubs trail at +1400, including the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, and Los Angeles Dodgers, while the New York Mets round out the front of the pack at +1800. The Blue Jays are joined at +2500 by the Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees, just ahead of the Detroit Tigers at +2800.
The Kansas City Royals sit alongside the Baltimore Orioles at +3300, followed by the Pittsburgh Pirates at +4000, and the Chicago White Sox and the Miami Marlins at +6600.
Pitchers and catchers begin reporting to spring training in mid-February, while the World Baseball Classic runs from March 6-22. The regular season gets underway on April 2.
