After making several moves prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves in the pack behind the Chicago Cubs on the updated odds to win the World Series at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Blue Jays picked up pitchers Francisco Liriano, Scott Feldman, Joaquin Benoit, and Mike Bolsinger along with outfielder Melvin Upton Jr. in five separate trades over the past week, as they look to keep pace with both the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox in the race for first place in the AL East standings.
Toronto is now sixth on the 2016 World Series odds at the sportsbooks at +900 (bet $100 to win $900), and they hold down better odds than either the Orioles or the Red Sox; Baltimore is back at +1600 on those MLB betting futures, while Boston is pegged at a line of +1200.
The Blue Jays have been steadily climbing the World Series odds over the past couple of months, cutting their line in half from +2000 to +1000 between the end of May and the all-star break, and then inching slightly ahead to their current +900 odds with their trade flurry.
However, Toronto is still well behind the World Series favourites, the Chicago Cubs, at the sportsbooks. Chicago has held down the top spot on the MLB betting futures all season long, and it has entered the month of August as the +350 favourites to win the championship.
The San Francisco Giants and the Texas Rangers follow the Cubs at +650 on the latest World Series odds, with the Washington Nationals and the Cleveland Indians both listed at +750.
That means the Blue Jays are third amongst American League teams on the latest World Series odds, trailing only the AL West and the AL Central division leaders. After the Red Sox and Orioles the other Junior Circuit clubs on the betting futures are the Houston Astros at +1800, the Detroit Tigers at +2000, the Seattle Mariners at +5000, and the Kansas City Royals at +7500. Sellers at the trade deadline, the New York Yankees are also back at +7500.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are at +1600, with the New York Mets at +2800, and the St. Louis Cardinals at +3300. The Miami Marlins are also sitting at +3300 to win the 2016 World Series.
