The New York Yankees have stormed out of the gate in Grapefruit League action, cementing their position as strong -150 favourites on the odds to win the AL East this season at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
New York is coming off a surprising 2017 campaign. After opening the season with a projected win total of 83.5, the Yankees emerged as a legitimate postseason threat, winning 91 games to finish just two games back of the first-place Boston Red Sox. The Joe Girardi-led squad then followed up with a strong post-season run that brought them within a single win of their first World Series berth since 2009.
The Yankees looked to maintain that momentum during the offseason, acquiring NL home run leader Giancarlo Stanton in a trade with the Miami Marlins. Stanton went yard on 59 occasions last season, and sits as a +500 favourite to lead the majors in home runs, while the Yankees enter the month of March trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers as a +550 wager on the 2018 World Series odds.
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The Red Sox have recorded identical 93-69 records while claiming back-to-back division titles, but trail the Yankees as a +150 wager on the AL East futures. Boston tried to keep pace with New York’s high-powered lineup with the offseason signing of JD Martinez, and hopes to avoid the injury bug that limited players like Xander Bogaerts and David Price last season.
After opening spring training at +600 on the AL East odds, the Toronto Blue Jays have slipped to +1000, still well ahead of the Baltimore Orioles and the Tampa Bay Rays, who sit deadlocked at a distant +3300.
The Blue Jays hope to bounce back from their first losing season in four years, but face early adversity with injuries to pitcher Marcus Stroman and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki expected to sideline the pair for the start of the regular season. Toronto already faced tempered expectations, with -115 odds favouring them to win under 81 games on the MLB props.
Elsewhere on the MLB divisional futures, the defending World Series champion Houston Astros have improved to heavy -450 favourites to repeat as AL West champions, while the Cleveland Indians are a strong -500 wager to claim a third straight AL Central title.
Over in the National League, the Dodgers are perched as -250 chalk to claim a sixth straight NL West crown, and the Chicago Cubs vie for a third straight NL Central title as -225 favourites, while the Washington Nationals sit as a -400 wager on the NL East odds.
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