Sitting below the .500 mark through the first month of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays find themselves slipping on the odds to win the World Series at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
The Blue Jays were close to the top of the World Series odds board at the outset of April, pegged at +1000 on those betting futures. However, after struggling with consistency over the first four weeks of the season and falling behind both the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox in the AL East standings they’ve dropped to +1400 on the World Series odds.
That has Toronto in a five-way tie for fifth place on those betting futures with the Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Chicago White Sox – with the White Sox having climbed the list significantly from +3300 with the best start in the American League.
The Chicago Cubs sit as the World Series odds favourites at +500, followed by the Washington Nationals at +750, and the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets at +1200. The Cubs have been as good as advertised so far this season, racing out to the best record in the National League, while the Nationals and Mets are battling for top spot in the NL East.
The St. Louis Cardinals are at +1800 on the latest World Series odds, with the Pittsburgh Pirates at +2000, the Texas Rangers at +2200, and each of the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Orioles at +2500. The Orioles’ World Series odds have been cut in half since the start of the season; they were at +5000 on the list in early April.
And that solid performance over the first month of the campaign has pushed the Orioles up with the Red Sox and the Blue Jays on the odds to win the AL East division title. Boston has held its position as the favourite on that list, currently set at +150 odds, with Toronto at +225 and Baltimore at +325.
The Tampa Bay Rays are then set at +800 on the AL East odds, with the New York Yankees at +900. New York had been pegged at +350 on those betting futures heading into the season, good for third place on the list, but with just eight victories over their first 24 games of the campaign they’re now languishing in the division basement.
