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Betting odds for the World Series, MVP, and Cy Young winners

Work is for suckers. Place you bets, collect your winnings, and retire to Tahiti. It's just that easy!

By Jason Lukehart

Today marks the proper start of the NCAA Tournament, which does eventually crown a college basketball champion, but primarily exists as a betting opportunity for the American public. At this moment, your bracket is probably still in good shape, but check back in a day or two, and it will be clear you're not winning the office pool. Gambling is an addiction though, so you're going to need to find something else to place your bets on. Helpful sort that I am, I've got lines for the upcoming 2014 MLB season (courtesy of Bovada), just in time.

Your first betting option is over/under lines on how many games each team will win. The Indians are at 80.5 wins,(which means they'd need to win 81 games to cover an 'over' bet). I'm not prone to optimism about the Tribe, but I feel very good about their chances of clearing that bar.

The top number belongs to the Dodgers, who are at 92.5. The Tigers are tops in the American League, at 89.5. I think I'd take the over on both of those. I'd love to br proven wrong on that Detroit wager, but 90 wins seems like a pretty reasonable total for a good team that will get to play a lot of games against the White Sox and Twins (who are at 75.5 and 70.5 wins, respectively). Rounding out the Central are the Royals, at 81.5. At the very bottom of things are the A stros, at 62.5. Can they cover the over by avoiding 100 losses? Well, they couldn't for the last three years, but maybe something will be different this time.

Maybe you're not interested in over//unders; you want odds. Well the Indians are at 40/1 to win the World Series, 20/1 to win the AL pennant. Here's the full list:

If you're just looking to place a bet on which team will win the AL Central:

  • Detroit Tigers: 4/9 (you've got to bet 9 to win 4)
  • Kansas City Royals: 4/1
  • Cleveland Indians: 7/1
  • Chicago White Sox: 8/1
  • Minnesota Twins: 33/1
I have a hard time seeing why so many people would consider the Royals a better bet to win the division than the Indians, or why the White Sox are considered just as good a bet as the Tribe. Maybe Chicago has something I'm missing, but I still see a team that can't hit.

FInally, in case you're the sort who'd rather bet on people than teams, here are the top candidates for major awards. In the AL MVP race, the top ten are:
  • Mike Trout: 5/1
  • Miguel Cabrera: 6/1
  • Jacoby Ellsbury: 12/1
  • Albert Pujols: 12/1
  • Josh Donaldson: 14/1
  • Robinson Cano: 14/1
  • Evan Longoria: 14/1
  • Adrian Beltre: 16/1
  • Chris Davis: 16/1
  • Dustin Pedroia: 16/1

A lot of people must still have a lot of faith in Pujols, but I don't see that kind of bounce back from him. I also wonder if Vegas knows the BBWAA still votes on the MVP, which would seem to mean Cabrera should be the favorite, not Trout. The only Indian among the 25-30 players listed is Jason Kipnis, at 40/1. It sure would be nice to see that bet pay off. Hilariously, Derek Jeter is listed, with 100/1 odds. Not even Bud Selig can make that happen. Andrew McCutchen is the NL leader at 6/1.

Here are the favorites for the AL Cy Young:

  • Yu Darvish: 8/1
  • David Price: 9/1
  • Clay Buchholz: 10/1
  • Max Scherzer: 10/1
  • Matt Moore: 12/1
  • Chris Sale: 12/1
  • Justin Verlander: 12/1
  • Masahiro Tanaka: 15/1
  • Jered Weaver: 15/1
  • C.J. Wilson: 15/1
  • Felix Hernandez: 15/1
  • Hisashi Iwakuma: 15/1
Justin Masterson is a bit further down, at 25/1. Clayton Kershaw is tops in the National League at 6.5/1.

You know your kitchen needs redoing. Quit trying to save money a little bit at a time like a chump. Just pick the right winners instead, and redo your entire house.

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