2018 World Series Championship Odds

Spring training is right around the corner and while there are still a lot of high profile free agents out there, the favorites are unlikely to change too much. Teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, Astros and Indians have their rosters pretty much set and have been favorites since the offseason began. These are deep teams with tons of talent so their place at the top makes a lot of sense.

The favorite is the New York Yankees. Adding the NL MVP in Giancarlo Stanton to the AL Rookie of the Year Aaron Judge could be good for 100 homeruns right there. Throw in the awesome bullpen, the solid rotation led by Luis Severino, a revitalized Greg Bird and a deep farm system, it’s easy to see why the Yankees are so beloved. They scored a ton of runs last season and could score even more this year.

The Dodgers are next at +550. This was a near historically great team last season that went to the seventh game of the World Series. They still have the deep farm system, they still have Cody Bellinger, they still have Corey Seager and the best pitcher on the planet in Clayton Kershaw. This team is set to be in contention for a long time and they are a great bet to win this whole thing every year.

Surprisingly, it’s the defending champions who come in at third. Houston at +650 is pretty good odds for a defending champion. We’ve seen how hard it is to repeat, but the Astros aren’t resting on their laurels. They added Gerrit Cole to the rotation which gives them a really strong five-man unit and their offense should be just as great as last year. Jose Altuve is the leader, but this could be the year that George Springer and/or Carlos Carrera overtake him. They certainly have the talent to do so.

The Indians and Nationals both come in at +800. These are interesting plays for very different reasons.

The Indians are still the best team in the NL Central by a longshot and should easily have a top-2 seed in the playoffs. The rotation is awesome and the bullpen is awesome. A healthy year and this team could return to the World Series easily.

For Washington, this could be the end of an era. Bryce Harper is a free agent after this season and this feels like the end of an era for this team. A lot of their stars are getting older and this definitely feels like an “all-in” kind of season for them.

Complete odds are below.

For those interested, here are the odds on exact World Series match-ups.