Buck Showalter’s club are the Rodney Dangerfield act “They Get NO RESPECT”. Having Baltimore not closer to Toronto for the AL East Division is not wise. Take advantage of this odd while it presents itself. Remember that Boston did only win 71 games last year while the 2014 AL East champs did take home 96 victories. Their odds should vaguely resemble each other heading into the 2015 campaign.
Photo Credit – Jonathan Dyer – USA Today Sports

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The forthcoming season has seen the gambling establishments starting to post their opening lines for Division play.  I like the way they constructed the AL West, NL West (except San Diego) and NL East.  They are pegged perfectly, and would not advise in plunking any money down for those.

The real good bets are within both Central Divisions, and of course the Baltimore Orioles. 

Part of being a good handicapper is watching and predicting the trends as they go up and down. 

Red Highlighted Picks are my favorites

Blue Highlighted Selections are odds to stay away from

Parenthesis is slated from 1 – 5 designation for best/worst value by color

AL

AL East

Boston +190

Toronto +250

New York +425

Baltimore +375 (2)

Tampa Bay +700 (3)

The White Sox should be decisively better in 2015, however to lump the, within earshot of the Tigers, or even the Indians for that matter with this opening line is just not good practice. I would wait to see how this team will fare in April before I would throw down any scheckles on them. Chris Sale starts the year dinged up.

AL Central

Detroit +200 (1)

Cleveland Indians +225

Chicago White Sox +240 (2)

Kansas City finally lived up to their expectations in 2014, and far exceeded beyond that, being just one swing away from calling themselves World Championships. With the success the team had, the gambling pundits are not calling for them to repeat the magic in 2015, slating them for the 4th best odd in their own Division. Jump all over this number right now. That is fantastic

Kansas City +450 (5)

Minnesota +3300

AL West

LA Angels +150

Seattle +150

Oakland +400

Texas +800

Houston +2500

NL

NL East

Washington -600

NY Mets +700

Miami Marlins +700

Atlanta +3000

Philadelphia Phillies +10000

Pittsburgh should be a lot closer to the Division odd than St. Louis – than lower to the Cubs. I fully expect them to win the Division. A lot of people still like St. Louis and I understand that, but twice the underdog is great value to select here. Take Clint Hurdle’s squad all day here.

NL Central 

St. Louis Cardinals +125 (5)

Pittsburgh Pirates +250 (3)

Chicago Cubs +275 (1)

I am not saying the Brew Crew wins the NL Central by any stretch, but for a talented team, who led the Division for 150 days last year. this value is too much to ignore.

Milwaukee Brewers +1200 (4)

Cincinnati Reds +1300

NL West 

LA Dodgers -350

San Diego Padres +450 (4)

SF Giants +600

Colorado Rockies +4000

Arizona Diamondbacks +5000

Please note that it is illegal in most U.S. States to gamble

Odds are courtesy of www.bet365.com

They simply aren’t paying enough of an odd to put any money down on them right away. If the squad struggles in the 1st half of the year like I think they will, this odd will increase to a number more bearable, even though it is probably foolish to ever believe the Dodgers will blow a big lead anyway.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***

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