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Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 31, 2015

USA Today Sports
The last podcast of the year. So much can happen in 365 days. So many legacies can be changed. So many events not foreseen at the beginning of the year can totally be flipped.
Just think of Salvador Perez, ending 2014 as the man who popped up to end the World Series… and being the World Series MVP for 2015.
Think of Pariah Alex Rodriguez leading the Yankees back to the playoffs.
Lots of changes happened. Lots more will happen in 2016.
Be sure to listen to all of it on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Odds To Win The American And National League Pennants For 2016

Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They should the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. As such, should be the favorite to win the AL Pennant as well. They are truly the Rodney Dangerfield club when it comes to respect. Keep it up fellas, and many gambling sharps will continue to pad their bank account. Take the +1200 wager to win the American League all day long.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Step right up and plunk down as much money as you can on the Royals. Tied for 6th in the AL odds, and given what other sports gambling websites are giving the defending champs for a World Series odd, it is an ultimate no brainer.
I can’t wait to see if this gambling establishment also offers a over/under for the club. It has been fun making money on the Kansas City squad over the last few years.
There is no way that the Indians and Tigers should have parallel wager odds with KC. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series

The Yankees acquisition of Aroldis Chapman is great notion that the club will continue to make plans to acquire more players on the last year of their team control. I hope you cashed in on their +2000 odd last week. If not, the +1500 mark is still fair to bet now.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Just as predicted, the Yankees odd went from +2000 to +1500 overnight with the Aroldis Chapman trade coming down.
If you had them with one of our own best bets last week, then you capitalized on the best odd you are going to get from the Bronx Bombers this winter.
So how exactly do the oddsmakers have so much faith in the Left Handed Reliever? Well it has more to do with the masses betting on New York with given hope.
We outlined at the MLB Reports about their coming season. With Chapman in the fold, forthcoming suspension withstood, the Yankees will have the man even for just 4 months.
The Yankees will won a ton of games if they are leading after 5 innings, and with the top 3 Strikeout ratio Relievers, these guys could come up huge in the playoffs for next campaign.
if you bet the Yanks, or believe they are not done shopping in the Free Agent Market yet, that +1500 odd is still not a bad wager. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The American And National League For 2016

Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They should the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. As such, should be the favorite to win the AL Pennant as well. This website has them listed as +1200 to win just their league championship. This is the best odd on the board for the entire offseason, and I have plunked down $50 on them. It baffles me how the oddsmakers still give this club no respect.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part-Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I can’t express enough on the awesome value that the odds are singing to me right now. The KC Royals at +1200 when most gambling establishments have this same odd for the World Series?! Bet this all day long.
If you looked to the last post I did on the League Odds, you will see almost a perfect record of me dissecting the odds.
All 3 favorite odds clubs for the AL are ridiculous. Boston may be right on course for the top ranked Junior Circuit team, but at +450? No way. The Rangers and Astros are also not a given to be that high of an odd either.
Toronto is also an excellent odd to wager this week at +850. Come on guys really. You have them listed at the same odd as the New York Yankees?
The Mariners, Twins and White Sox all have great odds listed for their League Championship totals. I am not saying they will win, but all have a punchers chance. Minnesota won 83 games in 2015, and the White Sox and M’s have decent winters thus far from acquiring talent.
Speaking about a shot based on value, the Marlins are listed as +3000 favorites to win the World Series on some sites, yet have been listed as +6000. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2016 World Series

I agree that the recent signing of Johnny Cueto and the Dodgers failing to ink Hisashi Iwakuma leveled the playing field in the NL West, and might even slightly favor San Fran right now, but for the Giants to vault other teams that far up the chain is not right. The 2nd best odd on the board should not be from the NL West. The Mets, Nationals, Royals, Blue Jays and Red Sox all deserve to be slightly favored over the Giants. As such, they go from the best odd from last week, to the worst value play this week.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Just like we outlined here last week – the San Francisco Giants at +1600 was the best odd on the board. They jumped all the way from +1600 to +900 in just 7 days.
Conversely we said that the Dodgers were not a great wager at +1200. and they dropped to +1500, which is now tied for 10th with the Diamondbacks, Pirates and Rangers for the best odds.
Chicago finally broke the stalemate with the Toronto Blue Jays atop the list, going from +800 to +750. The Jays fell into a tie with the Boston Red Sox at +1000 and a tie for 3rd overall behind Chicago and San Francisco in the National League.
We also said to stay off the Rangers and Pirates, and both shifted downwards. We continue to like the Yankees at +2000, even though they didn’t change from last weeks odd.
Baltimore did go from +4500 to +5000 over the last week.
The Cardinals took the hit with some cabbage bet on the Cubs, and at are at +1200.
The Mets also are the best odd they have been at for the whole winter. Read the rest of this entry
Chicago White Sox State Of The Union For 2016

The White Sox should be decisively better in 2016, however to lump them in with the Royals right now for the Division is just not practical yet. However the team could hit on all cylinders and then add players as the year goes on. Chicago only stands to lose four player to Free Agency after 2016 in John Danks, Adam LaRoche, Al Avila and Dioner Navarro. The latter 2 were brought in on one year deals to provide the Catching tandem in 2015.
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Chicago has finally thrown their hat into the ring for the AL Central Race. They have pulled off a trade to acquire Todd Frazier in as 3 way deal with the Reds and Dodgers.
The end result is they get 2 years from the former Reds, while parting with Trayce Thompson, Frankie Montas and Micah Johnson away from the club. It is a quality versus quantity deal.
This comes on the heels of the club picking up Brett Lawrie for 3 years worth of service for a couple of Minor Leaguers.
Before these deals, the club really only hand secured a tandem of Catchers with Alex Avila and Dioner Navarro for the offense. Now they have much more depth, and are asserting themselves with one of the better lineups in the AL Central.
If Adam LaRoche can bounce back with his usual 25 HRs and 80 RBI power, you could have 3 Infielders and the Designated Hitter all crack 20+ HRs in the 2016 campaign.
Jose Abreu also stands to benefit with bringing in a hitter like Todd Frazier. You could see a lineup that goes Adam Eaton, Melky Cabrera, Jose Abreu, Adam LaRoche, Frazier, Lawrie, Avisail Garcia, Avila or Navarro and Tyler Saladino. This looks a lot lengthier than a few days ago.
By the moves they made, they could also trade LaRoche to another club if they were so inclined. There is no reason to think the Avila and Navarro couldn’t see some DH action for their roles in the 2016 club. Read the rest of this entry
Kansas City Royals State Of The Union For 2016

Back to Back AL pennants and this years World Series Winners. They are the biggest favorite to win their respective division so far on the board. The KC franchise has most of the core nucleus all heading for Free Agency before the 2018 season. If I were a fan of this club – I would be okay with the team rebuilding after this, but for now to throw all chips in and try to cash in on a chance for a small dynasty. Dayton Moore and the Brass should use any one of their Minor League Players to acquire the next piece or 2 to make that happen in 2016 and 2017.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Royals are back to back AL Pennant winners and the reigning World Series Champions right now. Furthermore, they are playing in the most winnable Division in the Majors right now.
Kansas City were the 1st real small market club to win the World Series since the 2003 Marlins club took home the Fall Classic that year.
Just like the 2014 winter, the club will sustain losses between the end of the year to Spring Training the following year.
The door is not closed on Alex Gordon yet, however I don’t think it is in the clubs best interest to pay a 9 figure salary to a guy who is already 30.
KC has already seen Ben Zobrist sign with the Cubs, Johnny Cueto with the Giants, and Greg Holland will not pitch at all in the 2016 season with Tommy John Surgery recovery, and certainly not for the Royals.
Dayton Moore has done a decent job acquiring talent though. The team resigned Starter Chris Young, and they added one time Royals Closer Joakim Soria.
The window is not just for 2016 – as the club only stands to lose back up Catcher Drew Butera following next year, but also for 2017. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series

The Cubs signed Jason Heyward over the last week – and may have dealt a massive blow to the rest of the National League that could be felt for several years. Despite the signing, the odds for Chicago, St. Louis and Los Angeles Dodgers did not change. This is not what is supposed to happen when a player like Heyward signs. The +800 odd is bang on though. I would not put any money down for the value, however they would be my pick to win the World Series if I picked any one team right now for next year’s Fall Classic.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The ripple effect of the Johnny Cueto‘s signing did not hit the odds very much for the Giants. San Fran went from +1800 to only +1600 in one week. The Dodgers also did not lose any ground – standing firm at +1200??
This is crazy. I am not saying the Dodgers value at +1200 isn’t actually right. What I am saying is that the 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series Champs should be right there with them. At least at +1300 – or even more favored than the 2nd place Arizona Diamondbacks.
San Francisco has the best Starting Pitching and Bullpen in the Division. This team also has a comparable lineup 1 – 8 with both the 2 clubs in Arizona and Los Angeles.
There is no doubt that the D’Backs heart of the lineup is better, but guys like Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Matt Duffy all featured decent offense in the 2015 campaign. Read the rest of this entry
Houston Astros State Of The Union For 2016

The Houston Astros were the worst team in the Major Leagues from 2011 – 2013, where they topped the 100 Loss barrier for each of those seasons, underwent an ownership change, and also moved from the tough NL Central to the AL West. Last year the Astros finally turned the corner with the 2nd Wild Card Spot, won that game in New York and took the KC Royals to the brink of elimination before they lost. They are young, have a core nucleus of team controllable superstars and exceptional depth that they can use for upgrades. It is a great time to be a ‘Stros fan.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
The Houston Astros are set to contend for the foreseeable future. A 6 year stretch in which they revamped their entire Minor League System – and kept payroll down to grab top Draft Picks finally reeled in the teams 1st playoff spot in a decade in 2016.
After taking a 6 – 2 lead in Game 4 of the ALDS series against the Royals with 2 – 1 lead the Bullpen coughed up the margin – with the club also losing the next game to the eventual World Series winner.
It was a tough lesson to learn in the postseason – but it may be the 1st of many appearances in October in the near future.
The #1 task of acquiring a lock down Closer has been addressed in the recent trade for Ken Giles. Yes it cost them Brett Oberholtzer, former #1 overall Draft Pick Mark Appel, and a few other prospects, but it also sets up the nucleus core for 4 – 5 more years.
The clubs offense featured 11 guys with double digit Homers in the lineup, and 2 others that fell just a dinger shy of the clip. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – December 15, 2015

Jamie Squire / Getty Images
I thought the Dodgers interest in Johnny Cueto was risky.
Now he signed with the Giants. I get the deal. Huge potential reward. Gigantic risk.
It also means the end of the Tim Linceum era.
Meanwhile Pete Rose is back in the news again and Serena Williams needs to compete with a horse.
Go ahead an bet on today’s episode of Sully Baseball Daily Podcast
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB Divisions

Even with the Cubs signing Jason Heyward and being the favorite to win bot the NL Pennant and World Series, they have to contend with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2016 once again. The Redbirds won 100 games and are coming back with another great squad. That is the sole reason why the Cubs are not the biggest favorite to win their own Division.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
These odds are a pretty good reflection of the landscape in the MLB right now. The best value on the board would be the NY Yankees are +240 and Detroit at +250. Both of these clubs are old, but if they can play to their talent level and avoid injury, could win their Divisions.
I fully expect the Cubs will win the National League Central Division, but the +140 odd doesn’t pay enough to entice a wager.
The worst odd on the board has to be the Texas Rangers. I am not sure they are that much better than the Houston Astros right now, and they have not had a banner winter yet – while Houston has solidified their Bullpen by adding flamethrower Ken Giles.
Add in a full year of Carlos Correa – and Houston should be the Division favorite.
I think the Twins might be a nice long shot wager at +310. This club did finished 2nd in the American League Central Division during the 2015 year with 83 victories. Read the rest of this entry
MLB Power Rankings: Early Predictions For 2016
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
There is parity in the American League and their is a growing distance between the good and the bad clubs in the National League.
One could argue that the top 6 teams (NYM/CHC/SF/WSH/STL/PIT) in all of the Majors reside in the NL right now, and you then you can counter that by saying they have the 6 worst squads as well (PHI/ATL/MIL/CIN/SD/COL).
The funny thing about this whole ordeal is that the AL is absolutely going to cream the NL in Interleague this forthcoming season. On a 12 year win streak already, I am predicting a 175 – 125 W – L for the games between both leagues. The AL speedbags the National League in my view.
Last year, the American League held a 167 – 133 mark over the National League so that prediction up there is not foreign by any means.
Odds To Win The American And National League For 2016

The National League has 4 favorites ahead of the odds on fave Jays to win the 2016 League Pennant. It is a more top-heavy league for sure. I am just not sold the Cubs shouldn’t be the overwhelming favorite here.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I love watching the odds fluctuate when deals are made in the Major Leagues. I often keep my mind on the European Oddsmakers. There is some hardcore nice value for your buck in betting some cash on the American and National League Pennant winners currently.
The Cubs should be the overall favorite to win both the National League and the World Series. At +450 this is a fantastic odd. I am not calling it a best bet of the week though. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series: Price Is Right For Boston – But Not The Odds!

Strike while the iron is hot. The Red Sox have a ton of offensive talent that is under team control for many years. The way to compliment this is to add Free Agent aces. By adding Price to the staff, it takes the pressure off of the the rotation guys – so that they could compete in the next 3 – 4 years – with more suitable roles for the rest of the staff. With David Ortiz being in his last year of his career, the move made sense. Their quantum leap up the favorites board based on the signing is not a surprise. The Jays not losing their odd of +800 is.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
So with news of David Price signing with the Sox – this has changed the landscape of the AL East. The oddsmakers jumped them from +1600 last week – to now at +1000. That is a huge leap.
The Yankees dropped from +1800 to +2000, but yet the Jays kept up as the overall MLB favorite to win the Fall Classic in 2016. This is wrong without the Canadian franchise making another significant signing.
J.A. Happ and Jesse Chavez were decent moves, but with the loss of Price, and Mark Buehrle – are they better off than the team that ended 2015..Hell no..
One would say that Boston inking the Lefty Price has swung the momentum to their side like happened with Toronto this last year.
I would still be leery of wagering that much cabbage on the Boston squad early. There is not much value there yet. You are still talking about a club that finished last in the AL East – making a few moves, and now find themselves tied for the 3rd best off to win the World Series.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – November 30, 2015

Photo – Ryan Garza, Detroit Free Press
It is November. Thanksgiving is over. Can you believe baseball was played this month?
Plus the signing of Jordan Zimmermann by the Tigers will be felt by other teams throughout the winter.
Tis the season for more episodes of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – November 28, 2015

AP Photo – Orlin Wagner
Perceptions are sometimes hard to break, even if all the facts in the world can be presented against them.
Many people are still making the argument that the same big budgeted teams win every year, even though the parity in baseball has never been better.
This leads me to talking about my high school reunion.
Trust me, it makes sense.
Shatter your preconceived notions in this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Odds To Win The 2016 MLB World Series

The Twins finished 2nd in the AL Central and could be the Houston Astros type of 2015 club in 2016. If you think they can finish 2nd in the AL Central one more time, it may be enough to secure a Wild Card Spot. I think the AL East will beat each other up – and will only produce one playoff team in 2016. At +3500, there is enough off an odd to work with.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
So the offseason has started in the MLB – and the oddsmakers are doing their odds before any sweeping changes have occurred for clubs.
Some of the best bets you can do are based on your own speculation on how you think teams are going to do.
I don’t like many of the teams odds once you past the 25/1 barrier to win the World Series. The only club I would even stab at – to hedge later – is the Minnesota Twins.
Once again the 2015 Standings don’t seem to mean much for the AL Central. The Twinkies managed to finish second in the Division with 83 win – despite playing the 1st half without Ervin Santana and power slugging rookie Miguel Sano.
I am not suggesting the Indians don’t deserve to be the 2nd favorite in the AL Central either. It is just the discrepancy between the Tribe and the Twins is too far. Even the Tigers are at +2500 (which is about right). Read the rest of this entry
2016 MLB Odds To Win The League Pennants
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Onwer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
It is a little early in the winter to predict who will win each League right now, but what we are looking for is value.
In the ‘Junior Circuit’, I hate every odd on the board except for the Minnesota Twins at +1500 and the Rays at +2000.
If you like a team and just have to bet some cabbage down – simply pick any team in the AL to win the World Series, and then if they win the American League Pennant, use the National League team as a hedge bet.
The same theory can be applied to the National League flock of teams. All of them are better to bet to just win the Fall Classic. Read the rest of this entry
Odds To Win The MLB 2016 World Series

The Cubs are the NL favorite to win the championship, and are tied with the Jays for the overall favorite. You have to think they will do anything to sign a premiere Starting Pitcher this winter. David Price, Johnny Cueto and Jordan Zimmermann should all be on their list to sign. The only real loss from their roster this winter is Dexter Fowler at the CF position. They may even try to re-sign him, or another version of him with Denard Span. I would say to lay off this bet, as the NL Central is a tough division to win. They may have the top 3 teams in the MLB again next campaign.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer) Follow @stokes_hunter21
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
I said last week that vegasodds.com had the wrong odd for the KC Royals to win the 2016 World Series. Every other gambling entity I have seen since has had the club almost favored doubly to that.
In the recent website check at bet365.com – we see the defending champions tied with the Washington Nationals for the 6th best favorite odd of +1100.
We also said the Los Angeles Dodgers should not be the favorite. They are not on this site either. The Doyers are tied for 3rd with the Cards and Mets for the odd with a +1000 clip.
The two top clubs are the Chicago Cubs and Toronto Blue Jays. I can’t say I disagree with these two picks necessarily. Read the rest of this entry
2015 Final MLB Attendances + Analysis
Chuck Booth (Owner/Lead Analyst) Follow @chuckbooth3024
Follow The MLB Reports On Twitter Follow @mlbreports
Attendance was up 162, 221 fans over the 2014 total, or 0.2%. The same five teams topped over 3 Million fans in 2015 as did in 2014. Dodgers, Cards, Giants, Yankees and Angels.
Philadelphia lost almost 600K fans year over year – and were the MLB’s club with the worst fall.
Oakland had that distinction the AL – taking a hit of 235K – amongst their 1st non playoff year in 4 seasons.
The World Series Royals set an all time franchise record for attendance in 2015, and had the biggest climb at the turnstiles at +752K. The club rounded out the top 10 for the MLB as well.
The Mets had the best jump in attendance at 420K in the NL. The other teams to eclipse a 400K jump were the Toronto Blue Jays (419K) Houston Astros (401K). All 3 teams made the postseason. Read the rest of this entry
Sully Baseball Daily Podcast – November 10, 2015

Joeff Davis
Comedian and native of Kansas City Pat Brown joins the podcast.
We talked about her being a Royals fan living in New York City during the 2015 World Series among all the Mets fans. Pat also shared memories growing up in Kansas City, why she might be a championship good luck charm and how Bo Jackson was a viral star before there was an internet.
It is one more salute to the World Champions on this episode of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
Follow Pat Brown on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Get information on Pat Brown and her shows by clicking HERE.
And enjoy Bo Jackson scaling the wall.
MLB Scheduling 2016: Sept And Oct Of 2016
Ballpark Chaser Guides Links Courtesy of http://www.ballparkchasers.com:
Also do yourself a favor and read this blog on the 30 MLB Park Pass-Port here
Before You read the Month Schedule, here are 30 Links to Ballpark Chaser Guides, that will aid you in your road trip quests.
American League
AL EAST
Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY (New York Yankees)
Fenway Park, Boston, MA (Boston Red Sox)
Rogers Centre, Toronto, ON (Toronto Blue Jays)
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL (Tampa Bay Rays)
Oriole Park, Baltimore, MD (Baltimore Orioles)
AL CENTRAL
Comerica Park, Detroit, MI (Detroit Tigers)
U.S. Cellular, Chicago, IL (Chicago White Sox)
Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH (Cleveland Indians)
Target Field, Minneapolis, MN (Minnesota Twins)
Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO (Kansas City Royals)
AL WEST
Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA (Los Angeles Angels)
Rangers Ballpark, Arlington, TX (Texas Rangers)
Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX (Houston Astros)
Safeco Field, Seattle, WA (Seattle Mariners)
O.co Coliseum, Oakland, CA (Oakland Athletics)
National League
NL EAST
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA (Philadelphia Phillies)
Nationals Park, Washington, DC (Washington Nationals)
Marlins Park, Miami, FL (Miami Marlins)
Citi Field, Flushing, NY (New York Mets)
Turner Field, Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Braves)
NL CENTRAL
Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH (Cincinnati Reds)
Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI (Milwaukee Brewers)
Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL (Chicago Cubs)
PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA (Pittsburgh Pirates)
Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO (St. Louis Cardinals)
NL WEST
AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA (San Francisco Giants)
Petco Park, San Diego, CA (San Diego Padres)
Chase Field, Phoenix, AR (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Coors Field, Denver, CO (Colorado Rockies)
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA (LA Dodgers)
Also do yourself a favor and read this blog on the 30 MLB Park Pass-Port here












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