Best bets to win the 2019 World Series
Bryce Harper signing with the Philadelphia Phillies this week gave the 2019 World Series odds one last significant shake-up before the season.
Here are the teams that offer the best value to win it all.
Favorite - Houston Astros (8-1)
In the five-way race of contenders with odds at +1000 or shorter (the Red Sox, Dodgers, Yankees, Phillies, and Astros), we're buying some Houston stock.
The Astros are projected to win 95-plus games. But why them over, say, the Yankees or Red Sox?
For starters, Houston is a virtual lock to win the AL West - anywhere from -400 to -700, in fact. We can already count the Astros in for October baseball, and then it just comes down to how deep their postseason run will be.
When a team wins 103 games during the regular season, it doesn't need much of a makeover. The Astros, however, still made a few solid moves, bringing in Michael Brantley and Robinson Chirinos to a lineup that features three MVP-caliber players (Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, and Carlos Correa). ZiPS is also projecting outfielder Kyle Tucker to make an impact.
The pitching depth is concerning beyond Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, but Houston has been getting a lot out of its back-end starters. The bullpen should also perform well above league average.
The Yankees added pieces over the winter to an already dangerous core. The Red Sox are the defending champions, and the same team that whipped the Astros in five games last October. Houston still belongs alongside those two teams, which is why we're taking the club with the more attractive price.
Underdog - Washington Nationals (20-1)
How comical would it be if the Nationals, a franchise that consistently underwhelmed with Harper, win a title in their first year without the superstar slugger?
The Nationals aren't better without Harper, but they're one of few teams that could lose a player of his caliber and still survive. ZiPS projects left fielder Juan Soto, third baseman Anthony Rendon, and shortstop Trea Turner as top five players in baseball at their positions. After that, Victor Robles, Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Eaton, Yan Gomes, and Brian Dozier round out a solid lineup.
The drawback of choosing a National League team in this price range is the path to the postseason, with both the Central and East stacked. The upside for the Nationals? Max Scherzer toeing the rubber in any one-game playoff.
And we like our chances in that scenario.
Long shot - Minnesota Twins (50-1)
This has been a pro-Twins platform throughout the offseason. We feel Minnesota is a threat to the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central and built to shatter the team's win total of 84.5.
The Twins' ceiling is high. Their lineup features plenty of breakout potential (Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario, and Miguel Sano), a slugger in Nelson Cruz, and the versatile Marwin Gonzalez.
There isn't much star power in the rotation outside of Jose Berrios, but perhaps Target Field, one of the most pitcher-friendly parks in the majors, will play to the strengths of Minnesota's pitching.
We've been conducting the Twins' hype train all winter. It only makes sense that they're our long shot.
Alex Kolodziej is theScore's betting writer. He's a graduate of Eastern Illinois who has been involved in the sports betting industry for 11 years. He can quote every line from "Rounders" and appreciates franchises that regularly wear alternate jerseys. Find him on Twitter @AlexKoIodziej.