National League Playoff Odds Favor Mets Getting Final Postseason Spot Over Cubs, Phillies

• The LA Dodgers are clear  favorites to make the postseason in the NL at -5000
• The NY Mets (+125) have the best odds to reach the postseason among the teams that missed out last year
• See the full odds plus best bets to make/miss the postseason in the National League come October 2020

With seven consecutive postseason appearances, the Los Angeles Dodgers already have the third-longest such streak in Major League Baseball history, behind the Atlanta Braves (14) and New York Yankees (13).

And there is little reason to believe they won’t make it eight come the fall, with the team looking to have the inside edge to October in the 2020 MLB Playoff odds.

2020 National League Playoff Odds

Odds taken February 18.

Laughing in La-La Land

Having won a franchise-record 106 games in 2019, the Dodgers braintrust went out and engineered a trade for 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox. He will pair nicely with fellow MVP, 2019 National League-winner Cody Bellinger, in the Dodgers outfield.

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Dodgers and Red Sox have agreed to a deal that would send star OF Mookie Betts and SP David Price to L.A., pending medical reviews.

Since the start of the 2016 season, Betts' 33.8 WAR in that span is 2nd in MLB to only Mike Trout. pic.twitter.com/9WmE6omvP0

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 5, 2020

Though the team lost some vital pieces this offseason, such as 2019 MLB ERA leader Hyun-Jin Ryu and fellow right-hander Kenta Maeda as part of the deal to facilitate Betts, there should easily be enough depth to overcome that. The also gained David Price in the Betts deal, and went out and re-signed Alex Wood, so the rotation should be just fine.

Dodgers prediction: playoff bound.

A Championship Mindset

After so many October flameouts, the Washington Nationals finally delivered on their huge promise in 2019 with the first World Series in franchise history.

Even in a competitive NL East with the rising Mets and Phillies to go along with the defending-champion Braves, the Nats should feel confident of returning to the playoffs in 2020. After all, this squad has made the postseason in five of the last eight seasons, so it knows how to get the job done.

Patrick Corbin’s 1st season as a Washington National:

• Career-high bWAR
• Tied career-high in wins
• World Series winner

• Warren Spahn Award winner#PattyIce // #FIGHTFINISHED pic.twitter.com/BZcLLAL9Be

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 12, 2019

While the Nationals lost third-baseman Anthony Rendon in the offseason, their offense should be able to pick up the slack. The team signed Eric Thames and Starlin Castro to help in that regard, and a healthier outlook for their three front-end starters (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin) will likely mean the team relying on its pitching to win a majority of games.

Nationals prediction: playoff bound.

New York’s Postseason Push

After just missing the playoffs with an 86-76 finish in 2019, the New York Mets know how close they were.

But despite getting another Cy Young season from ace Jacob deGrom, and a rookie-of-the-year campaign from first baseman Pete Alonso, the Mets were consistently let down by their bullpen, which blew 27 saves last year.

Dellin Betances continued his record-breaking season last night, by notching a K for the 34th consecutive relief appearance. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kxfDugijIn

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 29, 2018

So New York went out and signed Dellin Betances from the rival Yankees to help shore it up, but will be counting on bounceback seasons from Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson to turn the bullpen into a position of strength. The team’s playoff hopes are riding on it.

Mets prediction: playoff bound.

Cardinal Comedown?

The NL Central may well be the most wide-open division in baseball, but after winning it in 2019, the St. Louis Cardinals are no lock to repeat, and with the NL East possibly sending three teams to the postseason in 2020, it might be the Cards’ only chance to get back to the playoffs.

After losing outfielder Marcell Ozuna to the Braves in free agency, the Cardinals are in need of another middle-of-the-order bat to help replace some of the 89 RBIs he had in 2019. With just 764 runs last year, the Cardinals were in 10th place in the NL and behind the league average of 774.

Jack Flaherty has been lights out in the second half 🙌

Will he lead the @Cardinals to the NL Central crown today? #MLBTonight pic.twitter.com/XqDvqnzSPw

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) September 29, 2019

Without a bat to replace Ozuna, the team will be relying on its pitching staff once again, such as ace Jack Flaherty, who had a .93 ERA over his last 16 starts but was 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA overall. The Cardinals will need Flaherty to turn in his second-half 2019 performance for the entire 2020 season to have a hope.

Cardinals prediction: miss the playoffs.