Padres Acquire Snell and Darvish, World Series Odds Still +1000
- The San Diego Padres have acquired starting pitchers Blake Snell and Yu Darvish
- With the recent flurry of moves plus their success last season, is San Diego worth a wager?
- See the current odds to win the World Series in 2021
Following their first postseason action since the 2006 season that saw the Padres lose the NLDS to the heated rival Dodgers, San Diego has attempted to close the gap in the NL West by acquiring 2018 AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Rays and four-time all star Yu Darvish from the Cubs.
Adding those veteran hurlers to the pitching staff that had the third best earned run average in the National League in 2020 should pose a formidable squad that already features superstars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. Despite their moves, the Padres 2021 World Series odds are still behind the Dodgers and the Braves in the National League, and they also trail the Yankees.
Now that they’ve acquired the two starting pitchers in addition to reportedly signing Korean shortstop and hot commodity Ha-Seong Kim, should you scoop up the Padres’ odds now before they go even lower or is there another team worth investing a wager in for the upcoming season?
Odds to Win 2021 World Series
| Team | Odds |
|---|---|
| Dodgers | +430 |
| Yankees | +550 |
| Braves | +900 |
| Padres | +1000 |
| White Sox | +1000 |
| Rays | +1600 |
| Mets | +1700 |
| Astros | +1800 |
| Twins | +1800 |
| Athletics | +1900 |
Odds as of Dec. 29 at FanDuel.
Padres Going All-in
It wasn’t that long ago that the San Diego Padres were a laughingstock, having posted nine straight losing seasons and not earning a postseason berth since 2006. After signing Manny Machado, many scoffed that he went where the money was and didn’t care about winning. That hasn’t been the case, with the team mortgaging their future with deals to win right now.
The Padres acquired Blake Snell and Yu Darvish while keeping six of their top seven prospects entering the day, all of whom will likely be on the 2021 @BaseballAmerica Top 100.
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) December 29, 2020
Adding two arms to their staff to mitigate the presumptive loss of Mike Clevinger for the season is massive to augment their dynamic offense that produced the fourth most home runs and third highest runs batted in MLB last season.
Not only will the offense be aided by a strong staff, but top pitching prospect and third-overall pick in 2017 MacKenzie Gore is expected to contribute this season as well.
As I was saying:
Padres rotation 2021:
Darvish
Snell
Lamet
Paddack
Gore/Lucchesi/Morejon/WeathersPadres rotation 2022
Darvish
Snell
Lamet
Clevinger (!)
Paddack
Gore/Lucchesi/Morejon/WeathersGore may be the best pitching prospect in baseball and doesn't have a clear spot. https://t.co/FOcrNAGkd4
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 29, 2020
After going 4-and-6 against the Dodgers last season, and then getting swept by them in the NLDS, it was time for GM AJ Preller to push all his chips into the middle this year after years of rebuilding. They’ve done just that, and at +1000 odds, there’s still some value in wagering on them.
Can San Diego Unseat Dodgers and Braves?
With the Braves not losing anyone of note and adding Charlie Morton from the Rays, it’s not like the Padres will have an easy route through the National League towards a World Series title. With the Braves only winning two more games than San Diego last year, their +900 odds compared to the Padres +1000 to win it all seems appropriate.
Sources: The San Diego Padres are going to be a very good baseball team next season.
— Danny Vietti (@DannyVietti) December 29, 2020
The Dodgers may lose Justin Turner and Joc Pederson in free agency but should gain David Price who sat out last season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and with their incredible team and ability to churn out championship caliber rosters every year, the Padres will be in tough. Seeing as how LA is at +430 to win the World Series and the Padres are much higher at +1000 and how both teams are very similar, it makes more sense to take the extra value with the Padres in this case.
No team has repeated as World Series champion since the 2000 Yankees, so expecting the Dodgers to do so again is a tall order in a wildly competitive National League.
Pick: Padres to win World Series (+1000)
Michael "Hound Dog" Harrison is well known in the sports industry as the resident statistician for the SC with Jay Onrait Show. He has worked at TSN for over 16 years, where he's been featured on Sportscentre, That's Hockey, That's Hockey 2Nite, The Masters preview shows, and several more.
