Updated World Series Odds After League Settles on 60-Game Season and Regular Playoffs

• MLB has implemented a plan that will see a 60-game regular season starting July 24th
• Which clubs offer sound value as far as World Series bets go?
• See the latest odds and betting analysis, below

Play ball!

The deal is done between MLbPa and Mlb on health and safety protocols. Game on

— Karl Ravech (@karlravechespn) June 24, 2020

Now that the hard part is over, it’s time to get down to the business of picking a World Series champion.

As is so often the case with these negotiations, there was acrimony. When the players refused to play ball, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally implemented the owners’ plan (a power granted to him by the parties’ March accord). The 2020 regular season will be comprised of 60 games for each team beginning July 24th.

Plans for an expanded, 16-team postseason format similar to how the Stanley Cup playoffs are conducted in the NHL were scrapped. Postseason play will be the same 10-team affair that has been in place since 2012.

The are two main questions that arise out of this: What took them so long? And, more importantly, which teams look to be the best bets for the 2020 World Series?

2020 World Series Odds

Odds taken June 23rd.

The 2020 campaign will be the shortest in baseball history. Previously, the strike-shortened 109-game 1981 season claimed that record.

Dodgers Won’t Be Blue

Over the past three seasons, the Los Angeles Dodgers have nothing beyond a pair of World Series losses to show for their excellence. They’ve kept their core virtually intact while adding 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts and 2012 AL Cy Young-winner David Price.

If there is an MLB agreement the biggest problem will not be too few games or too many playoff teams. It will be completing whatever number of games there are amid a pandemic. The common enemy has not changed: The virus.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) June 17, 2020

According to MLB.com, the Dodgers possess the third-best farm system in baseball. That will be vital with expanded rosters and injury/illness expected to run rampant.

Yankees Will Be a Hit

When ball players sit idle, offense tends to find its mojo before the pitching can get into a groove. That will be of huge benefit to big-hitting teams like the Yankees.

The Bronx Bombers clouted 306 homers last season, one off the MLB lead. In the offseason, they added the ace arm of reigning MLB strikeout leader Gerrit Cole.

Stay Away from …

Yes, the Washington Nationals are defending World Series champions. They also started the 2019 season 19-31. In a 60-game season, a slow start will be fatal.

Waiting on an Astros player to tweet tell us when and where the pitch is coming

— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) June 16, 2020

Caught up in a sign-stealing scandal, the reigning AL champion Houston Astros figure to get scrutinized at every turn. That stress will wear them down. And does anyone think there’s an MLB umpire who’ll be looking to give the Astros the benefit of the doubt?

Some Value Here

The Tampa Bay Rays are sneaky good. They always seem to hang around, even if they never get over the hump. They’ve got lots of pitching, MLB’s best farm system, and a beefed-up batting order thanks to the addition of Hunter Renfroe, Jose Martinez, and Japanese slugger Yoshitomo Tsutsugo.

Several high-profile players are saying they respect #MLB's decision to still have a 60-game season after they turned down MLB's proposal early in the day, fearing their season would be reduced to 48-52 games or no season at all.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 23, 2020

In San Diego, the Padres are an intriguing young team with baseball’s no. 2 prospect pipeline. Sixteen playoff teams probably got them in. Can they make it with just 10?

Taking The World Series

In that shortened 1981 season, the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series. History will repeat itself this year.

I see a lot of people questioning whether or not the World Series counts this year. To me it’s simple. If the Yankees win, it counts. If they don’t, it doesn’t. Not that hard

— Dan Rourke (@DanAlanRourke) June 17, 2020

Except this time, its the Yankees who win it all.

Pick: New York Yankees (+325)