We have entered the second half of the season and teams are lining up to try and make some serious noise the rest of the summer. With us inching closer to the summer months, teams all over Major League Baseball will be putting on a show to improve their postseason resumes. With that, we have updated MLB futures picks after All-Star break, but has our World Series champion changed?
Yankees are slight favorites to win the World Series
To no one’s surprise, the Yankees are slight favorites to win the World Series, but the MLB odds are getting closer than ever. Right now, the Yankees are No. 1 with their +330 odds, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are right behind them at +340. These two teams figure to be neck and neck when it comes to the World Series Vegas odds the rest of the regular season.
The Yankees have cooled down a little bit since their unreal start. Meanwhile for the Dodgers, they have been red hot and playing like one of the best teams in the bigs. It would be a dream come true if these two sides were to face off in the World Series, but no one knows just yet if that will end up going down. It would be quite the final matchup, though.
For the Yankees, their streak of not winning the World Series is something that fans are sick and tired of. It’s been far too long since that ultimate glory was achieved. Meanwhile for the Dodgers, they just won things recently and they’re hoping to get the job done once again. Everyone thought they were going to win it last year, but the Atlanta Braves came out on top.
As we said above, the Yankees are the top dogs by the smallest of margins. From our chair, it would be a shock if they didn’t at least make it to the World Series and come out on top of the ALCS. With that said, the Dodgers are the hotter team right now and it doesn’t look like anyone is going to be able to get in their way. We’re going – for now – with the Dodgers to win the World Series.
Mets are barely hanging on in the NL East
In terms of just division, the Mets are barely hanging on in the NL East and this is going to be a fun ride the rest of the way. At the start of the season, New York was a lock to win the division. Now, though, they themselves have cooled off a little bit and the Braves are catching up to them. As of this writing, the Mets are 59-37 on the year and they hold a two-game lead on Atlanta.
However, the Braves have made up some serious ground on the Mets and they look ready to try and overtake first place sooner than later. For NY, they had their fans dreaming of a trip to the World Series thanks to such a brilliant start. Meanwhile for the Braves, they were struggling big time and no one knew if this team would even make it back to the playoffs.
Things have changed, though, and now it looks like Atlanta may have what it takes to come out on top of this race. Per the best rated sportsbooks, the Mets hold -175 MLB Vegas odds to win the NL East this year. However, the Braves are currently at +125. This really is going to be an entertaining battle the rest of the way and it could go either way. We’re going with the Braves to win the NL East, however.
Staying in the National League, the Brewers should win the NL Central despite the St. Louis Cardinals putting some pressure on them from the No. 2 spot. Milwaukee is a fun team to watch and they have star hitters and pitchers. The Cardinals feature the same, but there’s something missing – it’s hard to put your finger on it, but there’s a missing piece to the puzzle.
The Chicago Cubs are typically a team in the hunt, but they’re once again sellers leading up to the trade deadline. The big expectation is that star catcher Willson Contreras will be traded any moment now. He was seen hugging his teammates goodbye during his final home game at Wrigley Field before the trade deadline. It feels like there’s no chance he’ll play a home game there again.
It’s been a sad fall for the Chicago Cubs, but this is simply good news for the Brewers. The Brew Crew has what it takes to record a special campaign this year and all signs are pointing to them getting to the postseason via an NL Central title. Once they do make the playoffs, look for this team to make plenty of noise too. Yup, they’re our pick to win the NL Central.
With a background as a writer, Rodrigo has managed to bring together his hobbies and education writing sports content for various top-tier sites around the world.