Taking a page from our buddy Scoop’s baseball handbook, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at how the Dodgers are projected to fare in Las Vegas, now that a few of the big names are off the free agent board.
Of course, there are several more high-impact players available—Craig Kimbrel, Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Gonzalez—but a signing likely won’t drastically change the current odds heading into Opening Day.
According to BetOnline via OddsShark, the Phillies have made a tremendous jump in the projections after signing Bryce Harper, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Dodgers as the NL favorites. There’s no question that Philadelphia will be an offensive powerhouse this year, but it just might be their starting pitching that keeps them from going deep into the playoffs.
Rounding out the Top 10 in the National league are the Cubs, Cardinals, Braves, Nationals, Brewers, Mets, Rockies and, believe it or not, the Padres.
\We all knew that San Diego was smack dab in the middle of a rebuild, but to be considered a Top 10 NL club by the betting houses is a huge step. Obviously, the addition of Manny Machado was the clincher, but their solid core of youth players should keep them in good position for many years to come.
Our old friend Farhan Zaidi, who has shown a propensity to willingly snag ex-Dodger players over the winter, certainly has his work cut out for him, as the Giants are sitting below the Padres. I wonder if he’s been on the phone with Josh Fields yet.
As one would assume, the lines in Vegas aren’t so friendly to the Dodgers in the early odds for capturing the 2019 World Series. Justifiably, there are two teams—the Red Sox and Yankees—who outclass everybody on the senior circuit. The Astros still remain in the mix, despite being a few ticks behind their Boston and New York counterparts in the talent department.
It’s interesting to see that while Boston opened as the clear-cut favorites, the bookies now have the Red Sox, Yankees and Astros at the exact same odds to win the 2019 crown. The Dodgers are in the fourth spot, with the Phillies slotting in the fifth spot.
To say the least, it should be intriguing to see how these tables change as the 2019 regular season progresses.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Well I see according to Vegas we are behind the AL’s big 3. That ought to cool a few jets for those who think the blue should be series favorites. We all look at the game through different eyes. Over all the years I have been a Dodger fan there have been many ups and downs and the good and the bad. The game is different today in so many ways and some, like me, although we acknowledge that today’s ballplayers are better athletes than most of the old guys, they are not necessarily better ballplayers. They are definitely not as fundamentally sound as back then. The game basically is a great game, but it has changed and not exactly for the better. The playoffs bring excitement to more cities than just the two series cities like it used to be, so that is good for the fans. But the rules need to be the same in both leagues. Over 40 years of the DH is enough of an experimental time period to know it works. It probably is time to have it in both leagues with the salary’s players make today. And the fact that the huge majority of pitchers in the NL cannot hit at all. It does change the strategy as far as pinch hitting and such. And it looks like after the test period and accumulation of data from the Atlantic league, there may be some even more drastic changes on the horizon. Definitely not the game of my youth. Over the next 6 months, there will be plenty of opinions on here as to how the season is progressing. If the team lives up to the hype, many will be happy. If they falter, some will say I told you so. It is all supposed to be good fun. To some it is more than that. Our time is getting shorter, so every non win takes on a different perspective to us. It is a failure of sorts to reach the pinnacle we have seen them reach before. But not in the last 30 years. I was 40 the last time they won. I would like to see another.
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I’ve got a bone to pick with you Bear. How dare you get behind a move to give the NL a DH. Any rule change that would take away the fun of watching Rich Hill in the batter’s box and, even better, running the bases, is not a good thing for baseball. First you tell Friedman to trade Puig (on second thought, maybe that was Rich, not you), and now you want to take away best thing we have left. No NL DH until Rich Hill retires!
Kenny Rosenthal reporting that the July deadline will now be the final date on which to make trades. No more August pickups. Although there weren’t any huge deals that I can remember last August there were a number of smaller transactions. That should make July even busier this year.
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Not my decision there old man. It is one of the things being discussed and if it is enacted it won’t be this year so you have all year to watch Dick Mountain hit since this is obviously going to be his final year in blue. I never told Ol Andy to do anything and trading Puig and Kemp would have been the last thing i would have suggested. I knew they were considering not having the non waiver dead line deals. You forgot that they traded for Freese the end of August and he was pretty impressive as a Dodger.
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Getting Freese was definitely a good move, but I still don’t consider it a major deal. But we’re talking a matter of degrees here.
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Since Ol Andy took over he has made at least 1 trade close to the August 31 deadline. The first was for Chris Heisey. He made another deal the same day and got Justin Ruggiano. In 2016 the only deal he made at the deadline was trading Ellis to the Phillies for Carlos Ruiz. 2017 he actually got Granderson in the middle of the month and did not get anyone else after that. Last year it was Freese and Madson. I cannot remember a major player being acquired at the end of August for a long time….actually I just looked it up. Last major trade at the end of August was in 2012 and it was the TRADE….Gonzo, Beckett, Crawford and Punto came to LA. But it was just before the end of the month.
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Bear thx for sharing your story about singing the anthem. What a great moment! Great memory!
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Glad you enjoyed it.
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Vegas has been pretty good at picking participants the last few years. Not that it’s all that difficult for them to name the favorite teams. The people who bet do that. The early money likes the Dodgers and Red Sox again. But the odds say the Dodgers win probabilities are like 12.5%. 7 or 8 to 1 depending on where you look. That’s like having the winning run on second and you send up Breyvic Valera to get the big hit. With the current Dodger team I don’t see them winning the World Series this year any more than I did last year. If they make it they aren’t likely to have home field and most certainly will be underdogs. But, barring a collapse they will be in the playoffs again. I think it’s cool knowing this. Beats what it felt like when Frankie No Nickels ran the team.
I would have loved it had we had traded for Realmuto and signed Harper, Keuchel and Kimbrel. But I didn’t expect it. The Dodgers are good enough to win the West and that’s good enough for management. That’s just how it is. I accept it for what it is. Let the games begin.
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I’ve always loved NL style baseball, but I have to admit the DH should extend into the NL. NL teams are at a disadvantage during the WS. The AL teams have a full time DH while the NL teams usually have a bench player at DH. The AL advantage also extends into negotiating long term contracts, I know the Phillies and the padres just signed two huge long term contracts, but where on the field are those guys going to play the last few years of the contract. I’ll be sad to see the DH coming, but it’s time.
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I hate it when you’re right scoop.
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Well fortunately for you Keith it don’t happen often. With this management team it seems clear what plan is. Compete. Give the team a chance. Maybe they’ll get lucky against the better teams.
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