Chicago Cubs: Oddsmaker makes way-too-early World Series predictions
The Chicago Cubs didn’t play in this year’s World Series, but oddsmakers are already looking at who has the best odds to win it all come 2019.
Major League Baseball free agency kicks off this week. This week symbolizes the end for those who still can’t come to terms with the Chicago Cubs losing in the NL Wild Card game or the Boston Red Sox winning their fourth World Series since 2004.
This is the last nail in the coffin sealing 2018 in the history books (as if the others did not signal the season’s end). If you’re still harping on how this season played out, seek therapy– it’s over…get over it. This is nothing. Being a Cubs fan means enduring years upon years of ‘almost’. This week not only signals the very end of every part of last season but the beginning of “next year” another familiar phrase to long-time Cubs fans.
In that vein, one bookmaker decided to release early odds on who is going to win the 2019 World Series. The Cubs are predicted to do about the same as this year, with 12-to-1 odds – the fifth-best chance to win it all.
Fifth?
I would think the Cubs’ pitching and potential trades and signings to add offensive power would put them as one of the top three contenders for next year’s championship. We’ll talk more about the boys in blue later, but who did the bookie like more than your favorite North Siders?
Chicago Cubs: Oddsmaker picks tie for the top spot
At this point, in what can hardly be called a surprise, the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox rank as the World Series favorites.
I don’t buy it. No team has repeated as World Series champs since the Yankees did it from 1998 to 2000. Houston couldn’t do it. The last time Boston repeated was more than 100 years ago (1915-16). It’s no easy thing to repeat these days.
Teams that win it all have so many additional responsibilities and appearances to make, that their offseason goes by really fast. Before you know it, spring training games are beginning and you’re like, “I need some rest”.
Many critics believe this is what happened to the 2017 Cubs, deemed a “World Series hangover”. All season, Chicago players claimed not to be affected by the Series and only after losing in the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers admitted the stress.
Even a historically good team like Boston will find it near-impossible to go all the way and repeat. My guess is they’ll most likely wind up suffering a fate similar to the 2017 Cubs. I think Houston will slip further away from the championship and may not even make the postseason.
Chicago Cubs: Dodgers and Yankees poised for returns?
The Los Angeles Dodgers are favored next on the list with third-best chance to win the World Series and I’m scratching my head on that one.
Next year’s Dodgers ball club could look very different from the team that represented the National League in the World Series this month. The team could, in theory, lose Manny Machado, Brian Dozier and Yasmani Grandal to free agency.
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This team is going to get shaken up – even with its young core. The Dodgers will need to make strong offseason moves, similar to what they did last offseason (and even this summer), to get back to the World Series. Honestly, I don’t see the Dodgers making another deep run.
The other team in front of Chicago? The New York Yankees. Personally, I think the Yankees should rank number two on this list. Next year marks a full decade since the Bronx Bombers last won the World Series back in 2009. This marks the second-longest appearance drought in franchise history.
With a core that includes Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Miguel Andujar and even prospects Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier, it’s hard to not be high on this team.
The longest New York has gone before appearing in the World Series was a 15-year absence spanning 1981 to 1996. New York will not go 15 years again without another American League pennant. In short, expect New York to compete hard in 2019.
Chicago Cubs: Still, the second-best odds in the National League
The Cubs are listed as having the fifth-best odds of winning the World Series and, really, that’s not bad. However, in my biased opinion, I really think they will do much better; with a high expectation of going back to the Series.
When you look at the Cubs starters like Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana, Yu Darvish and (probably) Cole Hamels all coming back healthy in 2019, I think experience will be on the Cubs’ side; making them the team to beat. With some offensive-minded trading, Theo Epstein could lock in a few new bats that give the team a reloaded offense.
At least the oddmakers got something right on the list, as the Chicago White Sox sit sixth from the bottom on the World Series list.
If I was asked to forecast what might happen in next year’s World Series, I think other than my Top 5, many of my choices would be in the ballpark of the bookie. These are my Top 11 choices to win the World Series next year.
- Chicago Cubs
- New York Yankees
- Boston Red Sox
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Cleveland Indians
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Houston Astros
- Oakland Athletics
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Washington Nationals
- Arizona Diamondbacks
So many things can affect a season, like injuries (Yu Darvish), trades (Daniel Murphy) and contracts (Kris Bryant) that no one can be certain which team will take the World Series in 2019. Who do you think will win it all?