World Series 2019: Prediction, Odds For MLB Playoffs With Yankees, Dodgers, Astros As Top Contenders

The regular season is over and 10 teams have reached the 2019 MLB playoffs. That number will be cut to eight in just a few days following the Americal League and National League wild-card games.

The Houston Astros and Los Angeles Dodgers are the clear betting favorites to meet in the World Series for the second time in three years, finishing atop the overall standings with more than 105 wins apiece. The New York Yankees are the only other team in baseball with better than 5/1 championship odds.

The Atlanta Braves are the fourth and final team with better than 10/1 World Series odds. Every wild-card team has 15/1 odds or higher.

Here are the complete 2019 World Series betting odds, as well as a prediction for the playoffs:

Top Contenders: Houston Astros (+210), Los Angeles Dodgers (+275), New York Yankees (+425)

The idea that the baseball playoffs are a crapshoot hasn’t proven to be true over the last few seasons. The Boston Red Sox led MLB with 108 wins before winning the 2018 World Series. A No.1 seed from the AL or NL has won the title in each of the last four years. The last three champions have averaged 104 victories.

The Astros, Dodgers and Yankees have been in a class of their own for most of the year. Houston won an MLB-high 107 games, led by the top-two AL Cy Young candidates. Los Angeles had the NL’s best record for the last four and a half months, boasting baseball’s best ERA with the top MVP candidate in Cody Bellinger. New York only won 103 games because they took their foot off the gas pedal in the season’s final week, cruising to the AL East title with the sport’s top-ranked offense.

Other Division Winners: Atlanta Braves (+750), St. Louis Cardinals (+1000), Minnesota Twins (+1500)

The Braves, Cardinals and Twins make up MLB’s second-tier contenders. Atlanta will have home-field advantage in the division series against St. Louis. Minnesota faces a tough matchup in the ALDS, forced to play on the road against the Yankees in Game 1.

Atlanta actually gave Los Angeles a better race for the No.1 seed than expected, winning 97 games and repeating as NL East champions. The Braves proved that last year’s division title was no fluke, led by some of baseball’s best young players. St. Louis won the NL Central with MLB’s fifth-best ERA and the fourth-best offense in the NL after the All-Star break. Minnesota won 101 games, bludgeoning opponents with a record 307 home runs.

Wild-Card Teams: Washington Nationals (+1500), Oakland Athletics (+1600), Milwaukee Brewers (+2200), Tampa Bay Rays (+2500)

Recent history says its highly unlikely that a wild-card team will win the title. The San Francisco Giants beat the Kansas City Royals in the 2014 World Series in a matchup of two wild-card teams, marking the only time that a wild-card team has even reached the Fall Classic since the playoff format was changed in 2012. There have been two wild-card champions in the last 15 years.

Washington was as good as anyone over the season’s final 112 games, playing at a 107-win pace during that span. With the second-best rotation in the NL, the Nationals have the same odds as the Twins, who don’t need a win to reach the division series. The Athletics have the same number of wins as the Braves, and the Rays won more games than the Cardinals. The Brewers won 18 of 19 games before the season’s final weekend to get into the playoffs.

World Series Prediction: Dodgers over Yankees

The Yankees can overcome the Astros’ dominant starting pitching with an outstanding backend of the bullpen and MLB’s top lineup. With +475 odds, they might be the best value bet to win the World Series.

But 2019 has felt like the Dodgers’ year from the start. Los Angeles has the league’s best position player and the best pitching in baseball. Three-fifths of the Dodgers’ rotation ranks in the top nine in ERA. After falling short in each of the last two World Series, L.A. will finally get over the hump to win their first championship in 31 years.