Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Other betting lines and propositions to watch throughout the baseball season

Also in the Sun

Odds to win 2008 World Series:

(Las Vegas Hilton)

Red Sox 9-2

Mets 5-1

Yankees 6-1

Tigers 6-1

Cubs 7-1

Indians 10-1

Angels 14-1

Phillies 20-1

Dodgers 25-1

Blue Jays 30-1

Padres 30-1

Rockies 30-1

Brewers 25-1

Braves 30-1

Diamondbacks 30-1

Mariners 35-1

White Sox 40-1

Rays 50-1

Reds 50-1

Twins 60-1

Astros 75-1

Cardinals 75-1

Athletics 100-1

Rangers 100-1

Giants 100-1

Marlins 100-1

Pirates 150-1

Royals 300-1

Nationals 300-1

Orioles 500-1

The skinny: The odds on the Mets dropped to 5-1 after opening at 13-1 shortly after last year’s World Series, largely as a result of New York’s acquisition of left-hander and two-time Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana ... The odds on the Tigers dropped to 6-1 from 9-1 as the former perennial losers appear to have turned the organization around ... The odds on the Cubs dropped to 7-1 from an opener of 13-1. Future-book odds on the Cubs are always short in Las Vegas sports books, but this year bettors’ optimism is grounded in more than just hope the Cubs will mark the 100th anniversary of their last World Series championship with another title ... Among teams whose chances are going the other direction, according to oddsmakers and the betting public, the Athletics’ odds stand at 100-1 after opening at 40-1 — and hitting as high as 200-1 — as untested Oakland figures to be at least a couple of years away from contending ... The odds on the Twins rose to 60-1 from 20-1 after the Santana trade ... The odds on the Angels drifted up to 14-1 from an opener of 9-1 because ... well, hmmm, because, ahh, probably because the Mariners look decent in that division — but come to think of it, 14-1 on the Angels looks like a good price ... The odds on the Cardinals rose to 75-1 from 25-1. St. Louis looks like a team in transition after trading Scott Rolen and Jim Edmonds and having to deal with some injuries in the starting rotation.

Division championship odds (Palms)

NL East

Mets 1-2

Phillies 3-1

Braves 9-2

Marlins 30-1

Nationals 30-1

NL Central

Cubs 2-3

Brewers 12-5

Cardinals 15-2

Astros 19-2

Reds 8-1

Pirates 35-1

NL West

Dodgers 11-10

Rockies 3-1

Diamondbacks 14-5

Padres 4-1

Giants 25-1

AL East

Red Sox 5-6

Yankees even

Blue Jays 17-2

Orioles 50-1

Rays 30-1

AL Central

Tigers 5-7

Indians 7-5

White Sox 15-2

Twins 9-1

Royals 30-1

AL West

Angels 5-9

Mariners 3-2

Athletics 7-1

Rangers 14-1

The skinny: The Santana trade was good for the Mets and bad for division rival Philadelphia, as the odds on the Phillies went to 3-1 from an opener of 9-1 and the price on New York dropped to 1-2 from even money ... The Giants’ offense looks anemic post-Barry Bonds and so do their betting odds, which have risen to 25-1 from an opener of 8-1 ... As the Red Sox and Yankees fight it out for supremacy in the AL East, as usual, the odds on the Blue Jays drifted up to 17-2 from 11-2 ... Seattle’s odds have come down steadily from an opener of 7-2 to 2-1 to 3-2 as bettors suspect Erik Bedard and Felix Hernandez could lead the M’s to the playoffs. ... There’s no apparent interest whatsoever in the Marlins (30-1 after opening 8-1), Orioles (50-1 from 18-1) or Pirates (35-1 from 15-1).

Major league home run champion

(Partial list, top contenders from the Palms)

Alex Rodriguez 3-1

Prince Fielder 15-2

Ryan Howard 4-1

Albert Pujols 17-2

Mark Teixeira 16-1

Adam Dunn 11-1

Carlos Pena 15-1

Matt Holliday 10-1

Alfonso Soriano 11-1

David Ortiz 12-1

Ryan Braun 10-1

Miguel Cabrera 18-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Over/under 2008

regular-season home runs

(Las Vegas Hilton odds, a sampling of many players on the board)

Ryan Howard 44.5

Alex Rodriguez 43.5

Prince Fielder 39.5

Adam Dunn 38.5

Mark Teixeira 35.5

David Ortiz 34.5

Matt Holliday 34.5

Albert Pujols 34.5

Miguel Cabrera 34.5

The skinny: A-Rod led the majors last season with 54 home runs, a result that paid off bettors at 12-1. He beat out 2007 favorites Howard (6-1), Pujols (7-1) and Ortiz (8-1). This year the odds on Rodriguez dropped to 3-1 from an opener of 4-1 ... Fielder was runner-up with 50 homers, although his odds drifted up to 15-2 from an opener of 9-2 ... Bettors don’t expect a drop-off in production from Howard (47 homers last season), driving his odds down to 4-1 from 8-1 ... Pena was fourth in the majors with 46 homers in 2007, followed by Dunn with 40 ... There was a big move in the odds on Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, the NL rookie of the year who finished with 34 homers in only 113 games ... The odds on Alfonso Soriano have also dropped, from 20-1 to 11-1, as Cubs manager Lou Piniella experiments with his place in the lineup, most recently inserting the former leadoff hitter into the No. 5 spot.

Pitcher to have the most wins

(Partial list, top contenders from the Palms)

Josh Beckett 10-1

Justin Verlander 11-2

Chien-Ming Wang 5-1

Johan Santana 13-2

Brandon Webb 8-1

Felix Hernandez 8-1

Carlos Zambrano 11-1

Roy Halladay 11-1

Dontrelle Willis 14-1

John Smoltz 15-1

Chad Billingsley 15-1

Daisuke Matsuzaka 15-1

John Lackey 15-1

Dan Haren 17-1

Fausto Carmona 17-1

Roy Oswalt 17-1

Erik Bedard 18-1

Over/under 2008 regular-season wins

(Las Vegas Hilton odds, a sampling of many players on the board)

Josh Beckett 17.5

Brandon Webb 16.5

Justin Verlander 16.5

Jake Peavy 16.5

Chien-Ming Wang 16.5

C.C. Sabathia 15.5

Roy Halladay 15.5

Carlos Zambrano 15.5

Roy Oswalt 15.5

Erik Bedard 15

Daisuke Matsuzaka 15

The skinny: Despite a recent stint on the disabled list, Beckett remains a logical leading contender after leading the majors with 20 wins last season ... Wang (19 wins) and Verlander (18) also had their odds drop after they each opened at 10-1 ... Webb, the 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner, had a rough spring training but his opening odds of 18-1 did look a little high ... Bettors are looking for a breakout season from Hernandez after he went 14-7 a year ago, driving his odds down to 8-1 from an opener of 20-1 ... The most popular (former) long shots to lead the majors are Smoltz, who opened at 75-1, and Billingsley, who opened at 50-1.

Over/under season victories

(Consensus line)

Mets 93.5

Phillies 87.5

Braves 84.5

Nationals 71.5

Marlins 68.5

Cubs 87.5

Brewers 84.5

Reds 79

Cardinals 76.5

Astros 76.5

Pirates 70.5

Dodgers 87

Diamondbacks 86.5

Padres 84.5

Rockies 82.5

Giants 72

Red Sox 94

Yankees 93.5

Blue Jays 85.5

Rays 75

Orioles 66

Tigers 93

Indians 89.5

White Sox 79

Twins 75

Royals 72.5

Angels 91.5

Mariners 85.5

Rangers 76

Athletics 73

The skinny: The rebuilding Orioles, projected as perhaps the worst team in baseball, actually saw an uptick in their season-win total to a consensus line of 66 after opening at 64.5 at the Hilton in February ... The White Sox had a drop in their season-win total as bettors appeared unconvinced they will reverse their fall from grace after winning the 2005 World Series ... Also seeing slight drops were the Giants (opening line: 73 wins), Rangers (77) and Nationals (72.5).

Over/under 2008 regular-season hits

(Las Vegas Hilton odds, a sampling of top contenders)

Ichiro Suzuki 215.5

Chase Utley 200.5

Derek Jeter 198.5

Michael Young 198.5

Matt Holliday 197.5

Jimmy Rollins 196.5

Grady Sizemore 193.5

The skinny: Ichiro’s hit totals in his seven major league seasons: 242, 208, 212, 262, 206, 224 and 238. ... Holliday was runner-up to Ichiro in the majors last season with 216 hits. ... Rollins had 212 hits in his NL MVP season.

Over/under 2008 regular-season saves

(Las Vegas Hilton odds)

Francisco Rodriguez 39.5

Jonathan Papelbon 38.5

Bobby Jenks 37.5

J.J. Putz 36.5

Mariano Rivera 36.5

Trevor Hoffman 36.5

Joe Nathan 35.5

Jose Valverde 32.5

The skinny: Valverde had a major league-best 47 saves for Arizona before being traded to Houston ... Nathan recently signed a four-year, $47 million deal with Minnesota, and the Angels’ Rodriguez could be pushing for a similar contract. He can become a free agent after the 2008 season.

2008 major league regular-season mosts by any player

(Las Vegas Hilton odds, a sampling of major categories)

Home runs 51.5

Stolen bases 63.5

RBIs 146.5

Wins 20.5

Losses 18

Strikeouts 240.5

The skinny: Each figure is similar to the one posted before the 2007 season, when perhaps the most surprising result came in stolen bases, which went well “over” the total when Jose Reyes of the Mets finished with 78 steals.

Miscellaneous props

(A small sampling from the Palms)

More home runs: Ryan Howard -3.5, -145 vs. Prince Fielder +125

More home runs: Jimmy Rollins even money vs. Khalil Greene -120

More home runs: Vladimir Guerrero -145 vs. Magglio Ordonez +125

More hits: Miguel Cabrera -6.5, -160 vs. Mike Lowell +140

More hits: Derek Jeter -125 vs. Michael Young +105

More runs: Ichiro Suzuki -130 vs. Grady Sizemore +110

More runs: Chase Utley -175 vs. Brandon Phillips +155

Highest batting average by any player: over/under .3495

More doubles: Matt Holliday -155 vs. Alfonso Soriano +135

More doubles: Adrian Gonzalez +130 vs. Todd Helton -150 (All odds are subject to change or being taken off the betting board at any time.)

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