The first half of the season is over and the second half is nearly here. The All-Star break was a fun time for players to take a much-needed break, but once Friday starts, it’s going to be intense. The trade deadline is on July 30 which means we’re about to see a lot of players moved in the next two weeks (Tarik Skubal? Vladimir Guerrero Jr.? Jazz Chisholm?). Anyways, I took a deep dive into the futures mark et and found three best bets that I absolutely love. Let’s get right into it!
AL East to be the American League Winning Division (-105)
To clarify this, a team from the American League East must win the American League. There are 15 teams in the American League and 6 of them will advance to the postseason. Three will come from winning their respective division and 3 will come from earning a Wild Card spot. Here's the good news: unless the unthinkable happens, there will be 2 American League East teams in the postseason. The Yankees and Orioles are in a dogfight for first place in the AL East and whichever team finishes as the runner-up will almost certainly earn a Wild Card spot. FanGraphs is giving the Yankees a 97.8% chance and the Orioles a 96.1% chance to make the postseason.
In addition to them, I'm expecting the other 4 teams to be the Guardians, Twins, Astros, and Red Sox. In my opinion, the Yankees and Orioles could beat any of those 4 teams in a 3, 5, or 7 game series. The oddsmakers agree, considering they have the Yankees and Orioles as the top 2 teams to win the American League with the Twins and Guardians farther back. Plus, if the Red Sox make the postseason, that gives us a 50% chance of winning this bet! I think the Orioles will win the AL, but if not, it's great value to get the Yankees as a backup.