Tagged: Dodgers

3 reasons why: Dodgers will win the World Series

As the 2016 season approaches, I will be taking a look at the 10 teams with the best odds of winning the World Series and examining three reasons why each team may ultimately hoist the trophy. Today’s team:

Dodgers (14/1 odds to win World Series): The Dodgers have won the National League West each of the past three seasons. It’s not getting to the playoffs that’s the problem – it’s winning once October comes around. The Dodgers did not have the best off-season and fans in Los Angeles are certainly frustrated, but all hope is not lost. The club didn’t make big splashes – the type of moves fans loves, even though they don’t always work out – but the Dodgers are still very solid and a projection of 91 wins, per FanGraphs, is nothing to scoff at.

Clayton Kershaw: Clayton Kershaw’s postseason struggles have been well documented, but in the regular season, there is no one better. Over the last five seasons, Kershaw has thrown 198 or more innings with an ERA of 2.53 or better. Of course, Kershaw is probably the only part of the rotation Dodgers fans aren’t worried about. The loss of Zack Greinke hurts, but if everyone stays fairly healthy, the Dodgers should have enough pitching to be playing meaningful games late in the season.

Young talent up the middle: After hitting .337 in 27 games for the Dodgers last season, 21-year old Corey Seager was recently named the top prospect in all of baseball. Although it’s unlikely he hits that well again, he’s certainly proven that he belongs in the Major Leagues. Seager has immense talent and a full season of him in the lineup could do wonders to the Dodgers offense. Of course, Seager isn’t alone. Joc Pederson exploded in the first half last season before struggling in the second half. The 23-year old hit .230 with 20 homers prior to the All-Star break, then hit just .178 with six blasts in the second half. However growing pains are part of the process and likely taught Pederson a bit about what it takes to persevere through a grueling 162-game schedule. With the youth of Seager and Pederson, couple with the veteran leadership of Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick, the middle of the Dodgers defense is in pretty good shape.

Veteran leadership: Players like Seager and Pederson can provide youthful energy, but veteran leadership is important to any postseason run. Chase Utley knows what it takes to win a ring and both Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez have plenty of experience as well. Resigning Howie Kendrick was also a big move for this category as Kendrick will undoubtedly help out the clubhouse.

AFL Opening Day: Mesa Solar Sox at Glendale Desert Dogs 10/13/15

The 2015 Arizona Fall League is officially underway and in addition to the articles I will be writing for mlb.com and mlbpipeline.com, I’m going to be adding some additional tidbits to the blog. These will be trends/players/plays that stood out, but that didn’t make it into any articles for one reason or another. This will also be a spot where I answer questions sent to me that I don’t get to on Twitter.

Notable Performances:

– Chad Pinder, Athletics No. 7 prospect, hit a pair of homers and finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Oakland’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and the Texas League Player of the year hit 15 homers this season and neither of his homers were cheapies. Wednesday was a strong start to the Arizona Fall League for Pinder as he hit the ball hard all afternoon.

– Dodgers No. 24 prospect Kyle Farmer didn’t show a lot of power during the year, so it was a bit surprising to see him pop one over the 380’ sign in left-center. Farmer also had a walk-off single. You can read more about him here.

Best Play:

– Renato Nunez, the sixth ranked prospect in the A’s organization, is still developing as a defender, but showed some flash in the second inning. Nunez, playing third, dove to his left and made a great stop on a hard-hit ground ball, but then rushed and made an errant throw across the diamond.

Nunez redeemed himself a bit in the fifth as he had to back up to field a big hop behind the bag and made the long throw with ease.

Worth Mentioning:

– Phillies 16th ranked prospect Andrew Knapp was named Philadelphia’s organizational hitting prospect of the year and showed why with a booming double off the left-center field wall.

– Brian Holmes, selected in the 13th round of the 2012 Draft by the Astros, isn’t on the club’s top-prospect list, but flashed some potential in his two innings of work. The left-hander struck out 115 batters in 101.1 innings this year so he has strikeout stuff, but struggled a bit with command in his two scoreless innings Tuesday.

– Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford went 1-for-4 and wasn’t all that impressive at the plate, but made a few athletics plays defensively. Pretty easy to see what all the hype is about.

– Corey Black, the No. 18 prospect in the Cubs organization had 101 strikeouts in 86 innings of AA this season so it’s obvious he has the stuff necessary to put hitters away. Black threw one inning Wednesday and struck out a pair.

Betting Odds for the 2015 Baseball Season

With Spring Training just about to begin, it’s that time of year where every fan base believes their team has a shot to win the World Series.

While some teams are more likely to win it then others, anything can happen and that’s what makes sports so enjoyable.

However, the odds of every team hoisting a trophy in late October are not all equal, which makes those surprise runs by teams no one saw coming all the more enjoyable to witness. But how do we know who the favorites and underdogs are? Well…

Bovada.com – a gambling website – has released its odds to win the AL, NL and World Series.

Bovada gives the Angels and Red Sox the best odds to win the AL, but the best odds to win the World Series are given to the Nationals and Dodgers.

Here’s a look at every team’s odds to win the World Series:

Washington Nationals 13/2

Los Angeles Dodgers 17/2

Boston Red Sox 10/1

Chicago Cubs 10/1

Los Angeles Angels 12/1

St. Louis Cardinals 12/1

San Diego Padres 14/1

Chicago White Sox 16/1

Detroit Tigers 16/1

San Francisco Giants 16/1

Seattle Mariners 16/1

Toronto Blue Jays 22/1

Oakland Athletics 25/1

Baltimore Orioles 28/1

New York Mets 28/1

New York Yankees 28/1

Cleveland Indians 33/1

Kansas City Royals 33/1

Miami Marlins 33/1

Pittsburgh Pirates 33/1

Houston Astros 50/1

Texas Rangers 50/1

Atlanta Braves 66/1

Cincinnati Reds 66/1

Milwaukee Brewers 66/1

Tampa Bay Rays 66/1

Arizona Diamondbacks 100/1

Minnesota Twins 100/1

Colorado Rockies 150/1

Philadelphia Phillies 150/1

Odds to win NL:

Nationals 13/4

Dodgers 19/4

Cubs 6/1

Padres 13/2

Cardinals 13/2

Giants 8/1

Mets 14/1

Pirates 14/1

Marlins 16/1

Braves 28/1

Reds 28/1

Brewers 33/1

Diamondbacks 50/1

Rockies 75/1

Phillies 75/1

Odds to win the AL:

Red Sox 11/2

Angels 11/2

White Sox 7/1

Mariners 7/1

Tigers 15/2

Blue Jays 10/1

Yankees 12/1

A’s 12/1

Orioles 14/1

Indians 14/1

Rangers 22/1

Astros 28/1

Rays 33/1

Twins 50/1

Quick Thoughts:

– I wonder when the last time the Mets and Yankees began the season with the same odds to win it all.

– Five of the top seven teams are in the NL, but three of bottom four are in NL as well.

– A World Series between the Angels and Dodgers isn’t too far fetched.

– In Bovada’s view, the NL appears to be top heavy, with the AL being the more balanced league. This is also reflected in the odds to win each league.

– The Cubs off season moves have certainly grabbed everyone’s attention.

– Not a ton of confidence in the Giants going back-to-back.