The Houston Astros enter the 2020 season looking to secure the AL West pennant for the fourth consecutive season. Though the success of the franchise was without a doubt tarnished by the sign stealing scandal, if you ain’t cheating you ain’t trying; can I get an Amen!? Linemakers are trying to make MLB bettors believe that the AL West is nothing but a two-horse race with the Astros and Oakland A’s the chosen sides to potentially each qualify for the postseason. But in this shortened regular season, anything can go and both the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers have the rosters in place to pull off a shocker. The only given is that the Seattle Mariners will be losing quite a few divisional games. With that, let’s take a deep dive into the AL West futures odds and see what they have to tell about how the division will stack up when it’s all said and done.
AL West Betting Odds
Houston Astros -167
Oakland A’s +275
Los Angeles Angels +550
Texas Rangers +1600
Seattle Mariners +10000
Houston Astros -167
Most talking heads are playing the Incredible Hulk card with the 2020 Astros in believing you don’t want to make them mad. The saying goes you won’t like them when they’re mad. Be that as it may, Jose Altuve and company deserve all that comes their way in the form of heckling. That said, the coronavirus changed all that with fans likely not going to be in the stands any time soon. So, it’s definitely within reason to believe that Houston doesn’t skip a beat. Or they fall flat on their face and allow another division member to take their place in the second season. Easier said than done with Alex Bregman pacing the offense and Justin Verlander now the defacto ace with Gerrit Cole doing his thing in Gotham. That could all change in an instant should a bitter pitcher decide to take his frustrations out on a key member of the team. Remember, the players were all granted immunity for testimony, and that to this day hasn’t sat well with the fans or opposing players and managers. If you could find odds on Houston not making the playoffs, I’d throw some beer money on the prop just to make things interesting.
Oakland A’s +275
The A’s enter 2020 off back-to-back 97 win seasons that saw it all come to a crashing end in the American League Wild Card play-in game. Crushing defeats to both the Yankees and Rays in those games have let Oakland know it must be better to guarantee itself a shot at winning the franchise a World Series for the first time since 1989. Marcus Semien was nothing short of a superstar a season ago. Matt Chapman had his coming out party. Ramon Laureano has one of the best outfield arms in the game, and Matt Olson is a home run hitting fixture at first base. Each and every one of them returns for Bob Melvin to utilize. Most exciting however is the youth movement the starting rotation will go through with the trio of Frankie Montas, Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk ready to compliment veterans Mike Fiers and Sean Manaea. The league’s No. 4 ranked bullpen is also in tow. Should Houston regress terribly, Oakland will be right in its rearview mirror looking to pounce. It would however be nice to see Billy Beane open up the purse strings for once and acquire a difference maker at the trade deadline to put the team over the top.
Los Angeles Angels +550
Though Mike Trout is worried about partaking in the 2020 season due to the coronavirus and his wife set to have a baby, you can’t help but think the AL’s reigning MVP will be in attendance when the Angels hit the field later this month. How could he not after GM Billy Eppler threw $245M at Anthony Rendon to give him the compliment he’s clamored for at the top of the order for years? On top of that, a 100 percent Shohei Ohtani is expected to both hit and pitch once again this season. Though the offense looks stacked, it might need to score a ton of runs due to the fact that it’s starting staff is by far the least imposing of all the AL West’s potential contenders. If looking to peg an “Over” team this season, you just might’ve found it here with the Halos. Anaheim is going to put tons of runs on the scoreboard, but it might give them up just as quickly.
Texas Rangers +1600
The Rangers will be breaking in a new stadium this season. It will also have a few fresh faces in the starting rotation in hopes that they bring some normalcy to a unit that was forced to utilize 19 different pitchers a season ago. Save for Mike Minor and Lance Lynn, Texas’ pitching staff was the main reason why it ended up six games under .500 overall to finish third in the AL West for the second time in the last three seasons. The issues look to have been rectified this past offseason with the trade to bring in Corey Kluber as well as the free agent acquisitions of Kyle Gibson and Jordan Lyles. Unfortunately, it’s the offense that leaves a bit to be desired with it needing at least one more impact bat to put it over the top; GM Jon Daniels did his best to land Anthony Rendon but lost him to a division rival. The defense also committed a ton of errors last season which will also hinder the ‘Gers from winning the division pennant for the first time since 2016.
Seattle Mariners +10000
Years of poor drafting and costly free agent acquisitions that never panned out find the M’s destined for another basement finish in the AL West. Having finished no better than second place in the division twice since 2001 – the last time Seattle went to the playoffs – another long season looks to be in store for the team located in the Pacific Northwest. The team’s biggest free agent acquisition this past off season was Taijuan Walker who is nothing if not another highly touted Seattle prospect that never panned out. The M’s might just be the worst team in the American League; and yes, I’m taking both the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers into account when making that statement. At least the future looks bright!
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