Have the Jays done enough this off-season? The smart money says they have not.
Update found at the bottom of the article
Below are pre-season odds for the 2014 World Series via Bodog.
Note: After last years off-season flurry of transactions, the Jays ranked 6th overall.
| Team | Odds to win the 2014 World Series Odds to Win 2014 WS |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 7.00 |
| Detroit Tigers | 9.50 |
| Washington Nationals | 11.00 |
| Boston Red Sox | 13.00 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 13.00 |
| New York Yankees | 15.00 |
| Texas Rangers | 15.00 |
| Los Angeles Angels | 17.00 |
| Atlanta Braves | 19.00 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 19.00 |
| Oakland Athletics | 19.00 |
| San Francisco Giants | 19.00 |
| Seattle Mariners | 21.00 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | 23.00 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 26.00 |
Toronto Blue Jays |
29.00 |
| Baltimore Orioles | 34.00 |
| Chicago Cubs | 34.00 |
| Cleveland Indians | 34.00 |
| Kansas City Royals | 34.00 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 34.00 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks | 41.00 |
| Chicago White Sox | 41.00 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 51.00 |
| San Diego Padres | 51.00 |
| Colorado Rockies | 67.00 |
| New York Mets | 67.00 |
| Minnesota Twins | 76.00 |
| Miami Marlins | 101.00 |
| Houston Astros | 201.00 |
As we can see, Toronto is now considered a middle of the pack team, ranking 16th, just behind the Pirates and in-front of the Orioles. Eight AL teams rank ahead of Toronto, including three from the AL East (Boston/NY/Tampa).
Personally, I have a hard time arguing with the above odds. Sure, the Jays will (well, hopefully) receive a full season of Jose Reyes. Many also expect R.A. Dickey to bounce back and put together a full year of productivity. Yet, wild cards exist such as a thin rotation, an aging Buehrle, and X-factor players such as Rasmus, Lawrie & Morrow. And Jays play in the AL East, baseball’s toughest division.
As I talked about earlier in the off-season, the key to the Jays success is finding a way to win against the AL East. They haven’t been able to do since Anthopoulus took over (.511 winning % outside of East, .449% within the division). Will they find a way to turn things around in 2014?
Of course, this is all just mere speculation heading into the 2014 season. We can bring out as many projection systems as we want, but as last seasons Jays pre-season odds indicate, we’re all just making educated guesses.
The highs of the 2013 off-season, the lows from this year; maybe the truth is somewhere in-between.
What do you think of the pre-season odds? Do you see any teams that the Jays should be ahead of or behind from the above list?
UPDATE – Feb 28th
The Bodog lines, which move back and forth depending on incoming bets, have recently been updated.
The Jays see their odds drop, from the previously mentioned 29 to a current 33/1.
Despite two high profile free agent moves, the Orioles only edged up a hair, from 34/1 to 33/1.
The three remaining AL East teams (Rays, Sox, Yanks) are all coming in at 12/1.
Sources: Odds via Bodog, Image via Google Images
