The Philadelphia Phillies are favored to win the World Series as the Major League Baseball postseason begins Tuesday, although who their biggest threat may be is varied among sportsbooks.
After winning the National League East by 13 games and posting 96 victories during the regular season, the Phillies open the postseason as the +425 World Series champion favorite at DraftKings and stand at +450 at BetMGM, BetRivers and FanDuel.
BetRivers is the only one of the four to have the Los Angeles Dodgers as co-title favorites, with BetMGM offering the NL West champions at +500. However, DraftKings is offering the Seattle Mariners at +450 ahead of the Dodgers at +500, while FanDuel has both teams at +550.
The reigning champion Dodgers are the only team among the favorites who have to endure the wild-card round, with their series against the Cincinnati Reds beginning Tuesday. The Reds, who qualified on the final day of the regular season, have the longest odds at each of the books.
WORLD SERIES CHAMPION ODDS*
Philadelphia Phillies (+425)
Seattle Mariners (+450)
Los Angeles Dodgers (+500)
Toronto Blue Jays (+750)
Milwaukee Brewers (+750)
New York Yankees (+800)
San Diego Padres (+1400)
Chicago Cubs (+1500)
Detroit Tigers (+1800)
Boston Red Sox (+2200)
Cleveland Guardians (+3000)
Cincinnati Reds (+3500)
*DraftKings
The Brewers won the NL Central with an MLB-leading 97 victories. However, they are not among the top three favorites at any of the four books, with their shortest odds being +700 at BetRivers and FanDuel.
Milwaukee has only the sixth-shortest odds among the 12 playoff teams at BetMGM, where they are +800 behind the Phillies, Dodgers, Mariners, Yankees and Blue Jays. That sets the Brewers up as a potential loss for the book, where they are currently the biggest remaining World Series liability.
The Dodgers have drawn the most total World Series champion bets (11.5 percent) and money (19.7 percent), while the Brewers have been backed by the second most money with 10.3 percent.
The Phillies have been supported by the second most total bets (10.4 percent) and third most money (9.9 percent).
“The Dodgers and Brewers are two of the most popular bets to win the World Series,” BetMGM senior trader Halvor Egeland said. “Surprisingly, the Yankees winning it all would be the best outcome for the sportsbook.”
Among the wild-card series, the Dodgers are the biggest favorites at -175 to eliminate the Reds (+145) at BetMGM. The Tigers are -165 to get past the Guardians (+140) despite Detroit’s late-season collapse, while the Yankees are -130 to eliminate bitter rival Boston (+110) and the Cubs are slight -115 favorites to end the Padres’ (-105) season.
Predictably, the Dodgers have been the most popular wild-card pick, drawing 67 percent of the total bets and 83 percent of the money to eliminate the Reds.