Ricky Dimon
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Another Major League Baseball season has come and gone, and although it took some twists and turns along the way it ended with an outcome that was not unexpected when it began: the Houston Astros are World Series champions. The Astros came up 2 wins short of the trophy in 2021, losing to the Atlanta Braves in the Fall Classic, but this time they got over the hump and Game 6 in Houston went their way against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
Now it’s time to turn our (very early) attention to the 2023 season. Will the Astros and Phillies make it back to the World Series? Can the perennially favored Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves restore order to the National League, or do the New York Mets have some playoff success up their sleeve?
We won’t definitively know the answer to those questions for a long time, but with the 2022 campaign now in the rearview there is no reason why we can’t start the discussion now.
2023 World Series odds
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Los Angeles Dodgers +500
Houston Astros +600
Atlanta Braves +800
New York Yankees +900
New York Mets +1000
Toronto Blue Jays +1200
San Diego Padres +1400
Philadelphia Phillies +1800
Seattle Mariners +2000
St. Louis Cardinals +2000
Tampa Bay Rays +2500
Chicago White Sox +3000
Milwaukee Brewers +3000
MLB 2023 World Series best bets
Houston Astros (+600)
Look no further than the fact that the Astros play in the American League to see why things set up nicely again for them in 2023. The World Series odds don’t reflect this to the extent that they should, but the AL is terrible compared to the NL. There are multiple reasons why the Astros have reached the ALCS 6 straight times and have advanced to the World Series 4 times during this stretch, and it’s not just because they are a great team. When the extremely flawed New York Yankees are the clear 2nd-best team in the league, you know the competition level is soft.
Justin Verlander may be gone next year, but as we just saw throughout the playoffs that Houston has a ton of young talent. The Astros should be the favorites, and when you can get them as a +600 choice it is a futures bet that should be made now.
San Diego Padres (+1400)
We wrote this same piece last fall and the Padres, who were also +1400 then, were one of our favorite futures bets. It didn’t hit, but they did win 2 playoff series – upsetting the Mets and Dodgers – to reach the NLCS. That’s not too bad, and they perhaps could have gone even farther if Fernando Tatis had not been lost for the season. Tatis will be back in 2023 to join a loaded lineup that also features Manny Machado and newly acquired Juan Soto. San Diego has plenty of starting pitching and Josh Hader is signed through next season to lead the bullpen, making this team extremely well-rounded.
I would not take any top National League team in the World Series market given how loaded the NL is; there just isn’t any value on the Dodgers or Braves at those odds when it’s so difficult to even make it out of the LCS. At +1400, though, there is value with the Padres.
Along with our MLB Futures picks, we offer expert MLB Picks, including our daily MLB Best Bets throughout the entire season.
