The 2010 Major League Baseball regular season gets underway this week with a full slate of games on the schedule. Every American League team has a dream of making it all the way to this year’s World Series, but in reality there are only a handful of teams that actually have a chance. Here is a look at my top four teams in the AL on Opening Day and their currents odds to win the AL Pennant and the World Series.
New York Yankees Odds to win the AL Pennant 2-1 World Series 14-5
The defending 2009 World Series Champion’s roster has remained fairly intact from last year with the exception of the loss of Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. In their season opener on Sunday night against Boston, their ace C.C. Sabathia got roughed up a bit in a 9-7 loss, but still leads a very potent rotation that includes Andy Pettitte and A.J. Burnett. With players such as Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez providing the offense this team is primed to win it all again.
Boston Red Sox Odds to win the AL Pennant 11-4 World Series 11-2
In an effort to close the gap with the Yankees this offseason, the Red Sox added P John Lackey to the rotation. Along with Josh Becket and Jon Lester now are as deep as anyone. Becket got roughed up as well in the opener, but is still the ace of this staff and much of their success this season will rest on his shoulders. Offensively they are just as deep with the likes of Adrian Beltre, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and Jacob Ellsbury. With the overall talent on this team it should be race right down to the wire in the AL East.
Chicago White Sox Odds to win the AL Pennant 6-1 World Series 12-1
If Mark Buehrle continues to pitch as well as he did in their 6-0 win in their home opener against Cleveland, the White Sox are in for a very good season. Along with Jake Peavy and Gavin Floyd, their starting pitching can be just as solid as New York or Boston. The only question will be how well will their bullpen hold up over the course of the season? The overall team has a new look with numerous roster changes from last season’s team. Some of the new faces include Mark Teahen, Alex Rios, Omar Vizquel, and Andruw Jones. If everything comes together quickly for this team, look for them to be back on top in the AL Central
Los Angeles Angels Odds to win the AL Pennant 6-1 World Series 14-1
The Angels lost John Lackey to Boston this past offseason, so Jered Weaver was the starter in their home opener against Minnesota. In a solid outing he gave up three runs in six innings and the Angels went onto win 6-3. Joining him in the starting rotation are Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana. Lackey will be sorely missed but the overall staff is still good enough to minimize the impact. One of their biggest off season additions, Hideki Matsui already paid huge dividends in the opener with a home run and two RBI’s. With Kendry Morales, Bobby Abreau, and Tori Hunter there is more than enough talent for LA to make a run at winning a third straight AL West title.
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