The baseball season is already halfway done.
By June 21, the Padres have played 79 games, and the Guardians have played 72. Most teams have crossed the halfway mark of their season by now. Let’s dive into how each division is shaping up, starting with the American League East.
This week, we look at gambling odds for who might win the AL East. The Orioles just visited Yankee Stadium and won two out of three games against the Yankees. The Yankees lead by half a game but both teams have a .662 winning percentage.
Is it just between these two teams? Let’s find out!
Yankees, 51-26 (-260)
Even without Gerrit Cole’s wins as a starter, the Yankees’ rotation has held strong. Luke Weaver has been a bright spot in their bullpen too. With players like Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, their offense looks solid. Giancarlo Stanton’s healthy power year adds depth to their lineup.
Fans might think this team won’t fade away anytime soon. The Yankees always get good odds because they are popular, but this team truly looks strong. They’ve managed without last year’s Cy Young winner for months and just got him back.
Expect them to make moves before the trade deadline since they haven’t won a World Series in 15 years—a long time for them!
In other divisions, I’d bet heavily on the Yankees right now, but not here in AL East.
Orioles, 49-25 (+160), 0.5 games back
The Orioles have an amazing farm system full of young talent ready to step up if needed. After getting swept in last season’s ALDS and with Corbin Burnes approaching free agency, it’s a good time for Mike Elias to bolster their pitching staff—like how the Rangers added Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer last season.
So far this year, they’ve gone 5-2 against the Yankees and 5-1 against the Red Sox—pretty intimidating! They’re defending AL East champs after all.
Their position players are doing great offensively and defensively so they don’t need major changes to stay competitive in the division race. But I do worry about their rotation and bullpen holding up unless they make some smart moves to add depth due to injuries affecting them.
Red Sox, 40-35 (+30000), 10 GB
The Red Sox are playing much better than expected thanks to contributions from their rotation and overall pitching staff—they’re even burning up basepaths! Credit goes to manager Alex Cora too.
But they won’t win this division; instead look at “to make playoffs” odds if you’re betting on them—the Yankees and Orioles are too strong for both to falter enough allowing Red Sox back from double-digit deficit.
Rays, 36-39 (+32500), 14 GB
We often believe Rays will overachieve despite slow starts—they usually do—but not this time around; they’re mediocre or worse this season!
They haven’t been more than three games over .500 all year; since May they’ve gone downhill (11-17). Their run differential (-70) suggests things could get worse before improving again—so don’t bet on them based on those longshot odds!
Blue Jays
,
35-39 (+27500),
14.5 GB
They’ve underperformed significantly—they’re way too many games behind especially needing two teams above them collapsing completely which seems unlikely here!
Don’t expect drastic trades involving stars like Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette yet selling some parts makes sense given current standings—it’s not NL Wild Card where third spot is seven games over .500 right now so avoid temptation betting here either!
My play: Orioles +250
I picked Orioles preseason sticking with them plus money—they play well head-to-head vs Yankees having deeper organizational depth handling possible injuries better e.g., Juan Soto/Aaron Judge injury scary for Yanks while Gunnar Henderson injury manageable due Coby Mayo waiting wings among others positions covered similarly too!
I believe Elias makes necessary moves shoring up depth repeating as AL East champs—not sure he stacks playoff rotation but focus here remains winning division which seems achievable thus my pick stands firm accordingly while predicting Yanks best non-divisional record overall eventually though!
