Smart bettors often take advantage of odds during the quiet months of particular sports’ off-seasons. We are in the predicting business, of course, and oftentimes it’s easier to predict off-season trades and free agency maneuvering than it is projecting actual games.
It’s why now, early November of 2019, is as good a time as any to make a futures bet on next year’s World Series.
Here are the top portion of the current 2020 MLB odds at MetroBet.us/Sugar:
Astros +550
Dodgers +550
Yankees +550
Braves +1200
Nationals +1200
Phillies +1400
Cardinals +1400
Red Sox +2000
Cubs +2000
Indians +2000
Those are some great odds on the Phillies, in particular. Any move they make this off-season will see those odds move to around +1100 at least, so get it now while the gettin’s good.
The Joe Girardi hire itself makes a Phillies play worthwhile.
Baseball is becoming like hockey, in that the days of a coach/manager that stays a decade in one spot are over. Fresh voices are needed in the clubhouse every three or four years.
One model for the Phillies is the Red Sox, who have won four World Series titles since the turn of the century. In three of those four World Series winning years, Boston had a manager in his first season in the dugout (Terry Francona in 2004, John Farrell in 2013, Alex Cora in 2018).
Girardi is being seen by most baseball experts right now as the perfect hire for the Phils. He is the perfect blend of old school and new school.
In addition, Bryce Harper has to be steaming at the moment given that his new team failed to meet expectations this season, and that his old team just won the title. If Harper is worth his salt, he will bust his ass like never before this winter and 2020 should be the best year of his career.
The play: Phillies +1400