Boston Red Sox are the Favorites to Win American League
The Boston Red Sox are the odds on favorites to represent the American League in the 2016 World Series.
Legendary Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz has announced his intention to retire following the 2016 season. Armed with a ton of young talent and an incredibly strong off season, the Red Sox are undoubtedly looking to send Big Papi into the sunset with another World Series ring.
In fact, the additions of David Price, Craig Kimbrel, Carson Smith and others have catapulted the Red Sox to the top of the American League hierarchy. According to the sports betting site Bovada, the Red Sox are the favorites to win the American League.
That’s right, the 78-84 team from last season has improved so much over the off season that they are the odds on favorites in the American League. Bovada has Boston listed as the third most likely team to win the World Series, giving them 9/1 odds. They trail only the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, who are both listed at 6/1.
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The defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals have the second-best odds in the American League at 14/1, and they are closely followed by the Toronto Blue Jays at 16/1 and the Houston Astros at 18/1.
It is not hard to see why everyone likes the Red Sox chances this season. Led by shortstop Xander Bogaerts and outfielder Mookie Betts, they are loaded with young position player talent. Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia bring veteran leadership while also still playing at a high level. Also, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval cannot be as bad as they were last season, can they?
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If the Red Sox can get Ramirez and Sandoval even close to where they were before joining the team last season, this offense will be elite.
As they were pretty much already set in the position player department, the Red Sox aggressively attacked the pitching market this off season. The addition of Price to stabilize the top of the rotation is absolute massive. Bringing in an ace like Price drastically improves the value of the entire rotation.
The additions in the bullpen were massive as well. Bringing in Kimbrel gives the Red Sox one of the best closers in baseball, but do not sleep on the acquisition of Smith. He is a great bullpen arm as well. Between Kimbrel, Smith, Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa, the Red Sox have the makings of an elite bullpen.
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Dave Dombrowski did an incredible job this off season of bringing in players who will immediately help his team win. The Red Sox are in an incredible position to compete next season, and everybody is taking notice. Do not be fooled by last season’s performance, the Boston Red Sox are back, and possibly better than ever.