MLB betting: As Yankees odds continue to drop, should you buy low or stay away?
With the MLB All-Star break inching closer, the New York Yankees find themselves in an unfamiliar position.
At 41-38, the Yankees are in fourth place in the American League East, 7.5 games behind the rival Boston Red Sox, who sit in first place after completing a three-game sweep of the Yankees over the weekend.
The Yankees then dropped a fourth-straight game, this time to the Los Angeles Angels, on Monday night. It was a loss that prompted some not-so-flattering comments from general manager Brian Cashman.
“We suck right now,” Cashman said Tuesday before the Yankees snapped a four-game losing skid with an 11-5 win over the Angels.
Cashman put the blame on his own shoulders and offered support for manager Aaron Boone and the Yankees coaching staff.
"These people care. They're working their ass off. They're really good at what they do. We're not getting the results. I'm the head of baseball operations. That's more on me than them,” Cashman said.
Yankees divisional odds plummet
From a betting perspective, the Yankees opened the season as pretty significant favorites to win the AL East. On opening day, the Yankees had -175 odds to win the division at BetMGM. Three months later, the Yankees are listed at +450, tied with the Toronto Blue Jays for the third-best odds in the division.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox have +165 odds to win the East, a massive jump from where they started when the season began: +2500. At 49-31, the Red Sox have a two-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays (47-33).
Despite what the standings say, the oddsmakers have the Rays as the current AL East betting favorite at +150.
But there’s still half the season to go. If you’re a believer in the talent on the Yankees persevering and getting back into the divisional race, +450 is a pretty good value for a team that was the betting favorite entering the season.
And it's a number that could shift pretty quickly if the Yankees start to string some wins together, especially in a game like Wednesday night's where Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani is on the mound.
Cashman said the Yankees could be in sell mode rather than looking to add pieces if they don’t turn their play around before the trade deadline at the end of July. But it’s not like the team has been an outright disaster.
This is the Yankees we’re talking about. The Yankees spend money. They’re three games above .500 on the last day of June. With bats like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu in the lineup on a nightly basis, there’s always the potential for this team to get hot.
And beyond their divisional odds, the Yankees are down to +700 to win the AL pennant and +1500 to win the World Series.
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