The 2023 Major League Baseball season starts this week, and the Houston Astros head into the campaign as the betting favorites to win their second World Series in two years. Standing in the way of the Astros are teams like the LA Dodgers, New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, and the San Diego Padres. Can any of them prevent the Braves going back-to-back?
It seemed to be the case that throughout the whole of the 2022 season, the Houston Astros were undervalued as the top MLB betting sites first favored the New York Yankees, and then after their extraordinary mid-season run, the LA Dodgers.
When it came to the postseason, both franchises crashed and burned. The Yankees lost 4-0 to Houston in the AL Championship Series. While the Dodgers lost 3-1 to San Diego in the NLDS. And this after holding the wood over the Padres all through the regular season!
But that was last year, and here we are now on the cusp of the new season. And guess what? The best MLB World Series betting sites seem to have learnt from their mistakes and have installed the Houston Astros as favorites at +600. But don’t be too shocked, as some of the usual suspects aren’t too far behind.
The Yankees are next at +650, and they are closely followed by Braves (+700), the Padres (+800), and then the Dodgers and the New York Mets, who are both at +900. Last year’s surprise World Series’ finalists, the Philadelphia Phillies are down at +1800. At those odds, they look like a good value pick if you think they can go one better this year and win their first World Series since 2008.
Our odds table below has more betting to win this year’s World Series. All the odds are taken from the top betting sites for Major League Baseball. You can read more about these sites at our best online sportsbook reviews page.
| 2023 MLB World Series Futures |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Astros | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| New York Yankees | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Atlanta Braves | +700 | +700 | +700 |
| San Diego Padres | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| LA Dodgers | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| New York Mets | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| Toronto Blue Jays | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +1800 | +1800 | +1800 |
| Tampa Bay Rays | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Cleveland Guardians | +2200 | +2200 | +2200 |
| Seattle Mariners | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| St Louis Cardinals | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Chicago White Sox | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Minnesota Twins | +3300 | +3300 | +3300 |
| Boston Red Sox | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
We believe the Astros are justifiably the favorites. In Dusty Baker they have a wiley old coach who has been around the block a few times. Yes, the loss of Justin Verlander to the New York Mets will weaken the team, but Baker knows he has a roster of players who can absorb the loss.
The Astros are a team that now believes they are the best. Winning last year has gone some way to putting right the disappointment of losing the 2021 World Series to the Atlanta Braves. But the Astros will still believe they should already have back-to-back titles. And they will no doubt be fired up to achieve that this coming season.
On the whole, the Astros have the core of players they need to win the World Series again. They have been to the World Series two years in succession now, and three times in the last four years – the latter two with Baker in charge.
We feel that with the combination of coach, squad, and experience gained, they are well able to do it again. However, history says that going back-to-back in the World Series is difficult. The last team to do it were the New York Yankees, who did it three years in succession, from 1998 to 2000.
On paper, the Astros do look the team though, so don’t be put off. But we’re not picking them to win.
As we said, don’t be put off picking Houston as well. The current odds do allow us to hedge our bets. But for our main pick, we’re looking back to 2021. And it’s the team who did for the Astros in that season’s World Series – the Atlanta Braves!
It’s fair to say that last season wasn’t a great year for the Braves. They started slowly, but did a tremendous job in chasing down the New York Mets to win the NL East.
But did that monumental second half of the season take a lot out of them? Because after topping the NL East, they were well beaten by the Phillies (3-1) in the NLDS.
The Braves now have Ronald Acuña Jr back to full fitness. And if they can keep him fit and healthy, he will only improve their chances of success this year. They have lost Dansby Swanson, but Sean Murphy will strengthen their roster. And pn the whole, we believe they have a strong and capable roster of players.
They defeated the Astros 4-2 in 2021, and after falling short last year, they will be keen to show everyone that they are still the real deal. Their second half of the regular season proved they’ve got what it takes, and at +700 we make the Atlanta Braves our pick to win the 2023 World Series.
About the Author
Dean is primarily a fan of English football who regularly attends games, and combining his hobby with his job, he is now a full-time sports betting writer. Rather than going down the educational route into sports journalism, Dean learned his trade by writing for his English football betting website since 2009, where he now boasts nearly 15 years of experience. After writing about football daily for years, Dean has taken the skills he learned and now uses them to great effect writing for numerous affiliate sites across the internet. A general all-around sports enthusiast with a passion for English football and cricket, Dean is also well able to turn his hand to writing about golf, tennis, F1, boxing, snooker, darts, and North American sports. Combining his extensive knowledge and experience with British humor and wit, Dean has developed into a trusted voice within the sports betting industry.
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