The opening day of the 2022 MLB season is upon us, but there is still plenty of time to get involved in the futures markets.
There’s a wide range of props to choose from – from World Series futures to home run leaders – but some of the most interesting are the season’s overall wins. Odds makers assign each club a number and bettors choose either over or under before tracking the year for their chosen team.
Here are our top three teams for 2022 overall wins among American League teams.
Odds makers are calling for the Red Sox to take a significant step backwards this season after a 92-win season, but bettors should be more optimistic.
Chief innings eater Eduardo Rodriguez (4.74 ERA) departed for Detroit for the offseason, but he’s effectively being replaced by a full-season version of Chris Sale. Sale – a seven-time All-Star – pitched just 42 2/3 innings in 2021 after Tommy John’s surgery and went 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA.
Boston also picked up some flyers on Rich Hill, Michael Wacha and James Paxton – one of them should work well enough in the rotation.
Hunter Renfroe’s swap for outfield Jackie Bradley Jr. was a demotion, but Renfroe’s power hitter will be replaced with that of esteemed free agent Trevor Story, who will move to second base for a double-play with shortstop Xander Bogaerts to form a tandem.
The star power doesn’t end there, with Rafael Devers in third, JD Martinez on DH and Alex Verdugo in the outfield. The Red Sox may not have the firepower to win the AL East, but they should be competitive.
MLB Pick: Out
One might have thought the Guardians would throw in a splash or two in the off-season to keep fans interested after dropping their old moniker, but instead they ended up with one of the most boring squads in either league.
Backup catcher Luke Maile was the lone offseason addition to a Cleveland roster that only features two real stars in Shane Bieber and Jose Ramirez. The rotation behind Bieber is questionable as Aaron Civale and Cal Quantrill need to be regressed based on FIP and Zach Plesac and Triston McKenzie are inconsistent sources of production.
Emmanuel Clase is a talented closer but it could be a challenge to reach him with a save shot still intact.
Cesar Hernandez didn’t work at second base last season, but replacing him with Andres Gimenez, who hit .218 in 2021, probably won’t help. The predicted starting field of Josh Naylor, Myles Straw and Bradley Zimmer combined to hit 17 home runs in 771 at-bats last season.
The AL Central is a pretty weak league behind the Chicago White Sox, but the Guardians will likely still struggle to win the top 75 this year.
MLB Election: Under
The Mariners are a rising team in a winnable league, but their wins this season have been modest.
Seattle won 90 games a year ago and added reigning AL Cy Young winner in Robbie Ray to replace Yusei Kikuchi in their rotation. They also upgraded at second base with Adam Frazier and outfield with Jesse Winker.
The biggest question mark for the Mariners might be their bullpen, as a staggering 38 pitchers recorded at least one out for Seattle in 2021. But they do own relief pitchers like Drew Steckenrider (2.00 ERA) and Paul Sewald (104 strikeouts over 64 2/3). innings) who can come in and pitch very effectively.
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