The Cleveland Indians enter play Tuesday night with a 10-11 record.
That is good enough for third place in the American League Central division.
The Kansas City Royals remain one of MLB’s top surprises so far in 2021, while the Minnesota Twins are arguably a top disappointment.
But overall, oddsmakers are still going with their preseason predictions.
That means favoring the Twins and the Chicago White Sox.
Almost a month in, who are you taking in the AL? pic.twitter.com/x6cxs4QoA8
— MLB Picks (@MLBPicks) April 27, 2021
Let’s break this down a bit further.
Cleveland Still Not Getting Much Love
Those making these odds want to ensure they don’t ultimately lose money.
That means not making drastic changes such as making the Twins huge underdogs after a slow start.
After all, it is a 162-game season.
The Detroit Tigers remain monumental underdogs and betting on that team would just be throwing money away.
Detroit has lost five straight and it is clear that organization remains in the midst of a rebuild.
The goal in 2021 is player development over actual wins.
Next up is the Indians sitting at +800.
Some fans in Cleveland may jump all over those odds, while others still view the team as average at best.
Throwing a small amount of money down wouldn’t be the worst idea.
However, it is going to take a lot more production on offense for the Indians to even compete with the other three contenders.
The Top Teams in the Central
The Royals are 14-7 and atop the division, but Vegas still isn’t buying into the hype just yet.
Just a reminder that it’s almost May and the Kansas City Royals have the best record in baseball.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 27, 2021
That could make betting on the Royals a true low-risk, high-reward move.
The real focus remains on the Twins and White Sox.
Minnesota is still being given the benefit of the doubt after a 7-14 start.
But will that change if they get swept by the Indians this week?
It may take a bad May, in addition to April, to really push the odds down.
The White Sox are just about where they were expected to be so far.
A 12-9 start has the team sitting just two games behind the Royals and right in the mix to jump into first place soon.
So Much Time Remaining
The odds are likely going to drastically change between now and the middle of the season.
Teams all around the league are going to separate from the pack and anyone betting on the Indians is hoping this +800 figure ends up looking like an absolute steal a few months from now.
The Indians seem to have the pitching to truly compete in this division.
But the White Sox and Twins can make similar claims and fans have already seen the Indians be no-hit this year.
The focus now is getting above .500 and staying there for the remainder of the year.
That happening is going to push the potential payouts down, which signals true belief in the team.
Would you bet on the Indians to win the Central right now?
Leave a Reply