The Atlanta Braves remain a strong favorite among oddsmakers to win the World Series, though they aren’t a unanimous pick as the heaviest favorite to win a division series.
Atlanta, which led the major leagues with 104 regular-season wins, will open its postseason in the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.
The Braves are listed as a -194 favorite to get past the Phillies, according to FanDuel, and BetMGM has Atlanta as a -190 favorite.
DraftKings, though, have Atlanta at just -165 — just the third-biggest favorite in the four division series. The Los Angeles Dodgers are listed by DraftKings as a -205 pick against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the other NLDS, and the Houston Astros are posted as a -170 choice against the Minnesota Twins in an American League Division Series.
The Dodgers’ odds to get past the Diamondbacks are -210 at BetMGM and -192 at FanDuel.
The Astros are listed at -160 at BetMGM and -150 at FanDuel to defeat the Twins.
The fourth division series, the AL matchup between the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers, is viewed as a tossup by all three sites. Even though the Orioles had an AL-best 101 wins, 11 more than the Rangers’ victory total, the teams are both listed at -110 for their best-of-five matchup.
Looking ahead to the World Series, the Braves have the shortest odds at all sites: +260 at FanDuel, +300 at BetMGM and +310 at DraftKings.
The Astros and Dodgers share the second favorite spot at DraftKings (+425) and BetMGM (+450). FanDuel puts Los Angeles second at +440, with Houston third at +490.
The biggest longshots to emerge as World Series champions are the Diamondbacks, who are +1400 at both FanDuel and DraftKings and +1300 at BetMGM.
The sportsbooks have a wide gap when it comes to assessing the Rangers’ chances of going all the way. Texas is posted at +950 by FanDuel, +800 at BetMGM and +650 (the fourth-lowest odds) at DraftKings.
–Field Level Media