The Texas Rangers have pushed their chips to the center of the table, and oddsmakers are reacting favorably.
Shortly after their acquisition of three-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Max Scherzer became official on Sunday, the Rangers continued to bolster their pitching staff by adding left-handed starter Jordan Montgomery and right-handed reliever Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals.
It fortifies a staff that lost Jacob deGrom to Tommy John surgery earlier this season; the Rangers also placed veteran Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list with a forearm strain on Sunday.
After the Scherzer deal was agreed to, DraftKings shortened the Rangers’ World Series odds from +1100 to +850, their American League pennant odds from +475 to +380 and their AL West odds from +100 to -135.
Oddsmakers at BetMGM were a bit more tepid in their response.
With Texas having lost two consecutive games and six of their past eight entering Sunday, the Rangers’ division lead over the Houston Astros had shrunk to just one game.
The Scherzer deal did not impact Texas’ World Series odds at the book. Although the Rangers odds of winning the AL pennant did shorten from +450 to +400 at BetMGM, their AL West title odds lengthened from -130 to -110.
BetMGM told Field Level Media that the Astros’ futures odds were not impacted by Texas’ addition of Scherzer.
The Rangers parted with several prospects in their effort to strengthen their pitching staff. That included sending middle infielder and center fielder Luisangel Acuna to the Mets for Scherzer, and a trio of prospects along with international bonus pool money to the Cardinals for Montgomery and Stratton.
Scherzer, who turned 39 on Thursday, is in the second season of a three-year, $130 million deal with the New York Mets. He is 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 starts for New York this season, on pace for his highest ERA since a 4.43 mark with the Detroit Tigers in 2011 when he was only 27.
“We are thrilled to add a pitcher of Max’s caliber and experience to our staff,” said Chris Young, the Rangers executive vice president and general manager. “Max is a fierce competitor and a proven winner, and we can’t wait to get him in a Rangers uniform.”
–Field Level Media