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The countdown to Opening Day went from months to weeks to days ... and it's now time to start counting the hours.
While the Dodgers and Padres already started their regular seasons in South Korea, the remainder of MLB will kick off their 2024 campaigns Thursday.
Let's see how the betting market anticipates the season unfolding with World Series and MVP odds.
After a historic offseason of spending, the Dodgers are the World Series favorite at +350, which equates to an implied probability of 22.2%.
They were already one of the betting favorites before signing Shohei Ohtani to a jaw-dropping deal, trading for ace Tyler Glasnow, and landing highly coveted Japanese star Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And that's only a few of their moves.
Los Angeles is +170 to win the NL pennant and a whopping -450 (81.8% implied probability) to win the NL West.
The Dodgers split their opening series against the Padres. They won the first game before Yamamoto gave up five earned runs and only pitched one inning in his MLB debut.
The Braves, Astros, Yankees, and Orioles round out the top five, all with an implied win probability of 7.7% or greater.
The Rangers are +1400 to defend their World Series title, and the Diamondbacks, last year's finalists, are +3000 to finish the job this time in 2024.
Two Yankees top the AL MVP oddsboard, with Aaron Judge and offseason pickup Juan Soto.
Perhaps it's a sign of the times to see two-time AL MVP Mike Trout priced at +2000. However, the Angels don't project to be a good team, and there's always a chance Trout finishes the year wearing a different jersey.
Having three Dodgers inside the top four of the MVP oddsboard tells us just how good people expect the team to be.
Ronald Acuña Jr. is the favorite to repeat at +500 after winning unanimously last year.
Ohtani would likely have been the favorite if he were 100% healthy in 2024, but an elbow injury will prevent him from taking the mound in his first season with the Dodgers.
Betting odds for each league's Rookie of the Year can be found here, and we've also covered our best bets to win the AL and NL Cy Young Awards.
