Baseball Odds: Spring Training Primer and 2010 Futures

Curtis Granderson makes the Yanks even tougher to beat. (AP Images)

By Saturday, every Major League Baseball team will have gone through its first full spring training workout, which means it’s time to start looking ahead to MLB futures and spring training odds on Bodog.

The first spring game will be held next Tuesday when the Braves visit the Mets in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Cactus League opener, the Giants against the Mariners in Peoria, Ariz., will be played the next day, which is the same day the world champion Yankees take the field for their first spring game in the Grapefruit League. The first full slate of spring training games in Arizona and Florida will be played on March 5. If you’ve never been to a spring training game, there’s nothing like it ”¦ sitting in the warm sun with a cold beverage, and the players are usually very accessible. Plus the tickets are very affordable. I highly recommend it.

Bodog will begin rolling out many 2010 MLB prop options soon, but you currently can bet on futures odds for the AL and NL pennant as well as the World Series winner. In absolutely no surprise, the Yankees, who added All-Star outfielder Curtis Granderson and front-line starting pitcher Javier Vazquez this offseason (among a few other players) to their star-studded lineup have opened as 11/4 favorites on Bodog to win the Fall Classic. About the only question   mark New York has entering the year is deciding on a fifth starter, with Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes the two main competitors.

Boston and Philadelphia are right behind New York to win the World Series at 6/1. Of course those two teams both added No. 1-caliber starting pitchers in John Lackey and Roy Halladay, respectively. Perhaps no team improved itself this offseason more than the Seattle Mariners, who might be ready to supplant the Angels as the AL West champs. Seattle traded for lefty pitcher Cliff Lee, who gives the M’s a 1-2 punch with Felix Hernandez that might be the best in baseball. In addition, the Mariners acquired outfielder Milton Bradley from the Cubs and signed third baseman Chone Figgins away from the Angels. Seattle, at 16/1, might be a good long-shot bet on Bodog’s MLB World Series futures odds.

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