So, the first Vegas lines for the baseball season
are out, from the Atlantis. Obviously, it's a long season and probably
the hardest sport to predict in terms of wins losses, but here are some
obvious stand-outs at this point (wins over/under):
Nationals:
90 wins. I would take the over, hard. This team won 98 last year and
improved, and while the Braves should be better, the rest of that
division stood still or got worse. Leading to...
Marlins:
64 wins. It might be close, but under is a better bet. They won 69
last year, and while bad chemistry might have hurt them, that team had a
half year of Reyes, Hanley, Buehrle, and Johnson. Now they have
Stanton and... Seriously, name other players on this team.
Red Sox:
79.5 wins. I admit to being biased, but I say over. Now, I know this
team was awful last year, but that was a perfect storm of such epic
proportions that I don't think that the 10-win bump this opening line is
giving them is enough. This should be at least a .500 team on paper,
so you are basically getting 3 wins on the house here.
Royals and Pirates:
79 wins. Tempted by the over? People have been predicting youth
movements on both of these teams to propel them to big leaps forward for
several years now, only to see them disappoint each year. This could
be the year, right? Eventually, it has to be for one of them. The AL
central, outside of Detroit, is going to have a lot of winnable games
with Cleveland, and the White Sox in limbo, and the Twins in full
rebuilding mode. The NL Central will be more competitive, with the Cubs
improved and no more Astros to beat up on, but Pittsburgh can't fade so
badly in the second half again, can they?
