AL East Odds: Professional Bettors Love Blue Jays For Division Title

It didn’t take long for professional money to swing the AL East betting favorite.

When American sportsbooks initially opened the divisional markets, the New York Yankees were a slight favorite at most shops, followed by the Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox. The lowly Baltimore Orioles were always the last rung on the 2022 ladder and their odds are now as high as 200-1 to win the division.

After a couple weeks of taking bets, it was very clear to bookmakers that they had underestimated how much money in the market would back the Blue Jays.

“We actually opened the Jays, Rays and Yankees all at the same odds,” Westgate SuperBook senior baseball trader Randy Blum told NESN. “Most places definitely had the Yankees as the favorite, though.”

With only two nights sleep until Opening Day, the SuperBook’s AL East market has settled at Toronto +140, Tampa Bay +280, New York +300, Boston +550 and Baltimore +15000. It’s the shortest price in the entire world on the Blue Jays, which is the ultimate sign of respect.

“We’ve seen nothing but Blue Jays money,” Blum reported.

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Consensus AL East odds:
Blue Jays +165 ($100 wins $165)
Yankees +230
Rays +260
Red Sox +525
Orioles +15000 ($100 wins $15,000)

I spoke to a professional bettor who lives in Las Vegas and bets baseball futures and regular season win totals religiously. He pounced quickly on any Toronto price north of two dollars. They didn’t last long.

“Those prices +200 and higher lasted about a day,” the bettor told me. “I remember one of our outs was dealing +220 on Toronto to win the AL East and I almost fell out of my chair. You look at the screen now and lots of books are in the +160 range. A sixty-cent shift proves that the market was wrong.

“Toronto has the best rotation in the division,” the bettor added. “(José) Berríos, (Kevin) Gausman, (Hyun-jin) Ryu and (Alek) Manoah are a dangerous front four. And there aren’t many holes in that lineup. George Springer is a great leadoff man, Vladdy (Guerrero) Jr. is a future MVP and players like Bo Bichette and Alejandro Kirk should make nice strides. Trading for Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman is such an underrated move, too.”

Blue Jays odds to win AL East:
+140 SuperBook ($100 wins $140)
+160 Barstool
+160 SugarHouse
+165 Bet365
+165 DraftKings
+170 FanDuel
+175 PointsBet
+185 Caesars
+185 FOX Bet ($100 wins $185)

My favorite wager inside the division is Boston’s Rafael Devers to hit 38 homers or more, but I am way too ready to add a futures bet on Toronto to win its first division title since 2015. And yes, we missed the best prices at +200 and above, but +185 ain’t too shabby.

Toronto Blue Jays win AL East +185

RECORD: (109-103, +33.1)