The Texas Rangers won the 2023 World Series and now there are only five teams that have never won the World Series. Three of them - the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and Seattle Mariners - will all head into 2024 with decent odds, while the Milwaukee Brewers are still a viable playoff contender and the Colorado Rockies are the longest of long shots.
It will take a while before everything settles down with free agency and offseason trades, but we can take stock of the 2024 World Series odds now and see if there are any values to be had or any prices to closely monitor.
2024 World Series Odds from DraftKings Sportsbook
(odds as of 11/2, 8:45 a.m. PT)
Atlanta Braves +700
Los Angeles Dodgers +750
Houston Astros +900
Texas Rangers +900
Philadelphia Phillies +1100
New York Yankees +1300
Baltimore Orioles +1600
San Diego Padres +1600
Toronto Blue Jays +1700
Boston Red Sox +2000
Tampa Bay Rays +2000
Seattle Mariners +2000
New York Mets +2000
Arizona Diamondbacks +2500
Minnesota Twins +2500
Chicago Cubs +3000
San Francisco Giants +3000
Cincinnati Reds +4000
St. Louis Cardinals +4000
Milwaukee Brewers +4000
Detroit Tigers +5000
Miami Marlins +5500
Cleveland Guardians +6000
Pittsburgh Pirates +6000
Los Angeles Angels +6500
Washington Nationals +7000
Chicago White Sox +8000
Kansas City Royals +10000
Colorado Rockies +15000
Oakland Athletics +15000
Early Thoughts
The two Ohio teams are really intriguing at +4000 and +6000. The Reds are in a weak NL Central Division and a lot of young players got a lot of valuable experience this season. With a lot of pitching available on the free agent market, they can bolster the trio of Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Andrew Abbott to add a veteran innings eater. With so many young offensive pieces in the lineup, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see the Reds take a +4000 price into a home series in the Wild Card round.
The Guardians also have the benefit of a weak division and one where the Twins could lose any or all of Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda, and Tyler Mahle from their rotation. At +6000, Cleveland has the best rotation in the division and a bullpen with a track record of success, albeit not this past season. They’re going to hire a more analytics-savvy manager that should mesh better with the roster. Also, they recently brought in billionaire David Blitzer as minority owner with 25% stake in the team and the option to buy in five years, so he may open the door for a little more spending to add some offensive punch. Kyle Manzardo and other young prospects may come up and have offensive impacts as well.
Even though the Braves are the favorite at +700, they have their entire lineup virtually locked in and will just be looking for some pitching help, which should be easy to acquire in a pitching-rich free agent market. The Phillies will have to replace Aaron Nola and add some rotation depth as well, so it will be an expensive arms race this offseason in the NL East.
The other team to watch really closely is the Mariners at +2000. They might have the best rotation in baseball with their collection of young arms and many of them got an education on the fly this season. This was an underperforming offense in 2023 and GM Jerry DiPoto has shown a willingness to be very active on the transaction front. A trade of a young arm for a young position player is something I anticipate and that could be enough to help them chase down the reigning World Series champs and the Houston dynasty.
Important MLB Offseason Dates
November 6: Free agency begins
November 7-9: GM Meetings (Scottsdale)
November 14: Qualifying offer deadline; 40-man roster deadline
November 14-16: Owners Meetings (Arlington)
November 17: Non-tender deadline (date to offer contracts to pre-arbitration/arbitration-eligible players)
December 3-6: Winter Meetings (Nashville)
December 6: Rule 5 Draft
January 12: Arbitration-eligible salary offer deadline
January 15: International signing period opens
February 12ish: Teams report to Spring Training
March 20: 2024 MLB season begins with Dodgers vs. Padres in Seoul, South Korea
March 28: Opening Day
Key MLB Free Agents
Hitters
Tim Anderson
Harrison Bader
Cody Bellinger
Charlie Blackmon
Michael Brantley
Jeimer Candelario
Matt Chapman
Nelson Cruz
Josh Donaldson
Adam Duvall
Mitch Garver
Joey Gallo
Robbie Grossman
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Teoscar Hernandez
Jung Hoo Lee
Rhys Hoskins
Kevin Kiermaier
J.D. Martinez
Joc Pederson
Tommy Pham
Hunter Renfroe
Gary Sanchez
Jorge Soler
Justin Turner
Joey Votto
Jesse Winker
Starting Pitchers
Trevor Bauer
Mike Clevinger
Jack Flaherty
Kyle Gibson
Lucas Giolito
Sonny Gray
Clayton Kershaw
Michael Lorenzen
Kenta Maeda
Tyler Mahle
Jordan Montgomery
Aaron Nola
James Paxton
Blake Snell
Julio Urias
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Relief Pitchers
Aroldis Chapman
Josh Hader
Jordan Hicks
Craig Kimbrel
Will Smith
Ryne Stanek
Two-way
Shohei Ohtani (recovering from Tommy John surgery; could DH on Opening Day, won’t pitch until 2025)