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American League

MLB Betting: Who Will Win The American League?

  • Ricky Rothstein's Author profile. Ricky Rothstein

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With the four available playoff spots in the American League now claimed — congrats to the Yankees, Rays, Twins and Rangers, by the way — it’s time to take a look at each of the four teams and analyze how they fare in their race for an American League Championship Series win. We’ll start with the defending World Series champs…

New York Yankees, 2.45

With a .591 winning percentage and another 100-win campaign looking likely, it’s no surprise the New York Yankees are the odds-on favorites to represent the AL in this year’s Fall Classic. But this is a little different for the pinstripes — no longer are they led by the offensive prowess of Alex Rodriguez or Derek Jeter. No, the go-to guy for the Yanks is now Robinson Cano, and that’s going to be interesting. While his regular-season numbers have been great (.314 BA, 28 HR, 106 RBI), his career postseason numbers have been pretty poor and is just a .217 lifetime hitter in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay Rays, 2.45

The Rays have kept pace with the Yankees throughout much of the year and as a result, find themselves tied atop the AL East with just a handful of games remaining in the regular season.  When you talk Rays, you have to talk pitching — the starting five of David Price, Matt Garza, James Shields, Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann all won at least 11 games this year, giving the staff the kind of depth that is unparalleled in the majors. Thrown in ace closer Rafael Soriano (44 saves) and you’ve got a team with the kind of pitching that can go a long way in the MLB playoffs.

Minnesota Twins, 5.50

Oh, those plucky Twins.  It seems no matter what the loss, Minnesota always finds a way to recover. They’ve spent nearly half the season without former AL MVP Justin Morneau (concussion), but still ran away with the AL Central. They’ve missed all-world C Joe Mauer for extended periods of time, but still held off Detroit and hard-charging Chicago in the divisional race.  Simply put, the Twins have the kind of resiliency that you want to see in a playoff contender — it’s a team that can survive tough times and the crazy highs and lows that the postseason brings.

Texas Rangers, 7.00

The new kids on the block. It’s been 11 years since the Rangers qualified for the postseason — to give you an idea of how long ago that was:  Ken Griffy Jr. led the AL in home runs, Scott Williamson (remember him?) was the NL Rookie of the Year and Eddie Perez was the NLCS MVP. So yeah. Long time ago. The Rangers made it back to the big dance courtesy their bats — Josh Hamilton, Vladimir Guerrero, Nelson Cruz and Michael Young all hit the cover off the baseball this season — but don’t be fooled, this Rangers team can pitch a bit, too.  Cliff Lee is a stud, C.J. Wilson had a solid 14-8 year while Tommy Hunter and Colby Lewis won 13 and 12 games respectively.