MLB preview: Which teams offer the most enticing odds to win their respective divisions?

Make no mistake: Winning a division title in MLB isn’t nearly as prestigious — or important — as it was prior to 1995, when a team’s only path to the postseason was to win one of four divisions.

Under a new format adopted prior to the 2022 season, the same number of non-division winners now make the playoffs (three) as division champs.

Still, winning a division comes with some perks — and not just bragging rights over regional rivals. All six division winners are guaranteed home-field advantage in their opening playoff series, regardless of overall record. And the division winner with the best record in each league gets a bye into the divisional round.

So finishing atop the division remains every team’s No. 1 goal entering spring training. Some, of course, have a more realistic shot than others.

Here’s a look at odds for all six MLB divisions and our top two picks — one in the National League, one in the American League — to raise a divisional championship flag.

Odds updated as of 7 p.m. ET on March 27.

The Atlanta Braves are the consensus favorite to win a sixth consecutive NL East championship, with their best odds being at BetMGM (+110).

Really, though, the NL East is expected to be a three-team battle between Atlanta, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

Atlanta and New York finished in a flat-footed tie in 2022, each ending the 162-game regular season with a 101-61 record. However, the Braves claimed the division crown on a tiebreaker.

Philadelphia (87-75) finished a distant third, 14 games behind both the Braves and Mets. However, the Phillies went on to reach the World Series after nabbing the NL’s final wild-card berth with the worst record among all 12 playoff qualifiers.

Oddsmakers currently have New York running a close second to Atlanta in odds to win the 2023 division title. Philadelphia, which hasn’t won the NL East since 2011, is the consensus third choice, ranging from +300 at BetMGM to +400 at FanDuel.

What about the Marlins and Nationals? They aren’t in “Wait till next year” mode but rather “Wait till the year after next year — maybe” mode.

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The NL Central has basically been a two-team battle between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in recent years.

The Cardinals, who took the division last year, have finished first or second in four straight seasons. Meanwhile, Milwaukee has placed first or second in five of the last six years (the lone exception being the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign).

So it’s no surprise that oddsmakers expect the same two-horse race to materialize in 2023.

St. Louis is the odds-on favorite at BetMGM (-125), Caesars Sportsbook (-130) and FanDuel (-130), with the Brewers close behind at anywhere from +160 to +170.

The Chicago Cubs, who finished strong in 2022, are projected for third. They haven’t won the division in a full 162-game season since going back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

Both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are expected to bring up the rear for a second straight year, as both have Marlins- and Nationals-like odds to win a division title.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have owned the NL West for the better part of a decade, claiming nine of the last 10 division titles. The only exception was in 2021, when Los Angeles won 106 games but finished one game behind the San Francisco Giants.

Like the Cardinals — as well as the Houston Astros in the AL West — the Dodgers are laying minus odds to win another division championship in 2023. However, L.A. isn’t the overwhelming favorite that it frequently has been in recent years.

That’s because the San Diego Padres have opened the vault to beef up their roster in the past two seasons. San Diego’s is anywhere from +110 (Caesars) to +120 (FanDuel) to win its first division title since 2006.

Every other NL West team has double-digit odds to win the division, with San Francisco (+1100) being the only club within spitting distance of the Dodgers and Padres.

Half of the American League’s six playoff berths in 2022 went to AL East teams — the New York Yankees took the division, while the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays earned wild cards.

The same three are expected to duke it out again this season. That said, much like the NL East with the Braves and Mets, the Yankees and Blue Jays begin the season as the two main contenders (with New York as the favorite at +115 to +130).

Tampa Bay — like Philadelphia in the NL East — is further back but the clear third choice with odds from +270 (FanDuel) to +360 (Caesars).

Boston follows with consensus +1800 AL East odds, while the Orioles — who were among MLB’s most improved teams last season — are bringing up the rear at +2500.

The Cleveland Guardians ran away with the AL Central last year, finishing 11 games ahead of the Chicago White Sox, who placed second after being the preseason favorite.

Cleveland hasn’t won consecutive division crowns since a three-peat from 2016-2018. Oddsmakers expect that to change this year, as the Guardians begin the season as a slight favorite (+115 to +125) to defend last year’s title.

The White Sox and Minnesota Twins are projected to be in the mix, though. Chicago is the second choice at Caesars (+210), while FanDuel (+180) and BetMGM (+250) have the Twins in the second spot.

This is yet another division with only three legit contenders, as the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals are way down the odds board in the +3000 to +4000 range.

The Astros went 106-56 last year and cruised to a fifth AL West championship in six years, finishing 16 games ahead of second-place Seattle. Only the Dodgers (22 games) won a division by a wider margin.

Houston has actually won five straight division crowns in seasons with 162 games played; they took second in the 60-game COVID year in 2020.

Well, the Astros can pretty much order a sixth AL West flag, as the defending World Series champs begin 2023 as the biggest division favorite — and by a sizable margin.

Caesars Sportsbook has Houston at -200 to win the AL West, while BetMGM is at -190 and FanDuel is at -185.

Seattle, which ended a 21-year playoff drought last year, has the second best odds to win its first division title since the 2001 team won 116 games. The Mariners check in at anywhere from +300 (BetMGM) to +360 (FanDuel).

Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and the L.A. Angels also have single-digit odds — from +550 (FanDuel) to +800 (BetMGM and Caesars) — to finish atop the AL West for the first time since 2014.

Texas, which signed ace pitcher Jacob deGrom in the offseason, isn’t far behind the Halos at +1000 to +1100. However, the Oakland A’s — who finished 46 games back of Houston in 2022 — are a 250-to-1 long shot to claim their first division title in a 162-game season since 2012 and 2013.

Our top two picks to win 2023 division titles are a pair of plus-money underdogs — the San Diego Padres in the NL West and the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.

San Diego may have finished 22 games behind the Dodgers in the standings last year. But the Padres proved they’re every bit L.A.’s equal (and then some) in the playoffs, eliminating their hated rivals in four games in the best-of-5 NL Division Series.

San Diego improved an already strong roster with the offseason signing of Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, who plugs into a lineup that includes the likes of Manny Machado, Juan Soto and — when he returns from his PED suspension early in the season — Fernando Tatis Jr.

The pitching staff, anchored by veteran starters Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Blake Snell, also is top-notch. And closer Josh Hader, acquired via trade last season, is back.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, lost do-everything shortstop Trea Turner (Phillies), former NL MVP Cody Bellinger (Cubs) and longtime third baseman Justin Turner (Red Sox) in free agency. Then Turner’s replacement, Gavin Lux, suffered a season-ending knee injury early in spring training.

That’s a lot of lost offensive production, even for a team that has Mookie Betts and Freddy Freeman at the top of the lineup. The pitching staff, which won’t have ace Walker Buehler (Tommy John recovery) all season, also is thinner than last year.

As for the White Sox, they greatly underachieved in 2022 (81-81). We attribute some of that to then 77-year-old manager Tony La Russa, who often was a step or two slow during the season. And many of his players seemed to stop competing for him.

Well, La Russa is gone, and we expect new skipper Pedro Grifol to breathe some much-needed life into what remains a talented squad. The White Sox have outstanding starting pitching anchored by Dylan Cease, Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn, plus a balanced lineup that can beat you a variety of ways.

Cleveland deserves to be the AL Central favorite, and Minnesota should be in the mix, too. But our money is on Chicago to beat both the Guardians and Twins to the finish line come early October.

FanDuel currently offers the best odds on the Padres to win the NL West (+120) and White Sox to win the AL Central (+300).

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