The Chicago Cubs (86-47) and Washington Nationals (78-55) are near-locks to become the first two National League teams to clinch playoff berths as big division leaders. The Cubs and Nationals are also the two favorites on the odds to win the World Series at +300 (bet $100 to win $300) and +550, respectively, at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Chicago leads the NL Central by 15.5 games over last year’s division winner—the St. Louis Cardinals (70-62)—who are left to chase one of the wild-card berths instead. Meanwhile, Washington has a 9.5-game lead on the New York Mets (69-65), the defending NL champions who swept the Cubs in the NL Championship Series last year.
While the Cardinals (+2800) and Mets (+5000) are both long shots to win the World Series, the best race in the NL is in the West, where the Los Angeles Dodgers (+1000) and San Francisco Giants (+1400) are duking it out for the division title.
The Dodgers (74-59) are holding on to a slim two-game lead over the Giants (72-61), their bitter rivals who have won the World Series in the last three even-numbered years.
Los Angeles might be a good value bet now, as ace Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 1.79 ERA) is still hoping to return for the playoffs after sitting out since late June because of a back injury. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner and 2014 NL MVP could be the key to the postseason because good pitching seems to be the only way to stop Chicago this year.
The American League also features a few top contenders on the 2016 World Series odds, led by the AL West-leading Texas Rangers (80-54) at +650. Because the AL beat the NL 4-2 in the MLB All-Star Game on July 12, the team winning the pennant from that league will have home-field advantage in the World Series.
The Kansas City Royals (69-64) used that edge to defeat the Mets in the World Series a year ago, and they are among the AL teams chasing a wild-card spot with a price of +3300 to repeat as champs.
The Royals are three games behind the Detroit Tigers (72-61) and trail the AL Central-leading Cleveland Indians (76-56) by 7.5 in the race for the division title. The Indians are +900 to win the World Series, while the Tigers are +2200.
In the AL East, three teams are battling to win the division, as the Toronto Blue Jays (76-57) lead by two games over the Boston Red Sox (74-59) and four over the Baltimore Orioles (72-61). The Blue Jays fell to Kansas City in the 2015 ALCS, and they are +750 to win the World Series ahead of the Red Sox (+1000) and Orioles (+2500).
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