Pitchers and catchers will start arriving at spring training sites this weekend, marking the beginning of the 2012 MLB season. And with all zeroes in the standings every team is hopeful that the 2012 campaign will end with them as the pennant winners in their respective leagues. Well, maybe not the Baltimore Orioles, but 29 other clubs start tossing the ball around this weekend with dreams of claiming a berth in the fall's World Series.
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Angels sit atop American League Pennant odds
Can teams spend their way to the top of a futures list? In baseball you certainly can, as the Los Angeles Angels have proven this offseason. Four contracts worth more than $75 million were handed out during free agency this winter, and the Angels signed off on two of them – Albert Pujols' monster 10-year, $250,000,000 deal, and C.J. Wilson's five-year, $77,500,000 contract. That wallet-opening has the Angels as the 3/1 favorites to win the American League Pennant this season, even though they missed the playoffs last year.
Right behind them are the New York Yankees at 7/2, and they've (reportedly) been spending the last week trying to pawn A.J. Burnett off on the Pittsburgh Pirates. The pricey lefthander went 11-11 with a 5.15 ERA last season, and could have a new employer by the end of the week. Prince Fielder has a new employer, and he also has the Detroit Tigers third at 4/1 odds to win the American League Pennant this season on the MLB futures. Fielder struck it rich over the winter as well, signing for $214 million over nine years.
Rangers, Rays lead second tier of AL Pennant odds
The Yankees and Tigers were joined by the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL playoffs last year, with Texas at 11/2 and Tampa Bay at 12/1 to win the Pennant this time around – which would be a repeat for the Rangers, who now have to make due without Wilson in the rotation. The Rays rewarded manager Joe Maddon with a three-year contract extension on Wednesday, and his team could be in a fight with the Red Sox (11/2) and Blue Jays (22/1) along with the Yankees to claim a playoff berth out of the AL East.
The Chicago White Sox are next at 30/1 odds to win the AL Pennant this year, with the Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics both at 35/1; the A's are rumoured to be in the hunt to sign Manny Ramirez to a deal by the start of camp, although he'd have to serve a 50-game suspension prior to playing a regular-season contest. The Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins are then at 40/1, with the Seattle Mariners at 50/1, and the O's at 75/1.
Phillies favorites to win National League Pennant
The Philadelphia Phillies didn't make it out of the first round of the NL playoffs last season, but they're still the darlings of the MLB futures board at 9/4 to win their league's pennant this year. The Miami Marlins are next at 7/1 as they move into their new digs with expensive shortstop Jose Reyes (six years, $106,000,000), with the San Francisco Giants at 8/1, and the defending-champion St. Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves both at 10/1. St. Louis added outfielder Carlos Beltran in the offseason to try and make up for at least some of the offense that they lost when Pujols bolted to sign with the Angels.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Cincinnati Reds are then both at 12/1 odds to win the NL Pennant, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals at 14/1, the Colorado Rockies at 16/1, the Los Angeles Dodgers at 20/1, and the Chicago Cubs at 22/1. The New York Mets then sit tied at 40/1 on the NL Pennant odds with the Pittsburgh Pirates, who likely won't see a jump in their odds if they do manage to snare Burnett. The San Diego Padres are at 45/1, and the Houston Astros are the biggest NL longshots at 75/1 odds.
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