AL East Odds 2023: Yankees Favored To Repeat

Always one of the toughest divisions in baseball, the American League East seems set for another battle in 2023.

As we kick off another Major League Baseball season, sportsbooks have released odds for all divisions and the Yankees are once again favored to win the AL East. We’ll break down the complete American League East odds below and offer some value picks:

Yankees Favorites In 2023 AL East Odds

Odds as of March 23, 2023

Our sports betting calculator tells us the Yankees’ odds translate to a decisive 46.51 percent implied probability to win the AL East. 

Why Are The Yankees Heavily Favored?

The Yankees’ AL East case begins and ends with reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge. They’ve got a solid rotation, some complementary bats and a deep bullpen. But, in Judge, New York is guaranteed to have the best player on the field most days. If he’s anything like he was last year, he can drag this team to another division crown.

Now there is some room for regression, too. The Yankees were one of the healthiest teams in baseball last year, despite being one of the oldest. Is Aaron Judge going to hit 60 dingers again? Probably not. Will Luis Severino and Carlos Rodon make 30 starts each? Unlikely. But, unless multiple things go wrong, the Yankees have the talent to withstand a bit of regression and still be serious World Series candidates.

Can The Blue Jays Challenge?

Last year, the Yankees basically went wire to wire in the East without anyone pushing them. This year, the Blue Jays are hoping to change that. Toronto has a deeper lineup than New York, with similar firepower at the top of the batting order, but their questions come in pitching depth.

The lack of ’pen depth has cost Toronto in recent years, and beyond the top of their rotation there are some question marks. However, if Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi play up to their potential, the Jays can snatch the division from the Yankees in 2023.

Yusei Kikuchi, 96mph 🔥 and K strut. pic.twitter.com/C7NVgpiKlJ

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 7, 2023

Rays Need Health To Compete For East

By the Rays’ recent standards, Tampa Bay had a down year last year, “only” winning 86 games and making the playoffs. It could be easy to look past Tampa, thinking the big-spending Jays and Yankees have finally surpassed them. But, there’s certainly room for a Rays bounce-back

The key for Tampa this year is health. Randy Arozarena, Taylor Walls and Yandy Diaz were the only Tampa regulars who played over 120 games last year. Wander Franco, Brandon Lowe, Shane Baz and Manuel Margot missed half the season while pitcher Tyler Glasnow missed virtually all of it. If Tampa can stay healthy in 2023, they could be a dark horse for the World Series, not just this division.

Orioles Best Value On the Board?

The Orioles didn’t make the playoffs last year, but they were one of baseball’s surprise teams of the regular season. Improving all the way up to 83 wins, Baltimore flashed the next wave of young talent with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman debuting.

While the Orioles didn’t do much this winter to augment their young core, they could have another wave of youngsters coming to take them to the next level. The Orioles have at least three Top 100 prospects expected to break in this year in DL Hall, Grayson Rodriguez and Joey Ortiz. It’s asking a lot for the O’s to repeat last year’s jump, but if more young guys come up and flourish, Baltimore could find another 10-plus wins in 2023.

Avoid The Red Sox In AL East Odds

Masataka Yoshida certainly got the blood pumping at the 2023 WBC, but there isn’t much else to be excited about with the Red Sox this year. Their offseason moves were that of a World Series contender, bringing in veterans in the bullpen and utility pieces for the bench. Except they weren’t on the brink of a title, winning just 78 games last year and losing star SS Xander Bogaerts in the winter.

There are heavy injury concerns across the Boston rotation, and beyond Rafael Devers there isn’t much offensive upside in the lineup. Boston has often found a way to rebound after rough seasons lately, but we may be looking at a second straight sub-.500 year at Fenway.

At this point, the Red Sox are down to only 13 healthy, fully available pitchers on their 40-man roster.

Rotation: Kluber, Sale, Houck, Pivetta, Crawford

Bullpen: Jansen, Martin, Schreiber, Bleier, Brasier, Winckowski, Kelly, Ort https://t.co/Yh7cRVDjqe

— Chad Jennings (@chadjennings22) March 23, 2023

What Is A Futures Bet On AL East Odds?

When you decide to bet on the American League East odds for Major League Baseball, you’ll see an option to bet on which team will win the division. Since you’re betting on events that will happen in the near future, this is called a futures bet.

At your sportsbook, you would see AL East odds listed like this:

Similar to a moneyline bet, the clear favorite is indicated by the minus odds symbol (-) and the rest of the teams listed are considered underdogs.

If you were to bet $100 on the Rays at the beginning of the season and they win the AL East Division, you’d get a payout of $380 – your original $100 is returned, along with your winnings of $280. On the other hand, the same bet amount on the Blue Jays would give you a payout of $2,900 – you get your $100 back, plus your profit of $2,800.

Our odds calculator can help you determine how much you’d pocket depending on the odds and the amount bet.