SportsBetting.com is Giving Away Cash

by Jacob, Vegas Watch

Occasionally, betting sites post odds on the MLB awards, divisions, and wild card. This is always quite an adventure, as they really don't have a clue what they're doing. The first site to do this was BetUS.com a few months ago.

Today, SportsBetting.com has done the same thing, and I thought I'd go through a few of them.

NL Wild Card
Arizona Diamondbacks, 18:1
Well, good try guys, but no. A quick glance at the Baseball Prospectus Postseason Odds tells us that the Diamondbacks have about a 22% chance of winning the wild card, which would dictate odds of about 4:1. As you have probably noticed, 18:1 its nowhere near 4:1. The scenario that would have to occur for Arizona to win the WC- the Padres passing them, but the D'Backs finishing ahead of the Phillies, Braves, Dodgers and Rockies- is pretty likely.

AL MVP

Alex Rodriguez, 3.5:1

Really? I was under the impression that, despite his obvious emotional issues, Rodriguez is clearly the frontrunner for the award. He leads the majors in both RBI (123) and HR (43). Sure, Magglio is hitting .355 with 116 RBI. But the only way I could see him edging out A-Rod for MVP is if the Tigers make the playoffs and the Yankees don't, a scenario that is pretty unlikely.

NL Cy Young
Jake Peavy, 3:1
Brandon Webb, 4:1
I think I understand what happened here- they just spread the odds out among too many pitchers (Takashi Saito at 10:1?). At the moment, Peavy has a pretty sizeable lead, as he's 14-5 with a 2.21 ERA and 186 Ks in 170.2 innings (he starts tonight against Arizona).

Webb is clearly second, as he's 14-8, 2.63 on a first place team. He also has the 42 inning scoreless streak to his credit, which the voters will take into account in some capacity.

There's probably an 80% chance that one of these guys win the hardware; these odds dictate a 45% chance. Therefore, good odds, both of them.

(Photos: Sports Logos and ESPN)