What an amazing run it’s been for the Toronto Blue Jays. After a difficult 2024 season, Toronto hoped for better things in 2025 as +6000 outsiders on Bodog Sportsbook’s World Series odds board. Then they stumbled out of the gate and fell to +8000 in early June before everything started to click. Factor in the reinforcements they added at the trade deadline, and the Blue Jays are right in the thick of it at +1000 as we go to press.
Despite leading the American League at 73-53, Toronto still sits outside the top five World Series favourites at Bodog. Maybe it’s because of their slow start; maybe it’s that +50 run differential, which translates to an expected win-loss record of 68-58. Whatever the case, now that the Jays are healthy and their bullpen has been shored up, they might have more betting value than any of the top five teams on our MLB odds board.
5. Seattle Mariners (+950)
Okay, maybe these Mariners (68-58) have some juice as well. They once again find themselves in much the same boat as Toronto; Seattle missed the playoffs last year and was available at +3000 on Bodog’s World Series futures market heading into the 2025 campaign. Now they’re fully loaded for what could be their deepest ever postseason run.
The big difference between Seattle and Toronto is the quality of opposition. In theory, the AL East was going to be very tough this year; the New York Yankees were early second favourites at +750 to win the World Series, and the Baltimore Orioles (+1100) weren’t far behind. Instead, the Yankees have slumped of late, and the last-place Orioles were sellers at the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, the Mariners find themselves 1.5 games behind the 69-55 Houston Astros in the AL West. But Seattle has overtaken Houston (+1100) on the World Series odds board, thanks to the arrival of 3B Eugenio Suarez and 1B Josh Naylor in deadline deals with the Arizona Diamondbacks. With Suarez back in an M’s uniform alongside catcher Cal “Big Dumper” Raleigh, who leads the majors with 47 home runs, this looks like Seattle’s best lineup since they broke the AL record with 116 wins in 2001.
4. San Diego Padres (+925)
Will the Padres (69-56) beat Seattle to the punch and win their first-ever World Series? They had some memorable moments in 2024, beating Atlanta in the Wild Card Round before losing yet again to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. Rookie CF Jackson Merrill made the All-Star Game and won a Silver Slugger Award; Dylan Cease threw a no-hitter on July 25, and relievers Jeremiah Estrada and Adrian Morejon showed great promise.
Sure enough, the 2025 Padres have improved their World Series odds from +1000 during the preseason, with all four of those aforementioned players contributing. But it’s former Victoria HarbourCats pitcher Nick Pivetta stealing the show, leading the rotation with 4.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) as they try to keep pace with those pesky Dodgers in the NL West.
3. Philadelphia Phillies (+700)
They might be the most enigmatic team on this list. The Phillies lead the NL East at 72-53 and are almost certain to reach the postseason for the fourth year in a row – but they’ve also suffered plenty of disappointment, especially that six-game loss to Houston at the 2022 World Series. Could they add enough talent alongside veterans Bryce Harper, Zack Wheeler and Trea Turner to get over the hump?
Things looked promising with the arrivals of SP Jesus Luzardo, RF Max Kepler and RP Joe Ross, enough to push the Phillies to +850 on Bodog’s preseason MLB futures market. But Ross and especially Kepler have been ineffective. Philadelphia’s biggest addition may be new closer Jhoan “Cool Hand” Duran, acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the deadline. That’s if Duran can stay healthy – he took a line drive off his right ankle this past Friday, but appears to have avoided a lengthy stay on the injured list.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (+700)
The Jays were the hottest team in the majors not too long ago, but that torch has been passed to the 79-46 Brewers, who won 14 straight games to start the month of August. That puts Milwaukee eight games up on the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central, and six games ahead of Toronto for first overall.
While the Brewers had their own share of close shaves during that win streak, their +166 run differential is easily the best in the majors and light-years ahead of Toronto in eighth. Milwaukee has been on the good foot since 2015, when they hired David Stearns (now with the New York Mets) as their wunderkind GM; Stearns handed the reins to right-hand man Matt Arnold in 2020, and they’re about to claim their fourth division title in five years since. Maybe their first World Series win is just around the corner.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (+330)
They say past results don’t necessarily predict future outcomes, but unlike the other four teams on this list, the 71-54 Dodgers have won the World Series recently, in 2020 and again last year. They were the early +375 title favourites for 2025 here at Bodog and still the clear No. 1 despite briefly falling to second behind San Diego in the NL West. There’s no question this is the weakest the Dodgers have looked this decade, and maybe since their playoff streak began way back in 2013. But they’re expecting several key injured players to be healthy soon, and Shohei Ohtani has finally returned to the pitcher’s mound, posting a 3.47 ERA in 23.1 carefully managed innings while also leading the NL with 43 homers and a 1.014 OPS.
Will Ohtani and the Dodgers win it all again this October? Or will the Blue Jays prevail, maybe over the Phillies in a repeat of the 1993 World Series? Hit up those MLB lines at Bodog Sportsbook as we race down the home stretch towards the 2025 MLB postseason.