And then there were four …teams remaining in the MLB odds postseason action. The Philadelphia Phillies (97-65), the New York Giants (92-70), the New York Yankees (95-67) and the Texas Rangers (90-72) are the only teams remaining on the ALCS and NLCS battleground and one of them will be crowned the 2010 World Series champion in a matter of a few short weeks.
The only question is: which one?
All four of these teams are playing extremely well and unlike years past in the baseball odds postseason any one of these teams could win it all.
The weakest of these teams is likely the Giants, a team that has an awfully meager lineup and no real hitting threat anywhere in the order. But this also perhaps the scrappiest team in the bunch, fighting back late in the season to grab an NL West division title and beat a good Atlanta team in the NLDS. It also has arguably the best starting pitcher in the MLB odds action right now in Tim Lincecum and the best three-man rotation in the playoffs with Matt Cain and Bumgartner. But scoring should prove a problem for this team and it’s tough to pitch your way to a title with 1-0 victories every night.
The Yankees are team loaded with talent but also flawed. Aside from CC Sabathia this team doesn’t have the starting pitching depth of the others and that should put a lot of pressure on the bullpen and Mariano Rivera who isn’t as young as he once was. And after destroying pitchers last season, the lineup this year isn’t nearly as potent at the plate
The two best teams look to be the Phillies and, somewhat surprisingly, the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are phenomenal at the plate and if Cliff Lee and the other starters can continue to pitch the way the pitched against the Rays in their previous MLB odds playoff series this team will be impossible to beat.
But the one team that has the best chance to shut down Texas’ title hopes is the Phillies. This is the best team in the league right now and the favorite to win the World Series. With good reason as well as the team is loaded.
It has the best pitcher in baseball in Roy Halladay (who’s coming off a no-hitter) and a very scary starting rotation filled out by Roy Oswalt and Cole Hammels. At the plate, their lineup is as scary as anyone’s with the likes of Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth and this team plenty of MLB odds playoff experience to boot.