Betting on a 2020 MLB season

Though Monday’s reversal of confidence by commissioner Rob Manfred threw a wrench into the 2020 plans, the oddsmakers are still leaning that there will actually be an MLB season this year.

BetOnline set -250 odds on yes, there will be an MLB season in 2020, meaning you’d have to wager $250 to win $100. No, there won’t be an MLB season this year remains the underdog at +175, meaning a $100 bet would win $175 if successful.

Though a season happening is still the favorite, there is still somewhat of a crisis of confidence even in the gambling world, since these same odds on May 28 were -500 for yes and +300 for no. The oddsmakers are wavering, at least, and who could blame them?

Only five days after saying “We’re going to play baseball in 2020, 100 percent,” Manfred on Monday in an ESPN interview said of a potential season this year, “I’m not confident. I think there’s real risk; and as long as there’s no dialogue, that real risk is gonna continue.”

If there is in fact a 2020 Major League Baseball season, you can also bet on the length, too. Again per BetOnline, a season length between 51-65 games is the favorite at 5/8 odds, meaning a $160 bet is needed to win $100.

A season of 50 or fewer games has 9/4 odds (a $100 bet would win $225), and a season of 66 games or more has 15/4 odds (a $100 bet would win $375).

Links

• Kiley McDaniel at ESPN said Angels first-round pick Reid Detmers “will likely be the first starter in this draft to stick in the big leagues” from the 2020 MLB Draft.
• Maria Torres at the Los Angeles Times has more on fifth-round pick Adam Seminaris from Long Beach State, one of three Angels draftees to reportedly sign so far.
• Christian Red and Teri Thompson at USA Today reported on the rampant corruption by MLB clubs in Latin America, exploiting prospects as young as 12 years old, for which there is an ongoing FBI investigation.
• MLB.com’s all-time team for each franchise has reached the managers. Rhett Bollinger wrote about why Mike Scioscia is the easy choice for the Angels.
• Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus wrote that we should stop blaming Rob Manfred for MLB’s current debacle. There are 30 owners, after all.
• Mike Trout on Tuesday added his name to the chorus of major league players repeating the union’s mantra of “Tell us when and where.”