The 2021 MLB season has now reached a conclusion, with the Atlanta Braves winning their first World Series since 1995. But while they will have an offseason to celebrate, bettors get no rest at all as odds to win the 2022 World Series are already on the board!
It's obviously very early in the offseason, with free agency, trades, and plenty of other unpredictable roster adjustments going to take place before the 2022 season kicks off, but it's never too early at who will take down the next Fall Classic.
So, congrats to the good people of Atlanta, but for the rest of the baseball world, here is the first World Series odds for the 2022 season.
Odds to win the 2022 World Series
The odds below are up-to-date within a five-minute delay and reflect the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks. Be sure to compare MLB futures odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
Favorites to win the World Series
The Los Angeles Dodgers were essentially the favorites for the entirety of the 2021 season — until the Braves sent them packing — and are again the 2022 favorites at +550. Los Angeles won the title in 2020 and finished second in the MLB with 106 regular-season wins last year, and still has a roster that features Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, Max Muncy, Walker Buehler, and Julio Urias, though Corey Seager is a free agent and Cody Bellinger needs to do better than .165 to really give the Dodgers a chance.
The Houston Astros (+700) fell short in the 2021 World Series, losing 4-2 to the Atlanta Braves, but are the favorites to emerge from the American League and second overall on the WS odds board. Houston will return some big bats in Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and Kyle Tucker, but star shortstop Carlos Correa is expected to depart in free agency and the pitching staff was severely exposed throughout the playoffs.
Speaking of the Braves, the (now) defending champions are third on the board at +900. It's crazy to think that Atlanta just won the title without their best player — and arguably one of the three best players in the world — in Ronald Acuna Jr., so the Braves should be even scarier when he returns next year to join the likes of Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, Dansby Swanson, and Max Fried. Freddie Freeman is a UFA, but it's likely he returns to the team he's spent his entire 12-year career with, while Atlanta must also try to retain some combination of Eddie Rosario and Jorge Soler — trade deadline acquisitions who won the NLCS MVP (Rosario) and World Series MVP (Soler) to power Atlanta to a title.
The New York Yankees, led by Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole, had another disappointing exit in 2021, losing to Boston in the Wild Card Game. Some major roster changes are expected to come in the Bronx this offseason, although manager Aaron Boone was re-signed for three more years and President Brian Cashman still runs the shots, but oddsmakers expect the Bronx Bombers to be a factor, as they're fourth on the board at +1,000.
The Top 5 is rounded out by the Chicago White Sox (+1,200), who took a big step forward in 2021 and have a roster dripping with young talent, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays (the only AL team to win 100 games in 2021) at +1,400 and then the San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, and Boston Red Sox at +1,600.
Understanding World Series futures odds
Sportsbooks will post odds for the World Series as early as the day after the end of the previous MLB postseason. These odds are constantly adjusted throughout the offseason as players get hurt or are suspended or traded. Once the season begins, title odds will change as often as daily as teams win and lose games and as players get hurt or suspended. Sportsbooks will also adjust MLB futures odds based on handle and liability to certain teams.
World Series futures odds will usually look like this:
- Houston Astros +210
This means that on a $100 bet, you'll stand to profit $210 if the Astros win the World Series. If it's close to the end of the regular season or during the playoffs and if there is a very dominant team, you might see that a team is has a minus sign (-) ahead of its odds.
- Los Angeles Dodgers -120
This means that you would need to bet $120 to win $100 on a Dodgers championship.
Above we have posted the American odds for MLB futures. However, these are easy to convert to decimal odds or fractional odds with our odds converter tool.
How to bet on MLB futures odds
There are a few different ways to bet on professional baseball futures odds. One way is by selecting the winner of the World Series. You're able to do this from basically after the final out of the previous year's World Series all the way through to next year's playoffs.
There are many other baseball futures markets to dive into as well, such as odds to win the National League and American League pennants, odds to win each division within both the NL and AL, and by taking the Over or Under on a team's total wins for the season. Some sportsbooks will also offer markets on player awards such as the MVP, Cy Young, and Rookie of the Year.
Get more baseball betting strategies in our How to Bet section and join the conversation with thousands of serious baseball bettors in our MLB Betting Forum.
World Series Odds FAQs
What are the betting odds on the World Series?
As of October 6, 2021, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the betting favorites to win the World Series again, followed by the San Francisco Giants and the Houston Astros.
