World Series Predictions – 5 Early Surprise Teams That Can Win The World Series
As per usual, there are a few surprises in the month of April in the baseball standings. Last year, it was the Toronto Blue Jays who got off to a hot start but then faded miserably as the season progressed. But this year, there are a few teams atop the standings and they could be very persistent this season. Here are five teams with a real shot to win the World Series.
San Francisco Giants
As most MLB betting fans say, pitching wins World Series and the Giants have two of the best aces in the business. While the Philadelphia Phillies can rival them, the Giants have Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and even Barry Zito has been surprising a lot of pundits in the early part of the season.
The main question with the Giants continues to be hitting but that is slowly improving and if they can make a key pickup at the deadline, they’ll also be a real threat in the National League.
Oakland Athletics
Speaking of Bay Area contenders, is it time to start taking the Oakland Athletics seriously?
The pitching is there with Ben Sheets, Justin Duchscherer and Brett Anderson, while the hitting is always spotty, but seems to get enough of a job done.
It’s hard to pick the A’s to win over a team like the Yankees in the American League, but considering the Los Angeles Angels continue to slowly decline and the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are pretenders and not contenders, the A’s could easily find themselves representing the West in the playoffs.
Atlanta Braves
Online betting cappers know it is Bobby Cox’s last season, which means that there is a sense of urgency. But when you look at this Braves roster from top-to-bottom, you realize that they could seriously be a contender for the National League Pennant and the World Series.
The starting rotation with – Tommy Hanson, Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe and Jair Jurrjens – could be the deepest in the NL, the bullpen is always solid while Cox is around and the battle lineup, fueled by the growing legend of Jason Heyward, is complete.
This team has all the constituents and maybe one more key pickup at the trade deadline propels them to a late-season run.
Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays took a year off last year but sports betting fans know that this team is no basement dweller anymore. There should be some urgency this year as Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena are probably gone after the season.
The rotation is still strong with Matt Garza, James Shields and David Price and the hitting continues to improve as a young squad matures a little bit every game. This team has what it takes to be a contender.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins are supposedly a paper tiger each year but there is some real momentum behind them this year. With a new baseball stadium and the re-signing of Joe Mauer to an extension, there is a lot of optimism in Minnesota that this could be a stellar year.
Keep in mind that there is plenty of consistency from last year’s squad, which means team chemistry will be at a high. Also, the loss of Joe Nathan, while nobody would ever suggest that that is an overall positive, one potential glimmer of hope is that those types of injuries seem to nit a team even closer.
Only time will tell but there definitely does feel like there is some magic behind this team in 2010.
