White Sox With Low Expectations But High Betting Value

Written By Tyler Duke on February 28, 2020 - Last Updated on June 4, 2024
White Sox

Spring Training is underway and meaningful games are right around the corner after a promising offseason for the Chicago White Sox.

Here are the World Series odds for the White Sox in 2020 at a few of the top online sportsbooks in the country.

DraftKings Sportsbook: +3500
FanDuel Sportsbook: +3300
Golden Nugget: +2500
888 Sport: +3500
Bet365: +4000

Do the White Sox have betting value?

The White Sox haven’t had a winning season since 2012 and haven’t been to the playoffs since 2008. But with a deep farm system that is starting to produce talent and a busy offseason, the outlook for Chicago is looking as promising as it has in quite a long time.

The list of veterans the White Sox brought in during the offseason to pair with their young talent is strong. It includes Edwin Encarnacion, Dallas Keuchel, Yasmani Grandal and Gio Gonzalez. They also traded for 24-year-old Nomar Mozara. The former Ranger is still looking for his breakout campaign — and a change of scenery to Chicago could help produce it. In a division with mostly question marks outside of the Twins, the White Sox show some potential for contention.

PECOTA projections still have the White Sox as a long shot to compete for the playoffs this year, which is in line with many thinking the team is still a year or two away.

The projections have Chicago as an 18.1% chance to make the playoffs, firmly ahead of Kansas City (0.1%) and Detroit (0%) as both teams rebuild. Minnesota (89.2%) is expected to repeat while Cleveland (41.4%) is in the thick of the Wild Card race. The Indians could be seen as a team that starts their own rebuild this season, though. DraftKings odds are mostly in line with those projections as the Twins are a -167 favorite with the Indians (+290) and White Sox (+325) following.

 

MVP and Cy Young Odds

The White Sox have three players listed under +10000 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook to win the AL MVP award in 2020, though all are fairly far down on the list.

Newly acquired Yasmani Grandal leads the list at +5000. Grandal matched a career high with 5.2 fWAR in 2019, but he likely lacks the upside needed to make a run for an MVP at this stage of his career. Yoan Moncada (+6600) and Eloy Jimenez (+10000) possess the potential upside but have yet to fully breakout. Moncada came close in 2019 with a 5.7 fWAR. He showed his hit tool many expected with a .315 average after struggling with contact in his first two seasons. If he can continue to increase his power after 25 home runs in 132 games last year, he’s an interesting consideration at such long odds. Jimenez showed his power with 31 home runs in his rookie year, but he’ll need to improve his contact and fielding output to be in consideration for an MVP in the near future.

Lucas Giolito at +2200 headlines the odds for White Sox pitchers to win the AL Cy Young. The longtime top prospect finally showed his potential in 2019 with a 3.41 ERA, 11.62 K/9 and 5.1 fWAR for Chicago. It was good enough for a sixth place finish in Cy Young voting, and at 25 years old, Giolito likely still has room for growth as the White Sox ace. Dallas Keuchel (+10000) is the only other Chicago pitcher listed.

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Tyler Duke

Tyler Duke graduated from Kennesaw State in 2017 and lives in Atlanta, GA. In six years of journalism experience he has covered the Braves, Hawks and Georgia Tech for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Fox Sports South and SB Nation. Duke has been a content producer for the PGA Tour since 2018.

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