Toronto Blue Jays Updated 2023 Pennant and World Series Odds
The Toronto Blue Jays are making moves ahead of the MLB trade deadline. Will bolstering the bullpen with Jordan Hicks help their Pennant and World Series odds?
The Toronto Blue Jays entered 2023 as a solid bet to be a World Series contender. Have they lived up to the hype to this point? The answer is probably not. Still, ahead of the MLB‘s trade deadline, the Blue Jays have been focused on adding to the backend of their bullpen and are still in the market for more. Even though at our last check-in, it appeared that the Blue Jay’s odds of winning the AL East were bleak, they now trail the Baltimore Orioles by just 5.5 games and are certainly in the running down the stretch.
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Let’s dive into the Blue Jay’s current AL Pennant and World Series odds on the FanDuel Sportsbook:
Toronto Blue Jays AL Pennant Odds +800The Blue Jays went through a shakeup in the offseason, which saw them sign Chris Bassitt in free agency while dealing for reliever Erik Swanson and outfielder Daulton Varsho. Varsho has been the most lackluster addition of the three, but there have still been some bright spots, even if they’ve come less often than the Blue Jays brass would like.
Ahead of the MLB trade deadline, the Blue Jays have swung two separate deals with the St. Louis Cardinals, trading for a pair of relievers in Genesis Cabrera and Jordan Hicks. Cabrera has a solid pitch mix, while Hicks can throw as hard as anyone in the big leagues. With Hicks in the mix, when Jordan Romano returns from the IL, the Blue Jays have the potential for a lights-out back end of their bullpen.
With the Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles, there’s no shortage of quality teams in the American League. Still, there’s value with the Blue Jays being at the backend of that group at +800, which is a number we’re happy to consider.
Toronto Blue Jays World Series Odds +1700If the playoffs started today, you’d see a rotation of Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, and Jose Berrios as the three locks to start games. Alek Manoah, Hyun Jin Ryu, and Yusei Kikuchi are all wild cards but represent potential when they’re at their best. This is a strong rotation, but there are still question marks surrounding how they’ll perform in a long playoff run.
The offense has also been hit-and-miss, no pun intended, for most of the year. The pieces are there for them to do damage, but they haven’t done that consistently. The team wanted to be less flashy this year and more about manufacturing runs, but it’ll be interesting to see if this type of strategy hurts them come October.
On paper, the Blue Jays defense and bullpen are a level above what they were last season at this time, which should pay dividends.
The Blue Jays haven’t won the Fall Classic since 1993 when they won the second half of back-to-back World Series. Right now, Toronto is tied with the Orioles for the sixth-shortest World Series odds at +1700. At their ceiling, the Bluebirds represent a real World Series contender. The only question that needs to be answered now is whether or not the Jays can reach that level in October.