The 2026 MLB season begins on Wednesday, March 25, with the Opening Night game between theNew York Yankees and San Francisco Giants. Opening Day arrives on Thursday, March 26, with 22 teams in action. Six teams will wait until Friday, March 27 to begin their baseball battles, including the Athletics visiting the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals playing an interleague road contest in Atlanta.
While each team’s season might not start at exactly the same time, every team does start with a clean slate. Nobody is in first place. Nobody is in last place. We won’t have a truly clear picture of which teams will end up making it to baseball’s postseason for several months. Still, that doesn’t mean we have no idea how the season might play out.
DraftKings has posted win totals and postseason odds for the upcoming season. In the AL, the New York Yankeesbegin as favorites to win the most games (91.5) as well as to win the World Series (+950). At the other end of the spectrum, the Chicago White Sox(67.5 wins) are the biggest long shot (500-1) to end up celebrating with champagne this fall.
Here are all of the odds for the AL teams and our thoughts on some potential wagers.
Note: All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
and areaccurate as of publication time.
Bets for the AL East
2025 record: 94-68
2026 win total: 89.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (+230), ALCS (+650), World Series (15-1)
To make playoffs, NO (+225):This is a classic “bet the under on the team that overperformed last year” bet. Toronto is good, but there are three other teams in the AL East alone that my projection system (THE BAT X) forecasts to be within 2.5 wins of them. With a projected 36% chance to miss the playoffs, we’re getting good value at +225 (which means we’d only have to project them at 31% to miss in order for this to be a good bet.) — Carty
2025 record: 94-68
2026 win total: 91.5 (O -120/U -Even)
Odds to win: Division (+190), ALCS (+380), World Series (+850)
UNDER 91.5 wins (Even):It’s rare to find “over” value on the Yankees in any capacity, and preseason futures are no exception. The Yankees are good, but we’re not betting on whether the Yankees are good. We’re betting on how good. And, because of name value and public perception, the market usually thinks they’re better than they actually are. THE BAT X projects 88.3 wins for the Bronx Bombers, giving us a decent margin for value here. — Carty
2025 record: 89-73
2026 win total: 87.5 (O -115/U -105)
Odds to win: Division (+300), ALCS (+650), World Series (15-1)
OVER 87.5 wins (-115): This is ostensibly asking if the Red Sox will be better than last season or not. The roster was reset, adding pitching and defense while losing some offense. Be it during spring training, or in-season, Chief Baseball Officer (Craig Breslow) will likely add some thump, which should have the club match, if not surpass last season’s 89 wins. — Zola
2025 record: 77-85
2025 win total: 78.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (25-1), ALCS (35-1), World Series (80-1)
OVER 78.5 wins (-110): The Rays are built on pitching and defense, both of which suffered playing last season’s home schedule outdoors at George Steinbrenner Stadium. Not to mention, the club played an inordinate number of early home games. Through June 30, they were 47-38, but fell to 30-47 over the final three months. Going from nine games over .500 to 17 games under was more than shifting the location of a few series. Still, returning to Tropicana Field has to be more beneficial to the Rays than just one win. — Zola
2025 record: 75-87
2026 win total: 85.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (+450), ALCS (11-1), World Series (25-1)
To make playoffs, YES (Even): As I mentioned with Toronto, this is a division that is very much “up in the air” according to projections, where barely two wins separate first and fourth place. Add in the wild-card spots (and the weakness of the AL Central) and we’re looking at a 66% chance of Baltimore making the postseason. In other words, we’re projecting ourselves as a pretty heavy favorite, except we get to pay even money on a bet that should be far closer to -200. — Carty
Bets for the AL Central
2025 record: 88-74
2026 win total: 80.5 (O -105/U -115)
Odds to win: Division (+260), ALCS (19-1), World Series (40-1)
UNDER 80.5 wins (-115): The Guardians are coming off a strong year, but THE BAT X isn’t buying it. It views a number of players as overproducers (sorry, Steven Kwan) and sees holes littered throughout their lineup and rotation. I’m projecting them for 73.6 wins, which is the largest projected under of any team this year. — Carty
2025 record: 87-75
2026 win total: 85.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (+140), ALCS (12-1), World Series (28-1)
To WIN division (+140): Speculating onTarik Skubal‘s likelihood of remaining with the Tigers is integral to any Detroit wager. After winning his arbitration case, many assume he’ll be traded, hence the 85.5 O/U win total falling short of last season’s 87 victories. The club’s attendance grew by around half a million last season, and there’s room for another similar bump this season, fueled by pairing Skubal with Framber Valdez. The extra revenue should help pay the hefty contracts and keep Skubal in Motown. Betting the over on 85.5 wins is intriguing, but if this narrative holds, the AL Central should be Detroit’s to lose. I don’t think they will. — Zola
2025 record: 82-80
2026 win total: 81.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (+200), ALCS (16-1), World Series (35-1)
UNDER 81.5 wins (-110): The outfield fences in Kauffman Stadium will be moved in and lowered. Many assume this will increase offense, since more fly balls will leave the yard. However, while the venue crushed power, it still played as a slight hitter’s park, with the vast acreage promoting outfield hits. Shorter fences allow outfielders to play shallower to cut off more weakly hit fly balls, while still allowing them to chase down those hit over their heads. In other words, more homers does not necessarily mean more runs. This is subjective, rather than objective, but after Cole Ragans, the Royals rotation benefited from the league’s most expansive outfield, and could suffer more than the batters are boosted by the new dimensions. — Zola
2025 record: 70-92
2026 win total: 73.5 (O -115/U -105)
Odds to win: Division (14-1), ALCS (45-1), World Series (100-1)
OVER 73.5 wins (-115): Death, taxes, and overs on bad teams. THE BAT X is projecting 80.2 wins for Minnesota, the biggest non-Rockies (more on them tomorrow) gap of any team this year. The health of guys like Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis is paramount but, at full health, this is a very solid lineup — better than the one in Cleveland, a team with a line expecting 6.5 more wins. Minnesota also has a legitimately good rotation, albeit with a terrible bullpen backing it up. — Carty
2025 record: 60-102
2026 win total: 67.5 (O Even/U -120)
Odds to win: Division (50-1), ALCS (200-1), World Series (500-1)
OVER 67.5 wins (Even): The White Sox won only 60 games last season, but their expected win total based on run differential was 71. There are many reasons why a club falls short of expectations, one of which is the variance associated with one-run games. The offense can do a better job of situational hitting and late-inning relievers can improve. With Seranthony Dominguez installed at closer and Grant Taylor andJordan Leasurecontinuing to develop, the White Sox should eclipse last season’s 25 saves, pushing them closer to last season’s expected wins. — Zola
Bets for the AL West
2025 record: 90-72
2026 win total: 89.5 (O -115/U -105)
Odds to win: Division (+125), ALCS (+550), World Series (13-1)
To WIN division (+125): After sporting a top-3 pitching staff over the previous two seasons, the Mariners dropped to 18th in ERA in 2025, but their offense finished with the ninth most runs. Look for the pitching to rebound while the offense remains productive, securing Seattle their second straight AL West crown. — Zola
2025 record: 87-75
2026 win total: 86.5 (O -105/U -115)
Odds to win: Division (+185), ALCS (+700), World Series (18-1)
UNDER 86.5 wins (-115): If the Astros manage to stay healthy, they could make a run at repeating 87 wins. But this is a roster littered with aging veterans (Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Christian Walker) and injury risks (Yordan Alvarez, Josh Hader,Lance McCullers Jr.). When you account for the likelihood of some of these guys missing chunks of the year, THE BAT X projects them to have just 81.1 wins, making this one of the stronger under bets on the board. — Carty
2025 record: 81-81
2026 win total: 82.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (+350), ALCS (14-1), World Series (30-1)
UNDER 82.5 wins (-110): On the one hand, Texas fell 10.5 wins shy of last season’s expected win total, so they should be a candidate to go over this season. On the other hand, the team projects to be worse. The question is whether or not that “worse” is bad enough to lose 10 wins off 2025’s expectation. This isn’t a comfortable bet, but expecting Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi to stay healthy, and for MacKenzie Gore to finally show consistency is risky. Plus, the offense may have taken a step back. — Zola
2025 record: 76-86
2026 win total: 75.5 (O -115/U -105)
Odds to win: Division (15-1), ALCS (45-1), World Series (100-1)
OVER 75.5 wins (-115): The Mariners’ win total is just 90, and we’re taking the under on both the Astros and Rangers wins. Nowadays, fewer games are played within the division, but all of those Texas and Houston losses need to go somewhere and the Athletics are poised to take advantage. The pitching is still suspect, but they’ve done a nice job of signing their hitting core to extensions. This doesn’t seem like a group that will get complacent. A better divisional record should be enough to beat last season’s win total. — Zola
2025 record: 72-90
2026 win total: 71.5 (O -110/U -110)
Odds to win: Division (30-1), ALCS (90-1), World Series (200-1)
UNDER 71.5 wins (-110): Initially, the bet was going to be over, with similar reasoning to what I used with the Athletics — that the other teams in the division could struggle. However, after taking a closer look at the Angels roster, they may well overtake the White Sox for “worst team in the AL” honors. If nothing else, I’m even more confident in the Athletics going over 75.5 wins. — Zola
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