Baseball Betting: The Best And Worst Teams

Added on Aug 18, 2010 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

If you’ve followed our daily baseball betting free picks you’ve no doubt seen references to certain teams being profitable and thus a ‘good investment’ while other teams are considered ‘bad investments’ due to their losses. In this article, we’ll run down the top 3 ‘investments’ in baseball based on units of profit and then take a look at the 3 worst money losers in the sport. Since baseball is based entirely on moneylines, it isn’t necessarily the case that the teams with the best records will make the most money or vice versa. In fact, the teams with the two best records in the Major Leagues—the Yankees and Rays—aren’t in the top 3 profitable teams. Additionally, the two worst teams in baseball—the Pirates and Orioles—aren’t among the 3 biggest money losers in the sport. Note that all records below are current as of 8/17/10.

THE MOST PROFITABLE TEAMS:

1) SAN DIEGO PADRES +28.2 UNITS: For whatever reason, the betting public remains unconvinced that the Padres are ‘for real’ despite a 71-47 record, 28+ units of profit and a 5 game NL West lead over second place San Francisco. They may not have a lot of big name stars, but they do have a MLB best 3.20 team ERA. Hard to find a situation in which the Padres fail to turn a profit—they win at home and on the road. They should remain the best day in/day out value in baseball down the stretch.

2) CINCINNATI REDS +14.6 UNITS: While San Diego does it with defense, Cincinnati does it with their league leading offense. The Reds have the best team batting average in the NL at .271 and they score a league best 4.9 runs per game. Cincy has lost money on the road against left handed pitching, but in most other situations they’re a solid bet.

3) TORONTO BLUE JAYS/ATLANTA BRAVES +11 UNITS: The Blue Jays have benefitted from being something of a ‘forgotten team’ in baseball’s best division. While the Yankees and Rays fight it out for the AL East crown, Toronto has quietly put together a solid year. Jays have been weak against left handers this year. Atlanta’s appearance is something of a surprise, since for years they were one of the most overvalued ‘public’ teams in the sport. The Braves got off to poor start but have been winning ever since. They’re a dominant 43-16 at Turner Field, but just 27-33 on the road.

THE LEAST PROFITABLE TEAMS:

1) CHICAGO CUBS -30.6 UNITS: Cubs have been awful everywhere, but year after year they’re one of the worst home investments in baseball. The public loves to bet them at Wrigley Field despite insane losses—they’ve dropped a -17.3 units at home this year and since 1997 have lost an astounding -134.3 units at Wrigley.

2) SEATTLE MARINERS -26.3 UNITS: Mariners are bad at home (-9.5 units) and even worse on the road where they’re 19-41 -19.3 units. Pitching staff is serviceable bordering on competent, but the offense is the worst in baseball hitting .236 as a team and averaging a mere 3.25 runs per game. If you look hard enough you’ll uncover a few situations in which Seattle has been profitable but they’re few and far between.

3) ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS -22.6 UNITS: The worst pitching staff in baseball has mired Arizona in the NL West basement, 25 games out of first place. Arizona has the worst team ERA in Major League Baseball (5.12) and their bullpen is even more pitiful with a 6.10 team ERA. With that sort of pitching no lead is safe which explains why Arizona has lost money in most situations this year.