Above all the offseason has been one of turmoil for the Boston Red Sox. This comes on the heels of a disappointing 2019 season in which they missed the playoffs as defending World Series champions. Most important of all Boston was one of the biggest baseball betting money losers on the board for 2019. Namely manager Alex Cora is at the heart of the Red Sox problems. Cora and the Bosox parted ways due to his being named in the Houston Astros cheating scandal. Further, Red Sox ownership has called for reduced payroll to avoid the MLB luxury tax.
2020 Boston Red Sox
2020 Boston Red Sox Overview
While with the Astros, Cora was a bench coach at the time of the alleged sign-stealing scheme. A new Boston manager is yet to be named. With spring training in just a few weeks, the Red Sox rank among the least stable franchises in the game. As a consequence, gamblers have begun to avoid Boston on the futures board. At 25/1 the Red Sox are at a price that may be seen as a bargain to some gamblers. Others will see them as nothing but potential trouble.
In sum Boston has been one of the worst values on the board, even in good circumstances. With a large fan following and marquee brand status, the Red Sox are “too public” to offer consistent betting value. More often than not they are perpetual overlays on the board. In the same way, the firing of Dave Dombrowski as team president adds to the angst amongst gamblers. The assistant hitting coach and two pitching coaches were also shown the door. Concurrently, this all feeds into Boston’s tumultuous reputation.
Key Pitchers
Chris Sale is coming off an alarmingly bad season for the Red Sox in 2019. To illuminate, Sale was 6-11 with a 4.40 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. It was far and away the worst season of his career. However, Sale is expected to regain form as a sportsbook asset for 2020. In both 2017 and 2018, his ERA was under 3.00 and WHIP under 1.00. Sale made the American League All-Star team seven straight years from 2012 through 2018.
In turn, closer Brad Workman was positive for the disappointing 2019 season. Workman was 10-1 with 16 saves. Along the same lines, his ERA was 1.88 with a WHIP of 1.03. Workman powered to 104 strikeouts in 71.2 innings of work.
Martinez Powers at the Plate
JD Martinez is the generator of the Red Sox attack. To be exact he has made the AL All-Star team the past two seasons. And is a three-time AL Silver Slugger Award winner. In 2019 Martinez hit .304 with a slugging percentage of .557 and OPS of .939. He hit 36 home runs and exceeded 100 RBI for the fourth time in five years.
Baseball Odds Today Betting Odd Picks
In this situation, the Red Sox could prove to be a baseball betting bargain. Certainly, the public is not crazy about them currently due to the front office carnage. But Boston resembles a good stock that dropped too far and is due for an upswing correction. This is still one of baseball’s top teams.
Baseball Odds Today Betting Online Pick: Boston for a wild card spot