Boston Red Sox players celebrate after defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 6 of baseball’s World Series Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2013, in Boston. The Red Sox won 6-1 to win the series. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
LAS VEGAS — Winning another World Series didn’t automatically make the Boston Red Sox favorites to repeat next year.
Oddsmakers in this city’s sports books like the Los Angeles Dodgers to win it all in 2014 with most making them an 8-1 pick for the title. At the Wynn hotel-casino the Detroit Tigers are next at 9-1, followed by the Red Sox at 10-1.
“There’s no real clear cut favorite,” said Johnny Avello, who runs the Wynn book. “When you see odds like that on future bets it tells you there are a lot of teams in the hunt.”
The Red Sox turnaround from last in their division a year ago to World Series champions didn’t exactly take oddsmakers by surprise. Most books around the city had them as 25-1 picks opening the season, with some as low as 15-1.
“It was really no bargain even with the last to first thing because the Red Sox always draw attention,” said Jimmy Vaccaro of the South Point hotel. “The only real bad one would have been the Dodgers because everyone jumped on them in June when they were as high as 75-1.”
Vaccaro said most books did well with both the Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals, partly because of the money bet on the Dodgers and other teams.
Those looking for a real longshot in 2014 need look no further than Houston, where the Astros are as much as 250-1 to win it all. Minnesota and Miami are next at 125-1.