Rangers enter World Series as favorites, aim to win first title

 

[October 25, 2023]  After ousting the defending champs in the American League Championship Series, the Texas Rangers find themselves as the favorites to be the ones who take over the throne heading into Game 1 of the Fall Classic.

Texas took care of the Astros in seven games in the ALCS, advancing to the World Series in an improbable manner by winning four games in Houston.

Now the Rangers will attempt to secure their first championship in franchise history after losing back-to-back World Series in 2010-11, and DraftKings has them at -170 to so. Texas also sits at -175 on BetMGM and -178 on FanDuel to conquer the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have been on an inspiring run of their own.

Arizona found itself two games under .500 after losing its ninth consecutive games back on Aug. 11. But the Diamondbacks found a way to sneak into the postseason, grabbing the third and final National League wild card.

From there, Arizona embraced its underdog status, sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in a wild-card series before doing the same to the 100-win Los Angeles Dodgers in an NL Division Series.

That set up a meeting with the defending NL champion Phillies in the NL Championship Series, where the Diamondbacks fell behind three games to two but found a way to win two games on Philadelphia soil to land a spot in the World Series for the first time since 2001.

Arizona won it all 22 years ago, but its modern-day Cinderella story wasn't enough to convince oddsmakers that it has what it takes to go 2-for-2 in Fall Classics. The Diamondbacks are +140 underdogs on DraftKings, with similar lines over at FanDuel (+138) and BetMGM (+145).

Entering the postseason, per DraftKings, the Diamondbacks were +3000 to win the World Series, and the Rangers were +1600.

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager is the favorite to win World Series MVP at both FanDuel and BetMGM, as both books have him listed at +500. DraftKings has Texas right fielder Adolis Garcia with the shortest odds (+500).

Garcia was selected the ALCS MVP after hitting .357 (10-for-28) with five homers and 15 RBIs.

Should a Diamondback be named MVP, oddsmakers think it will be second baseman Ketel Marte (+1000 at FanDuel and DraftKings, +900 at BetMGM) or outfielder Corbin Carroll (+1100 at DraftKings, +1000 at BetMGM and FanDuel). Marte won the NLCS MVP after batting .387 (12-for-31) and pushing his postseason hitting streak to 16 games.

Game 1 is set for Friday night in Arlington, Texas.

--Field Level Media

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