Last Updated on April 4, 2010 8:00 am by Anthony Rome
Nationals Season Odds
While things are certainly looking up for the lowly Washington Nationals, the club still doesn’t have enough pieces in place to make a serious playoff run.
The Nationals were active this offseason, signing Jason Marquis, Ivan Rodriguez, Matt Capps, Chien-Ming Wang, Adam Kennedy, Scot Olsen and Tyler Walker to major league contracts. Miguel Batista, Willy Taveras, Chris Duncan, Livan Hernandez and Kevin Mench all got minor league deals.
The club parted ways with Mike MacDougal, Josh Bard, Austin Kearns, Alex Cintron, Jorge Padilla, Saul Rivera, Julian Tavarez, Jorge Sosa, Zech Zinicola and Marco Estrada over the offseason.
Oddsmakers from online sports book SPORTSBETTING.com have made the Nationals 150/1 long shots to win the 2010 World Series and 75/1 to win the National League Pennant. They’re also 50/1 to win the NL East and have an over/under total of 70.5 for number of wins in 2010.
The Nationals have some scattered talent throughout their roster, including pitchers John Lannan, Scott Olsen and Ross Detwiler, as well as position players Ryan Zimmerman, Adam Dunn and leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan. They also have top prospect Stephen Strasburg ready to come up at a moment’s notice, although his development may be slow at first.
Even though this club is moving in the right direction and the signings of Rodriguez, Marquis and Wang (when he’s healthy) will help, the Nationals are still a couple of years away from competing. They have a decent top of the lineup, but the bottom half is suspect and the pitching staff is still highly inexperienced. Washington may be better than in year’s past, but the club will still struggle to stay afloat in the NL East.
2010 MLB World Series Odds
Washington Nationals 150/1
2010 MLB NL Pennant Odds
Washington Nationals 75/1
2010 MLB NL East Odds
Washington Nationals 50/1
2010 MLB Regular Season Win Totals
Washington Nationals Over 70.5 (-125)
Washington Nationals Under 70.5 (-105)
Posted: 4/5/10 8:00AM ET