The Super Bowl and Olympics are in the rearview mirror. March Madness is just down the road, though not quite visible.
But right there through the windshield is the World Baseball Classic. And with it, of course, WBC odds, which have already drawn a major wager on at least one team.
“Our headline right now: We just took a $40,000 bet on Dominican Republic +425 to win the tournament,” Caesars Sports head of baseball trading Eric Biggio said Monday. “He’d win a nice check off of that, if the Dominican Republic were to win.”
FOX Sports will have all the action, with games on FOX, FS1 and FS2 and in Spanish on FOX Deportes.
Biggio helps dive into World Baseball Classic futures odds, ahead of Wednesday night’s first pitch in the international tournament.
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Trio at the Top
Team USA fell just short in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, losing 3-2 to Japan in the final. It was a riveting finish, with Shohei Ohtani striking out his then Angels teammate Mike Trout to give Japan its third WBC title.
Ohtani has since moved to the Dodgers, helping Los Angeles win back-to-back World Series in 2024 and 2025. He’s again on Japan’s roster for the WBC, though as a designated hitter, so he won’t be pitching.
While Japan is the defending champion, the USA is a solid favorite in Caesars’ World Baseball Classic odds. As of Monday afternoon, the U.S. is -110 to win the tournament, meaning it would take a $110 bet to profit $100 (total payout $210).
Japan is the +340 second choice. So a $100 bet on Ohtani & Co. would profit a nice $340, if the Japanese side repeats as champion. The Dominican Republic is just behind Japan at +400.
“The consensus is that the U.S. has the best pitching, the Dominican Republic has the best lineup and Japan has the best overall team,” Biggio said.
USA All The Way?
Team USA opens the tourney against Brazil, with an 8 p.m. ET first pitch on FOX from Daikin Park in Houston. No surprise, the U.S. is a popular play to win the 20-team tournament.
“The U.S. leads in bet count, by a pretty healthy margin,” Biggio said. “The team looks good, and the pitching staff is loaded. So there’s a lot of positivity around the U.S. team.”
Leading the way on that talented pitching staff are the Pirates’ Paul Skenes and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal. Skenes won the NL Cy Young Award last season, and Skubal claimed the last two AL Cy Young honors.
“I really love their pitching, so I like the U.S. to win this time around,” Biggio said, though he couched any sort of guarantee. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Japan, the Dominican Republic or even Venezuela making a run.”
Venezuela is the +900 fourth choice in WBC championship odds. There’s a notable drop-off from there, with Puerto Rico the +2000 fifth choice.
As Biggio noted above, there are more bets on Team USA than any other team. However, the Dominican Republic has taken the most money so far in WBC futures.
But that’s solely due to the aforementioned $40,000 bet. If the D.R. delivers, then that bettor bags $170,000 in profit (total payout $210,000).
Dark Horse
If you’re looking to get a little more bang for your buck — recognizing that you’re also far more likely to lose your bet — then Biggio has a couple under-the-radar teams that might be of interest. Canada is +6000 in WBC futures odds, followed by South Korea at +8000.
If Canada makes a surprising title run, a $100 bet would profit $6,000. A hundred bucks on South Korea would net $8,000 profit. But again, it’s unlikely either of those two teams are still standing for the March 17 final in Miami.
“You could make a case for South Korea or Canada,” Biggio said. “But I think it’s a pretty favorite-heavy tournament. Pitching will win out, whether it’s the USA, Japan or the Dominican Republic.”
