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As players get ready to report for spring training, Atlantis Reno has released their MLB season win totals for 2016. Last year, bettors expected the Yankees to win just 80 games during the season. The very streaky 2015 Yankees ended up surpassing those expectations and winning 87 games on their way to making an appearance in the Wild Card game. This year, bettors think the Yankees will win just 85 games.
Here's a full list of the MLB season win totals:
AL East
Blue Jays | 87
Red Sox | 85.5
Yankees | 85
Orioles | 80.5
Rays | 78
AL Central
Royals | 87
Tigers | 85
Indians | 84
White Sox | 80.5
Twins | 77.5
AL West
Rangers | 86
Astros | 85.5
Mariners | 83
Angels | 82.5
Athletics | 75.5
NL East
Mets | 88
Nationals | 87
Marlins | 80.5
Braves | 65
Phillies | 64.5
NL Central
Cubs | 89
Cardinals | 87.5
Pirates | 87
Brewers | 71.5
Reds | 71
Are the baseball bettors selling the Yankees short? Possibly. Part of the reason that the Yankees did so well last year is because Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez each put together an incredible season which gave the offense a boost. It's unrealistic to expect them to replicate that in 2016. The Yankees also failed to add any starters to the rotation, and there are a lot of concerns as to whether the rotation can remain healthy. If they can't, the Yankees could be in trouble since they don't have a lot of pitching depth.
On the other hand, the Yankees added Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks who are arguably better players than Stephen Drew and Chris Young. The addition of Aroldis Chapman will make the one-two-three punch of Dellin Betances/Andrew Miller/Chapman a force to be reckoned with. If the rotation stays healthy then this team should be able to duplicate the results of last year's team.
As far as the rest of the AL East is concerned, it makes sense that the Blue Jays are expected to maintain the top spot in the division. Their rotation could be better, especially since they lost short-term rental David Price, but their offense is still one of the best in baseball. Last year, the Red Sox were expected to win 86 games and finished the season at 78, and now baseball bettors think they will do better than the Yankees. Though they added Price and Craig Kimbrel, the rest of their rotation is not that great. Expecting them to jump from worst to second-best might be too optimistic.
The Orioles spent most of the offseason working out deals to retain the players that they could have lost to free agency, like Darren O'Day and Chris Davis. Other than that, neither the Orioles nor the Rays made a whole lot of changes to their respective teams, so it is understandable that bettors think they will finish the season with roughly the same number of wins as in 2015.
How many games do you think the Yankees will win, and how will they stack up against the rest of the AL East?