Yankees, Dodgers Odds-on Favorites to Win 2020 World Series in 60-Game Season

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers are the heavy co-favorites to win the 2020 MLB World Series.

According to ESPN's David Purdum, Caesars Sportsbook has installed the Yankees and Dodgers as 7-2 co-favorites. They are followed by the Houston Astros at 11-1 and the Atlanta Braves and Minnesota Twins, who are both 15-1.

On Tuesday, the MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to a league-imposed schedule that will see every team play 60 regular-season games. The season is set to start on July 23 or 24, which will be about four months after the league shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

There will be 10 playoff teams as usual, with five from each league, although a major change has been instituted for this season in the form of a universal designated hitter for both the American and National Leagues.

Players are scheduled to report to spring training camps in July 1, which will give them about three weeks to get ready for the truncated season. The plan is for every team to complete 60 games in 66 days, with the regular season ending on Sept. 27.

The shortened season could make for some surprises depending on how teams handle the unique situation, but the betting odds have essentially held true to what most fans and prognosticators expected back in spring training.

The Yankees reached the American League Championship Series last season before falling to the Astros, and they made a huge improvement during the offseason by signing ace starting pitcher Gerrit Cole away from Houston.

Cole will lead a strong quality rotation that also includes James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka and J.A. Happ. The Yankees are also returning arguably the best lineup in baseball featuring the likes of Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, D.J. LeMahieu, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez, among others.

The delayed start to the season may have actually helped the Yankees since Paxton, Judge, Stanton and outfielder Aaron Hicks all would have begun the year on the injured list had it commenced on time. Paxton and Stanton will reportedly be good to go when the 2020 season starts, while Judge and Hicks have a much better chance of suiting up on Opening Day as well.

Like the Yankees, the Dodgers have been in the hunt often in recent years, and they also made a splashy offseason move to improve their World Series chances.

L.A. has reached the playoffs in seven straight seasons and lost in the World Series in both 2017 and 2018. This Dodgers team could be the best one yet following the acquisition of outfielder Mookie Betts and starting pitcher David Price from the Boston Red Sox.

Betts, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, Max Muncy and Justin Turner will lead the way offensively, while Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Price, Julio Urias and Alex Wood form a top-flight rotation.

The Yankees and Dodgers may be on a World Series collision course provided they remain healthy and react well to the shortened season, but there are plenty of other contenders.

The Astros reached the World Series last year and won it in 2017, but they did lose Cole in free agency. They also lost manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow, as both were fired after Major League Baseball found that Houston used illegal sign-stealing tactics during its World Series-winning season.

Both the Braves and Twins are dark horses, but they could be legitimate threats under the right circumstances as well. Atlanta has the potential NL MVP front-runner in outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., while the Twins have a power-laden lineup and added third baseman Josh Donaldson in free agency.