Washington Nationals Were Big Underdogs The Entirety of Season

Published on November 1st, 2019 3:50 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


One last note on the recently completed World Series, which saw the Washington Nationals shock the world by winning the title.

After the club lost Bryce Harper to free agency in the off-season, nobody really expected them to win the title, or even come close.

The team had a strong pitching staff but seemingly lacked the other important pieces to compete with the likes of the Astros, Yankees and Dodgers.

Their odds to win the title reflected this - on February 1st (a few months before the start of the season), the Nationals were +1600 to win the World Series. By the time that the season got started in April, the Nationals' title odds had fallen to +2000.

By June 1st, bookmakers had the Nationals pegged with a remote shot, at best, to win, as they were marked down all the way to +5000. That means that a $100 wager on the Nationals to win at the start of June would produce a total profit of $5,000 if they were able to win.

As the playoffs approached, the Nationals' odds to win the Series continued to fall as they started to play better baseball. Their odds dropped from +5000 to +3500 to +2800 to +1800. By the time that the playoffs started, the Nationals were listed at +1600 to win it all. These were much lower odds, though they were still considered a long shot to win it all.

Prior to the playoffs getting underway, the Nationals were +1600 to win it all.

Prior to the NLDS getting underway, the Nationals were +1100 to win it all.

Prior to the NLCS getting underway, the Nationals were +350 to win it all.

Prior to the World Series getting underway, the Nationals were +192 to win it all.

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The Nationals had the third highest opening day payroll at a little over $204 million.

With that being said, the Nationals were considered to be miles behind the likes of the Yankees, Dodgers and Astros in terms of their overall talent level, which is why they were considered such long shots to win it all, despite their high payroll number.

In the end, the Nationals surprised practically everybody by winning the title.