Back in the fight: Astros have second best odds to win 2022 World Series

Moments after the Houston Astros fell to the Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the 2021 World Series, my son turned to me and said, “the saddest part is we have to wait until April to see the Astros play again.”

Sad indeed.

The good news is we don’t have to wait until April to find out which teams are favored to win the World Series in 2022, as shortly after the Braves were crowned, odds came out for next year’s World Series.

Over at WynnBET.com the Los Angeles Dodgers were the odds on favorite at +475, followed by the Astros at +700, the Padres at +800 and the Yankees at +900 conclude those team with under +1100 odds.

The full list of teams and their World Series odds are below, including the Astros:

It’s an interesting place to be for an Astros team that’s likely to look a lot different in 2022, a team with seven free agents, including Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Kendall Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Brooks Raley and Marwin Gonzalez.

Correa, of course, is the big name, and while it’s not out of the question that he returns, it’s widely thought that the odds are he’s with another team next year, be it the Yankees, Tigers or somewhere else.

Graveman and Garcia were acquired in July trades that revamped the bullpen that helped the Astros reach the World Series this year and Raley is an undervalued piece in the minds of many.

As free agency becomes a thing, these odds could shift one way or the other depending on the additions and subtractions.

But the news certainly isn’t all bad as the current odds reflect the strength of the core of the current Astros franchise: Jose Altuve, Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker are all scheduled to return, along with a good young starting pitching staff. Add in a solid core of young guns like Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers and Jose Siri and the immediate future is bright.

A team that could potentially lose one of the top shortstops in the game, a couple of Hall of Fame starters, albeit not at their career peak, and a solid set up guy still has the second best odds to win it all next year.

The pain of losing is real right now and will likely be that way for the foreseeable future as many of us feel that one that should have been Houston’s slipped through our fingers.

That said, we shouldn’t forget what remains is more than most teams see when they survey their roster.

My son is already looking forward to 2022 and as an Astros fan you should be, too. Odds are the Astros will be right back in the fight next year.