Low hopes for Giants, A’s

Last year, Jay Kornegay, who directs the sports book at the Westgate in Las Vegas, took some heat as the baseball season began for saying that the San Francisco Giants were on the decline.

He didn’t expect the team to lose 98 games and finish 40 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they did. In the offseason the Giants traded for a couple of talented veterans, but Kornegay still doesn’t see the team as a title contender this season.

At Westgate, the favorites to win this year’s World Series are the Dodgers and the Houston Astros, both at 5to-1, closely followed by the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees, both at 6-to-1.

“The Dodgers and the Astros are the two elite teams, two organizations that seem to do all the right things,” Kornegay said. “They’re smart at making moves, they’re very deep, they have starters, they have a strong bullpen. The Dodgers had a couple of injuries last year, and they still did all right.” (The Dodgers made it to the World Series, but lost to the Astros.)

The Yankees’ lineup of hitters is going to be “maybe the best in baseball,” Kornegay said. “It’s a matter of pitching. … The Cubs will be there again — that was probably the definition of a World Series hangover for the Cubs last year,” he added, referring to a season with more struggle than when Chicago won the World Series in 2016.

Rounding out the elite teams are the Cubs at 7-to-1 and Washington Nationals at 8-to-1. The Giants are back in the pack at 30-to-1.

“I think the Giants are refusing to go into rebuilding mode,” Kornegay said.

What about the signings of former All-Stars Evan Longoria and Andrew McCutchen?

“Well,” he said, the Giants “just got older. You look at that lineup and there are question marks all over the place. I love Posey, but he’s (about to turn) 31; they’re getting up there. You can’t say they’re in the prime of their careers. The pitching is a huge question mark.”

Given those concerns it may be surprising that the line on total wins for the Giants this season is 83.5, suggesting they’ll be a winning team. But Kornegay thinks the Giants could be out of contention and “in rebuilding mode by June.” The line may have more to do with Giants fans betting on their team than on hard-headed analysis.

Across the bay, bookmakers don’t view the Oakland A’s as having a realistic shot at winning the World Series. At Westgate, the odds on the A’s are 200-to-1. The line on season wins for the A’s is 75.5.

“The A’s are full of talented young players (and) trending in the right direction,” Kornegay said, but still have a long way to go to catch top teams. Still, at 200-to-1, that could be a fun $5 bet with a potential payoff of $1,000.