Second city: Cubs still World Series favorite, but White Sox close

A month into the Major League Baseball regular season the Chicago Cubs are still World Series favorites. This shouldn’t come as a big surprise. The Cubs have lived up to expectations with an 18-6 record, and have outscored opponents by a league-leading 83 runs thus far this season. A month into the season, the’ve retained their 5/1 World Series odds according to Bovada. Everything is going to according to plan on the North Side.

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The Cubs remained at the top, but the White Sox are making a charge in the latest odds from Bovada. It’s the South Side where things are completely off the rails. Following their hot start, the Chicago White Sox are one of the biggest risers in the Bovada odds. The site listed the White Sox at 33/1 to win the World Series on April 4, but now have the club at 12/1, making them co-favorites in the American League with both the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays.

If the Cubs find a way to falter, Bovada likes both the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals in the National League. Both teams are going off at 10/1 now.

Things aren't looking so good for the Twins and Braves in the latest odds from Bovada. The Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles have also seen a similar increase in their odds following their early success. Both the Mariners and O’s were listed at 40/1 in April. The M’s have shot up to 22/1, while Baltimore is at 28/1 to win the World Series.

The biggest fallers shouldn’t come as a major surprise. Both the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros took a tumble, as did the Minnesota Twins. Cleveland and Houston are now 33/1, the Twins dropped from 50/1 to 125/1.

Before you start to feel too bad for the Twins, though, consider the Atlanta Braves. Bovada wasn’t kind to Atlanta in April, listing them at 125/1. Now that April is over, they’ve dropped to 500/1. Yikes! It’s not a fun time to be a Braves fan.

If everything goes according to plan, the Cubs will make it to the World Series to take on either the Red Sox, Blue Jays or White Sox. And while the first two would present fun match-ups, there’s something about a crosstown World Series that seems pretty exciting. If the White Sox can continue their winning ways, that’s a legitimate possibility for the first time in over a century.

[Elsewhere: The Yankees are off to a terrible start this season]

Speaking of, maybe the Cubs would prefer to see either Boston or Toronto in that scenario. The last time the Cubs and White Sox met in the World Series back in 1906, the White Sox pulled off a stunning upset. Is this finally the Cubs’ year, or are the baseball gods setting up history to repeat itself?

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