Best bets for 2022 MLB season

You can bet on almost anything these days, and Major League Baseball offers plenty of options. We took a look at the best bets for the 2022 season.

Sports business columnist Juan Lozano make his predictions for the best bets in baseball.

It’s important to remember that this column and “best bets” are for entertainment purposes only. Don’t put your mortgage on the line based on Lozano’s predictions.

Best bets, Aaron Judge – 36.5 Home Runs

The Yankees right fielder is coming off a 39-home run season. This is Judge’s most since he hit 52 home runs in his rookie season. 

Judge played in 148 games after missing significant portions of the 2018-2020 seasons. Judge’s health and durability are concerns. 

Judge’s availability for nine road games against the Blue Jays is in question because Canada has barred unvaccinated foreign players from entering the country for games. 

Judge has not disclosed his vaccination status. We’ll take the under here.

Eugenio Suarez- 34.5 Home Runs

Seattle Mariners baseman Eugenio Suarez had a disappointing 2021 season after a stellar 2020 campaign. 

Now Suarez is changing leagues. He is going from playing in a hitter-friendly stadium in Cincinnati to one of the most pitcher-friendly ones in Seattle. 

AL West stadiums in Arlington, Texas, and Oakland are nearly as difficult to hit home runs in as Seattle

The Mariners are a team on the rise. The addition of Suarez will boost their playoff chances, but we are going to come in on the “UNDER” on the home run total. 

Marcus Semien- 32.5 Home Runs

Seimen must be a glutton for punishment. He signed on to play in another pitcher-friendly park in Texas after years in the cavernous RingCentral Coliseum. 

In 2021 with the Toronto Blue Jays, Semien hit 45 round trippers, 22 of them at home. “Home” was actually three different locations, though. The Blue Jays played 38 games at their spring training home in Dunedin, Fla., before moving to Buffalo, the home of their Triple AAA affiliate in June. They finally returned to Toronto at the end of July. 

Semien won’t have the benefit of playing in minor league parks in 2021. He also has fewer bats to protect him in the lineup than he did in Toronto. Sorry Marcus. When thinking of best bets we are going with the “UNDER” here. 

Miami Marlins- 76.5 Wins

The Marlins have good starting pitching for the foreseeable future. Fireballer Sandy Alcantara, Pablo Lopez and 2021 All-Star Trevor Rogers give the team hope. 

Second baseman Jazz Chisholm is one of the game’s more exciting young players 

The Marlins won only 67 games in 2021, with 42 of those wins in Miami. They can’t be as bad on the road in 2022 as they were in 2021. 

A 13-game improvement is a lot, but I’ll count on them to do it.

Prediction best bets for best record- Cardinals – +4500

In 2021, the Cardinals reached the playoffs, largely on the momentum generated by a late-season 17-game winning streak. 

The Cardinals improved their pitching staff from a season ago, adding veteran lefty Steven Matz. 

St. Louis has a strong bullpen, plays exceptional defense and gets timely hits. The Reds and Pirates will likely struggle while the Cubs rebuild. We think it’s a two-team race between the Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. 

We like the 45:1 odds here. 

World Series champion: White Sox +1200

The Dodgers are the favorite to win the World Series. There’s no value in taking them. We didn’t have to look too hard to find a team with a good number. We like the White Sox, the class of the AL Central at +1200.  

The Southside Sox have one of the best rotations in the American League and an outstanding lineup full of dangerous hitters such as Jose Abreu, Tim Anderson,  Eloy Jimenez and Luis Ramirez. 

It seems that 12:1 is a good investment among the best bets.