The Cleveland Indians came within two runs of winning their first World Series Championship in almost 70 years but were unable to complete the epic game 7 comeback…That’s how Cleveland fans are likely to explain their team's heartbreaking defeat. The narrative for any other MLB fan is that the Indians blew a 3 to 1 lead to the Chicago Cubs, making them the fifth team ever to allow such a thing. Even after such a crushing collapse, the Cleveland Indians betting preview for 2017 should include some of the highest odds to win of anybody in the league. They have a solid lineup, one of the best pitching rotations in the league and will be looking to add even more weapons.
After winning the AL Central and taking the Cubs to 7 games in the World Series the Indians World Series odds for 2017 are +1200 at Bovada sportsbook, and +1100 on Sportsbetting.ag and BetOnline. Right now those numbers are tied for the second highest odds in the American League and the fourth highest odds in MLB to win the World Series.
Indians Odds to Win the Division
The Indians AL Central odds are all but guaranteed to be the highest of any competitor. They are fresh off a World Series berth and will have a chip on their shoulder after losing in such heartbreaking fashion. The betting lines have yet to be posted on the major sportsbooks like 5Dimes and Bovada but you can go ahead and notch it down that Cleveland’s odds to win the division will be at the top of the list.
Indians Key Additions and Departures
The defending American League champions currently have four pending free agents on their roster with the most notable name being outfielder Rajai Davis. Davis would be the first real Indians key departure but as of right now they do have plans on bringing him back on a one-year deal. Davis lead the team in stolen bases with 43 which was good for fourth in the majors and was a key contributor on their run to the World Series.
There haven’t been many moves made yet when discussing the Indians key additions but there are some whispers around the league that they could be looking to throw money at Mark Trumbo. Trumbo is coming off the best season of his career in 2016 after he led the league in home runs with 47 so he would add a lot of power to that already tough lineup.
Indians Prospects to Look Out For in 2017
The Cleveland Indians have an incredible farm program full of talent that includes five top 100 prospects in Major League Baseball. Bradley Zimmer (#25), Brady Aiken (#63), Bobby Bradley (#66), Francisco Mejia (#84) and Triston McKenzie. Aiken and McKenzie are both highly ranked pitching prospects but they aren’t projected to get called up until 2019. Bradley and Mejia play first and catcher respectively and are slated for a 2018 debut though both have the talent to get called up sooner. The biggest name to look out for out of all of them is Bradley Zimmer, who is the Indians top prospect. The 6 foot 4 outfielder already has the speed and power necessary at the next level, and if he can improve his fielding ability, Zimmer could be a replacement option if the before mentioned Rajai Davis ends up signing with somebody else.
Indians Top 5 Prospects
| Player | Position | ETA | Age | Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley Zimmer | OF | 2017 | 24 | 6 Foot 4 |
| Brady Aiken | LHP | 2019 | 20 | 6 Feet 4 |
| Bobby Bradley | 1B | 2018 | 20 | 6 foot 1 |
| Francisco Mejia | Catcher | 2018 | 21 | 6 foot 5 |
| Triston McKenzie | RHP | 2019 | 19 | 6 foot 5 |
Making Your First Baseball Betting Deposit Is Easy
If you want to start putting money on the Cleveland Indians, you will need to start by funding your MLB online sportsbook account. The best sports betting sites have streamlined deposits to make the process as convenient as possible for MLB bettors. You can even make deposits from your mobile device while on the go. Just log into your account, visit the Cashier page, and view the multiple deposit options. Funding methods will include credit cards, bank wires, money orders, e-wallets, and paper checks. Each option will have specific minimums and maximums, along with varied processing speeds. Cashier’s checks will take longer to be credited to your account due to the time it takes to mail the check in, but the maximum deposit limit tends to be higher than other methods. To help prove how much they value their new members, online sports betting sites such as BetOnline, Bovada, and SportsBetting will waive all initial deposit fees for new account holders. This is a perk that can save you up to around $50 and leaves more money for you to put toward placing a bet on the Cleveland Indians. You may also be required to send in verification documents when making your initial deposit. This is an easy step that verifies and protects your identity for future deposits and withdrawals made with your account. It should only take a few moments to make your first online sportsbook deposit and be on your way to MLB betting.
Sportsbook Deposit Bonuses and How To Use Them
As a new player, free money can be quite enticing, but there are a few basics of deposit bonuses that all MLB bettors should be aware of. All of the best online baseball sportsbooks have welcome bonuses and free play rewards for their new members, and in many instances, these promotions can be advantageous. The key is to know what to look for before signing up for a deposit bonus, and choosing the bonus that is most beneficial to you as a bettor.
With such a high volume of games being played, MLB bettors find themselves betting more frequently than fans of other sports. For this reason, knowing exactly when a deposit bonus will be credited your account is essential. Most sports betting sites will credit their new player rewards immediately after the promotional code is redeemed but this is not always the case. While the 75% Welcome Bonus at SportsBetting will credit up to $1,000 instantly, the 50% Plus New Player Reward at 5dimes is funded in 10% increments with each wager.
When viewing the promotions page of an online sportsbook you will find that the welcome bonuses are substantially larger than the other promos provided to existing members. For this reason, depositing enough to redeem the maximum bonus amount can be more advantageous than waiting until later deposits. Still, you will want to consider the bonus amount in relation to the rollover requirements. A rollover requirement is the number of times the bonus and initial deposit amount must be wagered before any withdrawals can be made. Often times, there is a minimum 30 day wait period before a bettor can request a payout. Bovada’s Welcome Bonus offers up to $250 to new members with a 5-time rollover, while BetOnline offers up $1,000 but has a 10-time rollover. The higher the bonus amount, the greater the rollover will be, so keep this in mind when deciding the total amount that you want to deposit.
There are a couple different ways to redeem an initial deposit bonus at an online sportsbook. The most common way is to enter a promotional code at the time of your deposit. These codes will be found on the main Promotions page of the sports betting site. The site may also email you a unique redemption code after you sign up for your account, so always check your inbox for special promotions. There may also be a Bonus page under your account options where you can view rewards that you are eligible for.
The variety provided when it comes to wager types is part of what makes online sportsbooks so great. Baseball wager types specifically are a little different than most other major team’s sports like basketball and football. While they have your usual bets like moneylines, totals (over/under), and futures, there are also bets specific to baseball, like runlines and 5-inning bets.
Moneyline: Moneyline bets are simply picking the winner of a game. The key here is that betting on the favorite won't payout as much money as if you pick the underdog so you have to pick moneyline bets wisely.
Totals: This is a bet in which you wager on the total number of runs scored by both teams combined at the end of the game. Beforehand, sportsbooks will provide betting lines showing the predicted total score amount and the player will then decide if the teams will score over or under the given score.
Futures: Futures are really cool wager type that allows you to bet on events that will happen in the future and are available for long periods of time. They could be available from the offseason, through the regular season, and into the playoff races. Future baseball wagers could be things like who will win the 2017 World Series? Or, who will win the AL MVP? Things like that.
Runlines: A runline as it pertains to major league baseball is a spread of 1.5 runs on a game. The only difference between this and a moneyline is that it doesn’t matter who wins or loses as long as the team you bet on covered the runline.
5-Inning Betting: This bet allows players to bet on the outcome of the game up to the fifth inning, thus allowing the bettor to bet on the starting pitcher and eliminating the threat of a closer screwing up the bet. 5 inning wagers are very popular among MLB fans and for good reason.
Understanding MLB betting trends seem like they could be confusing and time-consuming but in reality, they are fairly easy to keep up with if you know what you are looking for. Trends can change depending on what’s happening statistically so keeping up with all of the numbers can make the difference in winning and losing a wager. For example, the average baseball fan may look at a pitcher's ERA to gauge whether they are good or not but it’s their WHIP that baseball bettors should really look at. This stands for walks plus hits per innings pitched and is statistic kept after sabermetrics became the norm for tracking baseball numbers. WHIP tallies a number of base runners that a pitcher has allowed per inning and is much more of an indicator of whether a pitcher is hot or not than ERA. That is just one example of using sabermetric stats to help with your MLB wagering. Some other numbers that would be a good idea to keep track of are a batters WAR (wins against replacement), and pitchers FIP (fielding independent pitching).
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