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Major League Baseball races are heating up for both divisional pennants and wild card positions.

In the American League the Boston Red Sox have already coughed up their lead in the American League East and look to be on shaky ground for the Wild Card, with Tampa Bay pouring it on.  With Boston a huge question mark at present they look overrated for the AL East division, for the American League Championship, and to win the World Series.  At this point, as they continue to slide down the standings, we cannot recommend placing a bet on them in the futures market however if you are a die hard member of the Red Sox nation then be advised that our site staff found good odds over at SkyBet (to win the ALCS, +225 or 9/4; to win the World Series +450 or 9/2) and bet365 (to win the AL East +114 or 67/50).

In the middle of a slump, the odds on the Red Sox doing anything at all may drift in the near future so if you are going to pick them anyways, maybe pick them later and hope they recover.

The American League Championship Series, based solely on current winning percentages, is projected to be between the New York Yankees (.606) and the Los Angeles Angels (.591).  Both teams are playing exceptionally well of late and both teams have overcome their divisional leaders.  Even if one of them lose their divisions between now and the early fall, with those high winning percentages they should have the Wild Card to fall back on and they are the two teams in the American League that are most likely to be in the playoffs.

For great value on the Yankees to win the ALCS our staff found Betfred at +225 (9/4) but you can also turn to Paddy Power at +200 (2/1).  For the Angels, again look to Betfred at +700 (7/1) for the best price at this time.

The American League Central division looks like a two horse race with one lagging not too far behind.  The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox are currently tied, with Minnesota still within striking distance.  Of those three, the White Sox look like the best value and they can be picked at Stan James for a price of +275 (11/4) to take down that pennant.

The American League West division doesn't look all that attractive for betting at this point as each team kind of looks like a 'push' in terms of value.  The Los Angeles Angels have been playing the best baseball in the division for quite some time and in doing so they have built a 3 game lead.  Both Texas and Seattle have shown some resilience of late and they are not going away but unless the Angels show some sign of weakness, then money bet on Texas or Seattle looks lost.  If you want to bet on the Angels then go to Ladbrokes and receive odds of -240 (5/12; but there's not a lot of profit there in our view).

Of course, the hopefuls to win the World Series out of the American League are both New York and Los Angeles.  While New York is the best team, the Angels have better value.  SkyBet offers the Yankees at +400 (4/1) odds while the Angels offer great value at that site at +1200 (12/1).