The San Diego Padres spent, spent and spent again. When they quit their payroll was $248,995,932, third in MLB.
The return on investment has been horrible.
The Padres’ all-star cast has a 23-27 record. They are already 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The season is far from over but it can’t be what management expected through 50 games.
The Padres need to rally pretty quickly. They are in the Bronx for a three-game series against the New York Yankees which begins Friday. The Padres, in a way, are -115 favorites to BetMGM for Game 1.
San Diego got a spectacular 8-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday, with a three-run homer from Rougned Odor with two out in the ninth inning. Maybe that will trigger something, even though the Padres weren’t supposed to be the type of team that needed a home run in their last game at bat to make a series against the Nats.
The Padres frenzy is underway. Last season, they traded outfielder Juan Soto and ace reliever Josh Hader. This offseason, they signed shortstop Xander Bogaerts and first baseman Josh Bell to go with a roster that already included stars like third baseman Manny Machado, outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and pitchers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. They have a parade of top and highly paid players. And they are four games under .500.
It’s a long season and it’s not even Memorial Day yet. Maybe the Padres have a big weekend in New York and they’re moving on. But there’s no doubt after about two months of baseball which team has been the biggest disappointment so far this season.
Here’s the first look at the sports betting slate for Friday:
No NHL, no NBA
It would have been a fun Friday night with NHL and NBA playoff games. But sweeps from the Denver Nuggets and Florida Panthers mean there’s a bit of a hole in the schedule. We’ll have to wait until Saturday for more playoff action.
Rest of MLB
It’s a normal full Friday night in MLB. The best matchup might be the Tampa Bay Rays, who are up to 22 games over .500 at 37-15, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers aren’t as strong as they’ve been in recent seasons, but they’re still 31-20, first place in the NL West. The Rays are -120 favorites for Game 1 of what should be a fantastic series.
What is the best bet?
I’ll go with the Yankees. Joe Musgrove is on the hill for the Padres and that’s why they’re favorites, but Musgrove hasn’t been good this season. At some point, the Padres might provide us with some betting value, but until then they should be a profitable team to fade away.