Dodgers enter 2020 as World Series favorites

The Dodgers have average over 100 wins the last three seasons, and have won seven consecutive division titles. Then they went out and added Mookie Betts, the best available player over the winter.

Understandably, the Dodgers are heavy favorites to win the National League West, and are widely recognized as probably the best team in the NL if not all of baseball.

“Forty-man rosters have talent throughout, but being big-league ready is another story,” new Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen said Sunday. “You look at the talent in this organization, there’s really no break. It’s easily the deepest one through 40 I’ve ever seen.”

The 2020 MLB Predictions at Five Thirty Eight, which will be updated after each game during the season, start out with the Dodgers rated higher than any other team. Their projected record (37-23) and run differential (+68) are best in baseball, and they have the highest percentage of any MLB team to make the playoffs (85 percent), win their division (72 percent), and win the World Series (20 percent).

Michael Baumann at The Ringer rated the Dodgers No. 1 in his MLB power rankings and said, “The 2020 Dodgers are the best on-paper team I’ve ever seen.”

The oddsmakers at BetOnline set the over/under at 37½ wins for the Dodgers, the highest total for any team. With 4/1 odds to win the World Series, the Dodgers are tied with the Yankees as co-favorites there, too. To win the NL pennant, BetOnline gives the Dodgers 7/4 odds, with the Braves next at 8/1.

At Baseball Prospectus, the PECOTA projections have the Dodgers at 38.4 wins, the most in MLB. LA is projected to allow the fewest runs (243) and score the second-most runs (338), the latter only three behind the Astros. PECOTA gives the Dodgers a whopping 92.1-percent chance to win the NL West. The Yankees are have the next-highest divisional odds, at 72.4 percent to win the AL East.

FanGraphs sees more of the same, with the Dodgers projected for 36.4 wins, most in MLB, and probably still good enough to win the division with Chico as their left fielder.

FanGraphs gives the Dodgers the best chance to win their division (72.2 percent), make the playoffs (86.2 percent), and win the World Series (19.6 percent).