The countdown is on to three of the greatest words of the Spring: “Pitchers and Catchers!” That means that it is time to start to make our World Series picks for the upcoming year, and we are set to analyze some of the best teams in the league and how they are going to look this season.

List Of Past World Series Champions (Since 2000)
2011 World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals
2010 World Series Champions: San Francisco Giants
2009 World Series Champions: New York Yankees
2008 World Series Champions: Philadelphia Phillies
2007 World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox
2006 World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals
2005 World Series Champions: Chicago White Sox
2004 World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox
2003 World Series Champions: Florida Marlins
2002 World Series Champions: Anaheim Angels
2001 World Series Champions: Arizona Diamondbacks
2000 World Series Champions: New York Yankees

The favorites to win the World Series this year for the second straight season are the Philadelphia Phillies (2012 Favorites On The Odds To Win The World Series – 4.85 to 1 at SportBet Sportsbook). They have had a heck of an offseason, adding Jonathan Papelbon to solidify the back end of a bullpen that has historically been shoddy. The prognosis for Ryan Howard’s Achilles tendon injury are good at this point, and he might not miss all that much of the season. Sure, there are some other issues, but this starting pitching rotation is still remarkable even though Roy Oswalt is no longer a part of it. The NL East is going to be tough this year, as the Miami Marlins and the Atlanta Braves are both going to be solid teams as well. However, this team is clearly the class of the division and the National League as a whole, and once the team gets into the playoffs, it will once again be a remarkable choice to win it all.

The team that has jumped to the front of the class in the American League is the Detroit Tigers (2012 World Series Odds – 6 to 1 at BetOnline Sportsbook). The Tigers started off this offseason in terrible shape, losing Victor Martinez for the season to an ACL injury. However, give Detroit some credit. It went out and stole Prince Fielder in free agency from some of the other teams that might have been a heck of a lot more conducive to give him the big bucks. Now, having Miguel Cabrera and Fielder in the same lineup is tremendous, and a pitching staff anchored by Justin Verlander is going to be great as well. To make matters even better, the rest of the AL Central really has gone backwards this year, and unless the likes of the Minnesota Twins end up with a huge turnaround this season, there shouldn’t be a team that is going to challenge the Tigers this year.

The Texas Rangers have won the AL West for the last two seasons, but after losing out on all of the big time free agents this year, they clearly aren’t the team to watch in their own division. The Los Angeles Angels (2012 World Series Lines – 6.50 to 1 at SportBet Sportsbook) are instead. Albert Pujols has joined the Anaheim lineup, and CJ Wilson has been added to the pitching staff as well. The bullpen has the potential to be suspect, but all of a sudden, this is a team that looks awfully formidable. The Angels have done everything right over the course of the last few seasons, and they have all of the pieces in place to get back to the top of the AL West once again. Don’t be shocked if they end up being one of the top teams in the league this year.

Of course, all eyes are going to be on the New York Yankees (Odds To Win the 2012 World Series – 6 to 1 at BetOnline Sportsbook) once again. Think about the Bronx Bombers from last season. Alex Rodriguez was hurt for a good chunk of the year. The pitching staff at times was in shambles. The additions in the bullpen just never really panned out for the most part. And yet, the team still won the AL East and was in the playoffs. This year though, New York has a team that is a lot more conducive to succeed in the postseason. Trading for Michael Pineda was genius, not just for now, but for the future as well. He will team with Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes in this rotation for the future, and this trio will only further complement CC Sabathia. Signing Hiroki Kuroda was a smart move as well, and there are still others like AJ Burnett and Freddy Garcia that can help out as well. The Big Apple definitely could be back on top of the baseball world this year.

Current 2012 World Series Odds @ SportBet Sportsbook (as of 2/7/12):
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Philadelphia Phillies 4.85 to 1
Detroit Tigers 5 to 1
New York Yankees 5.75 to 1
Los Angeles Angels 6.50 to 1
Boston Red Sox 8.50 to 1
Texas Rangers 9.50 to 1
Tampa Bay Rays 15 to 1
Miami Marlins 18 to 1
St. Louis Cardinals 18 to 1
San Francisco Giants 20 to 1
Atlanta Braves 21 to 1
Cincinnati Reds 25 to 1
Washington Nationals 25 to 1
Arizona Diamondbacks 27 to 1
Milwaukee Brewers 28 to 1
Colorado Rockies 38 to 1
Chicago Cubs 40 to 1
Toronto Blue Jays 40 to 1
Los Angeles Dodgers 45 to 1
Chicago White Sox 55 to 1
Cleveland Indians 75 to 1
Minnesota Twins 80 to 1
Kansas City Royals 85 to 1
New York Mets 85 to 1
Oakland Athletics 90 to 1
Pittsburgh Pirates 100 to 1
Baltimore Orioles 125 to 1
San Diego Padres 125 to 1
Seattle Mariners 150 to 1
Houston Astros 175 to 1

Odds To Win 2012 World Series @ BetOnline Sportsbook (as of 2/7/12):
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Arizona Diamondbacks 16.50 to 1
Atlanta Braves 18.50 to 1
Baltimore Orioles 85 to 1
Boston Red Sox 8.50 to 1
Chicago Cubs 35 to 1
Chicago White Sox 50 to 1
Cincinnati Reds 24 to 1
Cleveland Indians 42 to 1
Colorado Rockies 30 to 1
Detroit Tigers 6 to 1
Houston Astros 100 to 1
Kansas City Royals 66 to 1
Los Angeles Angels 6.50 to 1
Los Angeles Dodgers 25 to 1
Miami Marlins 13 to 1
Milwaukee Brewers 28 to 1
Minnesota Twins 55 to 1
New York Mets 70 to 1
New York Yankees 6 to 1
Oakland Athletics 70 to 1
Philadelphia Phillies 4.50 to 1
Pittsburgh Pirates 70 to 1
San Diego Padres 90 to 1
San Francisco Giants 15 to 1
Seattle Mariners 75 to 1
St. Louis Cardinals 16.50 to 1
Tampa Bay Rays 16 to 1
Texas Rangers 8.70 to 1
Toronto Blue Jays 32 to 1
Washington Nationals 26 to 1

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