This Major League Baseball season features storylines galore in the National League West. The favorite to win this division in 2024 is also the top National League pennant contender, but last year showed that there is always the potential for some surprises out West. Here, we look back at the NL West futures market and how each team looks going into the year.
2024 NL West Futures Betting Odds
Los Angeles Dodgers: Bigger Fish to Fry
The Los Angeles Dodgers won 100 games and won the NL West by a staggering 16 games last season. The Dodgers should compete for the National League pennant again this postseason. And at this stage, it would take a lot for the Dodgers not to win the NL West in 2024. Los Angeles doesn’t have as big a lead as they did a season ago over their top contenders in this division, but they should be able to close the deal and are heavily favored to do so.
San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks: Wild Card Contenders
Nobody expected the Arizona Diamondbacks to be any good last season, but they managed to snag a Wild Card slot in the National League. They parlayed that into a trip to the World Series, something they will aim to build on in 2024. Arizona is already well behind the Dodgers in the standings in this division this year, but they are well within the race for a Wild Card spot, which went well for them last season.
The San Diego Padres find themselves in a similar position as the Diamondbacks. They are playing perfectly good baseball to this point in the season but they are still behind the Dodgers at the top of this division. San Diego has a lethal offense, but suspect pitching, which could either go really well for them or really poorly for them depending on which of those facets of their collective game wins out the rest of the way. But for now, they are right in the mix for a Wild Card berth, which is a fine place to be.
San Francisco Giants: Work to Be Done
The San Francisco Giants have recent postseason play in their past. But the Giants are well behind the top-three contenders in this division and they are out of Wild Card contention on top of that. The Giants had banked on Blake Snell being much better than he has been so far this season, but that has not been the case. San Francisco will need to get things figured out ahead of the 2025 season to try and get back to the playoffs.
Colorado Rockies: A Rough Year
No team in the National League had a worse record than the Colorado Rockies in 2023. They are not expected to pick up any ground this year, as they are already in the bottom-three in the National League as a whole in 2024. Without making any meaningful moves to improve their roster in the offseason, there is no reason to believe that a turnaround is coming in Colorado anytime soon.
