The San Diego Padres spent, spent and spent some more. When they stopped their payroll was $248,995,932, third in MLB.
The return on investment has been horrible.
The Padres’ cast of stars has a 23-27 record. They’re already 7.5 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West. The season is far from being over, but this can’t be what management expected through 50 games.
The Padres need to rally fairly soon. They are in the Bronx for a three-game series against the New York Yankees that starts on Friday. The Padres, somehow, are -115 favorites at BetMGM for the opener.
San Diego got a dramatic 8-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday, with a three-run homer from Rougned Odor with two outs in the ninth inning. Maybe that will spark something, though the Padres weren’t supposed to be the type of team that needed a home run in their last at bat to squeeze out a series against the Nats.
The Padres’ spree has been ongoing. During last season they traded for 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 had stars like third baseman Manny Machado, outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. and pitchers Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. They have a parade of high profile, highly paid players. And they’re four games under .500.
It’s a long season and we’re not even to Memorial Day yet. Perhaps the Padres have a big weekend in New York and keep it going. But there’s little 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 by the Denver Nuggets and Florida Panthers mean there’s a bit of a hole in the schedule. We’ll have to wait for Saturday for more playoff action.
Rest of MLB
It is a normal full Friday night in MLB. The best matchup could 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 have been in recent seasons but they’re still 31-20, first place in the NL West. The Rays are -120 favorites for the first game of what should be a fantastic series.
What’s the best bet?
I’ll go with the Yankees. Joe Musgrove is on the hill for the Padres and that’s why they’re favored, but Musgrove hasn’t been good this season. At some point the Padres might provide us some betting value, but until then they should be a profitable team to fade.
