The World Baseball Classic is about to start.
What is seen by some as an appetizer for the 2023 MLB season is actually a top tournament that will have a sizable number of big leaguers.
20 teams will compete for the right to be called champions.
Just a handful of them, however, have real, concrete chances.
FOX Bet posted their favorites to win it all.
Here are the current 2023 World Baseball Classic odds, according to @FOXBet 👀💰 pic.twitter.com/jFzNZubA6o
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) February 20, 2023
The Dominican Republic has the best odds at +200.
They have an extremely talented collection of players, ranging from Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Wander Franco, Manny Machado, Rafael Devers, Sandy Alcantara, Cristian Javier, and many more.
They won it all in 2013 and want to reclaim the top spot that they lost in 2017.
Speaking of 2017, the winners of that edition are next in line when it comes to odds: the United States.
Team USA pitching is a bit decimated by a couple of last-minute players pulling out (Clayton Kershaw and Nestor Cortes Jr.), but their lineup is as good as any.
J.T. Realmuto, Will Smith, Pete Alonso, Paul Goldschmidt, Jeff McNeil, Tim Anderson, Nolan Arenado, Bobby Witt Jr., Cedric Mullins, Kyle Tucker, Mike Trout, and Mookie Betts form a rock-solid lineup.
The rotation has Adam Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Kyle Freeland, and Lance Lynn among others.
Japan, the champion of the first two WBCs, appears third in the ranking.
They have Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, and several other talented major leaguers and players of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league.
Puerto Rico is fourth, and Venezuela is fifth.
It gets a bit murkier after those five, but Mexico, Korea and Cuba have a chance, too.
The tournament is starting on March 8, and will likely have lots of thrilling moments we will all remember.
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