It has been nearly a quarter of a century since Major League Baseball had a team repeat as World Series champions. That is exactly what the Texas Rangers are out to accomplish this season.
Fresh off the franchise’s first title, the Rangers open spring training among the leaders in championship odds at ESPN BET. Texas is listed at +1400 odds to repeat in 2024, ranking behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (+375), Atlanta Braves (+550), Houston Astros (+800), New York Yankees (+900) and Baltimore Orioles (+1200). There is no legal Texas sports betting, but ESPN BET is a major name operating in more than a dozen states.
With a preseason win total over/under of 89.5 on ESPN BET, manager Bruce Bochy’s team has a solid shot at joining the 1998-2000 New York Yankees and 1992-93 Toronto Blue Jays as the only teams to repeat as World Series champs since 1990. But it will be an uphill climb for the Rangers, who open their spring training schedule today at 2:05 p.m. Central against the Kansas City Royal in Surprise, Ariz.
As spring games get cranked up this week and throughout March, BetTexas.com looked into World Series winners since 2013 to monitor each team’s performance the following year, so those awaiting Texas sportsbook promos can see if there’s a pattern. Using data from Baseball-Reference.com, BetTexas.com found that the reigning champs, the Texas Rangers, are likely to finish in third place in the American League West this season, with a 50% chance of making the playoffs.
Past World Series Year-After Records
Can Texas Repeat In 2024?
If there were legal, regulated Texas sports betting apps, you would not find this insight there – only with BetTexas.com.
Over the past decade, the average record the year after winning a World Series has been 84-68, with half of the 10 teams that have won it all making it back to the postseason the following year, data from Baseball-Reference.com shows. That average record does not add up to 162 games because of 2020, the season shortened by COVID-19 restrictions.
Overall, the average divisional finish the year after winning a title since 2013 has been third. The 2022 Houston Astros, 2021 Atlanta Braves, 2017 Astros and 2016 Cubs all won their respective divisions the year after hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy.
Conversely, two teams (the 2013 Boston Red Sox and 2019 Washington Nationals) dragged down the total by finishing fifth in the AL East and NL East, respectively, the year after winning it all. Also, the 2015 Kansas City Royals (AL Central) and 2018 Red Sox finished third. The 2014 San Francisco Giants and 2020 Los Angeles Dodgers (both NL West) were second in the division as an encore. Those 2021 Dodgers made it to the playoffs as a wild card and reached the NL Championship Series before losing to Atlanta.
For Bochy and company, the road to a second straight World Series begins in earnest when the regular season starts March 28. That night, Texas hosts the Chicago Cubs on ESPN at 6:35 p.m. in the first of a three-game weekend series.
From there, Texas will look to snap the MLB’s decades-long World Series title defense drought, giving the Rangers a second straight World Series championship after 61 years without a single championship to their name.
