St. Louis Cardinals’ World Series odds surprisingly low in 2022

The St. Louis Cardinals’ have the 13th best World Series odds in 2022, which feels surprisingly low considering their elite talent.

To me, the St. Louis Cardinals are one of the 10 best teams in baseball entering the 2022 season. So it was surprising that their odds to win the World Series – 30/1 – are 13th in baseball as of January 18 on WynnBet.

The teams ahead of the Cardinals are the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies.

All of those teams are going to be competive in 2022, but the argument can be made that the Cardinals are better than the Phillies. They were certainly better than the Padres and Mets last season, but with San Diego hiring Bob Melvin and the Mets signing Max Scherzer and others, they will be better this season than in 2021. But they will have to prove it, of course, since games are not won on paper.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals return mostly the same team in 2022 — and will be fully healthy. The lineup features Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Tyler O’Neill and five Gold Glove winners. The rotation is set, with Jack Flaherty now 100 percent healthy and Steven Matz signed to a four-year deal. Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina are both back on one-year deals. The biggest weakness is the bullpen, but the Cardinals plan to sign at least one high-leverage reliever once the CBA is agreed to.

Why might the Cardinals’ odds be so low? Perhaps it has to do with the managerial change. After firing Mike Shildt, who consistently got the club to the postseason, they now have a relative unknown in first time manager Oli Marmol. That said, he had been Shildt’s right-hand man as bench coach, and the team is confident it knows what it has in Marmol.

Having a good manager can be the difference between being a good vs. great team. Just ask the A’s, who overachieved under Bob Melvin for years, and the Brewers, who consistently get to the playoffs under Craig Counsell despite having one of the smallest payrolls in baseball.

But having elite talent gives a team a very high floor and even with having a new manager in Marmol, that talent should get the Cardinals to the playoffs – and perhaps even further.