2009 World Baseball Classic Picks & Odds
Written February 21, 2009 by Jason Lowry
The 2009 World Baseball Classic is scheduled to get underway on March 5th, as 16 teams from around the world try and prove that their country is the best at baseball. The event first took place back in 2006 with Japan proving to be the best, but its anyones game this year, and teams like the USA and Dominican Republic are loaded with talent from a number of MLB teams. The tournament does take place during the MLB spring training schedule, so some players will be missing some time with their respected squads, but when it comes to playing for your country, it’s an opportunity many players don’t want to pass up. For those of you looking to do a little baseball betting on the big tournament, here is a breakdown of each pool with each teams odds to win, and which two teams we think make it out of the first round.
Pool A: China +10000, Chinese Taipei +4000, Japan +600, Korea +1500
Its hard to imagine any team other than Japan making it out of this pool, but Korea and Japan played 3 times in 2006 with Korea winning the first two, and then Japan winning the most important game to move onto the finals. This is a great chance for Japanese players, and any player for that matter, to let MLB teams get a good look at them and really increase their chances of playing in America, just look at Dice-K who went from being Japans star pitcher to helping the Red Sox win a World Series.
Moving on: Japan and Korea
Pool B: Australia +10000, Cuba +800, Mexico +1500, South Africa +10000
Both Australia and South Africa pose little to no threat at all in this tournament, as neither team was able to win a game back in 2006, and they were outscored 16 to 56 in 6 total combined games. Cuba never even won a pool play round, but still found its way into the title game thanks to a big upset over the Dominican Republic 3-1. Thanks to how bad Australia and South Africa are this is a pretty easy decision on who moves on.
Moving On: Cuba and Mexico
Pool C: Canada +2500, Italy +10000, United States +160, Venezuela +1000
This is a very tough pool, as you have 3 very good teams, and while its going to be hard for anyone to beat the US this year with the number of star athletes they have on their team, both Canada and Venezuela played well in 2006 winning 2 of their first 3 games in pool play, but only the US went on to the second round.
Moving On: United States and Canada
Pool D: Dominican Republic +140, Netherlands +10000, Panama +2500, Puerto Rico +1200
This pool is a little bit easier to pick the two teams moving on, as both Panama and the Netherlands are going to have a real hard time beating the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as both of these two teams were great in pool play back in 2006, and they look like they are even better this season. The Dominican Republic is absolutely stacked with talent, and they are pick to win this event.
Moving On: Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico
Be sure to check out our experts baseball picks on the 2009 World Baseball Classic and stay up to date with the latest baseball odds at Betfirms.
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
- World Baseball Classic Odds: Semifinals
- USA v. Japan World Baseball Classic Predictions
- USA v. Canada World Baseball Classic Preview
- 2009 World Series Odds
- 2009 World Series of Poker Payouts
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