The Red Sox Are Early Favorites To Win It All Next Year

Ahead of the curve as usual, Vegas has already released odds to win the 2009 World Series. Here they are, from BetOnline, via Extra Bases:

Free agency starts in 15 days? Winter meetings still more than a month away? No matter. The Red Sox, at 3 to 1, are your early favorites to win the World Series.
Here is the full list [...]:
Boston Red Sox 3/1
Chicago Cubs 5/1
LA Angels 5/1
Philadelphia Phillies 6/1
New York Yankees 6/1
Tampa Bay Devil Rays 10/1
Chicago White Sox 10/1

I'm not sure why they still have the "Devil" in there for Tampa Bay.

There's a reason the linesmakers want to get these out as quickly as possible--these odds are very profitable for them. Not only is the vig on these extremely high (the odds for all thirty teams add up to a total of 173%; it would be 100% of there was no juice), but the payout is a full year away. So not only are the sportsbooks getting people to bet at terrible odds, they can also earn interest in your money for 52 weeks.

As for the actual odds, it makes sense that the Red Sox are the favorites. They had the best run differential in the AL, which is impressive since they play in such a tough division and had to deal with a significant number of injuries. They're also generally one of the best-run franchises in the league, and have no shortage of money to spend, which means they're likely to improve over the offseason. That's not to say they have a 25% chance of winning it all in '09; it's unlikely any of these are worth betting on, because of the aforementioned factors.