Tampa Bay Rays 2024 Betting Preview: Futures Odds & Prediction

The 2024 MLB season will be the biggest test yet for the inevitability of the Tampa Bay Rays.

As is usually the case, the Rays will have to replace plenty of production from last year’s team, which won 99 games and finished second in the American League East.

MLB odds don’t believe in Tampa Bay’s chances of notching a sixth consecutive postseason berth, but this ballclub is almost always better than it looks on paper in the preseason.

Rays Futures Odds

Win Total: 85.5
AL East: +575
AL Pennant: +1500
World Series: +3500

Even by Tampa Bay’s standards, MLB betting markets aren’t taking this year’s Rays team seriously. 

The Rays have their longest preseason baseball odds to win the World Series, AL, and AL East since 2019 when this postseason streak began. It is also the lowest win total since Tampa Bay had an over/under of 84.5 in 2019.

Tampa Bay’s preseason futures odds:

• 2023: +2000 World Series, +1000 AL pennant, +350 AL East, 88.5 win total
• 2022: +1400 WS, +650 AL, +240 East, 89.5 wins
• 2021: +2500 WS, +1200 AL, +425 East, 86.5 wins
• 2020: +1500 WS, +750 AL, +230 East, 33.5 wins
• 2019: +5750 WS, +2350 AL, +1065 East, 84.5 wins

Rays Offseason Moves

The Rays began the offseason by sending Tyler Glasnow and Manuel Margot to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Ryan Pepiot and Jonny DeLuca.

Additions

Departures

Of course, this offseason snapshot has become the Tampa Bay way. The Rays usually lose players when they become too expensive, replacing them with younger and cheaper pieces.

The Rays are counting on 26-year-old Pepiot to stay healthy and make an immediate impact in their rotation. He only walked five of the 159 hitters he faced last year, recording a 2.14 ERA in eight outings.

In addition to losing one of their top pitchers in Glasnow, the Rays will be without Wander Franco, who faces criminal charges.

Rays 2024 Betting Prediction

Prediction: Rays to make the playoffs (+120)

Can Tampa Bay keep getting away with this? That’s the question worth asking before the 2024 season when the Rays look more vulnerable than ever.

The thing is, projections are giving them the benefit of the doubt. FanGraphs projects an 87-75 season, while PECOTA has Tampa Bay finishing with 86.6 wins. My best MLB power rankings have the Rays in the top 10.

Trust Tampa Bay’s track record, especially when it is plus-money to do so.

Tampa Bay’s preseason playoff odds: 

• 2023: -185
• 2022: -225
• 2021: +110
• 2019: +230

2024 MLB Team Previews & Predictions