The Cleveland Guardians rarely get the respect from betting markets that they seem to have earned. Despite dominating the AL Central for most of the past decade, and making the playoffs more often than not, they are never portrayed as legitimate World Series contenders.
Granted, even though they did get to the ALCS in 2024, the Cleveland franchise has not been to the World Series since 2016. More notably, it has not won the championship since 1948.
However, despite some less-than-favorable projections, that doesn’t mean the 2026 Guardians should be ranked alongside one of the worst teams in baseball over the past 30 years. Yet that is where Cleveland finds itself at one particular sportsbook.
The Guardians have been given brutal odds to win the 2026 World Series, with FanDuel listing them at +6000, which is the same as the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates.
“Odds Of Winning 2026 World Series (via FanDuel): +6000 Pirates, Guardians,” Codify posted on X.
Odds Of Winning 2026 World Series (via @FanDuel):
+210 Dodgers
+1000 Yankees
+1200 Mariners
+1300 Mets
+1600 Phillies, Red Sox, Blue Jays
+1900 Cubs, Braves
+2000 Orioles
+2200 Tigers, Rangers
+2500 Astros
+2700 Brewers
+3300 Padres, Royals
+5000 Reds
+5500 Giants
+6000 Pirates,…— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 22, 2026
The Pirates do have Paul Skenes, who is arguably the best starter in baseball, but he can’t pitch every game. Pittsburgh also has some emerging prospects and is likely to improve on its latest last-place finish in the NL Central. But to say it has the same chance to win the World Series, playing in the National League with the Los Angeles Dodgers, as Cleveland does can be seen as a slap in the face.
The Guardians are two-time defending division champions and have been to the playoffs in three of the past four years. It is hard to argue that they are any worse than last year, when they overcame a historic deficit to win the AL Central.
They have not suffered any truly significant loss since the end of last season, and it’s possible they can be much better if their young players can emerge and approach their significant upsides. Not many teams can boast legitimate candidates for MVP (Jose Ramirez), Rookie of the Year (Chase DeLauter), the Cy Young Award (Gavin Williams), and Reliever of the Year (Cade Smith).
In addition, Stephen Vogt is the two-time AL Manager of the Year, which is far more than the Pirates, or many of the other teams with better odds than the Guardians, can say.
NEXT: Guardians Hitter Is Heating Up At Perfect Time
