Tampa Bay Rays AL East Odds After Yankees Blowout Loss Adds To Recent Turmoil

Could the Tampa Bay Rays really steal the AL East right from the Yankees’ firm grasp?

Until recently, you probably could have crowned the Yankees the division champs and nobody would have batted an eye. But after a dismal month of August in The Bronx, things are starting to get interesting.

Last night, the Yankees continued their extended stretch of ungodly play by falling 9-0 to their division rival, Rays.

Of course, these games add extra meaning given where the standings currently sit. Even though the Yankees had near a 20 game lead in the AL East at one point of the season, their lead of Tampa now sits at just five games.

Given the wild turn of events, let’s take a look at the betting odds for the Rays (or another AL East team) to knock off the Yankees for the division title, via DraftKings.

Yankees Still Heavy Favorites to Win AL East

AL East Division Winner Odds:

• Yankees: -1000
• Rays: +1000
• Jays: +1800
• Orioles: +30000
• Red Sox: +100000

Obviously, Vegas oddsmakers still think the Yankees are going to end up coming away victorious in the AL East despite their baffling slide. But that’s not to say there’s no reason for concern for New York.

Their offense has gone completely stagnant, starting pitching has suffered a significant regression to the mean following their first half prowess, and they haven’t exactly played good defense or ran the base paths particularly well.

“We should be (ticked) off, embarrassed,’’ manager Aaron Boone said of starting the September stretch run with a spectacular dud at Tropicana Field against the second-place Rays via North Jersey.

The Yankees still have a month to right the ship. But they better getting going soon, or they’ll be limping into October as a mere shell of the team we saw in the first half of the season.

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