Author
Christopher Boan writes for BetMaryland.com and has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, with experience at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.2021-08-02
Which Team Is the Biggest AL East Dark Horse?
Amid one of the most successful stretches in the franchise’s modern history, it’s no wonder the Baltimore Orioles have flown past the club’s MLB betting preseason win total often in recent years.
Ahead of the 2025 MLB opener, BetMaryland.com wanted to know which American League East team is best as being a dark horse over the past five years. Using preseason odds and final win totals from SportsOddsHistory.com, we found the total O/U for each team between 2020 and 2024, then ranked the division’s ranked teams based on how much they overperformed or underperformed cumulatively compared to their preseason Maryland sports betting odds.
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Biggest AL East Dark Horses Since 2020
Rank | Team | Total O/U Results |
1 | Baltimore Orioles | +36.5 |
2 | Tampa Bay Rays | +21.5 |
3 | Boston Red Sox | -0.5 |
4 | Toronto Blue Jays | -7.5 |
5 | New York Yankees | -10.5 |
Between 2020 and 2024, the O’s have won the AL East once (in 2023) and made the postseason as a Wild Card team in 2024, marking the first time since 1996-97 that the club reached the playoffs in successive seasons.
Baltimore has exceeded the club’s preseason win total figure at Maryland sportsbook apps by a total of 36.5 games over the past five years, going over the preseason number four out of the five years and finishing well ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the best mark in the five-team AL East during that span.
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Orioles Keep Exceeding Expectations
Of the five teams in the AL East, nobody has come close to Baltimore’s +36.5 cumulative performance against the team’s win total over/under. Tampa Bay is the only other club in the positive, at +21.5. The highlight for Baltimore in this category was 2023, when the team entered the 2023 season with a 77.5 total from operators offering Maryland sportsbook promo codes and won 101 games, going over by 23.5 games.
Behind the Rays, the Boston Red Sox (-0.5 over/under result), Toronto Blue Jays (-7.5) and New York Yankees (-10.5) fell in line to close out the AL East leaderboard, illustrating just how far above the pack the O’s have been of late in overachieving.
Will the Birds take the next step and make Baltimore Orioles World Series odds a winning wager in 2025?
For this season, as of March 18, oddsmakers from BetMGM have the O’s as the No. 2 team in the AL East chase, at +275 odds, behind the Yankees (+135) and Boston (+260). At DraftKings, Baltimore has a preseason win total over/under of 87.5 in 2025.
Based on how the O’s have fared against their preseason total of late, it seems like a good bet to take the over on that total in 2025 with BetMGM Sportsbook Maryland, as Baltimore looks to capture the franchise’s second AL East crown in a three-year span in the Charm City.
USA Today photo by Kim Klement
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