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The Boston Red Sox may be the defending World Series champions, but oddsmakers don't like their chances of leading MLB in wins in 2019, let alone ​their own division, despite retaining almost all of their championship core.


The ​New York Yankees and Houston Astros own the highest projected win total (96.5) in the ​American League and the Majors, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Sox come in next in the AL, with a 95.5-game projected win total. 

Already ​World Series contenders, the Yankees and Astros made key additions to their young cores which just may have given them a slight edge over the defending World Series champions.


Claiming AL supremacy definitely looks like a dogfight, but there's one team that stands out above the rest in the National League – the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are coming off back-to-back World Series appearances. LA leads the NL with a projected wins for 2019 of 94.5 games, a full six games more than the Washington Nationals, ​Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals, who are tied with the second-highest projected total (88.5) in the "Senior Circuit."

Unlike the AL, however, there could be a large win-total shift in the NL if latest free agent rumors are any indication. Remaining high-profile free agents like Bryce Harper (Phillies, Dodgers), Dallas Keuchel (Phillies, Padres) and Craig Kimbrel (Phillies, Braves) are seemingly expected to land with an NL team, which could lead to these numbers changing before Opening Day.

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Mike Esposito is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mike Esposito also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username espo6891. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.