The good news for Chicago White Sox fans is that the betting market believes there will be an improved baseball team on the South Side.
The bad news? Oddsmakers still have the 2025 White Sox pegged as one of the worst teams in over 35 seasons.
Chicago’s current over/under on victories during the regular season is 53.5 at ESPN BET and other sportsbooks. It’s the lowest season win total set by sportsbooks in over 35 seasons, according to ESPN Research.
At the same time, it’s 12.5 wins more than the White Sox won last year during their record-breaking 121-loss campaign.
“It’s really hard to have two historically bad seasons in a row,” said Randy Blum, baseball oddsmaker for the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas. “Don’t get me wrong, though, there’s nothing to love about the White Sox this year.”
Some sportsbooks opened the White Sox win total in the high 40s, but the market moved upward, despite a roster that, on paper, is arguably worse than last year’s. Chicago traded away ace starting pitcher Garrett Crochet and cut ties with several veterans in the offseason, leaving a team of mostly young and unproven players that will be facing a significant talent gap with the rest of baseball.
The White Sox are projected to win six fewer games than any other team. The Colorado Rockies, at 59.5, are next.
In contrast, the Los Angeles Dodgers entered the season with a win total of 103.5 , the highest since the 1999 New York Yankees (104.5), 10 wins more than any other team and 50 more than the White Sox.
The White Sox open July with a three-game series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Oddsmakers said the series has the potential to produce some rare individual game lines, with the Dodgers possibly being as big as “-600 or -700” favorites.
Still, the betting market believes in the White Sox. At BetMGM, 83% of the money that’s been bet on the White Sox’s win total was on the over as of Wednesday. And, yes, some bettors have even backed the White Sox to win the World Series at 400-1 odds.
“The White are currently our biggest liability in all of the futures, World Series (400-1), pennant (225-1) and division (250-1),” said Eric Biggio, lead baseball trader for Caesars Sportsbook. “Understandably at their prices, it doesn’t take much for the risk to add up.”