The world of baseball betting competition at the professional level is a bit different than say the NBA or NFL. In those sports there are no great disparities between the spending of the top clubs and the worst clubs. But in MLB odds competition the payrolls of the biggest spenders can be five times as much as the lowest spenders.

Granted, money spent does not always equal baseball betting success, but it’s little coincidence that the Yankees (the biggest spenders in the MLB odds) are the World Series champs and the Pirates, Royals and Orioles (some of the lowest spenders in baseball betting) finished 2009 with some of the worst records in baseball betting.

So in that context of payroll, we can get a good idea of which teams are going to stink again in the 2010 season. The Pirates have to be included on any short list of MLB odds cellar dwellers for this season as the team’s payroll remains miniscule by baseball betting standards, it added no real talent in the off season and it’s been nearly two decades since the team had a winning record.

Throw the Nats in this group of dungeon dwellers as well. Even with the new golden armed rookie Steven Stausborg, this is an awful team and one that should once again finish last in the NL East. The Royals, playing in one of the smallest markets in the MLB odds and traditionally very bad should also once again vie for the worst record in the Bigs. But the very worst team in MLB, look for the Orioles to be at the bottom of the heap when the 2010 dust finally settles.