As we churn our way towards the midseason mark of the 2023 MLB regular season, now’s a great time to assess where all 30 teams stand against their respective preseason win totals.
With several expected MLB contenders struggling nearly halfway through the season (the N.Y. Mets, San Diego, St. Louis and Seattle), BetCalifornia.com took a look at the most disappointing teams over the past 10 years.
Unfortunately, you can’t use this research for sports betting in California. There is no legal wagering in the state, and it won’t be until 2024 before a referendum can go before voters.
In order to create this list, BetCalifornia.com pulled data from SportsOddsHistory.com, MLB.com and SteveTheUmp.com to determine which teams were in the top half of preseason World Series odds, had a win total over 85, were top 12 in payroll and ended up missing the playoffs and coming more than 10 games under their win total.
Most Disappointing MLB Teams of Past 10 Years
Are 2013 Angels Most Disappointing Of Last Decade?
Fans of the L.A. Angels have no shortage of disappointing memories surrounding their chosen team, as it seems destined to waste the prime years of AL MVPs Mike Trout (2014, 2016 and 2019) and Shohei Ohtani (2021).
Few of those stresses compare to the 2013 Angels that divebombed their way to a 78-84 campaign after national oddsmakers (there are no California betting promos or sportsbook apps) slapped a preseason win total of 91.5 and +800 title odds on the squad.
Those 2013 Angels finished six games below .500, despite Trout hitting .323 with 27 home runs and 97 RBIs across 157 games. The season swoon was in large part because vaunted free agent acquisitions Josh Hamilton and C.J. Wilson failed to live up to their previous level of play in Texas.
Hamilton struggled his way through a 1.3 WAR season that failed to live up to the standards he set in Texas, where he won the 2010 AL MVP and posted 16.5 WAR across his final three seasons.
Wilson actually was the Angels best starting pitcher that year, going 17-7 with a 3.39 ERA and tossing 188 strikeouts across 212.1 innings pitched — but never matched that level of WAR (3.5) again, with -0.2 and 1.4 WAR campaigns in 2014 and 2015 for the club.
