Brandon Moss Oakland Athletics
First baseman Brandon Moss and the Oakland Athletics are favored to win the franchise's first World Series since 1974. Reuters

After the dust settled on an explosive non-waiver trade deadline, the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics emerged as the bigger winners Thursday and are now the two clubs favored to win the American League pennant and the World Series in the fall.

The day can be boiled down to an arms race, with Oakland landing starter Jon Lester and Detroit David Price. As a result Oakland is now a 4/1 favorite to claim its first World Series in 40 years, and the Tigers are next up at 5/1, according to Bovada.lv.

Boasting the highest-scoring offense in the majors and a loaded rotation with starters Scott Kazmir and Sonny Gray, as well as relievers Sean Doolittle and Luke Gregerson coming out of the bullpen, it appeared Oakland would run roughshod over the rest of the AL after acquiring Lester from the Boston Red Sox. That was until Detroit swooped in at the last minute.

Detroit made the biggest splash, landing now-former Tampa Bay Ray’s ace and 2012 AL Cy Young winner Price in a three-team swap. Price joins Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander as three former Cy Young winners on the Tigers rotation, not to mention reigning AL MVP and former Triple Crown-winner Miguel Cabrera headlining the fifth-best offense in the league.

Detroit and Oakland are expected to duke it out in the postseason, with the Los Angeles Angels (10/1), Toronto Blue Jays at (14/1) and Baltimore Orioles (16/1) viewed as their closest competitors.

Even though they already possess starter Clayton Kershaw, many questioned why the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t get in on the Price sweepstakes to further solidify their position as the National League’s top team. The Dodgers are still knotted with Detroit at 5/1 odds to win the Fall Classic, but acquiring Price would have put them over the top with 13-game winner Kershaw, and 12-game winners Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu next up in the rotation.

Really the Dodgers missed an opportunity to separate themselves from an NL pennant race pack that includes the NL East leading Washington Nationals (10/1), the St. Louis Cardinals (11/1), and the San Francisco Giants (12/1)

Odds to win World Series (Full list at Bovada.lv)

Oakland A’s 4/1

Detroit Tigers 5/1

Los Angeles Dodgers 5/1

Los Angeles Angels 10/1

Washington Nationals 10/1

St. Louis Cardinals 11/1

San Francisco Giants 12/1

Toronto Blue Jays 14/1

Baltimore Orioles 16/1

Milwaukee Brewers 16/1

Atlanta Braves 18/1

New York Yankees 25/1

Pittsburgh Pirates 28/1