This wasn’t supposed to be the case, but so far the NL West is the most competitive division in its league and arguably the most competitive division in all of baseball. A team expected to be one of the worst (Colorado) was atop the standings on Wednesday afternoon, and the team expected to win it (Los Angeles) is still in last, even with a little bit of room to spare.

(All odds provided by Sportsbook.ag).

National League West

San Francisco Giants (-120) – The defending champs needed 10 innings on Wednesday to avoid getting swept at home by Philadelphia. Still, they have won seven of their last nine, and the National League’s best record may be on the line during an upcoming four-game series against Atlanta in San Francisco.

Los Angeles Dodgers (+250) – Which big-spending L.A. team will be the worst in 2013? The Lakers, the Angels, or the Dodgers? Talk about an intriguing bet! The Dodgers have lost seven in a row and are in last place in the division at 13-20. They have lost six of seven series this season against NL West foes, and they are a horrendous 5-16 overall against the division.

Arizona Diamondbacks (+500) – The D-Backs are hanging tough at 19-15 after completing their three-game sweep of the Dodgers. Paul Goldschmidt (.320, 9 HR, 30 RBI) hit the game-winning homer on Wednesday and is leading the team in just about everything.

Colorado Rockies (+800) – The top of the division standings flip-flopped on Wednesday. Previously leading San Fran by a half-game, the Rockies 3-2 loss to the Yankees coincided with the Giants’ extra-innings win. Colorado (Jeff Francis) is a +115 home favorite against New York (C.C. Sabathia) in Thursday’s series finale.

NHL Eastern Conference

Pittsburgh Penguins (+125) – The Penguins had no problem coasting to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but they are having a world of trouble with the eighth-seeded Islanders during first-round playoff action. New York is tied 2-2 through four games, and in one of its losses it squandered a two-goal lead. Pittsburgh is a -220 home favorite on Thursday.

Boston Bruins (+400) – Boston appeared to be in line for a similar fate, trailing 2-0 in Game 4 on the road against Toronto on Wednesday. The Bruins, however, came back to win in overtime, and they are returning home in control of the series with a 3-1 advantage instead of 2-2.

Washington Capitals (+450) – Capitals-Rangers has arguably been the best series of the first round. The last three games have all been decided by one goal, including overtime in Game 2 followed by consecutive 4-3 New York victories at home to even things at 2-2. The pressure is back on Alex Ovechkin and company.

Ottawa Senators (+550) – Coached by a “bug-eyed fat walrus,” Ottawa is taking care of quote-master Brandon Prust and the Canadiens so far. Up 3-1, the Senators are +110 road underdogs as they look to finish the series on Thursday.

THE PLAYERS Championship

Tiger Woods (+600) – Since the “better than most putt” and his subsequent victory in 2001, Tiger has mostly been dreadful at The Players. In fact, he has more withdrawals than Top-10s since his last triumph. Still, Tiger has been the best player this season despite another failure at Augusta, where he may have won had it not been for the drop penalty.

Adam Scott (+1500) – The question, of course, is how will the life-changer in Augusta affect Scott? In the long run, you have to think the Green Jacket will propel him to new heights. As for the immediate future, that may be a different story. It’s hard to imagine Scott has put in a ton of productive range work of late. Who can blame him?

Rory McIlroy (+1500) – In a relative slump by his standards, McIlroy is still in search of his first win this season, and he has been particularly close only once (a second-place finish last month in San Antonio). This doesn’t say a lot for his chances at The Players, but he is at least playing better golf than girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki is playing tennis.

Phil Mickelson (+2000) – Mickelson won this tournament in 2007, and he posted a decent T25 finish last year. Lefty is playing well, but his late collapse last week at the Wells Fargo is a tough one to get over…especially the next time he is atop a leaderboard in a final round.

French Open

Rafael Nadal (-140) – Nadal is 52-1 lifetime at Roland Garros, so there is no cause for serious concern even though he may not be as dominant at this point in his injury-plagued career. The Spaniard will be at the mercy of the draw as the likely No. 5 seed, but that’s actually worse news for guys like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer than it is for Nadal.

Novak Djokovic (+150) – Head-to-head, Djokovic vs. Nadal may be 50-50 (Djokovic ended Nadal’s Monte-Carlo reign with a victory over his rival in the final last month). The Serb, however, is more susceptible to an early-round upset (he lost to Juan Martin Del Potro in Indian Wells, to Tommy Haas in Miami, and to Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid).

Andy Murray (+1200) – British punters must already be voicing their opinions more than two weeks in advance, because otherwise there is no reason why Murray should be favored ahead of Federer. Murray is just 18-6 lifetime at the French Open. He has a semifinal and another quarterfinal in his last two appearances, but a blowout loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in Monte-Carlo suggests Murray is not about to get over the hump on clay.

Roger Federer (+1500) – Federer is no clay-court specialist, himself. Still, he won the thing in 2009, and he will be well-rested for this year’s installment thanks to smart scheduling throughout his 2013 campaign. If Nadal lands in Djokovic’s half of the draw, the door will be open for the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

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