As in the other sports, baseball has changed dramatically over the last couple of decades. In terms of betting, probably the notable change is in the pitching area. For the bettor, the reliance on starting pitching may not carry the overwhelming importance as it did in previous years. Team defense, speed, quality position play and clutch hitting all carry importance in evaluating a team's chances. But the major difference between baseball and basketball and football is the fact that the two other sports use pointspreads.
Baseball uses money lines.
The oddsmakers put a price on the better teams and pitchers, making you pay extra for them. If you examine the baseball standings at the end of each year for the last 10-15 seasons, you might find one or two superior clubs in each division of each league. There are one or two thoroughly awful teams, and the majority of clubs win slightly fewer or more than half their ball games. In other words, you can make money betting against the worst and on the best, but you're going to have to pay through the nose to do it. First of all, the sports books don't even like to carry baseball as a betting option.