AFC West is a two-team race

While a case for winning the division can be made for all four teams in the NFC West, the same cannot be said about the AFC West.

The race is expected to involve only two teams -- San Diego and Denver.

The Chargers, who went an NFL-best 14-2 in the regular season a year ago only to lose to New England in their first playoff game, are the 1-2 favorite on the website Vegasinsider.com to repeat in the West in their first season under new Coach Norv Turner.

Those who like San Diego to rule the division again can get a bit better price on Bodog.com. The website lists the Chargers as the 2-3 choice.

Denver, which missed the playoffs a year ago because of an upset loss to visiting San Francisco in the season finale, is 8-5 on Vegasinsider and 7-5 on Bodog. The Broncos should be better with quarterback Jay Cutler in charge from the outset and with offensive additions Travis Henry and Brandon Stokely.

Kansas City, which backed into a playoff spot last season when the Broncos fell to the 49ers in Week 17, is 8-1 on Vegasinsider and 10-1 on Bodog. The Chiefs will be pressed to match their 9-7 record of a season ago because of an unsettled situation at quarterback and an aging roster.

No team is a bigger longshot on Vegasinsider than Oakland to win its division.

The Raiders are 30-1, which is triple the odds Bodog is offering on a team that was the worst in the NFL a year ago, has an unproven rookie coach and reportedly isn’t close to signing its No. 1 draft choice, former Louisiana State quarterback JaMarcus Russell.

Baseball

There is no doubt the New York Yankees have been the hottest team in the American League for the last couple of months, putting itself back in the race for the American League East title and the wild-card chase.

Hoping to slow down the visiting Yankees tonight, Toronto will pitch ace Roy Halladay, who is 9-4 with an earned-run average of about 3.00 against New York.

Arizona, which has moved to the top of the National League West, will continue a home series with Pittsburgh tonight with a familiar face on the mound.

Byung-Hyun Kim is again a Diamondback, having been claimed off waivers from Florida last week. As a reliever, Kim is best remembered for the two leads he squandered against the Yankees in the 2001 World Series.

Kim, whose other major league stops include Colorado and Boston, will start against Pittsburgh’s Paul Maholm, a left-hander who has pitched much better the last two months.

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bob.mieszerski@latimes.com