2024 World Series Prediction
Image credit: PHOENIX, AZ - NOVEMBER 01: Fan holds up home made world series trophy during Game 5 of the 2023 World Series between the Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Caitlin O'Hara/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
The Dodgers and Braves, behemoths of the National League, received all nine votes from members of the Baseball America editorial staff to win the World Series.
This illustrates both how well those two teams are constructed and also how well the rest of the teams in the NL—with the exception of the Phillies—are not.
Last year, two NL wild cards were outscored on the season. One of those teams was the 84-win, NL pennant-winning Diamondbacks.
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And while the D-backs and Cubs, who missed a wild card by one game, took steps to improve their rosters, the NL as a whole appears to have a soft midsection.
This creates an invitation for chaos in the wild card standings, where any number of average to near-average teams, including the Reds, Brewers, Cardinals, Padres, Mets, Giants and Marlins—could find themselves in the right place at the right time at the trade deadline.
In the American League, the Astros look like they have built the best roster. But Houston has two teams in its own division that will challenge that notion.
The defending World Series–champion Rangers return a strong team that will be fortified by full seasons from rookies Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford. The Mariners’ rotation may be the best in baseball and gives Seattle a shot if its new-look offense is a better fit for T-Mobile Park.
Only the Astros, among AL West teams, received a vote from the BA editorial staff to win the pennant. The other eight votes went to AL East clubs.
The Orioles received five of those votes. The MLB Preview cover trio of Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday give Baltimore the backbone of one of the strongest homegrown up-the-middle cores in recent memory.
The Orioles’ trade for Corbin Burnes, plus whatever in-season upgrades they make, could put them over the top. Mike Elias, the organization’s head of baseball operations, has been here before with the Astros, who won the World Series in their third winning season following a lengthy rebuild.
The Yankees received two votes to win the AL pennant as spring training camps opened, back before news of Gerrit Cole’s elbow flare-up. A more balanced offensive attack and rebound seasons from Carlos Rodon and Nestor Cortes Jr. could help the Yankees compensate if Cole ends up missing more than the projected one to two months.
While nobody picked the Twins to win the AL pennant, they enter the season as heavy favorites to win the AL Central because of their run-scoring potential and a deep pitching staff led by Pablo Lopez.
The final AL pennant vote went to the Rays, a dangerous team to count out because they always seem to find a way to overcome the odds.
The Rays are also symbolic of baseball’s new reality in the expanded 12-team postseason era: Expect the unexpected.
Our prediction: Dodgers
