But even I have to admit that was blind luck. All told, it is kind of silly to try to project who is going to win the World Series in 2035, considering there will be players who appear in that Series who are currently in fourth grade. So this year, we’re trying something a little different.
This year, rather than try to predict the next 10 World Series matchups and results (again, impossible), we’re going to rank MLB franchises by the likelihood that they will win one of the next 10 World Series. That’s to say: Where they stand now, and where they stand in the future.
Which are the top 10 franchises most likely to win a World Series between 2026-35? Here’s my guess.
1. Dodgers
This is not as much of a slam dunk as you might think. Sure, Los Angeles has won two World Series titles in a row, but this team has gotten rather old. All of those MVP Award winners, not to mention half the rotation, are well into their 30s. The Dodgers are going to have to figure out a way to make themselves younger in the years to come, or they’re going to start looking geriatric fast. Even Shohei Ohtani, you’d think, will start to slow down when he hits his early 40s.
That said, they’ve won two in a row, they’ll be favored to win a third and they’ve got the resources and the smarts to lay down a foundation for the next generation of great Dodgers teams. (Don’t forget: They might have the best farm system in baseball right now.) No need to complicate this: They’re the easy first pick.
2. Mariners
Sure, it was a heartbreaker to lose the American League Championship Series like that, but this team has felt like one that’s on the way up for a few years now. Last year might have just been the first step. The Mariners have nearly as good a farm system as the Dodgers, but they’re definitely younger at the big league level. Julio Rodríguez just turned 25, after all, and everyone in the starting lineup is younger than all three of the Dodgers’ MVPs.
The Mariners also have a fanbase that, now that it has tasted success, is only going to want more. Seattle is extremely well-positioned over the next decade to finally make (and win) that first World Series. That’s a very scary thing to say out loud — just ask any Mariners fan.
3. Blue Jays
When in doubt, go with the team that got this close — multiple times! — to winning the World Series that just happened. The Blue Jays, after years of roster building, finally got their proof of concept last year, and with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in for the next decade-plus, they’ll be trying to get over the hump every year he’s wearing a Jays uniform. They’ve been extremely aggressive this offseason, adding both Dylan Cease and Kazuma Okamoto, and they should have the resources and the motivation to fill any holes that pop up along the way.
That World Series hurt — it still hurts. But the only way for the Jays to make it not hurt for decades to come is to get back to the Fall Classic and win it. They’re clearly showing that’s the plan moving forward.
4. Mets
It might not feel this way right now, during one of the more sentimentally distressing offseasons in recent Mets memory, but New York is extremely well-positioned moving forward. It still has two perennial MVP candidates to build around in Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, but it also has a cadre of young hitters coming up through the system to support those cornerstones, not to mention a parade of young pitching, much of which Mets fans got to see down the stretch in 2025.
The Mets also have an owner who has made it clear he will do whatever it takes to get his team a World Series title, and a general manager who has shown he’ll make the unpopular move in the short term if it helps his team win in the long term. Frankly, that’s the opposite of how the club has operated for most of the past three decades, which is why Mets fans should be more much more optimistic than they currently are. (Or usually are.)
5. Red Sox
When Boston dealt Rafael Devers (and his long-term contract) to the Giants last year, it was widely seen as a trading of the present for the future; it cleared out space now to help the Red Sox later. Well, it turned out it helped them in the present, too; they ended up with a better record than San Francisco (89-73 to 81-81), as well as an AL Wild Card berth.
That feels like just the start for the Red Sox, who are quietly filtering in younger stars like Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Ceddanne Rafaela while being willing to make the big trades for players like Garrett Crochet (and this offseason, Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray). Boston has been making a whole bunch of smart moves for a while now, and considering how deep the AL East appears to be for the next half-decade, it’s a good thing. The Red Sox are starting to look like the Red Sox again.
6. Phillies
Many of these teams have been picked because they’re not only good right now, they’re set up to be good for years to come. The Phillies? Well, the Phillies are here because they’re good right now … and need very badly to win before that is no longer the case. That Philadelphia is old is well documented, but so is the fact that it is, still, an excellent baseball team, one that won 96 games last season and looks certainly capable of doing so again in 2026.
Do I think Philadelphia can win 96 games with the same guys in 2031? I do not. But it’s not 2031. The Phillies still have a few more cracks at this thing. One of these years, they might just break through. Or at least, they’d better.
7. Orioles
It wasn’t long ago that we all thought this team was built to run the AL East, and maybe the entire American League, for years to come. The 2025 season put an end to those probably unrealistic expectations, and maybe that’s a positive thing: It certainly lit a fire under that front office, which was criticized a year ago for being too passive but certainly isn’t being criticized for that this offseason.
This team still has a gaggle of young hitters that’s the envy of baseball, and now it seems to be finally addressing the rotation (and might not be done doing so). If these young hitters take the next big step forward and become the stars it looked like they might be a couple of years ago, look out. One can still believe in the Orioles. It’s mostly just good to see them at last believing in themselves.
8. Cubs
It has been a curiously quiet offseason for the Cubs, a team that has frustrated its fans in all sorts of different ways since winning that immortal 2016 World Series title, an event that was life-changing but also happened a decade ago now. Who are the Cubs going to add for their next run? Are they going to add anyone in the wake of Kyle Tucker’s (presumed) departure?
The Cubs would seem to be in a great spot in the National League Central, with the Brewers always being careful about spending, the Reds and the Pirates still figuring themselves out and the Cardinals seemingly taking a step back to rebuild. But so far, they haven’t leapt up to take advantage. But they certainly could, and should: We think they’ll win the majority of division titles over the next decade, which gives them ample opportunities to go on an October run like the one that, now, is so much further in the past.
9. Padres
Having the Dodgers as a big target seems to have benefited the Padres the past few years: If you’re going to improve yourself to try to run down your rival, it helps to have that rival be the best team in baseball. That can come with some downside — San Diego is starting to get older right alongside Los Angeles — but it makes sure you take big swings every time out, something the Padres have consistently done.
It sure does feel as if one of these Octobers, everything’s going to land just right for them. Their fans have certainly earned it.
10. Athletics
If you were building a franchise that was about to move to a new city in a few years — with, presumably, more resources at hand — how would you want that team to look right before you moved? I’d guess you’d probably want it to be stacked with controllable young hitters, right? Hitting travels, after all: If guys are raking in their mid-20s, imagine what they’ll be doing when you get to the new place.
Thus, I’m pretty confident in my sleeper pick of the A’s here, a team that is loaded with young hitters and should have every opportunity to boost that core with pitching as it prepares for the move to Las Vegas. The A’s are the ultimate growth stock. Get on board.
So! I should probably mention some of the teams that didn’t make my list, lest you start screaming at your phone or laptop. Namely, the Yankees, who have a fanbase that is already mighty impatient with the lack of a championship since 2009. My reasoning on the Yankees? If they don’t win one in the next two or three years while Aaron Judge is still Peak Judge — and I don’t think they will — then the cliff might be extremely steep.
The Rangers and Braves are in similar boats, whereas the Giants and Brewers don’t seem to have quite enough in the short term and the Royals, Cardinals, Pirates and a few other teams that are building for the future don’t seem to have enough certainty to put them on this list. But all told: I’m sure you’ll still just yelling about the Yankees.
See you in a decade to find out which ones I got right.
