Each MLB Contender’s Biggest Weakness and Possible Solutions
It's around this point in every Major League Baseball season that we typically start tapping the "no team is perfect" and "anything can happen in baseball" signs, but that hardly even seems necessary this year with no clear favorite and Achilles' heels sticking out left and right.
Oh, sure, the Dodgers are the clear betting favorite, which means we'll get to them at the end of this list of the 13 contenders presented in descending order of current World Series odds, per DraftKings.
But have you watched the Dodgers lately? Sitting at 10-17 with a negative-26 run differential since Independence Day?
That's the clear favorite?
For all the contenders, we've identified what jumps out as the biggest weakness, while offering potential solutions to help in the quest to become the singular team to beat.
Statistics, records and World Series odds current through the start of play Thursday.
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Texas Rangers
1 of 13
World Series Odds: +3500
Biggest Weakness: Closer
As a whole, Texas' bullpen has fared better than anyone could have guessed in the preseason. In fact, the Rangers have a .540 OPS against in the 8th inning this season that ranks best in the majors by a considerable margin.
However, Texas does not have a single pitcher with 10 or more saves—even the Rockies have a guy with 11 saves, for crying out loud—and failing last week to address a clear deficiency at closer immediately bit the Rangers in the backside. Robert Garcia blew saves on both the first and second day after the trade deadline and appears to have lost what was a tenuous grip on the job in the first place.
Possible Solution: A Phil Maton/Danny Coulombe lefty-righty tandem
While the Rangers didn't add a closer at the deadline, they did acquire a pair of rental relievers who have been doggone good this season. Right-hander Maton has a 2.18 ERA for the year and picked up the save in Tuesday's win over the Yankees. Southpaw Coulombe has a minuscule 1.06 ERA for the year and got the win on Monday after pitching a clean 10th inning.
Maybe those new Rangers can one-two punch their way to a reliable force?
Luis Curvelo could also be in the mix. When Texas scooped him up back in November, the 24-year-old seemed like a plausible solution at closer. He finally made his MLB debut on deadline day and has gone 4.1 scoreless innings thus far.
Boston Red Sox
2 of 13
World Series Odds: +2000
Biggest Weakness: Final two spots in starting rotation
Garrett Crochet has been marvelous, leading the majors in wins (13) and strikeouts (183) with a 2.24 ERA that trails only Paul Skenes (2.02) and Tarik Skubal (2.18) among qualified pitchers. And after a mutually "nothing special" start to the year, both Lucas Giolito (2.03 ERA) and Brayan Bello (2.26 ERA) have been every bit as good as Crochet dating back to June 10.
During that same window, though, No. 4 starter Walker Buehler has made nine starts with a 6.35 ERA, and they traded for Dustin May to fill the other spot in the rotation, even though he had a 5.59 ERA over his final 16 starts with the Dodgers. (He promptly took an L against Kansas City in his Boston debut Wednesday.)
Possible Solution: Find out what Kyle Harrison can do
In that Rafael Devers trade heard 'round the world, Kyle Harrison was part of the underwhelming return the Red Sox received. The lefty was a top-50 prospect in all of baseball heading into both 2023 and 2024, but he never quite cut the mustard in San Francisco, possessing a 4.48 career ERA in what amounts to roughly a full-season of big-league work.
He has a 2.45 ERA in his last four starts at Worcester, though, and there definitely were flashes in each of the past two seasons where he looked like a star in the making. Might be worth a shot. Same goes for Cooper Criswell, who mowed down the Astros for seven innings on August 1, and who has a 2.96 ERA in 73.0 IP between Worcester and Boston dating back to mid-April.
Boston invested $21M in Buehler, but that's no reason to keep handing him the ball every fifth day with a playoff spot or first-round bye hanging in the balance.
San Diego Padres
3 of 13
World Series Odds: +1500
Biggest Weakness: Lack of home runs
You would think that a team with four position players signed through at least 2033 on contracts with a combined sum of $1.105 billion would be pretty formidable at the plate.
Instead, the Padres have managed just 98 home runs this season, which is barely half of the Yankees' MLB-leading total of 182 and ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates for dead last. And, if anything, it has gotten worse, not better, with just 15 home runs in their last 20 games.
Possible Solution: Hope for the best with the new bats
Trenton Brooks had a 1.001 OPS when the Padres called him up as a potential solution in mid-June, but he had a dismal .454 mark in his six weeks in the majors before getting sent back down to Triple-A El Paso. And he's still probably the most promising "prospect who could make an immediate impact" bat that they've got, making hope minimal on that front.
But they acquired Ryan O'Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Freddy Fermin and Will Wagner ahead of the trade deadline and just kind of need to hope that helps solve the problem. Wagner is in Triple-A, but the other three all contributed to Wednesday's comeback win over Arizona, including O'Hearn's home run to lead off the ninth inning.
Finding some way to get Jackson Merrill on track would be huge, too. He averaged one home run for every 24.7 plate appearances last year as a rookie, but after a red-hot start in San Diego's first 10 games, he has been at one dinger for every 75.3 trips to the plate over the past three months.
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Chicago Cubs
4 of 13
World Series Odds: +1400
Biggest Weakness: Starting Rotation
Matthew Boyd entering the home stretch of the 2025 campaign as a viable candidate for the NL Cy Young is not something anything could have predicted. Rookie Cade Horton has also been scintillating lately, logging at least five scoreless innings in five of his last six starts. And save for a seven-run dud against the White Sox two weeks ago, Shota Imanaga has been a solid fixture in the rotation.
As is the case in Boston, though, starts by anyone outside of that primary trio have been quite the adventure—and an adventure they inexplicably didn't seem too interested in fixing at the trade deadline.
Possible Solution: Give Jordan Wicks another shot
In a turn of events that no one everyone could have seen coming, the trade for oft-injured pitcher Michael Soroka already hasn't panned out, lasting just two innings with the Cubs before landing on the IL with a shoulder injury. So they're back to square one, with Colin Rea's replacement-level season at No. 4 in the rotation and an "all hands on deck" approach to the fifth spot as they wait for Jameson Taillon, Javier Assad and now Soroka to make it back from the IL.
What about Jordan Wicks, though?
He got lit up for six earned runs at Yankee Stadium just before the All-Star Break, but he has otherwise pitched reasonably well this season, mostly at Triple-A Iowa. Chicago's first-round pick in the 2021 draft took some turns through the big league rotation in each of the past two seasons. Could be worth a shot at least until Taillon or Assad returns.
[Note: When this originally published, our possible solution was to let Chris Flexen start, believing the Cubs had demoted him to Triple-A Iowa when they had in fact released him a few days ago with a 3.09 ERA. Mea culpa. Technically, he's still available, though?]
New York Yankees
5 of 13
World Series Odds: +1200
Biggest Weakness: Starting Rotation and Baseball Fundamentals
Tough to say how you go about addressing the mental mishaps of poor baserunning and lackadaisical fielding this late into the season—though, many would argue that firing the manager is a great place to start. However, the bigger problem for the Yankees is a lather, rinse, repeat of the predicament facing the Cubs and Red Sox: an underwhelming starting rotation and a refusal to fix it ahead of the trade deadline.
New York's woes were masked for a while by the first-half dominance of All-Stars Max Fried and Carlos Rodón and one of the highest-scoring offenses in the majors. But with those co-aces sitting on a combined 5.34 ERA since the beginning of July—which is when they lost Clarke Schmidt to Tommy John surgery—things have gotten ugly in the Bronx.
Possible Solution: Give Allan Winans one more shot while praying for a repeat of last season
You remember last season, right? Yankees pitching went from untouchable in May (2.44 ERA) to horrific in June (5.26 ERA) before mostly figuring things out again in mid-August for a solid finish.
Bit of a different path this year with the atrocious month coming in July (5.65 ERA), but they could turn a corner again. Fried and Rodón didn't suddenly forget how to pitch, and Luis Gil's season debut last week could be the spark this staff needed.
Or maybe the ninth time is the charm for Allan Winans?
Despite a 2.73 ERA in nearly 500 innings pitched in the minors—including a 1.27 mark in 64.0 IP at Triple-A this season—his eight separate promotions to the majors over the past three seasons have amounted to a 7.48 ERA. But for a team that has reached "released Marcus Stroman" levels of desperation, maybe Winans is worth another shot.
Toronto Blue Jays
6 of 13
World Series Odds: +1100
Biggest Weakness: Slow Starts
Toronto has more come-from-behind wins this season (36) than the Colorado Rockies have total wins.
A decent chunk of that is late rallies, as the Blue Jays have a .792 OPS in innings 7-9 compared to a .662 OPS allowed during that third of ball games. But the flip side of that coin is an .822 OPS allowed in the first inning, in which they've been outscored 70-47.
They've also been slightly outscored in the second inning (54-47) with a combined total of 50 home runs allowed compared to 25 hit between the two innings. Just perpetually digging early holes. (Though, falling behind 1-0 before scoring 20 unanswered runs like they did against the Rockies on Wednesday is quite the fix.)
Possible Solution: Maybe try an opener on occasion? Or Myles Straw batting leadoff?
The latter option seems counterintuitive on the surface, as Straw's .646 OPS ranks among the worst on the roster. Finding ways to use his glove without using his bat has been Toronto's M.O. this season. But he does have a .368 OBP when leading off an inning this season, which rates almost best among Blue Jays
Right there with Straw in that department is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at a .391 OBP when leading off an inning. Perhaps he could bat leadoff like Shohei Ohtani so often does? At any rate, Guerrero only has seven first inning RBI for the season, four of which came via solo home run.
New York Mets
7 of 13
World Series Odds: +1100
Biggest Weakness: The "other" half of the lineup
New York's big four of Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo has combined for 91 home runs and a solid .466 slugging percentage.
The rest of the roster has combined for 49 home runs and a Pittsburgh Pirates-like .355 slugging percentage, and dreams of deadline acquisition Cedric Mullins haven't exactly started with a bang, as he has one single in five games played.
Granted, you can compare just about any roster's "slugging Mount Rushmore" to the rest of the lineup and find a similar divide. But the Mets do seem to have a more precipitous drop than most when it comes to production from top four compared to bottom five of the order.
Possible Solution: Ride the hot hands of Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio
Though Brett Baty had a sensational May with a .914 OPS, he hasn't been anything close to the same force with a .627 mark since the beginning of June.
At this point, virtually all of his plate appearances should be going elsewhere again.
To that end, Mark Vientos has seemingly snapped out of his first half funk, batting nearly .300 since over the past month. And though Ronny Mauricio's year-to-date numbers are nothing special, he has a .959 OPS over his last nine games, reminding everyone of his can't-miss potential from before injuries derailed his career.
If they can keep that up even a little bit, it would at least reduce opponents' temptation to start intentionally walking Alonso in the clean-up spot to get to the "easy" part of the order.
Seattle Mariners
8 of 13
World Series Odds: +1100
Biggest Weakness: The leadoff spot
J.P. Crawford has been one of Seattle's best position players this season from a "wins above replacement" perspective, but he hasn't been great from a "leadoff hitter" perspective.
Though he hasn't been their every day leadoff man, he has served in that capacity nearly twice as often as the rest of the roster combined, for a Seattle team ranking 28th in the majors in "Batting First" OPS.
Simply got to have a better table setter than that with all the RBI prowess now in this lineup.
Possible Solution: Already solved?
Since the acquisition of Eugenio Suárez, the M's have been rolling with Randy Arozarena in the leadoff spot, burying Crawford down at eighth in the order.
Prior to that, Arozarena had hit leadoff just once since the beginning of 2023. However, he has taken well to the role, including already drawing three walks in the span of six games after drawing six in the previous 30.
If he keeps setting the table for Cal Raleigh, followed by Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor setting the table for Suárez, that's a self-sustaining, ducks-on-the-pond economy.
Just for good measure, Crawford has already swatted a pair of home runs from the 8-hole, AKA the second clean-up spot.
It's scary but none too surprising how quickly this lineup has come together as a real force.
Milwaukee Brewers
9 of 13
World Series Odds: +1100
Biggest Weakness: Pitching on the road
Truth be told, we're grasping at straws here, trying to find a gripe with the Brewers more legitimate than "never won the World Series before."
But this road pitching thing could be a real concern in October.
In Milwaukee, they've had a 3.19 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 9.6 K/9. Hard to argue with an entire team pitching about as well as Logan Webb (3.24 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 10.1 K/9).
Away from Milwaukee, though, they've been much more mortal with marks of 4.06, 1.30 and 8.0, respectively. And while a staff full of Logan Webb's could win you a World Series, one full of José Soriano's (4.01, 1.40 and 7.9, respectively) is a bit less intimidating.
Possible Solution: Just win the home games in October
Maintain grip on that No. 1 overall seed and who needs to worry about pitching on the road? Take care of business with that home-field advantage and you're set to break an eternal drought.
Or maybe just don't deploy the iffy road guys on the road in October?
In 12 starts both home and away, Freddy Peralta has a 2.13 ERA in Milwaukee compared to 4.00 everywhere else. And while it's a much smaller sample size, Jacob Misiorowski has been absurdly dominant at home and just OK on the road.
As if the Brewers coaching staff needed any help identifying those guys as potential starters for Games 1 and 2 of the postseason, there you go.
Houston Astros
10 of 13
World Series Odds: +900
Biggest Weakness: Left-handed bats
With Kyle Tucker now in Chicago and Yordan Alvarez struggling for 29 games before landing on the IL for what has been more than three months, Houston's lack of left-handed bats has become a full-blown thing.
The good news is they have plenty of righties who can hit righties quite well, including suddenly rejuvenated former star Carlos Correa. But switch-hitting, back-up catcher/first baseman Victor Caratini has been responsible for darn near half of the Astros' left-handed plate appearances this season.
Both Seattle and Texas are loaded with right-handed pitchers who can mow down right-handed hitters, so any sort of AL West showdown in October could be disastrous for Houston.
Possible Solution: Get Yordan Alvarez healthy and get Jesús Sánchez going
Sánchez was their "aside from Correa" deadline splash, but the lefty-hitting former Marlin has just one RBI six games into the Houston chapter of his career. Getting more going forward out of what has thus far been an everyday corner outfielder is a near must.
The much bigger key, though, is Alvarez, who had a .988 OPS over the previous three seasons combined and who entered 2025 as one of the top candidates to win AL MVP. It's frankly astounding that the Astros have been this successful sans Tucker, sans Alex Bregman and essentially sans Alvarez.
If he comes back from his hand injury and starts hitting like he did in any other season of his career, that's a colossal game-changer.
Detroit Tigers
11 of 13
World Series Odds: +850
Biggest Weakness: Center Field
For the year, Detroit's triple-slash in the "as CF" split is .228/.286/.364, its center field fWAR ranking 24th in the majors.
And unlike Milwaukee's ugly "as SS" split where things are looking a lot better after what was a catastrophic first 50 games of the season, the Tigers are no closer to a solution in center than they were four months ago. They've started all of Parker Meadows (now on the IL), Matt Vierling, Javier Báez and Wenceel Pérez in center at least once each within the past 10 games, searching for anything that will stick.
Detroit made it a point to try to upgrade its equally problematic bullpen ahead of the trade deadline, but settled for doing nothing whatsoever on this front.
Possible Solution: Give Pérez a shot at playing center every day
What was an insurmountable 14-game lead in the AL Central one month ago has turned into a much less comfortable six-game cushion over the Guardians, which means it's time to stop messing around and get the best possible lineup on the field.
And when the Tigers are facing a right-handed starter—which means having both Kerry Carpenter (career .889 OPS vs. RHP compared to .611 vs. LHP) and Colt Keith (.826 OPS vs. RHP in 2025 compared to .367 vs. LHP) in the lineup somewhere—putting Carpenter in right, Keith at DH and Pérez in center is the logical conclusion.
The switch-hitting Pérez is already playing somewhere, usually RF on a pretty much daily basis, and they might as well get him comfortable in center now. It's either that or continue to hope that Vierling or Meadows with their mutual .560-ish OPS will figure things out.
Philadelphia Phillies
12 of 13
World Series Odds: +650
Biggest Weakness: Bullpen
Philadelphia going out and getting Jhoan Durán to serve as closer for what ought to be the next two-plus seasons was a fantastic decision.
But we thought they'd do more, right?
For the year, the Phillies have a 4.82 ERA in the seventh inning, and that number gets a whole lot uglier if you remove the instances where the four primary starters pitched into the seventh, with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Ranger Suárez boasting a combined seventh inning split of 33.2 IP with six earned runs allowed (1.60 ERA).
We kind of joked leading up to the deadline about the possibility of the Phillies just trading for the entire Twins bullpen, but heck, Minnesota would've been open to the idea, given all they gave away. And it would've meant a whole host of new faces for the Phillies instead of continuing to go back to the Jordan Romano, Joe Ross and Max Lazar wells and expecting anything to change.
Possible Solution: Turn some starters into relievers
Aaron Nola should be back from the IL within the next 10 days, prized prospect Andrew Painter has surely been stretched out enough in the minors at this point to be physically ready for his MLB debut and you definitely don't need five starting pitchers in October anyway.
Maybe the solution to disappointing middle relief is to just let some starters bridge the gap from the rotation to Durán?
Both Taijuan Walker and Suárez have had plenty of bullpen experience in recent years, and Luzardo's struggles this season have typically come in the second and fourth innings, not the first, in which he has a .643 OPS against. If Nola comes back and looks like his old self, good enough to start Game 3 behind Wheeler and Sánchez, maybe the plan can be to have Walker, Suárez and Luzardo pitch those middle innings in October.
Los Angeles Dodgers
13 of 13
World Series Odds: +300
Biggest Weakness: Where has the offense gone?
In the first half of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers scored at least eight runs in 23 out of 81 games. Through June 25, they had scored 25 more runs than the next-closest team and were on pace to eclipse 900 with room to spare. It felt inevitable that they would go off at least once per series.
In the 34 games since then, they've scored eight runs precisely once, that coming in Tuesday's 12-6 rout of the Cardinals in which both Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández homered twice.
They've gone from averaging 5.7 runs in their first 81 games to just 3.9 in the second half of their schedule—a stretch in which they've gone 16-18, or 11-18 if you take out the games against the hapless Rockies and White Sox.
Good thing the starting rotation is at its healthiest point of the season, because they might need to win some 2-0 types of games this October.
Possible Solution: Move Mookie Betts down in the order
Betts is one of the best hitters of this generation, a mortal lock for the Hall of Fame when all is said and done.
But he hasn't been himself this season, especially over the past two months, saddled with a .188 batting average and .525 OPS dating back to June 9. Among the 154 players with at least 160 plate appearances during that time, he ranks dead last.
Dave Roberts recently bumped Betts from the 2-hole up to the leadoff spot for a 10-game stretch, hoping to spark something. Instead, he went 8-for-42 (.190) while the Dodgers continued to struggle.
Benching Betts simply isn't on the table, but dropping him to seventh or eighth in the order and putting either Andy Pages or the newly acquired Alex Call in his usual spot until he starts showing signs of turning things around could be the play here.
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