Breaking Down MLB World Series 2025 Odds For Final 8 Teams
... And then there were eight.
Following the most competitive Wild-Card Round to date, the Major League Baseball playoffs are down to the final eight teams, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees having advanced, while the Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies, and Seattle Mariners are coming off the bye.
As we inch closer to the Fall Classic, here are the World Series odds for the remaining eight teams.
Detroit Tigers
1 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +800
Despite coughing up the AL Central title with a 28-37 record after the All-Star Break, the Tigers defeated the division-rival Cleveland Guardians to advance to the ALDS for the second season in a row.
Tarik Skubal is baseball's best pitcher, as evidenced by his dominant Game 1 performance, in which he struck out 14 batters while allowing just three hits and one run across 7.2 innings pitched. Whenever the Tigers have Skubal—who is likely to repeat as the AL Cy Young Award winner—on the mound, they are going to have an advantage.
However, it remains unclear how much the Tigers can rely on the starters that they have behind Skubal. Both Casey Mize (4.92 ERA) and Jack Flaherty (4.62 ERA) struggled after the All-Star Break. Detroit advanced with them throwing just 7.1 innings combined between Games 2 and 3 of the ALWCS, but as the series gets longer, A.J. Hinch is going to need more length out of his rotation. And it feels like there's almost no margin for error with Skubal.
The Tigers only scored nine runs over their three games in Cleveland. For them to get beyond the ALDS, some combination of Kerry Carpenter, Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Gleyber Torres will have to get hot.
Milwaukee Brewers
2 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +800
Considering the Brewers won an MLB-best 97 games during the regular season, it would be hard to fault Pat Murphy's squad if they feel slighted by not having better odds.
The Brewers are a team where the whole feels greater than the sum of its parts, and the postseason is often decided by stars coming through in major moments. Does Milwaukee have enough players to do that for a month and win the franchise's first World Series title?
Coming off the bye, the Brewers will send Freddy Peralta—who was one of the senior circuit's top pitchers this season—to the mound in Game 1 vs. the division-rival Chicago Cubs. Beyond him, there's a little less certainty. Brandon Woodruff (right lat strain) is likely done for the year, and it's unclear what, if anything, Jose Quintana (left calf strain) will be able to provide. Quinn Priester and Jacob Misiorowski will each be pitching for the first time in the postseason.
At the back-end of the bullpen, Milwaukee could have one of the postseason's best duos with Abner Uribe (1.67 ERA in 75 games) and Trevor Megill (30 saves). That is, if Megill—who made just one appearance in late September after returning from a right flexor strain—is at 100 percent.
For as great a season as the Brewers had, they were 6-7 against the Cubs. Beyond their starting pitching, Milwaukee will need big swings from William Contreras, Jackson Chourio, Christian Yelich, Brice Turang and Andrew Vaughn, among others.
Chicago Cubs
3 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +750
No postseason team in the NL had worse vibes entering the playoffs than the Cubs, who disappointed with a 35-31 record following the All-Star Break, a significant step down from their 57-39 record in the first half.
Craig Counsell's club managed to advance, though, and there were some positive signs in the three-game NLWCS against the San Diego Padres.
- Seiya Suzuki turned the page on a second half in which he posted a .688 OPS by recording a hit in all three games, including a homer in Game 1.
- Pete Crow-Armstrong—who hit just .216 after starting in the All-Star Game—went 3-for-4 in Game 3 win.
- Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner flashed tremendous middle-infield defense with the season on the line in Game 3.
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Toronto Blue Jays
4 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +750
With 94 wins, the Blue Jays won the AL East and claimed the No. 1 seed in a wide-open AL. Will they turn that into their first trip to the Fall Classic since they repeated as World Series Champions in 1992 and 1993?
Former World Series MVP George Springer found the fountain of youth in his age-35 season, hitting 32 home runs and posting a .959 OPS. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was an All-Star for the fifth season in a row. With Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, José Berríos and Eric Lauer, the Blue Jays have four veteran starters who could take the ball in the postseason, not to mention future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer looming down the road potentially.
So why aren't the Blue Jays even higher on this list? While they have one of the deeper rotations in the playoff field, they don't necessarily have an ideal Game 1 starter. Closer Jeff Hoffman recorded 33 saves and led baseball with 59 games finished, but posted a 4.37 ERA in 71 games. Most importantly, it's unclear at the time of publication whether hits machine Bo Bichette (left knee sprain) will be active for the NLDS, and how effective he'll be if he is.
The Blue Jays deserve credit for a strong regular season, and given that this is the weakest the AL has been in a long time, they could very well make a deep run. But John Schneider's team has more question marks than a typical No. 1 seed.
Seattle Mariners
5 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +500
The Mariners have never won a World Series or even advanced to one. 2025 is as good a chance as possible to change that.
Whether he wins AL MVP or finishes second to Judge, Cal Raleigh is in the midst of an all-time season. He hit a staggering 60 home runs during the regular season, while leading the AL with 125 RBI and primarily playing at catcher, the most physically demanding position on the diamond.
Particularly if Eugenio Suárez heats up, the Mariners will have their best lineup in a generation with him, Raleigh, Josh Naylor, Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena.
All-Star righty Bryan Woo (right pec) was left off the ALDS roster, which is a huge blow to a rotation that also includes studs Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo. The Seattle skipper, Dan Wilson, will also be able to lean on closer Andrés Muñoz, who had 38 saves and a 1.73 ERA over 64 games during the regular season.
Why not the M's?
New York Yankees
6 of 8
The Yankees stormed back from a 1-0 deficit in the ALWCS against the Boston Red Sox to advance to ALDS against the Blue Jays, thanks in large part to Cam Schlittler's out-of-nowhere dominant outing in Game 3 that saw the rookie record 12 strikeouts over eight shutout innings.
Can Schlittler turn this into a magical outing? If so, the outlook on Aaron Boone's rotation changes, considering he's pitching behind two excellent lefties in Max Fried and Carlos Rodón.
Questions also remain in the bullpen, particularly in terms of what, if any, positive impact Devin Williams and Luke Weaver will be able to make.
But if the pitching comes up roses, this is a lineup that's as good as any with Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Jazz Chisholm, Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham. They have the bats to get back to the World Series for the second year in a row, and perhaps win it all for the first time since 2009.
Philadelphia Phillies
7 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +475
This may be the last, best chance for this era of Phillies to reach the pinnacle and win a World Series.
Kyle Schwarber (56 home runs) and Cristopher Sánchez (2.50 ERA over 202 innings pitched) are likely to finish runner-up for NL MVP and Cy Young, respectively. NL batting champion Trea Turner is coming off his best season since joining the Phillies. Bryce Harper is one of this era's best postseason performers, with a 1.016 OPS in 53 career playoff games. Jhoan Duran and Harrison Bader were two of the best pickups at the trade deadline.
Over the last three years, Rob Thomson's Phillies have been a good playoff team, with a 20-14 postseason record, two NLCS trips and an NL pennant. But they've yet to add a World Series Champions flag in center field, and this group will ultimately be judged by whether they do that or not.
The Phillies won't be able to ease into the playoffs, as they'll immediately face the defending World Series Champion Dodgers. Can they knock off the Dodgers, en route to their first title since 2008?
Los Angeles Dodgers
8 of 8
DraftKings Odds: +320
The Dodgers flashed what makes them scary during their two-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds, with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández alone combining to drive in 13 runs.
At the same time, the Dodgers also flashed what scares you about their team in each game. It took Alex Vesia and Jack Dreyer 59 pitches to get through the top of the eighth inning of Game 1, despite the fact that the Dodgers entered the frame up 10-2. Emmet Sheehan struggled in relief in Game 2. There were some positive signs, such as the ninth-inning performances from Blake Treinen (Game 1) and Roki Sasaki (Game 2). But serious concerns remain about Dave Roberts' bullpen.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, both Blake Snell (nine strikeouts, two earned runs over seven innings) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (nine strikeouts over 6.2 shutout innings) were excellent in the NLWCS. Ohtani will start Game 1 of the NLDS, and the Dodgers also have Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw waiting in the wings.
Can the Dodgers piece things together in their bullpen well enough to become the first team to repeat as World Series Champions since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998-2000? They're about to face possibly their biggest test of the postseason against the Phillies in the NLDS, so we may know soon.
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