Ranking the Best MLB Teams Since 2000 That Didn't Win the World Series
In discussions of the greatest teams in Major League Baseball history, it's the World Series winners that tend to drive the conversation. And you know what? That's fair.
It's just not what we're after here and now.
With MLB's lockout still showing no signs of letting up, we thought we'd take the time to remember the 11 best teams—not the roundest number, but there was just one team we couldn't leave out of a top 10—since 2000 that didn't win the World Series.
To keep things from getting repetitive, we limited ourselves to one representative per franchise. Teams' records naturally mattered a great deal, but so did things like run differential, performances against winning and losing clubs and generally how well the teams in question balanced run production and run prevention.
Lest anyone think this is all about schadenfreude, our aim was to remember these teams in a strictly appreciative light.
Let's count 'em down, starting with the most flawed team and ending with the least flawed team.
11. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies
1 of 11
Record: 102-60
Run Differential: Plus-184
Whereas the Philadelphia Phillies offense spearheaded charges to the World Series in 2008 and 2009, pitching drove them to the best regular season in their history in 2011.
Excepting the strike-shortened campaigns of 1972, 1981 and 1994, the '11 Phillies were the first team in 40 years to allow fewer than 530 runs in a season. This was mostly the doing of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels, who ranked second, third and fifth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award, respectively
Given the way things work in baseball today, those three could also remain frozen in amber for a long time as the last trio of pitchers with 200 innings and a sub-3.00 ERA in a season.
Roy Oswalt and Vance Worley were also solid starters that year, and the Phillies bullpen was dangerous in its own right. Paced by shutdown closer Ryan Madson, it fit comfortably in the top 10 of MLB with a 3.45 ERA.
Trouble was, the offense that had paced the Phillies in '08 and '09 was diminished by 2011. That showed when St. Louis Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter outdueled Halladay in a 1-0 victory in Game 5 of the National League Division Series to eliminate Philly.
10. 2003 Atlanta
2 of 11
Record: 101-61
Run Differential: Plus-167
In totality, Atlanta has won more games since 2000 than all but four other teams. There were some great individual seasons along the way, including three years of at least 96 wins in addition to a 101-win team in 2002.
Yet even the latter club wasn't quite as impressive as the one that followed in 2003.
Not counting the 19th century, Atlanta's offense from '03 is the best in the team's history. Gary Sheffield, Andruw Jones and Javy Lopez hit 118 home runs between the three of them. Chipper Jones and Marcus Giles each hit over .300 and knocked out 27 and 21 homers, respectively.
That year's team also had a solid pitching staff centered around two future Hall of Famers. Along with Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton, Greg Maddux was one of three Atlanta starters who topped 190 innings with an ERA in the 3.00s. In his second year as a closer, John Smoltz achieved a historically low 1.12 ERA.
Come the National League Division Series, however, Atlanta was outclassed in a low-scoring affair against the 88-win Chicago Cubs. Kerry Wood drove home the final nail, delivering eight innings of one-run ball opposite Hampton in a 5-1 win in Game 5.
9. 2015 Toronto Blue Jays
3 of 11
Record: 93-69
Run Differential: Plus-221
By "only" winning 93 games, the Toronto Blue Jays didn't even capture the top record in the American League in 2015. That belonged to the Kansas City Royals, who won 95 games.
What the '15 Jays did have, though, was the majors' best record against other winning clubs and a 99-run advantage on the next-best team in run differential. Based on that, their Pythagorean record pegged them as a hypothetical 102-win team.
Doing the heavy lifting was the most prolific offense that baseball had seen since the "Year of the Pitcher" in 2010 heralded a stretch of low scoring. By hitting at least 39 home runs apiece, Josh Donaldson, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion are still one of only four teammate trios to ever do so.
The additions of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and ace left-hander David Price ahead of the trade deadline only heightened the Blue Jays' dominance. They won 43 of their last 61 games to position themselves as arguably the team to beat in the American League playoff field.
The Royals, of course, had other plans. Their pitching and defense was simply too much for the Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series, as they scored a modest 26 runs in six games.
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8. 2021 San Francisco Giants
4 of 11
Record: 107-55
Run Differential: Plus-210
The San Francisco Giants have had a good century. They won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and had two other teams cross the 100-win threshold in the regular season.
Between its Barry Bonds-led offense and Jason Schmidt-led pitching staff, the 2003 Giants have an argument that they're the better of the latter two clubs. It's just not as convincing as the one for last year's Giants.
In addition to being the third-winningest club in the 21st century, the '21 Giants are perhaps the least likely of the great teams since 2000. They arose from the ashes of four straight losing seasons, and they did so largely because the same ol' offensive core (emphasis on ol') learned a new trick and led the National League in home runs.
For their part, Giants pitchers put up a sturdy 3.24 ERA as they zigged while other clubs zagged. At 92.7 mph, their average fastball was the lowest of 11 teams with ERAs in the 3.00s.
All the while, however, the extent to which the Giants thrived (i.e., 72-27) against losing teams raised some doubts. Though Brandon Belt's late-season injury was also a major factor, those doubts were realized when the Los Angeles Dodgers beat them in the NLDS.
7. 2017 Cleveland Guardians
5 of 11
Record: 102-60
Run Differential: Plus-254
The Cleveland Guardians did at least one thing of note in 2017. That happened from Aug. 24 to Sept. 14, when they won an AL-record 22 games in a row.
But while that part obviously stands out in retrospect, the '17 Guardians also tacked on an 11-3 stretch after their win streak finally ended. All told, they won 33 of their last 37 games.
This wasn't the only reason the Guardians went into the playoffs with high expectations. Their particulars included a pitching staff that, led by eventual AL Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber and fellow ace Carlos Carrasco, is still the best all-time in the eyes of FanGraphs WAR.
Cleveland also boasted a strong defense and one of the league's best offensive duos. Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor combined for 62 home runs and 32 stolen bases, and both finished in the top five in the AL MVP voting.
As with the '21 Giants, however, the catch was that about three-quarters of the Guardians' wins in 2017 came against losing teams. Not having been fully battle-tested caught up with them in the American League Division Series, wherein they fumbled a 2-0 lead and lost to the New York Yankees.
6. 2004 St. Louis Cardinals
6 of 11
Record: 105-57
Run Differential: Plus-196
The winningest franchise in the National League this century? It's the St. Louis Cardinals, and they have an awful lot to show for that. Namely, two World Series championships and three 100-win teams.
Which brings us to the 2004 Cardinals, who are at once the best of the latter and arguably better than the clubs that won it all in 2006 and 2011.
The core of their offense, in particular, was intimidating. Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen were more than up to the task of carrying everyone else, as their total output amounted to a .316/.414/.634 slash line and 122 home runs.
The Cardinals added yet another slugger when Larry Walker came over in early August. He was likewise another multi-time Gold Glover alongside Edmonds, Rolen, Edgar Renteria and Mike Matheny. All that defense was in service of a pitching staff, while solid on the whole, didn't have a true No. 1.
Mind you, that wasn't what undid the Cardinals in the '04 playoffs. The culprit was a team-of-destiny buzz saw in the form of the Boston Red Sox, who snapped their 86-year championship drought with a sweep of St. Louis in the Fall Classic.
5. 2002 New York Yankees
7 of 11
Record: 103-58
Run Differential: Plus-200
The New York Yankees are the only team with more than 2,000 wins in this century, and yet they have only two World Series titles to show for it.
For our purposes, the Yankees thus offered a tough challenge as far as picking just one team that didn't get its just deserts. Yet there's something about the 2002 club that attracts the eye.
For one thing, it had a hell of an offense centered around 41-homer slugger Jason Giambi and Alfonso Soriano, who was one long ball away from a 40-40 season. Also in the mix were high-functioning versions of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams and Robin Ventura. Of that bunch, only Williams wasn't an All-Star.
Pitching-wise, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, David Wells and Orlando Hernandez made for an absurd fivesome on paper. They ultimately combined for a 3.85 ERA and 71 wins, many of which were locked down by baseball's GOAT closer, Mariano Rivera.
Yet whether it was due to fatigue from the 2001 World Series or something else, the '02 Yankees ran out of gas in the playoffs. The Anaheim Angels indeed manhandled them in the ALDS, hitting .376 as a team to win in four games.
4. 2001 Oakland Athletics
8 of 11
Record: 102-60
Run Differential: Plus-239
The most famous team the Oakland Athletics have had this century was the 2002 iteration. That was the one of Moneyball fame, not to mention the 20-game win streak.
However, run differential captures how the 2001 A's were the more powerful juggernaut. Their differential was better than the '02 team by some 93 runs.
There were indeed stars abound in Oakland in '01. Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez became the first ever trio of infielders with more than 30 homers apiece. Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito—who would win the AL Cy Young Award in 2002—each pitched over 200 innings with an ERA in the mid-3.00s.
Though the A's had the rotten luck of sharing the AL West with the 116-win Seattle Mariners, they played them tough by winning nine of 19 head-to-head matchups. Oakland was also the better team by the second half, in which it achieved a historic .773 winning percentage.
So it went in the playoffs...at first. The A's seized a 2-0 lead over the Yankees in the ALDS but lost the next three—including Game 5 thanks to a certain flip by a certain someone.
3. 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
9 of 11
Record: 106-56
Run Differential: Plus-273
Since 2000, a dozen different Los Angeles Dodgers teams have made the playoffs only to come up short of winning it all. As an aside, the 2006 Dodgers even featured a historic number of All-Stars.
This is to say that this is yet another franchise that offered a difficult "pick one" challenge, but it was impossible to deny the 2019 club.
Though that plus-273 run differential was only the second-best for that season, it's No. 3 for the century. A lot went into forming that, including a National League-record 279 home runs, a rare defense that featured over 100 defensive runs saved and a pitching staff with a league-best 3.39 ERA.
This was the year of Cody Bellinger's MVP turn, though the Dodgers offense also thrived with help from Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, Corey Seager and Justin Turner. Hyun Jin Ryu was runner-up in the NL Cy Young Award voting, while Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler also earned votes.
Yet even these Dodgers had their hands full with a 93-win Washington Nationals squad in the NLDS. Just when it looked like L.A. would break through in Game 5, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto went back-to-back off Kershaw and Howie Kendrick brought down the dagger with a grand slam.
2. 2019 Houston Astros
10 of 11
Record: 107-55
Run Differential: Plus-280
Even though the 2017 club won the World Series, the Houston Astros fielded better teams in 2018 and 2019.
The '18 Astros actually had a better Pythagorean record than the '19 Astros. So there's that. But they also dabbled in some of the same sign-stealing tomfoolery as the '17 team. The '19 Astros didn't, and they otherwise take the cake in wins, run differential and for their sheer level of talent.
Led by AL MVP runner-up Alex Bregman, the 2019 Astros offense had the best wRC+ since the Babe Ruth/Lou Gehrig Yankees of 1927 and 1930. Seven different hitters topped a 120 OPS+ and 20 home runs, or one more than any other team has ever had in one lineup.
The '19 Astros could also pitch. Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole each topped 300 strikeouts and 200 innings before claiming the top two spots in the AL Cy Young Award voting. Houston got another Cy Young winner when Zack Greinke came aboard at the trade deadline.
And yet, this is another party spoiled by those pesky Nationals. The Astros had them on the ropes in Game 7 of the World Series, but it was Rendon and Kendrick to the rescue once again.
1. 2001 Seattle Mariners
11 of 11
Record: 116-46
Run Differential: Plus-300
We're not under the delusion that anyone has forgotten the 2001 Seattle Mariners. As if their record-tying 116 wins weren't enough to remember them by, they're also the last Mariners team to play in October.
Rather, consider this a reminder that they really were that good.
That plus-300 run differential is the best of any team this century. And unlike more recent run-differential marvels such as the Astros and Dodgers of 2019, the Mariners achieved theirs in the face of a relatively difficult schedule. Their .676 winning percentage (48-23 record) against winning teams is the best non-2020 mark of the century.
Seattle's pitching staff didn't have a weak link, as Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele and Jamie Moyer anchored the unit, yet it was the stars in the lineup who really drove the team. Ichiro Suzuki, the eventual AL MVP and Rookie of the Year, hit .350 and stole 56 bases. Bret Boone hit 37 homers and drove in 141 runs. Edgar Martinez and John Olerud each topped a .400 OBP and 20 homers.
But in the end, the Mariners simply couldn't dethrone the three-time defending World Series champion Yankees. Their matchup in the ALCS lasted just five games and ended with a 12-3 Yankees rout in New York.
Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs.
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