"Does anyone want to win the World Series? Is any MLB team going to step up and make itself the postseason favorite? In what is shaping up as the most wide-open postseason in recent history, every playoff team or contender is either scuffling, facing key injury issues or just suffered one of the craziest defeats of the past 60 years (we mean you, Los Angeles Dodgers)."
"With that in mind, let's look at each of the leading playoff contenders and check why each team can -- or cannot -- win it all. We focused on the 14 teams that have the best shot, though there are a number of others -- including the Cleveland Guardians, Tampa Bay Rays, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals -- that could still make the postseason."
"Real or not: The Brewers don't hit enough home runs to win the World Series. Years ago, in explaining why Billy Beane's Oakland Athletics had failed to advance to the World Series in the early 2000s, former ESPN analyst Joe Morgan argued that teams "have to manufacture runs in the postseason." The A's played station-to-station baseball, drawing walks and hitting home runs."
The 2025 MLB postseason is the most wide-open in recent history, with every contender either scuffling, facing key injuries or recovering from recent shocking defeats. Two of the best teams since the All-Star break have been the Athletics and Pittsburgh Pirates, while the Dodgers have only two more wins than the Rockies in that span. Fourteen teams currently have the best shots at the playoffs, with additional clubs like the Guardians, Rays, Giants, Diamondbacks, Reds and Cardinals still realistic wild-card possibilities. The Brewers rank second in runs but 19th in homers, raising concern about their reliance on manufacturing runs versus power.
Read at ESPN.com
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