As the final pitch of the 2026 World Series left Trevor Megill’s hand, a certain chilling uncertainty accompanied it.
When will we see the next pitch that matters in Major League Baseball?
The impending lockout will shutter the sport a little more than a month from now. The industry and its fans, players and staff can survive a repeat of 2022, when almost the entirety of spring training was knocked out but 162 games were salvaged, thanks to creative scheduling.
The looming storm clouds this time around make it much harder to conceive what a 2027 season will look like – let alone who might unseat the Milwaukee Brewers as World Series champions.
Like the message on manager Pat Murphy’s forearm, however, we are undaunted. Here’s a way-too-early look
at the top World Series contenders for 2027 – or perhaps 2028:
The elite
Los Angeles Dodgers
Now that they’ve un-ruined baseball, perhaps they can get back to playing a game and not making a political statement. Before then, though, some significant off-the-field uncertainty awaits.
What will the game’s economic parameters look like when the industry fires back up? Will owner Mark Walter remain under scrutiny from federal investigators, and when might MLB see fit to intervene?
Yet a four-and-out in the NLCS should do this club a lot of good, relative to the extra 10 or so days they played the past two seasons in winning World Series. If 2026 taught them anything, it’s how important a healthy Shohei Ohtani is to the whole operation. Develop a plan to keep him sound and Ohtani, who turns 33 in July, should pay them back with another MVP season.
Milwaukee Brewers
They are slated to lose just first baseman Jake Bauers and veteran Brandon Woodruff, and the deep connections with both players to the franchise certainly opens the door for a return. Beyond that, seven of their regulars will be 28 or younger next season.
And a pitching staff that won 114 games this season, including playoffs, will come out of this postseason having absorbed fewer body blows than so many recent champions who heavily used starting pitchers in relief. Jacob Misiorowski proved he could exceed 190 innings pitched, getting more efficient later in October.
The club may experience some brain drain as copycat clubs try to poach and promote their executive talent, most notably assistant GM Matt Kleine, a candidate for the Astros’ top baseball ops job. But the infrastructure remains rock solid.
Celebrate Brewers' World Series with commemorative book
Atlanta Braves
The pitching has to be healthier next season. Right? This club won 94 games even with Spencers Strider and Schwellenbach among the many sidelined arms. Chris Sale turns 38 in March and will likely need a similar or even more aggressive innings management. And veteran stalwarts Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr. performed far below their standards and will be 30 and 29 next year, respectively.
Yet this is a team now driven by Michael Harris II, Matt Olson and Drake Baldwin. We trust GM Alex Anthopoulos will shore up the pitching a little more aggressively than he did last winter and at the deadline. The standard is the standard. If you will.
The pretty good
New York Yankees
Yankees fans don’t want to hear such praise, but posting 94- and 93-win campaigns in consecutive seasons, the latter essentially without Aaron Judge, puts you on the doorstep of elite these days. The New York fan-media industrial complex still clings to the notion that Big Expectations mean Failure without a championship, but let’s face it: This is the era where almost every franchise needs about 10 playoff cracks to stumble into one title.
Sure, it’s been 17 years, but hey, it happens. Bottom line is, the club is still flush with elite pitching that will always give it a chance. The continued development of shortstop George Lombard Jr. remains paramount. How aggressive will owner Hal Steinbrenner be in free agency when his side hustle will be serving on the owners’ labor relations committee, having to play-act that a salary cap is a good thing?
Tampa Bay Rays
They got schooled by the Brewers but also swept the Yankees in the ALDS, doubling down on a season in which they won the AL East by 4 ½ games. This is Tampa Bay, where nothing is permanent, but the core can return if the Rays want it: The offensive big three of Yandy Díaz (club option), Junior Caminero and Jonathan Aranda remain cost-effective. All-Star starter Nick Martinez will likely decline his mutual option and rental Freddy Peralta figures to move on, but Drew Rasmussen, Griffin Jax and Shane McClanahan are all under contract.
And there’s always new blood. Pitching prospect Brody Hopkins was on the fringes of the playoff roster but should have a solid shot to win a rotation spot whenever the game gets going. New ownership’s had a year to assess the club, a year that saw a billion-dollar boon in public money for a new stadium and then a World Series run. It will be interesting to see how they assess this current “window.”
Should have a shot
San Diego Padres
They’ve paddled very hard underwater to stay up with the Dodgers and while that’s proven futile, they look up at the end of the year and are still one of the best teams in baseball. Trouble is, the offensive core is a year older and most of the pitching staff isn’t bolted down.
Michael King is likely to opt out of his deal. The club figures to exercise its club option on Nick Pivetta. Joe Musgrove should be full go, but how long can he stay healthy? It figures to be another season leaning heavily on their peerless bullpen. But that’s a tough way to do business.
Chicago Cubs
Reality was a little harsh this year: The Cubs finished 14 whole games behind the Brewers, a “rivalry” that turned very one-sided. In signing Nico Hoerner to a six-year extension, the club has firmly decided that this is the core they’re rolling with, led by another long-term investment - pending NL MVP Pete Crow-Armstrong.
That core will lose a key piece in Ian Happ, and like so many of these contenders, starting pitching remains the bugaboo. Heck, the loss of Cade Horton might sting more in 2027 than it did last season; he figures to return in some capacity, at least. Can lefty Justin Steele regain All-Star form after running out of comeback time in 2026?
Toronto Blue Jays
Like the Dodgers, they’ll be sans hangover from a gutting World Series next season. Heck, they got the whole month of October off. Despite Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s disappearing act, this club still had playoff life into the final week of the season. The odds suggest a big bounceback for Vladdy next season.
Jose Soriano can ride shotgun with Dylan Cease as aces all next season. Cody Ponce’s ACL has mended. Spencer Miles has a year under his belt and Louis Varland’s still manning the back end. Could be dangerous.
A puncher’s chance
The Cleveland Guardians gotta lead the list of longshots, simply because they’ve won three division titles in a row while hardly anyone’s watching. And made two ALCS runs in three years. They just might kick that door down with all that power pitching. … That’s come at the expense of the Detroit Tigers, who now have a winter to construct a post-Skubal ballclub. Easy to forget they have a budding MVP in Kevin McGonigle. … Speaking of Tarik, might he end up a New York Met? Even if that comes to pass, there’s got to be several about-faces on a club that at least finished the year on an upswing and with contributions from young players. … Whither the Philadelphia Phillies? We were tempted to bump them up a tier or two, but it’s a little unsettling how the club lurched through most of 2026 while getting 28 to 33 starts from Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez and Aaron Nola. Imagine if such good health doesn’t find them next year. … A surprise? Why not the St. Louis Cardinals, young, athletic, efficient and convicted from day one next year.
Whenever next year comes.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ranking MLB World Series contenders by tier for 2027 – if season isn't canceled
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