Pick your poison: who would you rather see win their first World Series title?

ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 19: Freddy Peralta #51 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after wining the ALCS MVP after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in game six of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field on October 19, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Get

Baseball Zone

SEE ALL

SB Nation

Has Atlanta’s offense been left behind by a new wave in baseball?

SB Nation

Watch These Former Mariners in the World Series

SB Nation

Do the Rockies need an MVP candidate to compete?

What is the story about?

Seattle baseball fans surely know it already — the Mariners are among five teams in baseball to have never won a World Series title. Heading into the 2026 season, there were plenty of people (including myself) that felt the M’s were in position to make a run at not only reaching their first World Series, but potentially even crossing their name off that short list of teams whom have never reached the sport’s highest pinnacle.

As it turned out, this was not the year for the Mariners. They did not make

the playoffs — you, dear reader, surely do not need the reminder. However, with the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays making it out of their respective leagues, 2026 is now guaranteed to produce a first-time World Series champion for the second time in four seasons. The list of teams to have never won the Fall Classic is about to dwindle even further, down to four.

Both teams have a host of connections to Seattle, including former Mariners players on each roster (Jake Mailhot will have more on them later Thursday). The franchise that would become the Brewers started out in Seattle as the Pilots for one season in 1969 before moving to Wisconsin. Their departure spurred the lawsuit that would eventually result in Major League Baseball awarding Seattle another team, the one we now call the Mariners. The Rays on the other hand, while never calling Seattle home, have made more trades with Jerry Dipoto’s Mariners than any other team during his tenure. They may as well be the Mariners’ younger, more successful sibling by the similar fashion in which they run their organizations. It also can’t go without mentioning that Jeff Sullivan, the founder of this very blog, is currently a senior analyst in the Rays baseball operations department.

All this is to say…somebody’s gotta win it all. It’s not going to be the Mariners in 2026. So, without further ado, I present the following discussion prompt:

Who are you rooting for, the Rays or Brewers, to win their first World Series title? And why?

Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!