There is exactly one team in Major League Baseball that is worthy in my eyes of winning the World Series in a given year: The Baltimore Orioles. They have never won a World Series in my lifetime, so every postseason sooner or later becomes an exercise of deciding which team I hate the least out of the remaining field. That’s who I will hope for to win a World Series.
It was going to be the Mets out of the National League this year for me, entirely because of having Cedric Mullins on the team. He,
like Trey Mancini before him, deserved his new team to win a title. Mullins, unfortunately, was part of the failure that kept the Mets from making the postseason entirely, a collapse that went down to the final day of the season, where if they’d won, they’d make the postseason, and they were shut out instead. As the meme goes: That’s rough, buddy.
So, it will have to be someone else. My hater matrix for any given postseason considers the following questions:
- When did this team last win a World Series?
- How many former Orioles played big roles for this team this year? How do I feel about those guys?
- Have there been any notorious incidents with this team in my lifetime, or before I was born?
From these questions and my feelings about the overall vibe of a team, I hand out a hateability rating and go from there. Let’s break down the six NL teams, listed in alphabetical order by team nickname.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Last World Series: Never (franchise dates to 1969)
- Substantial former Orioles: Joey Ortiz, DL Hall, Tobias Myers (prospect only)
- Former Oriole feelings: No grudges
- Notorious incidents: None in my lifetime. If losing the last game of 1982 still bothers you, that’s a great reason to hate.
Of all of the teams in this year’s postseason, the Brewers might be the one whose success would offer the most hope to Orioles fans. They’ve made the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons and have won their division five times in that span. Their 2025 payroll of about $110 million is close to $50 million below what the Orioles have spent. They are sustaining some contention with means that are not extravagant. Whether the O’s can emulate this team probably depends on hitting more consistently on player development. The Brewers also have the advantage of being in the NL Central instead of the AL East, but you know.
This is a team with eight regular players who were at least league-average batters this season, although nobody eclipsed an .800 OPS, so they lack a true elite difference-maker – at least based on 2025 performance. Christian Yelich’s best years might be behind him, but he’s still more than capable of making a difference in a postseason. They have a starting rotation to envy and a bullpen that, while lacking in household names, has more than done its job through this season.
Hateability rating: Low
Chicago Cubs
- Last World Series: 2016
- Substantial former Orioles: Justin Turner, Andrew Kittredge
- Former Oriole feelings: I still can’t believe the O’s ditched Turner so they could play Julio Lugo
- Notorious incidents: Jake Arrieta finally turned into a Cy Young pitcher after being traded there
This is a roster that has been assembled with a productive mix of drafting/development, trades, and free agent signings, both domestically and internationally. If the Orioles had signed Shota Imanaga before last season, they’d be a lot better off right now. But the biggest difference-makers for the Cubs this season have been Nico Hoerner, who has brought a lot of defensive value along with pretty good hitting at second base, and Pete Crow-Armstrong. The Mets trading that guy for two months of Javier Báez wasn’t so wise.
The Cubs don’t have the “no really elite hitters” problem I just discussed with the Brewers – Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker, and Seiya Suzuki are all well above an .800 OPS. If the worst-hitting Oriole had been on the level of Matt Shaw, who still had a 3.1 bWAR at third base despite a .690 OPS, they’d have been a lot better off this year.
Hateability rating: Moderate. The franchise broke its drought last decade.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Last World Series: 2024. No repeats allowed! Except maybe some day the Orioles.
- Substantial former Orioles: Tanner Scott
- Former Oriole feelings: I’m glad the Orioles didn’t give him a $72 million contract
- Notorious incidents: None. I think their fans are Yankee fan-level obnoxious who we just don’t have to see as often.
It is bonkers that the Dodgers have a payroll of close to $350 million this season. Only the Mets and Yankees even came within $50 million of these guys. Even so, it’s not the same comically dominant Dodgers in the regular season that we’ve seen in recent years, with “only” 93 wins to secure another NL West title. They’ve been plagued by close to as much pitching chaos as the Orioles this season, using 40 different pitchers to get through the year.
This will always be a compelling team as long as Shohei Ohtani is there. He remains unreal. He hit 55 home runs this season, OPSed over 1.000, and appeared as a starting pitcher in 14 games, dropping a 2.87 ERA and 1.043 WHIP in that time. There are probably four future Hall of Famers on this roster. Along with Ohtani, there’s Clayton Kershaw – perhaps giving a “win one before he retires” bump – and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts.
These guys just won last year and it would be pretty boring if they won again.
Hateability rating: High (but not as high as Yankees or Red Sox)
San Diego Padres
- Last World Series: Never (franchise dates to 1969)
- Substantial former Orioles: Manny Machado, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Laureano, Jose Iglesias
- Former Oriole feelings: Warm towards every one of those guys. The Padres also have The Son of Larry Sheets and The Brother of Albert Suárez.
- Notorious incidents: None.
I feel a kind of kindship with the Padres, being as they are in a division with one absolute powerhouse and another team whose historical rival with that powerhouse takes up a lot of oxygen. The similarities kind of stop there because the Padres have in recent years climbed the payroll rankings with a number of high-profile free agent signings, including the one of the former Oriole, Machado. Manny has continued paving the way towards the Hall of Fame with San Diego, a path he started paving with the Orioles.
Laureano and O’Hearn joined him out there in the former Oriole club with that July mega-deal. Laureano, unfortunately, will not be appearing in at least the first round of the playoffs after suffering a broken finger towards the close of the season’s action. Too bad for him, and for the Padres too. They traded for him for a reason: They needed a better hitter in the outfield.
I do wonder if this starting rotation is going to be up to snuff to get them far into the postseason. At the top, they’ve got Nick Pivetta, whose 2.87 ERA this season is great. The Orioles probably should have signed him or someone like him instead of getting the double dip on old guys in Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano. It thins out pretty quick, though, going to Dylan Cease (4.55 ERA) for Game 2 and Yu Darvish (5.38 ERA) for Game 3. Cease has been a top-of-rotation guy in his career but he sure didn’t pitch like one in 2025.
Hateability rating: Low, but once this franchise wins a title it won’t stay at a low rating
Philadelphia Phillies
- Last World Series: 2008
- Substantial former Orioles: Seth Johnson (although honestly he only played in 10 games)
- Former Oriole feelings: No ill will, except towards Mike Elias for trading for Gregory Soto
- Notorious incidents: None. I even think I’ve only ever met nice Philly fans, which I know cuts against the common stereotype.
Although it feels like the Phillies have been perennial contenders, that’s actually not the case: They went 2012-2021 without making it into the postseason at all, in some of those years in spite of having truly amazing things going on in their rotation with the likes of Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. This season is their fourth year in the postseason in a row. That must be nice. Having a $290 million payroll helps you get there.
They had a pretty easy romp to the NL East this year since the Mets fell apart and the Braves misfired early on. This postseason could be something of a coming out party for 28-year-old starter Cristopher Sánchez, who exploded for an 8.0 bWAR this season. In contrast to the Padres, Sánchez, Wheeler, and Ranger Suárez makes a pretty good 1-2-3 for the rotation.
They had some major problems with the bullpen early on – closer Jordan Romano bombed – and addressed that by trading for Minnesota’s Jhoan Duran when the Twins tore it down to the studs. Getting Harrison Bader, also from the Twins, helped their sad-hitting outfielder problem. Overall, it feels like this offense will have to be carried by Kyle Schwarber and his 56 regular season homers.
Hateability rating: Moderate-to-high, with a note that it’s high-to-maximum for my wife because she hates Bryce Harper. I won’t feel bad if this team loses its first series.
Cincinnati Reds
- Last World Series: 1990
- Substantial former Orioles: Austin Hays, Austin Wynns
- Former Oriole feelings: Indifferent
- Notorious incidents: None? Maybe their fans hate us for 1970.
I’m sorry, but I will not be made to take this team seriously, no matter if they upset the Dodgers and advance through the postseason. They finished with an 83-79 record. No team that is so mediocre deserves a postseason bid, and only Rob Manfred’s insistence on expanding to 12 teams out of 30 making the playoffs has allowed it. Their offense is bad, with a number of players who regressed or underachieved. I do envy the starting rotation.
Austin Hays note: There was some heartburn in Birdland when Hays started off the season on a heater, firing off a 1.143 OPS in the March/April months of the season. He returned to much more Hays-like performance over the remainder of the season, playing in 103 games and finishing with a .768 OPS. It is better than some guys who the Orioles threw into left field, but we don’t need to regret the absence of a 0.8 WAR player on the roster.
Hateability rating: Moderate. Come on. 83-79! If they had won 3-4 more games, I’d probably say low and prefer them as far as the NLCS.
Outcomes I would modestly enjoy
These are NOT predictions.
- Wild cards: Padres over Cubs, Dodgers over Reds
- Division series: Phillies over Dodgers, Padres over Brewers
- League championship series: Padres over Phillies
- World Series: Padres, unless they play the Mariners, then I’d have to think about it.
