The consensus among oddsmakers is that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves are the two best teams in Major League Baseball and have the best chance of winning the 2024 World Series.
Their talent-rich rosters include the reigning Most Valuable
Players from each league. The Dodgers’ $700 million man, Shohei Ohtani, won his
second AL award with the Los Angeles Angels last year while Braves star Ronald Acuna Jr. was the NL MVP recipient.
One tier down from the Dodgers and Braves, the next batch of
World Series favorites includes last year’s champions, the Texas
Rangers, in addition to the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros — two teams that advanced to the League Championship Series round last fall.
But no matter how good teams look on paper, there’s no
guarantee they will live up to their preseason billing. Likewise, there are
always teams on the opposite end: predicted to finish well out of playoff
contention, but exceed everyone’s expectations.
Which teams could emerge as surprise contenders? Here are five sneaky-good candidates that could elevate their game and become factors in the pennant race.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs signed manager Craig Counsell away from the rival
Milwaukee Brewers and gave him the largest managerial contract in MLB history. They
also re-signed former NL MVP Cody Bellinger, who had a productive comeback
season in 2023, and they landed Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga. The Cubs could win the NL Central, perhaps more, if their promising collection of young players including Michael Busch, Pete Crow-Armstrong and
Jordan Wicks take another step forward.
San Francisco Giants
Signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to go
along with Logan Webb gives the Giants one of the league’s best starting
tandems. Another acquisition, Robbie Ray, should be back from Tommy John
surgery sometime this summer. Throw in the additions of Korean star Jung Hoo
Lee, Matt Chapman and Jorge Soler, and the Giants have enough quality parts
to make other teams nervous in the NL West.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners only missed the playoffs by one game last fall. To take the next step, it starts with AL MVP contender Julio Rodriguez and extends to their talented starting rotation, particularly Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert and George Kirby. With that trio performing at a high level and Seattle getting strong contributions from J.P. Crawford, Ty France and new addition Jorge Polanco, the Mariners could be on the cusp of great things in 2024.
St. Louis Cardinals
To recover from last year’s 71-win season, the Cardinals are
banking on their pitching. Literally. They signed Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle
Gibson to contracts worth nearly $100 million combined. The Cardinals’ lineup
still has former NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to go with young studs
Nolan Gorman and Jordan Walker. It would be no surprise if the Cardinals returned
to the top of the NL Central, where they were only two seasons ago.
Toronto Blue Jays
The talent is there for the Blue Jays to be serious contenders. Their position players include All-Stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, George Springer and Alejandro Kirk. Justin Turner, now 39, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa are nice additions. The front of their rotation is strong, with Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt and Jose Berrios. If Guerrero has an MVP season and Gausman competes again for the Cy Young award, watch out for the Blue Jays.
