5 MLB teams with best chance to keep the Dodgers from buying a World Series

The Los Angeles Dodgers are Major League Baseball's newest Evil Empire. They spent over $1 billion last offseason on Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Teoscar Hernandez, adding them to a roster that already had three consecutive 100-win seasons. Sure enough, they won the World Series.

Just months after winning it all, the Dodgers re-signed Hernandez and Blake Treinen, while also adding Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Blake Snell, Michael Conforto, and Hyeseong Kim to their loaded roster. Oh yeah, they're reportedly nearing a deal with Kirby Yates as well. This is while the only notable player that they've lost so far is Walker Buehler. That's right, the Dodgers won the World Series in a fairly dominant fashion, and got much better.

They are, obviously, going to enter the 2025 season as massive World Series favorites. With that being said, though, the favorites often don't win it all. With how banged up the Dodgers were, particularly on the starting pitching front, many picked teams like the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies to win it all. As we all saw, both of those teams couldn't get past the NLDS.

The Dodgers should be favored, but again, there's a reason that the games are not played on paper. With that in mind, let's take a look at the teams best positioned to make life difficult for Los Angeles in 2025.

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5) The Yankees are the American League's best chance to upset the Dodgers in the World Series

The New York Yankees lost Juan Soto and should still be seen as favorited to get back to the World Series. That speaks to how lackluster the American League is, but it also says a lot about how good of a job Brian Cashman has done to help the Yankees rebound after their catastrophic miss.

Max Fried, when healthy, is a legitimate ace. Devin Williams is one of the best closers in the game. Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt are serious upgrades over Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo respectively. Plus, there's always the potential that one or several of Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Jasson Dominguez display star potential.

Their lineup has some serious question marks around Aaron Judge, and they could use another infielder, but their pitching staff is one of the best in the sport, and again, they're probably the best team in the AL on paper. If they can get back to the World Series, they've got a shot, even if they won't be perceived as favorites. Hopefully, Judge can show up earlier than when their season is on the brink this time.

4) The Phillies have as stacked of a roster as any team in MLB

The Philadelphia Phillies might have had a disappointing finish to their 2024 season, and they've had a fairly underwhelming offseason thus far, but this is still one of the best teams in the sport.

The Phillies won 95 games this past season, winning the NL East and earning a first-round bye. Yes, they were eliminated early, but how many times will Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and J.T. Realmuto combine to go 6-for-55 in a series? Not many. Assuming those guys give Bryce Harper the help he needs, their offense is among the best in the sport.

In addition to their dynamic offense, the Phillies' elite rotation got even better over the offseason with the Jesus Luzardo trade. Luzardo joins Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, and Cristopher Sanchez in a rotation that can beat you in so many different ways.

Questions about their bullpen and defense are worth discussing, but their lineup and rotation both have the star power necessary to lead Philadelphia back to the Fall Classic as we saw just three years ago.

3) The Diamondbacks are doing everything they can to compete with the Dodgers

While most small-to-mid-market teams are busy crying poor, the Arizona Diamondbacks are acting as if they legitimately want to win. Fortunately for them, they've got a roster capable of doing just that.

They might've missed out on the playoffs this past season, but they won five more regular season games than they did in 2023 when they made their run to the World Series. They lost Christian Walker, but replaced him immediately with Josh Naylor. As if that wasn't good enough, they then proceeded to add Corbin Burnes to an already-loaded rotation.

Burnes will be followed by Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Brandon Pfaadt in one of the best rotations in the National League. The Diamondbacks also have Jordan Montgomery (for now) and Ryne Nelson as high-end rotation depth options.

Their offense which led the majors in runs scored this past season is mostly back in full force, and their rotation, of course, added one of the best arms in the sport. Their bullpen could use another arm, but this team is more than capable of getting to the postseason and making a run.

2) A fully healthy Braves team is one to be reckoned with

The 2024 Atlanta Braves didn't come close to meeting their lofty expectations, but there's a reason for that. Virtually every key player on their roster missed some time due to injury, and several of their key position players outside of Marcell Ozuna had down years. Despite all of that, the Braves made the postseason. Barring them having two straight years of the worst luck in the league, there's no reason to believe this Braves team won't be among the league's best.

Their offense was historically good in 2023, and once Ronald Acuña Jr. returns, their lineup should be lethal once again. Their rotation was among the best in the game in 2024, and despite Max Fried and Charlie Morton's departures, it has the ability to be elite once again. Spencer Strider, Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Spencer Schwellenbach are a quartet no team wants to see in October. Their bullpen is still quite good, even with A.J. Minter joining Atlanta's division rivals.

Alex Anthopoulos has work to do. He should add an outfielder to play regularly before Acuña comes back from his injury. He should add a starting pitcher to help out while Strider is still on the sidelines. He should add a reliever as well. Assuming he does make the necessary moves and that the Braves have better injury luck, this team is a legitimate World Series contender.

1) The Mets were in the NLCS and got better

The New York Mets were the team that the Dodgers outlasted in the NLCS to get to the World Series, and they've only gotten better this offseason. Adding Juan Soto to an already elite lineup is that impactful.

Their rotation might not look great on paper, but it was good enough in 2024 to get as far as they did despite getting virtually nothing out of Kodai Senga. Well, Senga is healthy now, and New York re-signed Sean Manaea. Guys like Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes are risks, but it's not as if Luis Severino and Jose Quintana, the pitchers they're replacing, were aces in Flushing. David Peterson is still around attempting to build off of his breakout year, and the Mets have a good amount of depth as well.

Their bullpen also isn't perfect, but key relievers like Edwin Diaz, Reed Garrett, Jose Butto, and Dedniel Nunez are back, and New York added A.J. Minter to give them the late-game left-handed arm they sorely needed.

The bullpen needs another arm, and their lineup could definitely use Pete Alonso, but it's hard to say that a team that just made it to the NLCS and added an MVP-caliber player in Soto isn't better than they were in 2024. The Mets continuing to address holes on their roster would only make them more threatening to the Dodgers.