3 NL contenders not named the Dodgers that could've beaten Yankees in World Series

The New York Yankees are in an 0-3 World Series hole against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Baseball is an unpredictable sport, but it sure feels as though New York is nowhere close to this Dodgers team. Los Angeles' offense has run laps around the Yankees with Aaron Judge slumping, while the Dodgers' pitchers have, against all odds, been some of the best throughout October. There isn't a discernible edge for the Yankees. It's all Dodgers.

That has led many to reevaluate this Yankees run a little bit. New York was the No. 1 seed in the American League, but this season lacked the utter dominance we're used to from top seeds. There weren't any 100-win teams or obvious postseason favorites. The Yankees cruised through the ALDS and the ALCS, but their opponents — Kansas City and Cleveland — are decidedly flawed rosters, kneecapped by small-market payrolls.

One could credibly argue that the Yankees over-performed this season (and postseason) relative to the state of their roster. Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and recently Giancarlo Stanton are offensive megastars, but the rest of that lineup is Swiss cheese for pitchers, easy to poke holes in. The Yankees have struggled to generate production from the back-half of the lineup all season, and that has been a major issue in the World Series.

Moreover, the Yankees' pitching staff looks better on paper than it actually is. Carlos Rodon tends to run hot-and-cold, Gerrit Cole hasn't been quite himself this season, and Clarke Schmidt just isn't built for ace-level work in the playoffs. The Dodgers always had talent; now it's conveniently coming together, even with Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani unavailable on the mound.

After a softball run to the World Series, it sure feels like the Yankees are just sort of lucky to be here. The Dodgers are unambiguously the best team in baseball right now, but it's hard not to think these NL contenders would've taken the Yankees' lunch money, too.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.

3. Padres are pretty much what we thought the Yankees were

The San Diego Padres fell to the Dodgers in a hard-fought NLDS. That was a five-game series that went all five games. In hindsight, it sure feels like San Diego was the second-best team all along.

For reasons we may never fully understand, the Padres' red-hot offense fell apart over the final three games of that series. Fernando Tatis Jr. went from a titanic force to a hallow shell, and the Padres just couldn't score a run in games four or five after taking a 2-1 series lead. That is the only series lead a team has held over the Dodgers this month, and if not for that sudden slump, the Padres might've spun an entirely different narrative about Shohei Ohtani's first postseason with the Dodgers.

San Diego has all the necessary components of a contender. Major offensive star-power in Tatis, Manny Machado, and Luis Arraez, with plenty of high-level depth throughout the lineup. The Padres' pitching staff was electric after the All-Star break, with Dylan Cease rounding into Cy Young form and Michael King throwing straight filth. Yu Darvish still had it. The front-end of that rotation was as dangerous as any in the National League. The bullpen, anchored by Tanner Scott and Robert Suarez, was excellent.

Had the Padres eked out a victory over Los Angeles, there's a better than even chance we'd be sitting here right now discussing the Yankees' imminent demise. Only we wouldn't be talking about the juggernaut Dodgers and the imbalanced future of baseball. We'd be talking about the miracle Padres, who traded Juan Soto, only to beat him on baseball's biggest stage.

2. Phillies probably pull it out against the Yankees' lopsided offense

The Philadelphia Phillies lost in four to the New York Mets in a lopsided and unceremonious NLDS. After beginning the season as the clear best team in baseball, Philadelphia hit a funk around the All-Star break. Their elite pitching fell off just enough to raise alarm bells, while the offense fell prone to severe and unpredictable lulls.

On paper, there isn't a more balanced offensive group in the National League, except maybe the Dodgers. Philadelphia has current or former All-Stars almost across the board in the infield, led by one of the more dependable big-game performers of all time in Bryce Harper. JT Realmuto and Alec Bohm struggled in that Mets series, but it's hard to imagine those bats remaining comatose for an entire postseason run.

What really set Philadelphia apart — and it would've set Philadelphia apart against the Yankees, too — is pitching. Zack Wheeler was throwing the best stuff of anybody in the postseason. Aaron Nola is as good a No. 2 as you'll find in the NL, while Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez were both well-deserved All-Stars this season. The Phillies bullpen crumbled against the Mets, but that was another point of immense strength all season. Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, and Orion Kerkering wouldn't flop for 10-plus games in a row.

The Phillies were never getting past the Mets, point blank, but had they done it, that roster stacks up favorably to a lopsided Yankees team. New York has also been prone to cold spells and gaps in production from the back end of its lineup. I'm taking Bryce Harper over Aaron Judge, and I'm taking Zack Wheeler over Gerrit Cole. Why not just pick the Phillies to win that hypothetical series?

1. Mets almost assuredly win Subway Series if not for Dodgers

The Mets were fairly competitive with the Dodgers, stretching the NLCS to six games before LA dropped the hammer. The Yankees, by comparison, have not be very competitive, struggling to generate the offense necessary to combat Freddie Freeman, much less the rest of Los Angeles' potent lineup.

The Mets organization occupies a unique spot in the New York culture. That team is often viewed as the little brother, the other NYC baseball team. And you know what? It's hard to argue against it. It gives Mets fans a special edge, a singular level of fight and grit. That 'nobody believes in us' attitude fueled the Mets' entire storybook run, and that organization has the literal highest payroll in the sport. How often can the most expensive team in baseball actually command the underdog mantle? You almost have to respect it.

A Subway Series would've opened with the Yankees as heavy favorites. The last time these two teams faced in a World Series, it was a dominant 4-1 Yankees win in 2000. There is an expectation, deserved or not, that the Yankees will outclass the Mets when it really counts. That would've made the Mets' victory all the more fulfilling.

The Yankees, again, have two competent sluggers and the skeleton of Aaron Judge right now. The Mets' pitching staff was throwing pure gas down the stretch of the regular season, and the Mets' offense was among the most complete and balanced in all of baseball. The Mets were getting critical hits from the 7-8-9 spots all season, whereas the Yankees offense tends to die out once you move past the heart of the lineup.

It would've meant a lot to Mets fans to beat the Yankees in a World Series. It's a shame we didn't get to see it.