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The 2024 MLB season has come to an end. It was a grueling 162-game season that spanned over six months, but the fans were rewarded with a fantastic World Series matchup between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Yankees. In the end, the Dodgers were able to win the World Series in five games and were crowned Champions once again. Here’s a brief summary of the World Series and a preview of some of the best teams ahead of the 2025 season.
It was a highly anticipated World Series between two of the best teams in baseball. Prior to Opening Day, the Dodgers were listed as the favorite to win the World Series after spending over $1 billion in the offseason on players like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow. It turned out to be money well spent because the Dodgers remained the favorite to win the World Series throughout the 162-game season.
Los Angeles’ success didn’t stop once the calendar flipped to October. The Dodgers took down the Padres and Mets to reach the World Series and were pinned against the American League Champions, the New York Yankees. This World Series became an instant classic with a walk-off grand slam by Freddie Freeman in Game 1 which set the stage for a very exciting rest of the series.
The Dodgers left LA with a 2-0 lead and it didn’t take long for them to extend that lead. Los Angeles won Game 3 behind an excellent performance from Walker Buehler and the Dodgers were one win away from a World Series title. However, the Dodgers ran out of pitching in Game 4 and allowed the Yankees to win their first game of the series in blowout fashion. That meant Game 5 would feature a rematch of aces: Jack Flaherty and Gerrit Cole.
The New York lineup stayed hot early on in Game 5 as they knocked Flaherty out of the game after just 1.1 innings. The Yankees piled on a few more runs and took a 5-0 lead in Game 5. The series appeared like it was heading back to LA for Game 6, but that’s when the miscues occurred for the Yankees. New York committed 3 errors in the 5th inning and allowed 5 runs to be scored – all unearned.
The Dodgers had rallied back from a 5-0 deficit to tie the game, and it didn’t take long for them to capitalize on their comeback and take their first lead of the game on a Mookie Betts sac-fly. That run ended up being the final run of the game and the Dodgers won their second World Series title in the last five years.
Who doesn’t love a way-too-early prediction? The 2024 MLB season is in the books and although the next season doesn’t start until March, it’s never too early to take a look ahead at who the contenders could be. The top teams heading into 2025 are likely the Dodgers and Yankees, the two teams that just battled their way to the World Series. Both squads are returning most, if not all of their star players and will likely strengthen their team in the offseason for another postseason run.
Besides those two, there are plenty of teams that showed potential in 2024 that came up just short. Teams to watch out for next season include the San Diego Padres, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and New York Mets. All four of those teams made the postseason in 2024 but weren’t able to reach the World Series stage. Expect those teams to make some moves in the offseason to fix their weaknesses and to come back even stronger in 2025.
Keith is a sports writer who has evolved into a sports betting personality across social media in the past several years. He specializes in MLB but also writes about the NFL and NBA.