The MLB playoffs loom right around the corner, so it is now time to speculate. First and foremost, this season has been one of the oddest in recent memory, with no team winning 100 games for the first time in ten years. Top contenders, including the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Clevelands Guardians, will look to capitalize on their strong regular seasons, but as the past couple years have shown, October baseball can bring any number of surprises.

Take last year’s Arizona Diamondbacks for example. Against all odds this last place Wild Card team caught lightning in a bottle with their fiery postseason play and made it all the way to the World Series. Although they ended up losing to the Texas Rangers, their run is a testament to the uncertainty of baseball, especially in October. In 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies, another Wild Card team, also caught fire and made it to the Fall Classic. And although they fell short in the World Series to the Houston Astros, their run to the Series further evinces the randomness of postseason baseball.

With these teams in mind, I must preface my picks by saying that absolutely nothing is certain, especially in a season as erratic as 2024. I do, however, think there are certain teams that you can look to to make a deep run, at least to the League Championship Series (semifinals).

I am a big believer in championship DNA, or the belief that certain groups of players who have been deep into the playoffs before have some inside knowledge or innate quality of being able to replicate past success. And although it pains me to say as a diehard Yankee fan, you cannot talk about championship DNA without mentioning the Houston Astros. A rocky start to their 2024 campaign made some fans doubt the continued excellence of this squad, but they have since patched up that narrative, entering the playoffs as American League West champions. I foresee the Astros making quick work of both the Detroit Tigers and the Cleveland Guardians in the first two rounds to secure their eighth straight trip to the American League Championship Series (ALCS) — sorry Guardians fans.

On the other side of the American League, I’ve got to go with my Yankees. I think that the Baltimore Orioles, despite their inconsistency, will take the Wild Card round over a Kansas City Royals team that does not quite have the lineup depth to make a deep run. While I can see a world where the Orioles best the Yankees (think ‘23 Diamondbacks), I simply think that the future Hall of Fame combination of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto will send the Yanks back to the ALCS to face their familiar foe of the Houston Astros.

Even though some readers will assuredly scoff when I make this next pick because of my personal allegiances, I am going to predict that the Yankees will finally get over the hump and beat the Astros in a seven game series. The Yankees, after three heartbreaking losses in the league championship series to the same team since 2017, know what it takes to beat the Astros. And with the Yankees getting healthy and finally pitching well again, I foresee good times in the Bronx in late October.

With the Yankees winning the pennant in the American League, we must now shift to the National League Division Series (NLDS). With a strong regular season in which they finished with the best record in the majors, I see the Dodgers knocking out the San Diego Padres (who will have beaten the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card round) in the NLDS. With a top-three of the caliber of Betts, Ohtani, and Freeman and a revamped pitching staff, the Dodgers are looking scary entering the playoffs.

On the other side of the National League, I’m confident that the Phillies will make quick work of the Milwaukee Brewers (who will have beaten the New York Mets) in the NLDS. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and their strong supporting cast pose a solid argument for the best top-to-bottom roster in baseball, and this should show in the playoffs.

A Dodgers-Phillies NLCS would be an absolute dogfight and likely go to seven games. Without the help of Ohtani on the mound and with question marks surrounding the recent return of Yoshinobu Yammamoto off the Injured List, I think that the Dodgers will fall slightly short in the starting pitching department.

This leaves us with the World Series between the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies, a rematch of the 2009 Fall Classic which the Yankees won in six games. Admittedly, I am a little bit biased here, but I do think that the Yankees will bring it home to New York. If the regular season is any indicator, the Yankees will follow up on their late-July sweep of Philadelphia and finish off the ultimate task of the baseball world. I think that the Yankees are in a great spot right now, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Luis Gil, and Clarke Schmidt all throwing the ball well, not to mention the continued production of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, the best offensive duo since Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris in 1961.

So there you have it: the Yankees will be your 2024 World Series Champions. Happy? Sad? Don’t care? Regardless of your feelings, I think this scenario is as likely as any in a season which has thrown curveball after curveball (no pun intended).