The 2025 MLB season is nearly here, and we’re onto Day 2 of season predictions from the CBS Sports MLB staff. On Monday, we all laid out our predictions for how each of the six divisions would finish, 1-5, and picked our three wild-card teams in each league. Here, we’ll take the next step and lay out who we think will still be standing at the end of the season.
Below, we’re picking our pennant winners in both leagues plus our 2025 World Series champion.
Let’s rock.
Explanations
R.J. Anderson: There are two main approaches worth taking to preseason World Series picks: either you go with the best teams on paper, or you embrace chaos by choosing a couple viable dark horse clubs. With due respect to the Dodgers, in my estimation the team with the best individual chance of winning this year’s World Series, I went with the chaos as an acknowledgement that Stuff Happens during the playoffs. Despite picking the Phillies to finish second in the NL East, I think we can all agree that their rotation catching fire at the right time could see them go from the wild card to World Series champions. The Orioles, meanwhile, continue to hold a lot of promise. This might be their year.
Mike Axisa: The Dodgers have the best roster among defending World Series champions since at least the 2018 Astros, and maybe since the late 1990s Yankees. It’s a boring pick, I know, but they are the best team on paper, and I see no reason to pick against them. They can beat you with pitching, with offense, with whatever. The Rangers strike me as a team built better for the short postseason series than the regular season, especially if Jacob deGrom is healthy in October.
Kate Feldman: Welcome back to 1986. I said elsewhere that I’m not sure we should take the field over the Dodgers for World Series champion but whatever. Juan Soto’s going to have the best season of his career and take the Mets to glory for the first time in almost 40 years. An added hot take? It won’t be the only time this decade either.
Dayn Perry: The Dodgers are the defending champs, and they have the best and deepest roster. Any number of teams can win the weakened AL, but I’ll lean Tigers by a hair over, well, lots of other teams. Always take the field over any one team, but the 2025 Dodgers challenge that notion.
Matt Snyder: The most likely team to win the World Series is the Dodgers and it’s not even that close, but there’s still a 75% chance it’s someone else. Picking a repeat champ just felt too boring for me anyway. I wanted to look elsewhere. Both the Rangers and Phillies have rosters built for a strong postseason, as long as everyone gets hot at the right time. It would be a fun series with a lot of big home runs. Let’s do it.
2025 World Series odds
(As of March 25 via Caesars Sportsbook)
- Dodgers: +230
- Yankees: +900
- Braves: +950
- Mets: +1100
- Phillies: +1200
- Orioles: +1400
- Red Sox: +1800
- Astros: +2000
- Rangers: +2200
- Diamondbacks: +2500
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