Dodgers and Yankees are heavy favorites but who will prevail?

By: Vicente Olivas Jr.

17 July 2020

Dodgers are looking to celebrate like it's 1988 this season, as they are considered heavy favorites, along with the New York Yankees, to raise the Commissioner's Trophy at the end of the season. The Dodgers have been forming a dynasty by many's standards. They have won 2 National League Pennants over the last 3 years and have won 302 regular season games over that span. Meaning they have averaged over 100 wins a season for the last 3 years.

Dodgers added even more depth this year by trading for Mookie Betts and David Price. Even though we now know that David Price will not take part of the 2020 MLB Season, Mookie Betts is looking to add another MVP award under his belt. He will surely play a big role if the Dodgers are to make another World Series run. However, the Dodgers did lose Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu over the off-season. But they are loaded with young talented pitchers that they are hoping can step up in the spotlight.

Yankees Early World Series Favorites

The Yankees have also waited their fair share of time to win the title but not nearly as long as the Dodgers. The Yankees last won in 2009 which puts them at just over a decade of sorrow. However, that also marks the last time they even made it to the World Series. But over the last 3 years they have made it to the Championship Series only to be eliminated by the Astros both times. And the year that they didn't make it to the Championship Series, they lost in the Divisional Series to the eventual champions, Red Sox.

The Yankees have actually won more games than their previous season for the last 4 years. Given their trajectory and deep runs in recent years, they seem to be on a cusp of forming a dynasty. But in order to do that they will need to at least make it to the World Series this time around. The only other American League team that can threaten them will be the Houston Astros.

Astros Underdogs For World Series Spot

The Houston Asterisks, I mean Houston Astros... It's somewhat remarkable that they are universally hated around the league but it's true. It seems like forever ago but remember when all the players around the league were calling out the Astros during their Spring Training interviews? Anyways that's a story for another time. The Astros are indeed a good team and they are in the running to win it all this year along with tehe Yankees and the Dodgers.

They are still a stacked team with a lot of depth but the Yankees and Dodgers both seem better suited to lift the trophy at the end of the year. During the offseason the Yankees were able to sign Gerrit Cole, meaning that the Astros had lost their ace. That was the moment that the Astros had essentially handed over the reigns of the American League to the New York Yankees.

Dark Horse Predictions

The dark horses in this years rumble to the World Series would be the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals. The Braves were a solid team last year but were disappointing in the playoffs. Their core has remained relatively the same during the off-season so they are still expected to make a deep run.

The Nationals on the other hand will be missing Anthony Rendon who signed with the Angels in the off-season. On the bright side, the Nationals were able to resign Stephen Strasburg so their pitching remains as dominant as ever which was vital during their 2019 Championship run. But at the end of the day, their title run was more of a momentum thing rather than overall talent. And in no means is that a bad thing, you always need momentum if you're going to win it all. But it is definitely hard for lightning to strike twice with the same team, especially since they are now without a key bat in their lineup, Anthony Rendon.

And the 2020 World Series Winner Is...

Overall, we don't see any of the dark horse teams being able to beat out the favorites this year. Now for the big question, who will win the 2020 World Series? Our prediction is that the Commissioner's Trophy is going to be celebrating like it's 1988! Congratulations to the... Los Angeles Dodgers! Their line-up can definitelyhold its own against the New Yorker bombers but what we think is going to be the defining difference between the two teams is pitching. The Dodgers simply have more depth than the Yankees.

Of course the Dodgers will be relying more heavily on young pitching which can always be unpredictable but we think they will live up to the hype. Walker Buehler, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin will be on center stage this season as they will be the ones who should provide just enough depth to beat out the rest of the league. Even though our predictions could be wrong, we can say for certain that this is going to be an interesting season. Let the kids play!