World Series odds, predictions: Breaking down contenders, longshots and more for 2026 MLB playoffs

The MLB playoffs field is set after the regular season concluded on Sunday, and the postseason begins on Tuesday with the Wild Card Round. The march to the 2026 World Series is about to begin. But which teams should fans have their eyes on when they make their World Series futures picks? Trade on the World Series and get a $55 trading bonus with the Kalshi promo code CBSSPORTS55:

We'll take a look at the latest World Series odds at DraftKings Sportsbook and break down which teams offer potential MLB betting value, as well as which teams may be best avoided. For more MLB postseason picks, check out SportsLine for expert bets and forecasts from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every MLB game 10,000 times.

World Series odds at DraftKings

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Top World Series contenders

Los Angeles Dodgers (+200)

The Dodgers have won two straight championships and enter the playoffs as the favorites to win a third. Can anyone stop them?

Shohei Ohtani has looked noticeably human this year thanks to some nagging injuries that have forced him to once again stick to only hitting. Big-ticket free agent reliever Edwin Diaz has been unreliable. Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts aren't getting any younger. But let's be real -- the Dodgers enter the playoffs with the MLB's best pitching staff by fWAR and second best position player group. They can roll out Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tarik Skubal, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell to start playoff games. This is a team built to win in October. Some of L.A.'s best players (Glasnow and Snell, for example) need only be healthy and available for the playoffs to bring home a ring. They're healthy now.

The Dodgers are not immortal -- just ask the Toronto Blue Jays how perilously close they got to a ring -- but they are deserving favorites.

Tampa Bay Rays (+800)

The Rays have true star power in Junior Caminero and good supplementary offensive pieces around him. But can they get enough outs to do the job? Past Rays teams were built around run prevention, but Tampa Bay has gotten surprisingly medicore production from its bullpen and merely decent pitching from the starting rotation. A recent return to form from Freddy Peralta may be the key. The longtime Milwaukee ace was atrocious with the Mets, but following a trade to Tampa Bay he's pitched to a 3.25 ERA. If Peralta can pitch like a front-line starter, the Rays have a chance.

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Notable World Series longshots

Boston Red Sox (+1200)

The bracket has been kind to the Red Sox. They begin with a series in the Bronx against the Yankees (more on them later), then would face the Rays before taking on the winner of a motley group of the Astros, Guardians and White Sox in the ALCS. Tampa Bay isn't unbeatable, and the Red Sox would surely be favored in any seven-game series against the latter group. Taking Boston to win the AL pennant (+600) could be a good value.

As for winning the World Series? Why not the Red Sox? Boston can deploy three impact starters in Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez. Roman Anthony is back and healthy, and he adds another good bat to a group that also includes Adley Rutschman, Cedanne Rafaela, Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu. The Red Sox had the second-best bullpen in the majors this year by fWAR. That's a team that can win a ring.

Chicago Cubs (+1700)

It helps when you can build your team around the likely unanimous NL MVP. Pete Crow-Armstrong had a breakout for the ages in 2026. He's a big part of why the Cubs' position players led baseball in fWAR and runs scored as a group. But the rest of the lineup is pretty useful as well. If there's a team in this playoff field that can simply hit its way to the World Seires, it's the Cubs.

They may have to do that, because the pitching is far from convincing. The loss of Cade Horton to Tommy John surgery early in the season has been sorely felt. Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, Clay Holmes and Kevin Gausman are all decent options, but none of them are life-or-death Game 7 starters either. Chicago essentially has an entire second bullpen on the IL and closer Daniel Palencia is prone to implosions. The Cubs can get there if the bats are humming, but it'll almost certainly be a bumpy ride.

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Teams to fade

Milwaukee Brewers (+600)

Is it reductive to say we'll believe it when we see it with the Brewers? Milwaukee posted the best record in baseball and has a starting rotation built to give batters nightmares. But we've seen this team fall on its face time and again in the postseason over the last few years. Will it finally click this time?

There's a compelling case to be made that the Brewers aren't built to beat good pitching, which they'll be seeing at a much higher rate in October. Of course, Milwaukee can deploy plenty of good pitching itself with Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson and others.

This analysis could look awfully silly in a month's time, to be clear. But with other teams offering better betting value, we'll have to pass on the Brewers for now.

New York Yankees (+850)

Is Aaron Judge actually healthy? Is he going to try to play through a calf strain? Will he be anywhere near effective if he plays hurt?

When you're starting your assesment of a team like that, it's not great. Especially when you consider that New York's offense was tepid at best with Judge sidelined this year. Ben Rice's ascendancy to the All-Star team has been fun to watch, but Rice isn't Judge. The Yankees also have some question marks in the bullpen, particularly with Fernando Cruz apparently trying to pitch through a UCL injury in his elbow. The rotation is excellent -- Cam Schlittler deserves serious MVP consideration -- but there's too many limp bats and defensive worries here.

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