MLB Playoff Futures: 3 Bets to Make Before the ALDS and NLDS

It was all chalk in the MLB wild-card round. But will it continue?

Every team with the better regular-season record advanced from the four best-of-three series to kick off the postseason, and only Atlanta needed a third game to get past Philadelphia.

Now the big boys enter, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers, the two best teams in baseball in 2026 by a reasonable distance.

Here are our top three futures bets to make before ALDS and NLDS play begins on Saturday

Milwaukee Brewers to win the NL (+300, DraftKings)

The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers should be NL favorites, but the gap between LA (+115) and Milwaukee (+300) is too big here.

If you judge quality by run differential, the Dodgers have the tougher NLDS opponent in Atlanta. And the Brewers were better than the Dodgers in 2026 overall, both by record and run differential, and will have home-field advantage in any NLCS they play.

Again, this isn’t saying Milwaukee should be the favorite, only that +300 odds and an implied 25% probability are too low given the circumstances.

Chicago White Sox to win ALDS (+128, FanDuel)

Sure, the Southsiders lost their grip on the AL Central crown down the stretch. And sure, the Guardians have the better pitching staff.

But the ChiSox were arguably the better team over the totality of 2026, even if they finished with one fewer win. They scored nearly 100 runs more than the Guardians and were 45 better in run differential, and narrowly edged the season series, 7-6.

Moreover, for a team that relies more on its bats, playing two extra games in Houston and maintaining a rhythm was almost certainly a blessing in disguise rather than waiting five days to return to the diamond.

Now it’s Cleveland that must do that with a lineup that scored the fewest runs of any postseason contender.

Put another way, this series is as close to 50-50 as it gets, so take Chicago at odds implying a 43.9% probability.

Under no circumstances should the Tampa Bay Rays be underestimated. This club won baseball’s toughest division by doing so many things that are magnified come October: being aggressive on the bases, playing efficient defense, posting excellent bullpen numbers and so on.

But the New York Yankees' advantage is their ability to shock and awe opponents inti submission when their bats are going right. That’s exactly what the Bronx Bombers did in their Game 2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, and what they’ve done in their more recent regular season meetings with the Rays, winning six of the last nine.

A close series favors Tampa Bay. But the Yankees just might roll over Kevin Cash’s group before they can get a foothold. And the odds given for them winning their ALDS in four or fewer games imply a 32.3% probability, a good deal.