MLB Playoff Futures: Three Best Bets for the 2026 Postseason

The MLB Postseason begins Tuesday, with some familiar faces and some new ones.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers enter as the decisive favorites to become the first team to win three straight World Series since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Over in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays are the top seed in their first postseason appearance since 2023.

October baseball is notoriously difficult to predict. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make informed wagering decisions.

Here are our three top futures plays for the upcoming postseason action.

World Series Winner: Milwaukee Brewers (+600, DraftKings)

The Milwaukee Brewers earned baseball’s best regular season record and won four of their seven games against the Dodgers.

That doesn’t mean they should be favored to win the whole thing over a Dodgers club that is the most talented in baseball. But the price of +600 is too low for this group.

The Brewers led baseball in hits, were second in RBI and runs scored, and finished second among playoff teams in stolen bases. On the mound, they had baseball’s third-best bullpen ERA, and in the field were in the top quartile in defensive efficiency.

And now they return with a sense of unfinished business after being swept by the Dodgers in last year’s NLCS.

They might not pull off winning their city’s first-ever World Series crown. But they’re a solid value play to make history.

AL Winner: Tampa Bay Rays (+260, DraftKings)

Tampa Bay is the American League top seed with a bye to the ALDS, and yet oddsmakers are only giving them a slightly better than 1-in-4 chance to reach the World Series.

That’s basically the same odds as if you flipped a coin to decide each of their playoff series. And it’s not enough respect for a team that does a lot of things that are magnified in the postseason.

Rays batters had the fewest strikeouts among MLB hitters. Rays fielders led MLB in defensive efficiency. And Tampa Bay’s pitching staff led the big leagues with the lowest combined WHIP rate.

The Yankees, Red Sox and others have more star power. But underrate Kevin Cash’s ballclub at your peril.

Wild Card Series Winner: Atlanta Braves over the Philadelphia Phillies (-125, DraftKings)

There’s a lot of feel-good factor after the Phillies narrowly avoided missing out on the postseason.

But the Braves have owned their NL East foes, posting a 9-4 record over their season series. Their bullpen ERA is nearly a full run better than Philadelphia’s, a component of the game that becomes magnified in October. And while their home field advantage might not be as notorious as the one on South Broad Street, writing it off completely would be unwise.

Atlanta may be no better than the third-best team in the NL. But the Braves are a class above their first opponent, and are a strong bet on a wager that suggests about a 5-in-9 chance.