Who will win the next 10 World Series? Here are some educated guesses

Off the top of your head, see if you can name the teams that won each of the past 10 World Series, in order. You ready? No peeking. The answers are, of course:

2015: Royals over Mets
2016: Cubs over Indians
2017: Astros over Dodgers
2018: Red Sox over Dodgers
2019: Nationals over Astros
2020: Dodgers over Rays
2021: Braves over Astros
2022: Astros over Phillies
2023: Rangers over Diamondbacks
2024: Dodgers over Yankees

If you thought that was hard, I’m going to try something even more difficult: I’m going to guess the next 10 World Series winners. It is worth noting that I first did this annual exercise five years ago and absolutely did not get any of the past five seasons correct. (OK, so Marlins over Angels in 2025 isn’t looking great, either.)

But let’s give it another shot. If I do not nail my 2034 pick, please do not come back in 10 years to mock me for it. I will be old and feeble and not up for all the fuss and tussle.

2025: Dodgers over Tigers
The Dodgers have, at this point, done just about everything you could ask of them to shush all those, “Sure, they’re great in the regular season, but they can’t get it done in October,” doubters. It’s no longer true that this team’s only recent title came in the Covid-shortened 2020 season, and they’ve now won two out of the past five Series. The only thing left is for them to secure themselves as the dynasty team of this era by doing something that hasn’t been done this century: Win two World Series in a row.

How could you pick anybody else? They have all those stars still in their prime, now including a two-time Cy Young Award winner in Blake Snell. Shohei Ohtani is set to get back on the mound this season, for the first time in a Dodgers uniform. Sure, they still could run into the same postseason wall like they have many other times before. But picking anybody else feels like a fool’s errand at this point. As for their opponent: Spoiler alert, I’m going to pick the Tigers to win the AL Central this year, and they look better positioned for the postseason than they did in 2024.

2026: Mets over Red Sox
Sure, sure: The 40-years-since-Buckner kismet is impossible to resist. Next year will, of course, mark 40 years since the Mets last won the World Series. We have learned this offseason, fair to say, that owner Steve Cohen will do whatever he can to make sure that drought ends on his watch, most notably by signing Juan Soto. (Cohen was 30 years old in 1986, by the way.) It would be perfect if that happened against a Red Sox team that made its own major move this offseason, trading for Garrett Crochet, and has a wave of talented prospects ready to emerge.

2027: Phillies over Rays
This might feel like the last chance for the Phillies — it will be the last year of Zack Wheeler’s contract — but even if they don’t win that elusive World Series by 2027, they’ll still have every incentive to keep pushing well into the next decade. After all, Aaron Nola is signed through 2030, Bryce Harper through 2031 and Trea Turner through 2033. But this might be the last realistic time to do it with this core: Harper will turn 35 right before the 2027 World Series, and you wonder how fast Turner will still be as he reaches the back half of his own 30s. I want to believe Harper’s going to finally get a ring; this might be as far as I can push it. As for the Rays … jeez, I have no idea who the Rays’ best players will be three seasons from now – we never do. But we know they’ll be good. They usually are, and they had MLB Pipeline’s No. 1-ranked farm system as of August.

2028: Orioles over Pirates
This is a rematch of the 1971 and 1979 World Series, and I don’t think there’s any question that we should demand each team wear the jerseys they wore then, at least for one game. This seems like the right year for both of these teams. The Orioles, presumably, will have won a playoff series at some point by 2028 and will be ready to take the next step forward before their young talent becomes, well, less young. (If Gunnar Henderson doesn’t sign an extension, 2028 will be his final season before reaching free agency.) Meanwhile, the Paul Skenes experience will be in full flower by this point: He’ll only be 26, after all. At some point, he may carry a team to the World Series by himself. He’ll look fantastic in those “We Are Family” throwbacks.

2029: Yankees over Cubs
You thought the Yankees-Dodgers series felt like a matchup of historic MLB franchises? Wait until the Yanks play some World Series games at Wrigley Field. The only two current Yankees guaranteed to be on the roster in 2029 (as much as anything is “guaranteed” on this crazy planet) are Aaron Judge and new signee Max Fried — heck, even Anthony Volpe is due to hit free agency after the 2028 season. But whatever happens between now and then, you know the Yankees will do whatever it takes to make sure their World Series title drought doesn’t last longer than 20 years. (Since winning their first World Series in 1923, the Yankees have never gone longer than 18 years between championships.) If they won this at Wrigley, it would be 97 years since the Yankees won the 1932 World Series at the Friendly Confines.

2030: Mariners over Brewers
Fun fact: Julio Rodríguez will turn 30 years old in 2030. He also could be playing in another team’s uniform by this point, depending on what happens with various option decisions, based on the extension he signed in 2022. But I simply refuse to believe Rodríguez won’t end up being the Mariners’ savior their fans have been dreaming he would be for all these years. We’re going to concoct a Mariners’ dream scenario here: Rodríguez stays in Seattle and then wins them their first World Series. It will be kind of cruel to do it against another team trying to win its first World Series — with its own savior in Jackson Chourio — but it’s a cruel game sometimes.

2031: Mets over Twins
This is the final year of Francisco Lindor’s contract in Queens. He’ll turn 38 not long after this World Series — isn’t it kind of impossible to imagine Lindor being 38? — but I’m entranced here by the idea of a then-in-his-mid-70s Steve Cohen bringing in a cavalry of veterans to get Lindor one more ring. How about signing Corbin Burnes and Matt Chapman, who both will be free agents again heading into the ’31 season? And yeah, let’s get nuts: A 39-year-old Mike Trout, having finally played out his contract with the Angels, becomes a free agent for the first time and signs a one-year deal with the Mets (the team he hated growing up as a Phillies fan). He not only gets his first postseason victory … but also his first ring. Would there be a better possible story than Trout winning a World Series just a few months after his 40th birthday (Aug. 7, 2031)?

2032: Dodgers over Red Sox
Mookie Betts’ contract with the Dodgers runs out after this season; he will actually turn 40 in October 2032. So it would be pretty delicious for him to get another World Series ring — this, in my scenario, would be his fifth — right after his 40th birthday. And it would come against his original team, the one that, with Betts in the lineup, beat the Dodgers in the World Series in 2018.

2033: White Sox over Cardinals
This will be a fun year, because it will mark the 100th anniversary of the first MLB All-Star Game. That one was hosted by the White Sox, who, by 2033, will have presumably put last year’s nightmare well behind them and could be due for their first World Series appearance in 28 years. They should show this World Series in black and white.

2034: Athletics over Rockies
The A’s should be settled into their new home in Las Vegas by this point, and honestly, who wouldn’t want to have a post-World Series celebration at The Sphere? It’s impossible to know who will be on either of these teams by this point, which might be the best argument I can make for why it could happen. Someone who contributes to the 2034 World Series winner is currently a middle school student – heck, maybe your child will be the one leading the A’s to their first title in 45 years!