We’re down to the final days of the 2025 regular season and in for some exciting baseball, as there are still quite a number of teams that have something to play for — including a few who are fighting tooth and nail for their postseason lives.

The Tigers, Guardians, Mets, Reds and Diamondbacks fall into that category — and all moved significantly in our final power rankings of the season. After holding a 12½-game lead over Cleveland as recently as Aug. 25, Detroit is now a game behind the Guardians, who sit atop the AL Central after beating the Tigers Tuesday and Wednesday following what might be one of the greatest comebacks/collapses of all time over the final month of the season.

There’s a similar sentiment around the Mets, who hold a slight one-game lead over Cincinnati and Arizona for the final wild-card spot as a late losing skid highlighted their second-half woes and put their playoff hopes on the line.

Which clubs will get to keep playing into October? And which will watch their playoff aspirations come to an end?

Our expert panel has ranked every team based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts Jesse Rogers, Alden Gonzalez and Jorge Castillo to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 25 | Second-half preview | Preseason rankings

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Record: 96-63
Previous ranking: 1

Getting healthy on the mound is the top priority for the Brewers heading into the postseason as Jose Quintana and Brandon Woodruff are the latest pitchers to go down. With Trevor Megill, Logan Henderson and DL Hall also on the mend, it’s a good thing the Brewers have a bye and go straight to the division series. That extra time could be a difference-maker. As it stands now, it’s anyone’s guess what the roster will look like when Milwaukee hosts its first playoff game on Oct. 4, but it’s safe to say the Brewers will get at least a few of the above arms back for playoff baseball. They’ll be needed. — Rogers

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Record: 93-65
Previous ranking: 2

Losing Zack Wheeler for the season was a cruel gut punch, but the Phillies’ rotation remains stout with Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo leading the charge. On the position player side, Alec Bohm returned from the injured list Sunday and Trea Turner could be activated this weekend. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper anchoring the lineup, and closer Jhoan Duran nailing down the ninth inning, the Phillies are a real World Series contender even without Wheeler. — Castillo

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Record: 89-69
Previous ranking: 4

Shohei Ohtani reached unchartered territory in his 14th and final regular-season start Tuesday, pitching six innings while keeping the Diamondbacks scoreless. Over his past four starts, Ohtani has given up only one run in 19⅔ innings, scattering 10 hits, issuing four walks and striking out a whopping 27 batters. He is one of several Dodgers starters pitching really well heading into the playoffs. The bullpen? That’s a completely different story. After Ohtani departed Tuesday, three relievers combined to give up five runs. The Dodgers wound up losing. They’re clearly willing to stretch Ohtani a little longer, but he can’t pitch all nine innings. — Gonzalez

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Record: 90-68
Previous ranking: 3

The Blue Jays were the first AL team to clinch a playoff spot, but they have the misfortune of being in the same division as the team with the second-best record in the AL. As a result, winning their first division title in a decade requires a strong finish against the Red Sox and Rays to fend off the Yankees with the Jays playing without Bo Bichette (knee) and Chris Bassitt (back). Toronto activated outfielder Anthony Santander from the IL on Tuesday for the final push, designating former AL Cy Young Award finalist Alek Manoah for assignment. The pressure is on to avoid the wild-card round. — Castillo

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Record: 89-69
Previous ranking: 8

The Mariners are becoming a fashionable pick for October. They’re hot and could be starting to peak on the mound, where they’ve actually underachieved this season. Not lately though. The pitching staff was fantastic during a road sweep of the Astros as George Kirby and Bryan Woo are rounding into form — that is until Woo suffered a pectoral injury. The team says he could still pitch in October as treatment continues.

Regardless, Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo, who has given up only one run in his last 12 innings, have also been good. Seattle has plenty of options on the mound, and that includes in the bullpen, where Andres Munoz has been stellar. The Mariners feature the AL home run king in Cal Raleigh, but it’s their pitching staff that will lead them in the postseason. — Rogers

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Record: 90-68
Previous ranking: 7

The Yankees clinched their postseason spot Monday. Whether they catch Toronto for the AL East title — and subsequently earn a bye to the NLDS — or settle for a wild-card spot, one question remains: Who would start a Game 3 after Max Fried and Carlos Rodon? The candidates are Luis Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year; Cam Schlittler, who has impressed as a rookie this season; and Will Warren, who has made 32 starts. Gil and Schlittler are the favorites. — Castillo

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Record: 89-69
Previous ranking: 5

A perfect storm has led to the Cubs’ longest losing skid of the season — coming right after a sweep of Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth. Their subsequent opponents, the Reds and Mets, are playing desperate baseball in an attempt to get into the postseason themselves, leading to Cincinnati sweeping a four-game series against Chicago and New York taking the first of a three-game series.

The big concern for next week is Cade Horton. He left Tuesday’s start against the Mets because of some back/rib soreness after being ill all weekend. If it’s his last time on the mound until the postseason — assuming he’s healthy — he’ll have thrown a total of 29 pitches in two weeks, not exactly the sharpest way to enter the postseason. Offensively, the Cubs came out of their slumber against New York, putting up seven runs Tuesday, as they try to build momentum toward October. — Rogers

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Record: 87-72
Previous ranking: 9

The Padres celebrated a return to the postseason after defeating the Brewers on Monday. They then beat the Brewers again Tuesday and suddenly began eyeing the NL West title once more. By that point, they trailed the Dodgers by only 1½ games. L.A. holds the tiebreaker and will also finish the season in Seattle. The Padres will finish at home against the Diamondbacks. For the Padres, winning the division would mean hosting the wild-card round at Petco Park, where they’re 49-29 this season (compared to just 38-43 on the road). It’s a big deal. — Gonzalez

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Record: 87-71
Previous ranking: 10

Boston’s top three starting pitchers — Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito — give the team a real chance in a three-game wild-card series against anybody, but they need to get there first. For that to happen, the offense needs to find some life without Roman Anthony. The lineup has struggled since Anthony landed on the IL on Sept. 3 because of an oblique strain, averaging 4.7 runs in 17 games without him, but has started to pick up again more recently. The Red Sox are 9-8 in that span. — Castillo

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Record: 86-72
Previous ranking: 14

The Guardians’ surge feels like a movie. On Sept. 4, they were 11 games out in the AL Central. Since then, they’ve won 17 of 19 games, the last two against the division-rival Tigers, defeating Tarik Skubal to tie them on Tuesday and cruising behind Tanner Bibee to victory on Wednesday to jump into first place for the first time since April 22. Longtime Cleveland ace Shane Bieber now pitches in Toronto while lights-out closer Emmanuel Clase is on paid leave amid a gambling probe, and yet the Guardians’ pitching staff holds a major league-best 1.58 ERA since Sept. 5. The Mariners are the only other team that even holds an ERA under 3.00. — Gonzalez

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Record: 85-73
Previous ranking: 6

You probably know the numbers by now, but we might as well hash them: The Tigers held a 14-game lead in the AL Central on July 8, an 11½-game lead on Aug. 23 and a 9½-game lead on Sept. 10. At the end of last week, they still led the Guardians by a very comfortable 6½ games. Then, on Tuesday night, the Tigers fell to a surging Cleveland team despite having Tarik Skubal on the mound and found themselves not leading the division for the first time since April. It was their seventh loss in a row. Their eighth followed roughly 24 hours later. An unbelievable collapse, to say the least. — Gonzalez

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Record: 84-74
Previous ranking: 11

The last week has not been kind to the Astros, especially at the plate, where they ranked near the bottom of the majors in OPS. It included three games at home against Seattle — all losses — in which they scored seven total runs. Add just a single tally in their series opener loss against the A’s on Tuesday and you can see why Houston is in danger of losing the division or even a postseason berth. The loss — again — of Yordan Alvarez obviously hurts. And perhaps the return of Isaac Paredes will give the Astros a boost, though it hasn’t yet. They need a hot finish from players such as Carlos Correa and Jeremy Pena to extend their playoff streak to nine years. — Rogers

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Record: 80-78
Previous ranking: 17

A four-game sweep of the Cubs over the weekend vaulted the Reds into the playoff picture, but they need to finish the job to make their first postseason appearance since 2020 and first in a full season since 2013. They also hold the tiebreaker with the Mets, so all Cincinnati has to do is match New York in the standings. It has become clear that the starting staff is the driving force behind anything good that happens in Cincinnati. Hunter Greene has been fantastic, as has Andrew Abbott. But despite their surge, the Reds remain just an average team at the plate, ranking in the bottom third in key offensive categories over the past couple of weeks. Some timely home runs have helped their cause. — Rogers

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Record: 81-77
Previous ranking: 13

The Mets had the best record in baseball on June 13. Since then, they’ve had one of the worst — bad enough to enter the final week of the season on the edge of a historic collapse. Their fate could ultimately come down to the three rookie right-handers in their starting rotation. The Mets didn’t expect to need Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat this season, but injuries and ineffectiveness forced the hand of president of baseball operations David Stearns. Now, the Mets are counting on them this week to help secure a spot in October. — Castillo

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Record: 80-78
Previous ranking: 15

The wild, nausea-inducing roller-coaster ride that is this 2025 Diamondbacks season continues. Since the start of August alone, the team has navigated three losing streaks of three or more games but also eight winning streaks of three or more games. Arizona sealed its latest one Tuesday night, when it overcame a four-run deficit against the division-rival Dodgers and remained just one game back of the Mets for the final wild-card spot. That the D-backs are even at this point, in a year when they traded two of their best hitters and one of their best starters at the trade deadline, is wild. — Gonzalez

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Record: 80-78
Previous ranking: 12

A late win streak was followed by a later losing skid, eliminating the 2023 champs from the postseason for a second consecutive season. On the docket for Rangers brass is the future of manager Bruce Bochy and how to get more out of their inconsistent offense. That has now been a two-year question, though recent injuries to Marcus Semien and Corey Seager didn’t help. Neither was having a fantastic year anyway. As they age, the team needs new leaders at the plate. Wyatt Langford has looked the part at times. At 23 years old, he should be the next Rangers star. After an offensive evaluation is completed, president of baseball operations Chris Young’s winter goal will undoubtedly be to improve their run scoring. — Rogers

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Record: 78-81
Previous ranking: 16

The Giants blew a five-run lead against St. Louis on Tuesday and were mathematically eliminated from postseason contention by the end of it. It was only 11 days prior that they stood a half-game behind the Mets for the final NL wild-card spot. San Francisco then lost nine of 11 games to miss out on the playoffs for a fourth straight year — despite being 19-12 by the end of April and acquiring Rafael Devers in the middle of June. “This year is probably the most frustrating,” Giants ace Logan Webb told reporters. “No offense to the teams we’ve had before, but this is the most talented team I’ve been on.” — Gonzalez

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Record: 79-79
Previous ranking: 18

The Royals won their third consecutive game on Sept. 6 and found themselves only one game back of the final wild-card spot. They needed a hot stretch to give themselves a chance over the final couple of weeks. Instead, they lost six of their next seven, falling seven games back and setting themselves up for what occurred Tuesday: being mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, moments before a series opener against the Angels. The Royals still have a chance at a second consecutive winning record, but they entered 2025 with far bigger expectations than that following their 2024 postseason run. — Gonzalez

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Record: 77-81
Previous ranking: 19

The Rays’ sale to a group led by Jacksonville real estate developer Patrick Zalupski reached another checkpoint Monday when MLB’s owners unanimously approved the transaction. Atop the new ownership group’s to-do list will be securing an agreement for a new ballpark. That will be the question hovering over the Rays this offseason — assuming the sale will be finalized — before they move back into Tropicana Field for 2026. — Castillo

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Record: 78-81
Previous ranking: 20

Longtime executive John Mozeliak is set to say goodbye after this weekend, handing the keys over to new Cardinals decision-maker Chaim Bloom. His first order of business could be deciding the fate of manager Oliver Marmol, who deserves some credit for holding the team together during a stated transition year. Next, Bloom needs to rebuild the pitching staff beyond Sonny Gray, who is signed for one more season. Youngsters Matthew Liberatore and Michael McGreevy have received valuable growth time this year while the team will say goodbye to soon-to-be free agent Miles Mikolas. The bullpen also needs some work. Bloom has plenty on his plate in his first offseason in charge. — Rogers

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Record: 75-84
Previous ranking: 23

The 2025 season was a nightmare littered with injuries and underperformance for the Braves, a club that entered the year with World Series expectations. While most major players on the roster are under team control through 2026, one prominent figure is considering moving on: manager Brian Snitker. The 69-year-old skipper, whose contract expires after this season, has said he is considering retiring. If he does, Snitker’s 10-season run would conclude with seven postseason appearances and a World Series title in 2021. — Castillo

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Record: 77-81
Previous ranking: 24

The Marlins entered Game No. 158 on Wednesday still mathematically in postseason contention. The chances are remote, but staying alive this late is a win for an organization attempting to produce a consistent contender for the first time in franchise history. Never have the Marlins, despite two World Series titles in their 33-year history, reached the playoffs in consecutive seasons. They’re slowly stacking the building blocks. And, considering they moved Sandy Alcantara‘s start back to face the Mets this weekend, Miami is thirsting to play spoiler. — Castillo

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Record: 75-83
Previous ranking: 21

All in all, it’s going to be a successful year for the A’s, who blew past their preseason over/under win total for the season this week. They boast the likely Rookie of the Year in Nick Kurtz and saw positive seasons from several offensive players not named Brent Rooker or Lawrence Butler, with the latter having a quiet season at the plate. Left fielder Tyler Soderstrom and catcher Shea Langeliers count as those success stories.

On the other hand, the pitching staff will finish in the bottom five of the majors in ERA — the hitter-friendly park in Sacramento didn’t help. Perhaps with a year under their belt there, the front office will have a better understanding of what kinds of arms might be successful until the team moves to Las Vegas. That should be their sole focus this winter. — Rogers

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Record: 74-84
Previous ranking: 22

Adley Rutschman‘s 2025 season is atop the list of the disappointments in a lost season for the Orioles. The two-time All-Star catcher continued his regression from last year and landed on the IL for two long stints because of oblique strains on each side. Baltimore activated him Monday for the season’s final six games. It could be his final week in an Orioles uniform; with Samuel Basallo‘s emergence — and contract extension — people around baseball wonder if Baltimore will look to trade Rutschman this offseason. — Castillo

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Record: 69-89
Previous ranking: 27

Bubba Chandler is getting his feet wet during garbage time for the Pirates, and that could pay dividends for them next season. Add the return of Jared Jones early next year and Pittsburgh once again looks formidable on the mound. But what will general manager Ben Cherington do to help his offense? It’s a yearly question for the Pirates, as they are set to finish last in run scoring after ranking 24th the previous season. They’re going in the wrong direction. Their third baseman are last in OPS and their catchers aren’t much better. Improvements across the board are needed. — Rogers

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Record: 71-87
Previous ranking: 26

The Angels again need to find some productive pitchers this offseason, as they rank near the bottom of the majors in ERA this season. It seems to be a yearly thing, as they ranked 26th in that category in 2024 and 23rd in 2023. Their starting staff has mostly been the culprit, but change is in the air as Kyle Hendricks is almost assuredly retiring while Tyler Anderson is set to become a free agent. One bright spot has been closer Kenley Jansen, who is 28-of-29 in save opportunities. But if a 37-year-old closer on a team out of contention is your lone bright spot, you probably have bigger problems. That’s the case for the Angels heading into the winter. — Rogers

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Record: 68-90
Previous ranking: 25

It was only two years ago that the Twins ended a prolonged postseason winless drought and advanced past the wild-card round in a thrilling 2023 season. Now, it seems like two decades ago. The 2025 season was a miserable one for the Twins’ faithful, punctuated by a trade-deadline selloff that felt worse only a couple weeks later when the Pohlad family announced it would maintain ownership of the franchise, angering a fan base that clamored for a replacement who would spend more money. Byron Buxton had a really nice year and Joe Ryan was not traded. Outside of that, there isn’t much to cling to in Minneapolis these days. — Gonzalez

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Record: 58-100
Previous ranking: 28

The bar for progress was obviously low after the White Sox set the modern-day record for losses last year, but the franchise nonetheless took some steps forward this season. They played a more competitive brand of baseball, particularly after the All-Star break. Prospects such as Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Colson Montgomery and Chase Meidroth showed encouraging signs. Journeymen pitchers such as Shane Smith, Mike Vasil and Jordan Leasure found success. They still have a long way to go, but the White Sox are in a better position than they were at this time last year. That’s … something, at least. — Gonzalez

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Record: 65-94
Previous ranking: 29

Pressing questions, from the top down, face the Nationals this offseason after they took a substantial step back in 2025. One was answered this week when the organization decided to hire Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Tobino to run its baseball operations department as Mike Rizzo’s replacement.

Next up: naming a manager. Looming in the backdrop is a more critical matter: Will ownership decide to sell again? If not, will it invest the necessary resources — not just in free agency but in other departments — to build another winner? And then there’s also the question about the future of their local television deal. The Nationals have some young talent — James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams have all been All-Stars — but this will effectively be a soft reset in Washington. — Castillo

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Record: 43-115
Previous ranking: 30

Only six teams have ever finished a season with a run differential below minus-400, and all of them played before the 21st century. The Rockies are currently on pace to join them. They’ve won only four of 21 games in September and currently sport a run differential of minus-412. The modern-day record is minus-345, set by the 1932 Boston Red Sox. And though the Rockies won’t lose as many games as last year’s White Sox, they’ll probably be outscored by 100-plus more runs than Chicago was. How this gets fixed is anybody’s guess. — Gonzalez

With less than a week remaining until the start of the 2025 MLB playoffs, our baseball insiders are ready to break down the biggest questions, latest news and notable October buzz across the industry — even before the final 12-team postseason field is set.

What is the boldest prediction we’ve heard from an MLB exec? How confident — or concerned — should fans of last year’s World Series participants, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, be? Will the Toronto Blue Jays and Milwaukee Brewers turn stellar regular seasons into deep playoff runs? And which under-the-radar players and teams are scouts raving about? Here’s the latest intel our MLB experts are hearing as Jeff Passan, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers, Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez empty their notebooks.

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What is the boldest prediction you’ve heard from an MLB exec or scout?

Passan: The Seattle Mariners are going to win the World Series. Perhaps at this point that does not register as bold, but let’s not forget the Mariners are 49 years into their existence and they’ve yet to make a World Series, let alone win one.

Three weeks ago, this would have been laughable, as Seattle had lost 15 of 21 and found itself 3½ games behind Houston. Now, the Mariners have a three-game cushion, plus the tiebreaker in the AL West, and are in possession of a first-round bye.

The home-field advantage would be decidedly advantageous to the Mariners, who are 48-27 at home. Lining up their excellent front-line starting pitching and giving some rest to well-worked regulars — especially Cal Raleigh — could do the Mariners good. And with the highest-scoring offense in the big leagues in September and a bullpen that has some of the best stuff in baseball, the Mariners have the ingredients to conquer a wide-open AL and hang with the star-studded rosters in the NL.

Olney: We always hear how the bullpen and bench are difference-makers in the postseason, and one evaluator sees a clear delineation between the Padres’ bullpen and the rest of the field. The Mariners’ have played well down the stretch, but their relief corps is taxed; the Dodgers will be MacGyvering to make their bullpen rubble work; the Phillies will be without Jose Alvarado; the Yankees’ group can be wildly inconsistent. The San Diego bullpen, on the other hand, is solid, even without Jason Adam.

Is that evaluator, then, ready to say the Padres will win the World Series, or even the National League? “Are you f—ing kidding me?” he replied. “I don’t think we can count anybody out this year. Even the Tigers — they’ve got [Tarik] Skubal.”

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How much faith does the industry have in the Blue Jays and Brewers turning potential No. 1 seeds into World Series appearances?

Olney: The feedback I’m getting is that execs see reasonable paths through October for all of the contenders with perhaps the exception of the Astros, who are wrecked by injuries to Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Pena and Josh Hader.

As the case is made for the Blue Jays and Brewers, there is a consistent theme: these are teams that get guys on base, put the ball in play and pressure defenses. One evaluator said: “The Brewers just don’t play bad games — they might lose, but they are in every game.”

Rogers: There’s belief in both teams, but nobody is ready to declare either the favorite even as a potential top seed. Bo Bichette‘s injury came up in conversation as a detriment to the Blue Jays’ chances, and the latest pitching injuries were reasons to look elsewhere when it came to the Brewers. And this was the discussion among insiders before Brandon Woodruff was placed on the IL on Sunday.

Another talking point is that whichever team ends up with the best record in each league will do so by just a handful of wins — not enough to declare anyone the odds-on favorite next month.

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Do MLB insiders think the Dodgers will turn it on in October again, as they did last season?

Gonzalez: They seem mixed. There are some — both inside and outside the Dodgers — who will tell you this group is deeper and more talented than the one that won it all last year. That their rotation is far superior. That their bullpen has the ability to be just as good, even if that hasn’t necessarily been the case during the regular season. That their lineup is probably still the best in the sport when it’s clicking.

But then there are those who continue to point out the obvious: Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will go into October not knowing who to turn to for the final three outs of a game on any given night. It has gotten so bad — with Tanner Scott struggling, Blake Treinen reeling, Michael Kopech a mess, Kirby Yates unreliable, Brock Stewart hurt and few others outside of Alex Vesia stepping up — that Roki Sasaki is genuinely being considered for a high-leverage role. Just as much of a concern is the status of catcher and middle-of-the-order hitter Will Smith, who sustained a hairline fracture in his right hand near the end of arguably his best offensive season.

Passan: Everything Alden says is correct. And yet the absence of another team stepping into the vacuum the Dodgers have created allows them, in the minds of many, to maintain their status as the favorite.

Shohei Ohtani has been the best hitter in the sport in September, to say nothing of his 14⅔ shutout innings this month, including five hitless in a Sept. 16 start against the Philadelphia Phillies. Mookie Betts, who has not looked like Mookie Betts for much of the season, looks like Mookie Betts again. His home run stroke is back, and he’s tied with Juan Soto for the MLB lead in RBIs this month with 21.

In September, Dodgers hitters are tied for second in home runs and third in wOBA. The offense is a mammoth, even without Smith, and for all of the pitching questions Los Angeles carries, what resides in that clubhouse is enough talent to overcome them. This is the value of a deep team. There’s still enough to win another ring.

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Do those in the game think the Yankees will make another deep October run?

Castillo: Yes, because the American League is wide open and the Yankees just might have the most talented roster, top to bottom, in the field. A National League front-office executive recently said he believes the Yankees are the favorite to win the pennant again because of their blend of talent, experience and ability to inflict damage on opposing pitchers. The Yankees lead the majors in runs scored and home runs. Their starting rotation has the second-lowest ERA in baseball since the trade deadline. Their bullpen is filled with relievers with real track records. The pieces are there for a run.

Olney: I think that’s easily envisioned, not only because the Yankees played in the last week of October just last year, but because the field is so wide open. But there are two problems cited constantly by evaluators with other teams.

No. 1: “They are a terrible defensive team,” said one AL coach, and he’s hardly alone in feeling that way. The Yankees push back on that notion, but that is certainly a perception. And No. 2: Their bullpen performance this year has been so erratic. The closer’s role has been passed around — what, a half-dozen times? — and Devin Williams‘ performance can range from pure dominance to total meltdown.

I bet if you gave truth serum to those in the Yankees’ organization, the general sentiment would be that they have no idea what to expect from this group in the playoffs.

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Who do those in the game think could be this October’s most dangerous teams?

Rogers: The Mariners aren’t exactly flying under the radar anymore considering their recent win streak and series win in Houston, but some believe their pitching staff is just starting to peak, while others simply think they have prime-time players such as Randy Arozarena who have October upside. And that’s the word heard most often with the Mariners: They have tons of upside.

In the NL, the Chicago Cubs are starting to garner sleeper status. One executive mentioned that although their strengths don’t wow you at first glance, there’s no weakness to any part of their game. “If it’s the Cubs and Brewers in the division series,” he said, “can you pick a winner?”

Gonzalez: A current player who has been around awhile was trying recently to describe what it’s like being on the field at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for a playoff game and couldn’t. The noise, he said, is deafening, unlike anything he had experienced anywhere else. His point was that the Phillies’ home-field advantage in October is more real than anybody else’s. And if there’s one team outside the reigning-champion Dodgers and the MLB-leading Brewers that sticks out in the minds of evaluators and players this coming month, it’s that one.

Even with Zack Wheeler out, the Phillies’ three lefty starters — Cristopher Sanchez, Ranger Suarez and Jesus Luzardo — are good enough to get it done. Their closer, Jhoan Duran, is considered almost impossible to hit. And then there’s the lineup littered with stars who have experience on the big stage and know this might be their best opportunity to win it all. The Phillies’ roster might be too expensive to be considered under the radar, but in what many consider to be a wide-open field, they’re the ones that come up in conversation most often as the most dangerous.

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Who are some under-the-radar players with industry buzz as potential postseason stars?

Passan: None of the Reds’ elite young talent has postseason experience, and facing the Dodgers would be one hell of an introduction for shortstop Elly De La Cruz, right-hander Hunter Greene and left-hander Andrew Abbott. The latter two provide a whale of a one-two punch, especially in a best-of-three series, and if the Reds can hold off the Mets and Diamondbacks, the pitching matchups against Los Angeles would be tantalizing, regardless of whom the Dodgers choose among Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw. The first five have combined for a 1.69 ERA in September.

How Toronto chooses to use rookie Trey Yesavage in the postseason will be fascinating to see. The rare player to spend time at Low-A, High-A, Double-A, Triple-A and the big leagues in the same year, the 22-year-old right-hander, chosen 20th in the 2024 draft out of East Carolina, followed a dominant debut against Tampa Bay with a pedestrian outing against Kansas City. He has a mid-90s fastball that plays well high in the zone and a splitter that’s a gnarly complement.

Yesavage probably won’t start, but Toronto could piggyback him with a starter, slot him in a bulk role after an opener, deploy him as a multi-inning leverage weapon or have him eat an inning at a time. Whatever Toronto does, Yesavage, who has worked out of the bullpen in the minor leagues in anticipation of this, will be ready.

Castillo: Cal Raleigh — rightfully so — has attracted the shine in the Pacific Northwest this season, but the Mariners need their other All-Star position player to deliver in October if they’re going to play for the franchise’s first World Series title. And Julio Rodriguez has delivered since the All-Star break. Another slow start marred the center fielder’s overall numbers, but Rodriguez is slashing .295/.333/.570 with 17 home runs in the second half. His .903 OPS and elite defense registers as MVP-level production. Rodriguez was around for the Mariners’ last trip to the postseason in 2022, but the charismatic 24-year-old will have a chance to cement himself as one of the game’s superstars with a deep October run.

The NHL, especially in the salary cap era, is usually defined by change and upheaval — familiar contenders turning their rosters over, while new powers emerge in their place.

That’s why it was so striking to see the same two Stanley Cup finalists — the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers — in back-to-back seasons, the league’s first Cup rematch since 2008-09, and only the second since 1983-84. Add in Florida’s appearance in the 2023 Final as well, and the NHL hasn’t had fewer unique finalists over a three-year span (just three different teams) since 1954-56, when only the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens reached the Final in those three years.

This run of Panthers-Oilers dominance won’t last forever, and it almost certainly won’t survive past 2025-26 if Connor McDavid doesn’t re-sign with Edmonton after his current contract ends at the end of the year. But for now, ESPN BET’s preseason odds again list Florida (+300) as the East favorite and Edmonton (+400) as the West’s top pick, suggesting that another rematch is the likeliest outcome.

Of course, that’s only true until it’s not. So the question becomes: If it’s not Florida and Edmonton yet again, who’s next in line to face off for the Cup?

Let’s dive into the most plausible challengers from each conference, just waiting to skate through if the Panthers and/or Oilers slip up, plus a couple of up-and-coming teams who could crash the party as well.

Note: All odds below courtesy of ESPN BET.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Odds to make Final: +360 | Win Cup: +800

Why they haven’t broken through yet: It’s an excellent question that the Canes are still trying to answer. Despite making the postseason seven straight years, Carolina’s 44 playoff wins have never led to a Stanley Cup Final appearance — giving them the most victories amassed in such a stretch without getting there at least once, topping Toronto’s old record of 41 from 1998 to 2004.

Along the way, the team has made the Eastern Conference finals in two of the past three seasons, but couldn’t score enough to avoid a Florida sweep in 2023. And their goaltending, always a huge concern, couldn’t stop enough Panthers (most notably Sam Bennett) in 2025.

Why 2025-26 could be different: Carolina will once again ride with Pyotr Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen in net, which is reason enough to wonder if things will be different from last year (when they combined for a .823 SV% in the Eastern Conference finals loss to Florida). But new forward Nikolaj Ehlers ought to provide an offensive charge, while trade addition K’Andre Miller and prospect Alexander Nikishin give this blue line — usually a big strength anyway — more youth and upside, especially if Miller can recapture his 2022-23 form after a downturn in recent years.

Otherwise, the Hurricanes are counting on their familiar puck-possession system to finally add up to victory against a Florida core that returns mostly intact from last year. We’ll see.

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Odds to make Final: +650 | Win Cup: +1400

Why they haven’t broken through (recently): Tampa Bay certainly has broken through before, winning two Cups — in 2020 and 2021 — and reaching another Final in 2022. And just when it seemed like that dynastic run was winding down, the Lightning rebounded in 2024-25, with their best goals per game differential since 2018-19 (+0.91).

But, as in the 2019 postseason, that regular-season success didn’t translate. The Lightning were bounced in the first round by Florida in five games for the second straight year, a huge reversal from the old days of Bolts domination in the cross-state rivalry.

Why 2025-26 could be different: First and foremost, the Lightning continue to boast one of the league’s most talented cores, which offers reason to think they can get back to seriously contending for the Cup again. They lost little of consequence over the offseason — defenseman Nick Perbix was the only real departure — though they also added little, and a team that was the NHL’s fifth oldest in 2024-25 isn’t getting any younger.

Someday Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Victor Hedman and Jake Guentzel will slow down. But until then, this team still carries the potential to go toe-to-toe with Florida, even if the past two playoff results aren’t what Tampa Bay has experienced previously in that rivalry.

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Odds to make Final: +850 | Win Cup: +1600

Why they haven’t broken through yet: So much depends on the availability of Jack Hughes. When Hughes last played more than 62 games in a season in 2022-23, the Devils ranked No. 4 leaguewide in goals per game; with him missing 20 games in each of the past two seasons, New Jersey’s ranking in that metric fell to 12th in 2023-24 and then 20th last season.

Along with that offensive slide, the team fell out of the playoffs in 2023-24 — costing coach Lindy Ruff his job — and lost in Round 1 to Carolina in five games a year ago, a disappointing end for a team that was third best in goal differential and third youngest (a promising combo!) back in 2022-23.

Why 2025-26 could be different: Hughes’ return to health at the start of 2025-26 camp has New Jersey eyeing a return to the potential of a few years earlier. The Devils have scored 3.13 GPG over the past two seasons with Hughes in the lineup, versus 2.93 without him, which would be the difference between 12th and 21st in the league in 2024-25.

To help them score even more, the Devils added Evgenii Dadonov this summer. Russian right wing Arseny Gritsyuk might be an interesting pickup as well. If they can resolve their contract impasse with Hughes’ brother Luke, the Devils could challenge for the East — but they’ll need to figure out how to solve a Carolina team that bounced them in 2023 and 2025.

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Worth a flier?

Odds to make Final: +1200 | Win Cup: +3500

Ottawa finally broke its seven-year playoff drought in 2024-25 with a young core starring Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle, Jake Sanderson and Shane Pinto, who were all 25 or younger a year ago.

The Senators are still learning how to win, but they’ll return that same young core — plus good young defenseman Jordan Spence — to see if they can improve further after last season’s 19-point upgrade in the standings.

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Odds to make Final: +2800 | Win Cup: +5000

The Habs have made real progress in recent seasons — three straight campaigns of an improved goals differential — culminating in their first playoff berth since 2021. Nick Suzuki‘s 89 points were the most by a Canadien in nearly three decades, and Cole Caufield‘s 37 goals were the most by a Montreal player his age since 1989-90.

With that young duo leading the way, and an upgraded roster that added defenseman Noah Dobson and forward Zack Bolduc, Montreal may finally be on the verge of something big.

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The rest of the East

Toronto Maple Leafs (+1000 to make Stanley Cup Final)
Washington Capitals (+1400)
New York Rangers (+1600)
Boston Bruins (+3300)
Columbus Blue Jackets (+3300)
Detroit Red Wings (+3300)
Philadelphia Flyers (+3300)
New York Islanders (+4000)
Buffalo Sabres (+6000)
Pittsburgh Penguins (+6000)

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WESTERN CONFERENCE

Odds to make Final: +450 | Win Cup: +800

Why they haven’t broken through (recently): The Avs had one of the best teams in hockey history when they won the Cup in 2022, seemingly portending a run of future success in the same style the team enjoyed during the ’90s and 2000s.

Instead, they fell victim to the familiar attrition that champions face during the salary cap era, between injuries (Gabriel Landeskog) and departures (Darcy Kuemper, Mikko Rantanen, Nazem Kadri, Andre Burakovsky). Colorado has remained among the league’s better teams, but its goal differential has declined for four seasons running now.

Why 2025-26 could be different: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar aren’t slowing down. They’ve collectively posted 438 points over the past two seasons, the most in consecutive years by any forward/defenseman duo in more than three decades.

With that kind of talent at the core — bolstered with the return of trade deadline acquisition Brock Nelson and the veteran additions of Brent Burns and Victor Olofsson — the Avs may have another run in them despite losing to the Dallas Stars in consecutive postseasons.

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Odds to make Final: +450 | Win Cup: +850

Why they haven’t broken through (recently): The Golden Knights were better on paper last regular season (+0.68 goal differential per game) than they were when they won the Cup — still the only team to beat Florida in its past 12 postseason series — in 2023 (+0.52).

But the playoff offense that once carried them has vanished, dropping from 4.00 goals per game in that Cup run to just 2.44 since, capped by back-to-back shutout losses to Edmonton in the second round last spring. The talent and depth have still been there, but the results have not quite followed.

Why 2025-26 could be different: The main reason for optimism in Vegas is that the Knights reeled in the biggest fish of the 2025 offseason, acquiring star winger Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade from Toronto in late June. Marner has averaged 29 adjusted goals, 65 adjusted assists and 94 adjusted points per season since 2020-21, making him one of the most dangerous offensive threats (particularly among setup men) in the league.

While we’ve seen players take time to adjust to new systems and teammates, Marner will ease into his new situation alongside talents like Jack Eichel, which is a scary pairing to think about in the playoffs (where Marner’s struggles have tended to be overstated).

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Odds to make Final: +475 | Win Cup: +1000

Why they haven’t broken through yet: Why, indeed? Much like Carolina, the Stars keep slamming into a wall just shy of the Cup Final: Dallas has piled up 29 playoff wins over the past three seasons — the most by a team in a three-year span without reaching the Final — and all it has yielded is back-to-back losses to Edmonton in the conference finals.

Some historic franchises with similar near misses eventually broke through, but the lingering question for the Stars is whether their current group can ever take the final step.

Why 2025-26 could be different: Mikko Rantanen will be with the team for an entire season, which can only help after the Finnish winger became the best player in NHL history to skate for three different teams in the same campaign (Avalanche, Hurricanes, Stars) a year ago.

Otherwise, the Stars also shuffled the deck a fair amount over the offseason, firing coach Pete DeBoer — bringing back former bench boss Glen Gulutzan — and undergoing the biggest net loss in goals above replacement of any team. That may not seem like cause for optimism at all, but the Panthers could tell you that sometimes a drastic shakeup in identity is exactly what a team needs to finally get over the hump.

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Worth a flier?

Odds to make Final: +1000 | Win Cup: +2000

It might seem wild to think the Kings, of all teams, could dethrone the Oilers in the West — seeing as L.A. has now lost to Edmonton in four straight postseasons, becoming just the fourth team in any of the big four men’s leagues to drop four consecutive playoff matchups to the same opponent (without a head-to-head win preceding the streak).

However, the Kings remain intriguing for their mix of youth and experience. And not for nothing, their offseason additions included Corey Perry, whose team has made the Cup Final in five of the past six seasons.

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Odds to make Final: +2000 | Win Cup: +4000

It isn’t very hard to get excited about the Mammoth as the next potential West contender. This was the league’s seventh-youngest roster a year ago — led by Clayton Keller, Mikhail Sergachev, Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther, all 26 or younger — and the team improved its goal differential for the third consecutive season.

Adding to that foundation, Utah traded for talented forward JJ Peterka and signed veteran defenseman Nate Schmidt and forward Brandon Tanev during an offseason that was a net positive on talent added. Dating back to its Arizona days, this franchise has made the playoffs just once (2020) since 2012, but brighter days are on the horizon in Utah.

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The rest of the West

Winnipeg Jets (+1200 to make Stanley Cup Final)
Minnesota Wild (+1700)
St. Louis Blues (+2200)
Vancouver Canucks (+3000)
Nashville Predators (+3300)
Calgary Flames (+4000)
Anaheim Ducks (+5000)
Seattle Kraken (+10000)
Chicago Blackhawks (+15000)
San Jose Sharks (+30000)