Ranking the four potential World Series matchups

Every potential World Series matchup is exciting. That’s why it’s the World Series!

But it’s fair to say that some matchups are more inherently compelling than others, whether due to obvious star power, historical connections or other clear narratives. Now that we know the four teams in the League Championship Series, we can imagine what each of those four potential matchups would look like … and how much fun they would be.

All four have juicy storylines. But just for the sake of argument, here is a ranking of the potential World Series matchups, starting with the most fascinating.

1. Dodgers vs. Yankees: A clash of titansWorld Series meetings: 11 (Last in 1981)

Bigger than a Subway Series? The argument here is yes. This would have the biggest names in baseball, all packed into one series: Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole, Freddie Freeman. I mean, has there ever been an easier series to promote? You have two jewel franchises, on opposite coasts, each with distinct personalities and vast, deep fanbases.

And, perhaps best of all, you have two teams with plenty to prove.

The Yankees have gone a shocking (for them, anyway) 15 years without a title. The Dodgers have won one since 1988, but it was the shortened 2020 season, which has led to the (possibly unfair, but widespread) sense that it wasn’t a real title, and that they’ll need one in a full season to fully justify themselves as a dynasty.

This is not only the most common World Series matchup in history – it’s the most common postseason matchup of any kind. On the other hand, it has been 43 years since these teams met on the ultimate stage. It’s probably time, right?

2. Mets vs. Yankees: Subway Series, Part IIWorld Series meetings: 1 (2000)

Take it from someone who lived in New York City in 2000 and remembers the last Subway Series vividly: This one would not be much like that one. They’re both playing in entirely different stadiums, for one thing, and just about the only things still the same in New York City as they were in 2000 are the Empire State Building and people complaining about the rents being too high. But the context of these franchises are entirely different as well.

In 2000, the Yankees had won two straight World Series and were trying to win their third World Series in four years and fourth out of five. They had Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams and Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, all players who had won multiple rings and were firmly established at that point. The Mets were the upstarts, the team that had only reached the playoffs once in the previous 12 years and had the look of a team that really was just happy to be there—the city saw them as the little brothers, and treated them accordingly.

Now? Is it possible the Yankees are just as desperate to win a World Series as the Mets are? The Yankees are older than the Mets are, like they were in 2000, but this time, none of these current Yankees stars have ever won a World Series. In 2000, the Yankees were just trying to assert their authority over the Mets; in 2024, that sort of thing is the least of their worries—they just need to get that elusive ring.

Bu, don’t tell the Mets about elusive rings. Their title drought was 14 years old then and 38 now. Both these teams and their fanbases are famished for a title. The stakes are huge because this is New York City. But the stakes are actually far bigger than that this time.

3. Guardians vs. Mets: A star returnsWorld Series meetings: noneThe storyline in this one would obviously revolve entirely around the Francisco Lindor trade in January 2021, which sent Andrés Giménez, Amed Rosario and two prospects to Cleveland for the shortstop.

Giménez is certainly no slouch himself — would you believe that he has made more All-Star teams in the past five years than Lindor has? It’s true! But Lindor was beloved in Cleveland before heading to Queens … where he was in fact briefly not particularly beloved at all.

That has all changed in 2024, but remember: The last time Cleveland reached a World Series, it was Lindor who led the team there, along with José Ramírez, the one player linking this Cleveland club to the 2016 version.

It was only back in May that Lindor returned to play at Progressive Field for the first time since the trade. It would be quite something if his next visit was for Game 1 of the World Series.

4. Dodgers vs. Guardians: The rematch 104 years in the makingWorld Series meetings: 1 (1920)It has been a long time since these two franchises clashed in the World Series — since the Woodrow Wilson administration, to be specific. At the time, both franchises had different names, there were only eight teams in each league, and the World Series was a best-of-nine affair.

Cleveland won that series, 5-2, with Stan Coveleski throwing complete-game victories in Game 1, Game 4 and Game 7. In Game 5, Bill Wambsganss turned the first — and so far, only — unassisted triple play in World Series history.

That was one of only two World Series that Cleveland has ever won, with the last one happening in 1948 against the Boston Braves. If the Guardians are going to, finally, notch that third title, it will look much different this time around.