FantasyPros Staff World Series Picks (2021 Fantasy Baseball)

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Dodgers over Twins
The Dodgers have the most star power, along with the most depth. When the playoffs arrive, they probably have the best trio of starters in Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, and Trevor Bauer. Throwing David Price, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, and Dustin May into the bullpen with Blake Treinen, Kenley Jansen, and Victor Gonzalez makes the Rays’ bullpen look like a pony barn rather than “The Stable.” They should also be challenged by the Padres the entirety of the season, meaning that they won’t have the division wrapped up by August and lose their competitive edge. Finally, the team wants to show that their 2020 trophy wasn’t just a piece of metal in a shortened season, and they’ll want to develop sustained success at the highest level.
– Carmen Maiorano (@carmsclubhouse)

Dodgers over Yankees
Los Angeles has the best overall team on paper. Coming off a World Series win in 2020, the Dodgers will try to repeat in 2021. The San Diego Padres acquired Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove during the offseason, but I believe it won’t enough to get by Los Angeles, who added Trevor Bauer. The New York Yankees added Corey Kluber, Jameson Taillon to the starting rotation and retained arguably their top hitter in DJ LeMahieu. If it weren’t for Randy Arozarena’s historic postseason, the Yankees most likely would have been in the World Series in 2020. The Chicago White Sox lost their best hitter Eloy Jimenez for five-to-six months, which I’m a little worried about even with the additions of borderline ace Lance Lynn and top closer Liam Hendriks. It might not be enough to overcome the loss of Eloy. My pick is the Dodgers to defeat the Yankees in the 2021 World Series.
– Brad Camara (@Beerad30)

Dodgers over Yankees
It’s not a stretch to say the Dodgers have the best offense, starting rotation, and bullpen in all of baseball. From a fantasy perspective it can be annoying to roster younger Dodgers’ pitching due to innings manipulation but it’s a savvy real life move. This team always has an eye towards the playoffs and they are built for October. They will be challenged all season by the San Diego Padres, who are loaded as well but iron sharpens iron. The Yankees on the other side will remain competitive all season and will want/need to make one or two midseason acquisitions to bolster their rotation. They have the offense to hang with anyone and if they can improve on their pitching they’ll get back to the World Series for the first time since 2009. It’s incredibly hard to get to back-to-back World Series, let alone win both. LA has appeared in three of the last four, including back-to-back in 2017-18, and has the experience and the horses to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy once again in 2021.
– Jon Mathisen (@EazyMath)

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Padres over White Sox
The White Sox losing Eloy Jimenez after an unfortunate event that makes me a bit worried about their chances to make the World Series, but I think they have enough depth to make it deep into the playoffs. Andrew Vaughn is a more than capable young bat that projects to slot in at DH. If Luis Robert progresses plus Lance Lynn and Liam Hendriks do what we expect, the White Sox have a chance to roll through the AL Central. The fun pick for the National League champs – the San Diego Padres. They’ve shown the willingness to acquire talented players in Ha-seong Kim, Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, and Joe Musgrove in the offseason. If one of the starters falters, MacKenzie Gore is ready and waiting. The Dodgers have a ton of depth, especially at pitching, so they seem like the safe bet, but I’m hoping the Padres and Fernando Tatis Jr. will lead them to the World Series and win it all for the first time in franchise history for the Padres.
– Corbin Young (@Corbin_Young21)

Rays over Padres
At the risk of putting the Tampa Bay Rays on too high of a pedestal, the team has simply figured out how to win. Specifically, the Rays have figured out how to win more with less. That’s going to be put to the test in 2021, as Tampa Bay moved on from ace starting pitcher Blake Snell and will, once again, have less. It hasn’t mattered in the past. The Rays have exceeded their Pythagorean Win Total — an “expected” record based on runs scored and allowed over the course of the season — for three consecutive years. Perhaps the most impressive feat as that they managed to find wins in a shortened sample size of last year’s 60-game season. Even as they give back some of their outstanding .667 win percentage via regression, the Rays are still ahead-of-the-pack. The San Diego Padres meet them from the National League side of the equation based on the win-now moves they have made coupled with the youth that’s either in development or already featured on the Major League roster. The latter is key. We’ve seen San Diego go-for-broke in the past, but they didn’t have the young foundation established. Now they do.
– Mario Mergola (@MarioMergola)

Yankees over Dodgers
The Dodgers had a .717 winning percentage in 60 games last season, rivaling the 2001 Mariners who hold the MLB record with 116 wins in a season (.716 percentage). The Dodgers then not only won the World Series but afterwards signed Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer. They boast a lineup, rotation, and bullpen that is simply an embarrassment of riches. Cody Bellinger should be better in 2021, and youngsters Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Will Smith, and Gavin Lux are still ascending as well. The Dodgers are the clear favorites and seem poised to be the first back-to-back champions since the 1998-2000 Yankees. Oh snap – did someone mention the Yankees? Their offense is every bit as daunting as the Dodgers, and the return of Luis Severino later this season can’t be understated. The Yankees reinforced their rotation with Corey Kluber and Jameson Taillon to go along with Jordan Montgomery, Domingo German, and Deivi Garcia. Both of these teams are loaded, but with the Yankees title window closing, a midseason trade to add another top tier pitcher can’t be ruled out either. I’m hoping for a heavyweight fight between the top two teams in baseball come October. For the purposes of this exercise, in hopes of being a tad contrarian, I’ll crown the Yankees as fictional champions, although my money would likely be on the Dodgers.
– Lucas Spence (@lspence24)

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