Latest Expert MLB Playoff Predictions and Picks for 2026 World Series Bracket

The 12-team fight to MLB's finish line and the World Series trophy that comes along with it starts now.

OK, maybe not now now, but with the regular season closed and the playoff field set, these franchsies know exactly what stands between them and championship glory.

While no one knows which organization will rise above and how the other 11 will get tripped up, multiple experts have shared their ideas. Let's break down some of those expert picks to get a feel for what might be coming to an MLB playoff environment near you.

Between Yahoo Sports and CBS Sports , there are full round-by-round predictions from nine different experts. Among the four Wild-Card Round matchups, there isn't universal agreement on any of them.

There is, however, one series that comes awfully close. Eight of the nine experts have the New York Yankees knocking off their longtime rival Boston Red Sox.

No other series had more than six experts agreeing on one side. The closest were the Atlanta Braves beating the Philadelphia Phillies, and the San Diego Padres ousting the Chicago Cubs, which both outcomes appearing on six of nine brackets. The biggest split came between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros with five favoring the former and four backing the latter.

Advancing a round didn't bring our first universal agreement among the experts. One came awfully close, though. ( And, yes, it is exactly what you're thinking .)

The two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were projected Division Series winners by eight of the nine experts. The only dissenter, CBS Sports' Dayn Perry, backed the Braves.

Experts saw two other heavy favorites in the field. Both the Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers were picked by seven of the nine experts. The Yankees snagged the other two picks on the AL side, while the Cubs and Padres drew one apiece in the NL.

The only team with a first-round bye that didn't receive overwhelming support was the Cleveland Guardians, which checks out when they were the only non-98-plus-game winner among the top two seeds (they won 85). Cleveland was predicted to escape this round by five experts, while four went with the resurgent White Sox, who followed three consecutive 100-loss seasons with an 84-win rise.

The closer these projections get to the finish line, the more the opinions split.

In the AL, the consensus opinion among the experts crowned the Rays, who drew six of the nine votes. That included four picks of them over the Guardians and two where they knocked off the White Sox. For the other outcomes, two had the Yankees defeating the Guardians, while one went Cleveland over Tampa Bay.

In the NL, it was the Brewers—not the Dodgers—receiving the most love. Six different experts had Milwaukee escaping the NL: three by beating L.A., two by eliminating San Diego and one by knocking off the Cubs. The Dodgers, meanwhile, were twice predicted NL winners (once over the Brewers, once over the Padres), while the Padres were the last predicted winner (over the Dodgers).

Now that we've made it this far, let's crown some (predicted) World Series champions, shall we?

The Brewers received the strongest backing with five of the nine experts going their way. The most popular World Series pick was Milwaukee over Tampa (four experts' opinons), while one more had Milwaukee defeating New York.

The Rays and Dodgers were the only other predicted winners, as they split the final four votes. Tampa's predicted wins came over San Diego and L.A., while L.A.'s were against Cleveland and New York.