The Major League Baseball regular season has concluded and now it's time to crown a 2021 champion. That is, after we go through the wild card, divisional, league championship and World Series rounds. It'll take around a month and what an action-packed month it'll be. You can find the full 2021 MLB postseason schedule here.
For purposes of entertainment and possibly your mockery, we're here to offer up our predictions for the playoffs. We all know just how unpredictable the playoffs can be (how many people had the 2019 Nationals getting through the Dodgers and Astros?), so some of these are bound to be incorrect. It's a win-win, though, because not only will you be thoroughly entertained, but you also get to yell at us for missing picks and that's pretty funny.
Let's get on with the show with picks for every round of the 2021 playoffs from our five CBS Sports MLB scribes.
2021 MLB postseason staff picks
| Staff picks | Matt Snyder | Dayn Perry | Mike Axisa | R.J. Anderson | Katherine Acquavella |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AL WC: NYY at BOS | Yankees | Yankees | Yankees | Yankees | |
NL WC: STL at LAD | Dodgers | Dodgers | Dodgers | Dodgers | Dodgers |
ALDS: CHW at HOU | Astros | Astros | Astros | Astros | Astros |
ALDS: WC at TB | Yankees | Rays | Rays | Rays | Rays |
NLDS: ATL at MIL | Braves | Brewers | Braves | ||
NLDS: WC at SF | Dodgers | Dodgers | Giants | Dodgers | |
ALCS | Astros | Astros | Astros | Rays | Astros |
NLCS | Giants | Dodgers | Dodgers | Giants | Dodgers |
World Series | Astros | Astros | Dodgers | Giants | Dodgers |
World Series MVP |
So that's unanimous choices for both Wild Card Games (sorry, Red Sox and Cardinals fans), as well as a sweeping choice of the Astros over the White Sox in the ALDS. The Astros reach the Fall Classic for the third time in five years in four of our five projections, and two writers picked Houston to win it all. The Dodgers are also a popular choice to repeat as champions, while the Giants (baseball's best team in the regular season) were picked once to win the 2021 World Series.
The Astros, Dodgers and Giants are three of the top four favorites to win it all this October. Here are the World Series odds entering the 2021 postseason (via Caesars Sportsbook):
- Dodgers: +375
- Astros: +475
- Rays: +650
- Giants: +675
- White Sox: +750
- Brewers: +800
- Yankees: +1200
- Braves: +1200
- Red Sox: +1600
- Cardinals: +2000
The playoffs kick off Tuesday night with the Red Sox hosting the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game.
2021 MLB postseason gear now available
The 2021 MLB Playoffs start Oct. 5 and 6 with the AL and NL Wild Card games. In celebration, 2021 MLB postseason gear is now available for select teams. Shop hoodies, shirts, and more here.
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