Who should Royals fans root for in the postseason?

The MLB postseason is here. Unfortunately, the Kansas City Royals will not be participating. Where does that leave you, the Royals fan that’s reading this? You could choose to spend your October doing other things, like taking up a new hobby or finishing that home improvement project that you’ve been putting off since the winter. Or you can revel in the chaos that is postseason baseball. The emotional stakes won’t quite be there with your favorite team absent, but there is still plenty of fun to be had in experiencing that passion secondhand.

If you want to find a team to hitch your wagon to for the next month, this is the guide for you. We will go in a rough order from least to most desirable teams, though the specific order is less important than the general placement of teams. After all, this is an arbitrary exercise, and your mileage may vary for each of these teams.

New York Yankees

You are a Kansas City Royals fan. You have absolutely no business rooting for the Yankees. If you aren’t a Royals fan and are still reading this for some reason, you still have no business rooting for the Yankees. They haven’t won a World Series in 17 years, and the world is a better place for it. There are enough awful things happening as is — a 28th ring for the Yankees would herald 28 years of darkness. Don’t root for darkness. Don’t root for the Yankees.

Old friends: Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough, Luke Weaver

Los Angeles Dodgers

Despite entering the season with a player payroll approaching $400 million, it’s been a tumultuous summer for the Dodgers. This is largely due to rostering a position player group composed almost entirely of guys over 30 and a pitching staff of glass cannons. That offense has had its struggles in the second half but remains an imposing unit with Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman at the top. The pitching, meanwhile, is as healthy as it’s been all year, with Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Ohtani ready to go. The bullpen has been an absolute catastrophe for the past few weeks, which could spell doom when the margins narrow in October.

Aside from their similar uniforms, it’s hard to find much of a reason for Royals fans to pull for this team. This is an expensive, star-laden perennial juggernaut in a city that shares little culturally or otherwise with Kansas City. Last year, you could at least make the case that you wanted to see Ohtani get a ring — now we’re talking about a team that has won two of the last five titles. Rooting for the Dodgers in 2025 is like rooting for gentrification, especially compared to their far more compelling division rivals.

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox had their ups and downs this season, but still managed to put together an 89-win campaign to get here. They will not have either of their best two hitters to start the postseason as Rafael Devers plays for San Francisco now, and rookie sensation Roman Anthony is nursing an oblique injury that will keep him out until at least the ALCS. They will have to make do with their offensive core of Alex Bregman, Jarren Duran, and Trevor Story. The pitching is in good shape, led by Cy Young hopeful Garrett Crochet and a bullpen trio of Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, and Greg Weissert to shut things down in the late innings.

There is no more spoiled sports fanbase in the United States right now than Boston, though San Francisco has an argument for that title. Each of the Red Sox, Celtics, Patriots, and Bruins has won a title in the last 15 years. The Sox and Pats lead their respective sports in titles won in the 21st century, while the Celtics and Bruins have each made three finals appearances. I don’t find the Red Sox themselves to be eminently hateable, but their fans can kick rocks. As such, you should root for this team to lose so their fanbase doesn’t get yet another title to gloat over. We don’t need to experience a world where the Red Sox account for 20% of all the World Series titles in this century.

Old friends: Chapman, Nate Eaton

Cleveland Guardians

I don’t know what’s in the water in Cleveland, but something is happening there that defies explanation. They had one of baseball’s worst offenses, featuring only two hitters — José Ramírez and Kyle Manzardo — that produced at an above-average level; they traded away their best starting pitcher at the deadline; their best reliever hasn’t played in two months and has a murky future in professional baseball. In spite of all that, a 42-25 second half propelled them to their third division title in the last four seasons. Pitching depth is the strength of the Guardos as they have a coterie of high-leverage bullpen arms that Stephen Vogt is very comfortable mixing and matching with.

The Guardians are a fun watch for a very specific type of fan. Do you enjoy watching low-scoring games featuring a parade of relievers? If you said yes, this is the team for you. This is not my idea of what a fun baseball team looks like, but to each their own. Cleveland has been a postseason mainstay for the last decade but hasn’t made much noise there — ever since losing the 2016 World Series, they have gone 10-17 in October and returned to the ALCS just once. Four of their five postseasons have ended at the hands of the Yankees. As a Royals fan, do you really want to see a division rival break through? I don’t, nor am I wont to support a team that has made a pact with Beelzebub.

Old friends: Jakob Junis

Detroit Tigers

It was a tale of two halves for Detroit. They were baseball’s best team before the All-Star break and at one point held a 15.5-game lead in the AL Central. But a late-season collapse saw that lead evaporate, culminating in an eight-game losing streak in September that lost them the division lead. They still managed to barely squeak into the field, but they will have to face the team that caught them in the division with absolutely no momentum on their side. All-Stars Javier Báez and Zach McKinstry crashed back to earth in the second half, while veteran sluggers Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson couldn’t maintain their hot starts. Presumptive Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal gives the Tigers a great chance to win every time out, but questions abound on this pitching staff after him. This is a solid team on paper that simply has not performed for the better part of two months now.

If they weren’t a Royals division rival, there would be a stronger case for Royals fans to back this team. They haven’t won a World Series since 1984, and Detroit sports in general have not had much success this century. Nobody on the roster is particularly unlikable, though they don’t necessarily have standout personalities either. Perhaps most notably for the purposes of a short-term rooting interest, it’s awfully hard to see this team making a run given how they’ve played for the last couple of months.

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs were one of baseball’s most electric teams in the first half, but that didn’t carry over down the stretch. Post All-Star break, this team was pedestrian — not good enough to seriously challenge Milwaukee in the division, but not bad enough to put their postseason hopes in jeopardy. Kyle Tucker and Pete Crow-Armstrong looked like MVP candidates early on before tailing off down the stretch. Those two guys are the offensive keys for this squad, though they have good complementary pieces in Nico Hoerner, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki. The pitching staff took a hit when rookie sensation Cade Horton suffered a rib injury that will keep him out through at least the NLDS. Veterans Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, and Colin Rea make for a serviceable but unexciting postseason rotation.

When the Cubs won the 2016 World Series with a young core, they seemed positioned for a potential dynasty. But that didn’t happen — they’ve made just three postseason appearances since then, most recently in 2020, and never came near a repeat title. This is probably for the better, as Cubs fans could have easily become as insufferable as Red Sox fans if they had multiple championships. That said, it remains a tough sell for Royals fans to support a large market team run by particularly odious ownership that frequently cries poor. There is a version of this team that would be likeable and fun to watch, but whether or not that team shows up is anybody’s guess.

Old friends: Brad Keller

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds fell ass backwards into this postseason field, the beneficiaries of an epic second-half collapse by the New York Mets. Their position player group is the worst in the postseason field by fWAR, with TJ Friedl’s 109 wRC+ the best among their regulars. Elly De La Cruz has the potential to go nuclear, but runs may be hard to come by otherwise. The pitching is the strength of this squad, led by Hunter Greene, with solid options in Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo behind him. Old friend Brady Singer may find himself crowded out of the postseason rotation for the second year in a row.

Sharing a division with Pittsburgh has somewhat masked how bad the Reds have been for the past decade. 83 wins is tied for their best season since 2014. They’ve made just one playoff appearance in that span, when they qualified for the expanded 2020 postseason field and went two-and-barbecue against Atlanta. They’ll have their work cut out for them, drawing the defending champion Dodgers in the first round. Like the Royals, the Reds are a Midwestern, “small market” team that has had only intermittent success since their halcyon days of the 1970s. I find it hard to have strong feelings about the Reds in either direction. They’re not particularly offensive or unlikable, but I struggle to think of reasons to support them. They’re the biggest underdogs in the field, so if you like pulling for the little guy, this is the team for you.

Old friends: Singer, Scott Barlow

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies are firmly in a competitive window right now, and this may be their last, best chance to win a title with this core. The offense is a fascinating group, led by Kyle Schwarber, in the midst of a career season; Trea Turner, who is having his best campaign since 2022; and Bryce Harper, who has mellowed significantly with age but continues to produce at a high level. They also have fascinating side characters in Wichita State legend Alec Bohm, the galaxy-brained Nick Castellanos, and Brandon Marsh, Baseball’s Wettest Man. The pitching staff features an elite lefty triumvirate in Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Ranger Suárez, though they will sorely miss the contributions of injured staff ace Zack Wheeler.

Despite winning the second-most games in baseball this year, the Phillies were an oft-frustrating team. The offense ran very cold at times, team defense was leaky, and the bullpen was unreliable, though the deadline acquisition of Jhoan Duran has helped shore that up. There are fun things about this team, but the college baseball team vibes that they showed in their 2022 World Series run are largely absent three years later — no surprise given the core is mostly the same guys but now three years older. Plus, there’s the whole Philadelphia of it all. The Phillies are far from the most distasteful team in this playoff field, but there are better options.

Old friends: Matt Strahm

Toronto Blue Jays

In something of a make-or-break season for this era of Toronto baseball, the Blue Jays finally came through with their first division title since 2015. The strength of the Jays is their elite position player group, led by stars Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette, resurgent veteran George Springer, and the delightfully round Alejandro Kirk (Bichette is currently on the IL with a knee injury but hoping to return for the postseason). They share similarities to the last competitive Royals teams, making up for non-elite power production with baseball’s highest batting average and lowest strikeout rate while also playing sensational defense. The pitching isn’t quite as strong, but they have enough depth in the starting rotation that future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer likely won’t be a part of it.

Kansas City and Toronto fans can commiserate over extended playoff absences. In 1993, the Jays won their second consecutive World Series title. They followed that with a 20-year postseason drought. The best season they’ve had since ‘93 — and the only one that resulted in an AL East title — ended at the hands of the Royals in the 2015 ALCS. They’ve reached October four times since, but only got past the Wild Card once and are currently on a seven-game postseason losing streak dating back to the 2016 ALCS. This year’s Jays team is a fun and inoffensive group worthy of your support. Plus, there’s the added geopolitical intrigue for the only team based outside the United States.

San Diego Padres

San Diego managed to overcome a serious lack of depth, particularly on offense, to win 90 games this season. Their offense hit fewer home runs than any other postseason team but still produced at an above-average level thanks to their ability to put the ball in play and get on base. Fernando Tatis Jr. is an electric talent who loves fan interaction, Manny Machado just keeps on producing (and has chilled out in the same way as Harper), and Luis Arraez is a delight to watch with his refusal to whiff. The starting rotation isn’t a particular strength, but the Padres boast MLB’s best bullpen. Robert Suarez is a beast in the ninth, Mason Miller has been unhittable since arriving at the trade deadline, and Adrian Morejon and Jeremiah Estrada would be the best relievers on many other teams. A contact-based offense with a deep, lockdown bullpen — sound familiar?

Not long ago, the Padres were the least remarkable team in baseball. They had anonymous players decked out in the sport’s most boring uniforms and color palette — if you were to name all 30 MLB teams, you would have named the Padres last. That has completely turned around since the late owner Peter Seidler started pouring money into the team in a way that “smart” baseball people would describe as irresponsible. Now they have a passionate, engaged fanbase that fills up the ballpark every night to watch fun ballplayers in uniforms that, love ‘em or hate ‘em, are undeniably unique. The Padres have proven that even the most moribund franchises can be made relevant if they have ownership that genuinely wants to win and will spare no expense to make that happen. A World Series win, which would be the first in franchise history, would serve as a total vindication of this idea in a way that I believe would be good for baseball. I could understand a Royals fan’s reticence to root for a SoCal team with a $200 million payroll, but San Diego is one of the better options in this postseason field.

Old friends: Ryan O’Hearn, Freddy Fermin

Seattle Mariners

At long last, the Mariners assembled a strong offense and pitching staff simultaneously and have been rewarded with their first division title since 2001. Cal Raleigh put together a season for the ages, while Julio Rodríguez continues to roll along as a near-six-win player. The lineup also features arguably the best big-game player in baseball in Randy Arozarena, who boasts a career 1.104 OPS in postseason play (as well as a 1.507 OPS in the 2023 World Baseball Classic). The pitching staff lacks a true ace, but all of Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, Luis Castillo, and George Kirby are guys you should trust to start a postseason game.

Anecdotally, the Mariners seem to get plenty of perfunctory support from fans of other teams. There are a multitude of potential reasons for this. They’ve consistently had exciting stars on their roster, including Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Ichiro, and Félix Hernández; their long postseason drought that ended in 2023 prevented them from earning the animosity commonly felt toward playoff mainstays. Jon Bois created a documentary on the history of the team, and watching it makes it difficult not to pull for them. They are also the only team currently in MLB that has not appeared in the World Series. If you can put aside the history of Grass Creek, the Mariners are a good pick to support this October.

Old friends: Gabe Speier

Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers won more games than any other team in baseball this year. How they did this is unclear as, on paper, they’re not an exceptionally strong squad. Brice Turang was their best player by fWAR, while Andrew Vaughn led the team in wRC+ after arriving this summer as a reclamation project from the White Sox. Christian Yelich is their most famous player, and Jackson Chourio is the theoretical young centerpiece who has been more good than great to begin his major league career. The main strengths here are lineup depth and an aggressive game plan on the basepaths to compensate for their lack of power. Freddy Peralta is the veteran staff ace and is backed up by Quinn Priester, Chad Patrick, and Jacob Misiorowski, who have all been very good this season though have short track records.

Much like Cleveland, Milwaukee has been a consistently strong regular-season team for a while now, but postseason success remains elusive. Their run to the NLCS in 2018 persists as the high-water mark of this era of Brewers baseball as they have gone 2-10 in postseason play since then. Their 1982 World Series loss to St. Louis remains the only pennant-winning season in franchise history. As such it’s easy to root for this club to finally break through. They’re also kindred spirits with the Royals as a team in a mid-sized Midwestern city that’s frequently overshadowed by bigger coastal clubs. It’s hard to call a 97-win team an underdog, but it’s also difficult to look at this team and not see them as the plucky upstarts winning baseball games through the power of friendship. The Brewers are perhaps the best option for Royals fans this October.

Who should Royals fans root for in the postseason?

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