Last Updated on June 4, 2025 by Matt Musico
It’s June, so we are way too early in the 2025 MLB season to make pronouncements about what will happen over the next five months, yet it is pretty clear that there is a perception that the strongest teams overall hail from the National League.
This is backed up by MLB.com’s latest Power Rankings, which have six of the top eight ranked teams from the NL. The American League’s Detroit Tigers are in the top spot (well deserved), but the balance of power lies within the Senior Circuit.
For perspective, the NL teams ranked in the top eight are the Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Mets, and Padres. The Yankees (sixth) join the Tigers as the lone AL representatives.
Broadly, this is borne out in the World Series betting odds, which puts that octet at the top of the betting markets, although we should point out that another NL team, the Atlanta Braves, also sneak in there.
Ebb and Flow of Sports Leagues’ Strengths
Of course, this should not be surprising, as it happens with sports. We are seeing the conclusion of the NBA season in June, and Western Conference teams broadly showed strength in the NBA Championship betting odds markets, including the favorite, the Oklahoma City Thunder, compared to Eastern Conference teams.
Yet, it is interesting to speculate what this means. For example, the Yankees and Tigers’ World Series odds are impacted by the fact that there is a much easier path for them to the Fall Classic than NL teams – at least on paper.
Indeed, if you pick any of those NL teams and consider their pathways through the NLDS and NLCS, it will be an incredibly tough route to the World Series, no matter how the draw pans out for them. If the season were to end today, the Yankees and Tigers would face teams like the Mariners and Twins in the postseason. They are good teams, but the route to success in the NL is much more challenging.
In terms of sports betting – and we are simply using the betting data to frame the discussion, not recommending anything – you end up with this scenario where an NL team is seen as more likely to win the World Series (the odds are 4/6 compared to 5/4 for an AL team), but that the identity of that team is more challenging to work out.
For that reason, the Yankees and Tigers are right on the shoulders of the Dodgers (still the consensus pick among sportsbooks) in the betting markets as the second and third favorites overall.
Things Can Change Over the Summer Months
As mentioned, it’s still early enough for teams to turn things around, and much can change in the coming months. You could maybe look at a team like the Boston Red Sox, who are currently underwater but have the components in place to break out at some point during the summer if manager Alex Cora gets a bit of luck on his side. The point, as such, is that the narrative could change, and we could be looking at a very different picture in September.
Yet, as things stand, all the indicators point to the strength of the NL. We aren’t entirely in agreement with MLB’s Power Rankings, which say 75% of the top teams in baseball come from the NL, nor is it certain that will also be the case as we head into the postseason after the summer.
However, there are just a couple of AL teams looking like genuine contenders, and at least half a dozen from the NL. Let’s see how things pan out.
Leave a Reply