Some teams rule the regular season, storm through the playoffs, and then fall short in the World Series.
Others don’t even make that far. And the list of teams and stars who couldn’t quite reach the Fall Classic is as impressive as the squads that did win it all.
We’ve ranked the World Series champions since 2000, as well as the best runners-up since the start of the century. But let’s dive a bit deeper into the well and look at the 10 best teams of the past 25 years who didn’t reach the World Series.
CHECK OUT: WORLD SERIES WINNERS SINCE ’00, RANKED
(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
1. Seattle Mariners (2001)
Regular Season: 116–46 (1st in AL West)
ALDS: Defeated Cleveland, 3–2
ALCS: Lost to Yankees, 1–4
The ‘01 Mariners are one of the great teams all-time, never mind just this century. They never did finish the job, though, and are mostly remembered for that instead of just how incredible they were. They tied an MLB record with 116 wins, amassed 67 wins above replacement — significantly more than any World Series winner of the century — and outscored opponents by 300 runs at a time when pitchers couldn’t keep the ball in the park: just one other AL team even had a run differential over +100. Ichiro Suzuki, AL Rookie of the Year and the AL’s Most Valuable Player, is the obvious standout, but don’t forget John Olerud, Edgar Martinez, Mike Cameron and Bret Boone.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (2022)
Regular Season: 111–51 (1st in NL West)
NLDS: Lost to Padres, 1–3
This is the only team that could rival the 2001 Mariners in terms of the best regular season club of the century so far — the ‘22 Dodgers outscored opponents by 334 runs and won 111 games, the second-most in National League history and tied for the fourth-most all-time. Freddie Freeman led the NL in OBP at .407 while Mookie Betts finished fifth in the NL MVP race while taking home a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove, powering one of the league’s best lineups. The pitching staff was one of the best of the entire century, though, led by a rotation with three All-Stars and the NL’s leader in ERA. Despite all of this, they lost in the NLDS to the Padres in four games.
(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
3. Cleveland (2017)
Regular Season: 102–60 (1st in AL Central)
ALDS: Lost to Yankees, 2–3
This team is even better than the one that lost in the 2016 World Series to the Cubs, which makes their early exit all the more heartbreaking. Despite winning 102 games behind an above-average lineup and a pitching staff fronted by AL Cy Young winner Corey Kluber — he led the majors in ERA (2.25) and K/BB (7.36) while leading the AL in walk rate (1.6) — Cleveland couldn’t get out of the first full round of the postseason. Their rotation was terrifying in the regular season, and their bullpen arguably even better, but they dropped three in a row to the Yankees after going up 2-0 in the ALDS.
(Photo by Loren Elliott/MLB via Getty Images)
4. Houston Astros (2018)
Regular Season: 103–59 (1st in AL West)
ALDS: Defeated Cleveland, 3–0
ALCS: Lost to Red Sox, 1–4
The 2018 Red Sox were truly tested on their way to a World Series championship, as they took on not just the Dodgers — who ranked fourth on the World Series runner-up list above — but also the Astros, who placed fourth on this one and were arguably superior to the ‘17 champions. These Astros won 103 games while posting a better run differential and wins above replacement total than the Sox, who had also defeated the 100-win Yankees in the ALDS. The Astros and Red Sox might have been a lot closer than their records indicated in the regular season, but in the ALCS, Boston looked like the superior team by far, and took them down in five.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (2021)
Regular Season: 106–56 (2nd in NL West)
Wild Card Series: Defeated Cardinals, 3–1
NLDS: Defeated Giants, 3–2
NLCS: Lost to Braves, 2–4
As was said before, there have been a ton of amazing Dodgers teams in the last decade of this century. If you want to know what the 2020 champions might have looked like in a full season, you could do a lot worse than checking in on the 2019 and 2021 clubs, both of which made this list of teams that failed to make it to the World Series despite their greatness. Despite outscoring opponents by 269 runs and putting up as many wins above replacement as any World Series winner from the century, the ‘21 Dodgers lost in the NLCS to the eventual-champion Braves.
(Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
6. Oakland Athletics (2001)
Regular Season: 102–60 (2nd in AL West)
ALDS: Lost to Yankees, 2–3
The Mariners winning 116 games probably would have buried the memory of the 2001 A’s and their 102 wins deep, if not for a little thing called “Moneyball”. Regardless of the club’s importance to MLB front offices, what we care about here is just how great of a baseball team they were — and they were one of the best, even if, as general manager Billy Beane famously put it, “My s— doesn’t work in the playoffs.” He wasn’t wrong, though — what happens in the postseason itself often does come down to luck, if the clubs on this list and their win totals and dominating figures didn’t already serve as a reminder. The 2001 A’s lacked luck, and lost in the ALDS to the Yankees.
(Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
7. San Francisco Giants (2021)
Regular Season: 107–55 (1st in NL West)
NLDS: Lost to Dodgers, 2–3
Maybe it’s fitting that the Giants won with what even their fans deemed “even-year magic” in the previous decade, and then lost when they put together an actual juggernaut. The ‘21 Giants won the NL West with 107 victories, wresting it from the Dodgers, and did so with a +210 run differential and about half-a-win above replacement fewer than the Dodgers did. They were a legit threat, and also one that went home early after losing to the wild-card-winning Dodgers in the NLDS.
(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
8. 2002 New York Yankees
Regular Season: 103–58 (1st in AL East)
ALDS: Lost to Angels, 1–3
Besides the 2009 World Series-winning club, the 2002 Yankees are the best that this organization has managed to be in the regular season this century. Their greatness is often forgotten about, however, up against the drama of the 2001 and 2003 World Series defeats and 2000’s championship that came despite an 87-win season — forgotten about, in no small part, because they lost to the eventual-champion Angels in the ALDS. The ‘02 club won 103 games, however, and were more impressive than most of the actual World Series champions of the century… at least, in the regular season.
(Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images)
9. 2023 Atlanta Braves
Regular Season: 104–58 (1st in NL East)
NLDS: Lost to Phillies, 1–3
The 2021 Braves won the World Series, and the 2023 Braves could have been right there with them. Whereas the ‘21 squad had to play without Ronald Acuna Jr. for half the season and the postseason — and obviously did so successfully — the ‘23 edition had a full year of NL MVP Acuna, in which he led MLB in steals (73), hits (217) and on-base percentage (.416), while becoming the first-ever 70/40 club member owing to his 41 dingers. They had the best offense in the league by adjusted OPS and led in runs scored, too, all supporting an above-average pitching staff. They also lost in the NLDS in four games to the Phillies; that’s just how it goes sometimes in the postseason.
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
10. 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
Regular Season Record: 106–56 (1st in NL West)
NLDS: Lost to Nationals, 2–3
These aforementioned Dodgers weren’t quite as good as their 2021 future selves, but considering they won 106 games, outscored opponents by 273 runs and produced over 50 wins above replacement, the difference is pretty minimal. It turns out that a ton of amazing baseball teams fail to cross the finish line each year, and no organization this century knows that better than the Dodgers. They didn’t sign Shohei Ohtani to a record contract for no reason at all, you know? Losing in the NLDS to the Nationals in 2019 and the Padres in 2021 will convince an organization to do something that drastic.
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