MLB World Series 2023: News, Updates, & Odds

The 2023 regular season will be the first to feature MLB’s new balanced schedule.

Under the new format, all teams will play each other for at least one series during the regular season, with 52 divisional games (previously 76), 64 intraleague games (previously 66), and 46 interleague games (previously 20) creating new matchups across the league.

How Are World Series Teams Chosen?

As was introduced as the postseason format in 2022, the 2023 season will see 12 teams advance to the playoffs — three division winners and three Wild Card teams from each league. Based on their regular-season records, the teams will be assigned seeds 1-6 in their league.

The first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card Series, will see the top two seeds from each league (i.e., the two division-winning teams with the best regular-season records) receive a bye. The third division-winning team (Seed 3) will host the third Wild Card team (Seed 6) for a best-of-three series, with Seed 4 doing the same with Seed 5.

As was seen in 2022 with the New York Mets being eliminated in this round, securing a bye can be a huge advantage, so just getting into the postseason isn’t enough anymore — ranking is crucial.

The winning teams from the Wild Card Series will advance to the best-of-five Division Series. Seed 1 will return to host the winner of Seed 3 vs. Seed 6, and Seed 2 will welcome the winner of Seed 4 vs. Seed 5. The winners of those series will then advance to a seven-game Championship Series, with the final two teams moving forward to the World Series.

World Series Odds 2023

Houston Astros

The reigning-champion Houston Astros are the current favorites to take home the 2023 World Series title, but do they really have enough to repeat?

Having lost Justin Verlander to free agency, the Astros extended Cristian Javier on a five-year, $63 million contract, and signed José Abreu to a three-year, $58.5 million deal. Off the field, the Astros replaced their general manager with Dana Brown from the Atlanta Braves.

Even with change in the front office, does Houston think their winning team from last season can do it again? Only time will tell.

Atlanta Braves

In 2022, the Braves won the NL East with a record of 101-61, only bettering the New York Mets (also 101-61) through a tie-breaker. They were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series, but coming into 2023, Atlanta are contenders to go all the way.

The Braves weren’t particularly active during the offseason, but they didn’t really need to be — their core team is already very good. Ronald Acuna Jr., Michael Harris II, Austin Riley, Ozzie Albies, and Spencer Strider are all back, and recent acquisition Sean Murphy just signed an extension that will keep him in Atlanta through 2029.

In an extremely competitive division, I expect the Braves to be a team to watch this season.

The tie…@austinriley1308 pic.twitter.com/DuHR9VleKr

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) September 30, 2022

New York Yankees

The Yankees’ odds to win the World Series have gone up considerably since they signed pitcher Carlos Rodón to a six-year, $162 million contract. Gerrit Cole, Nestor Cortes, and Luis Severino all had incredible seasons in 2022, so adding Rodón to the roster makes this a team to watch.

This acquisition came just a week after the Yankees re-signed star slugger Aaron Judge to a nine-year, $360 million deal. During the 2022 regular season, Judge batted .311 with a 1.111 OPS and 62 home runs, an AL record for the most in a single season.

The Yankees had a very strong start to the season in 2022, followed by a slump in the second half. They were still far enough ahead in the AL East to advance to the playoffs, but were knocked out in the ALCS by the eventual World Series-winning Houston Astros. It’s now been 13 years since the Yankees won an AL pennant, and if their recent signings are anything to go by, the team is ready to end that drought.