A look at the 16 potential World Series matchups

If the first two days are any indication, this is going to be quite a postseason.

Four of baseball's most storied franchises played in the wild-card games, with the Red Sox beating the Yankees and then the Dodgers eliminating the Cardinals on Chris Taylor's ninth-inning homer. Now, Los Angeles moves on to face San Francisco in the latest chapter of another famous rivalry — and the most anticipated matchup of the Division Series round.

Now is also a good time to look ahead a bit. With four teams left in each league, there are 16 possible World Series matchups remaining. Here’s a quick glance at each one. The matchups are listed in descending order of likelihood, using probability figures from Fangraphs.com early Thursday morning.

DODGERS-RED SOX (12.2%)

A rematch of the 2018 World Series won by Boston — except now Mookie Betts is playing for Los Angeles. Alex Verdugo went to the Red Sox in that trade, and they also have ex-Dodgers Nathan Eovaldi and Kiké Hernández playing significant roles.

DODGERS-ASTROS (11.8%)

No need for any deep digging on this matchup. When Houston’s sign-stealing scheme came to light, Dodgers fans were among the most aggrieved, since they lost to the Astros in the 2017 World Series. Former Dodgers star Dusty Baker now manages Houston.

DODGERS-WHITE SOX (11.1%)

There might be more familiarity and hostility in a Dodgers-Astros or Dodgers-Red Sox matchup, but there’s a lot to recommend Dodgers-White Sox. For one thing, it would give Chicago manager Tony La Russa a World Series rematch with Los Angeles after he was on the wrong end of Kirk Gibson’s famous home run in 1988, when the Dodgers beat Oakland. This could also be the best starting pitching matchup of the remaining possibilities.

DODGERS-RAYS (6.5%)

The Fangraphs probabilities are not...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/A-look-at-the-16-potential-World-Series-matchups-16515404.php