The Rays vs. the Dodgers: the World Series matchup nobody wanted. Talk about polar opposites.

The Rays are a team who are built on “throwaways” and the Dodgers are a team of flash and stars. I’ll admit upfront I’m biased as a Yankees fan.

The favorites, of course, are the Dodgers. They have an excellent rotation and a good lineup. Their rotation is Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Dustin May and Julio Urías. The Rays are rounded out by Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Charlie Morto.

Without a doubt the Dodgers have a better lineup; they have former MVPs Cody Bellinger, and Mookie Betts, along with Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, Joc Pederson, and so many other good role players.

Tampa Bay’s lineup features Austin Meadows, and that’s about it. The rest are all players who get their jobs done but aren’t stars by any means.

The Dodgers have had high expectations for years, but always choke. For example, in 2017 the Astros cheated, in 2018 they choked in the World Series, and in 2019 they choked that series away to the Nationals. Clayton Kershaw is the main reason why the Dodgers ended up losing in the playoffs.  He may not be a hall-of-famer because of how badly he has played in the playoffs.

The case for the Dodgers finally prevailing this year is that Kershaw is even more experienced, Buehler is an ace, Bellinger and Betts are both former MVPs and their bullpen is doing its job. The case for the Rays is that they have a great rotation and the offense does well enough. I predict the series goes five games, and the Dodgers are the champions of an asterisk season. The regular season was only 60 games.