2024 MLB Playoffs: The Best Teams For Cubs Fans To Root For

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Let's face it: You are on this website right now because you love baseball and the Chicago Cubs. With the Cubs bags packed for the season, who should you root for in the 2024 MLB Playoffs? Based on ranking the number of ex-Cubs, futility, and general watchability, I help you answer that question.

As a Chicago Cubs fan of a certain age, you can admit the runs from 2015 are more strange than usual. What do I mean by that?

In my fandom, the Cubs had made the playoffs just five times before 2015. Depending on when you were born in the 80s, you can add two more playoff tallies to that. 

There is a reason the long-standing south-sider joke of the word Cubs stands for “Completely Useless By September.”

Pain. 

As a pure love of baseball, I had to pick a “new” team to continue to watch into October, as my blue blood never got to be shown as often as I liked. 

How would you go about that in 2024?

I am here to help. 

I looked at eight remaining playoff teams (1st round WC series just do not count) and ranked them based on the following:

• Futility Index: How they rank in World Series Drought and Playoff Droughts
• The “Ex-Cub” Factor: Who has the most old Cubs to help keep me tied to the team in any way possible
• Watchability: Personal Ranking of the Players/Fun items around the team that make them interesting to watch

Here is your guide for 2024. 

8. New York Mets
1969. 2015. Just stop. I will never root for the Mets unless it is against the Yankees. 

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7. Los Angeles Dodgers
They likely end up low on my list, given I am so envious of what they are. Andrew Friedman has taken the development philosophies of Tampa Bay and uses his insane market position to lure in top talent with high-dollar contracts. (See, Tom, you can do both).

I have them as a top-three team to watch because any time you can watch Shohei Ohtani do anything, you should. He is something we may never see in this game again. 

However, a 2020 championship is a weird asterisk for this long-term success run as they look to crack the code for a non-Mickey Mouse ring. 

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6. Philadelphia Phillies
I know they have Kyle Schwarber. I also wanted Bryce Harper to come to Chicago so badly. 

Spoiler Alert: He didn’t.

Dave Dombrowski has put together a club built around on-base and power. Their pitching has done enough around a streaky offense. If the Phillies are hot at the plate this October, they will be tough to stop. 

Why so low on the list? They are at the top of the league in walks and home runs, similar to another team on this list. I understand the value of the “true outcomes,” but it can sometimes be very hard to watch. 

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5. Kansas City Royals
When I think of the Royals, I think of a stubborn Ned Yost and leading off a low on-base player in Alcides Escobar for 2014 and 2015. In 2015, they won a ring. I guess I am Jon Snow, and I know nothing. 

It is hard not to root for this edition of the Royals, as Bobby Witt Jr. is the best young player in the game at this moment. His defense is off the charts, with power, speed, and contact dripping into his game. That is the type of prospect you hope to get and build around. The emergence of Seth Lugo as a starter for them was a fun story, but time will tell if their pitching is enough in a longer series. 

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4. Cleveland Guardians
I almost had them higher on this list, given I (don’t) feel bad about 2016. They were a drone accident away from out-managing Joe Maddon. Two teams, starved for the end of a painful drought, having to play seven games to find out who went home sad? 

It felt unfair. 

They end up towards the top of the list because of my love for Emmanuel Clase and Jose Ramirez, and they suffer from the same futility we, as a fan base, have been bearing for so long. 

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3. New York Yankees
I was surprised, based on my general disdain for the evil empire, that they are this high on the list. They are carried by the time since their last pennant and have four current ex-Cubs. 

I struggle to watch this team. If you follow any Yankee fan, they live and die by the long ball. If Juan Soto and Judge are rolling this postseason, it will be hard to stop them. They have solid rotational depth. Things get iffy in the back of the bullpen. 

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2. San Diego Padres
Bad News, Yu Darvish. Ex-top prospect Dylan Cease. A General Manager in AJ Preller who gets and unloads prospects at a degree that feels enviable while also capable of signing stars? Sign me up. 

The Padres are the oldest franchise in baseball without a WS championship (1969 was their first season). They have not won a pennant since sweet-swinging Tony Gwynn was spraying baseballs everywhere in 1998. Throw in a super-fun City Connect, a gorgeous baseball park, and an honoring of their aggressive owner who recently passed.

I am in. 

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1. Detroit Tigers
Their roster is as young as the 2016 Chicago Cubs. They haven’t won a championship since 1984. They left Wrigley in August and played EXCELLENT baseball (after sending Javy Baez to the IL), replicating what the Cubs needed to do this year. They celebrate Home Runs with a Pizza Pizza Spike, inspired by their Little Caesar’s sponsorship (both the Tigers and Little Caesars are owned by the Ilitch family). Their rotation is fronted by the best pitcher in the game, Tarik Skubal. 

I want them to wear the glass slipper the whole tournament, and based on how fun, ex-Cub-filled they are, you should, too. 

Who are you rooting for this postseason?

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