The Los Angeles Dodgers are overwhelming favorites to win the 2026 World Series. Most sportsbooks list their championship odds at around +150, implying roughly a 40% chance of winning the title, which would mark their third straight.
Aside from Dodgers fans, no serious observer can argue that one team having odds that high before the playoffs even begin is healthy for the sport.
Even before the Dodgers added reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal to what was already baseball's best pitching rotation, the only compelling case against them winning another title was something random occurring.
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Put simply, there is no logical baseball argument that another team is equipped to beat them in a postseason series.
No, the team's current six-game losing streak is not cause for concern. The Dodgers lost seven straight last July and still went 9-1 in the National League postseason.
The Dodgers have taken much of the suspense out of the baseball season by assembling a roster that is so far ahead of the competition. For most fans, that is discouraging.
A similar dynamic could emerge with another Los Angeles team, this one in the NFL.
On Wednesday, Fox Sports Radio host Colin Cowherd claimed that the Los Angeles Rams have assembled the best NFL roster in at least a decade. It's hard to disagree.
Last season, the Rams and the eventual Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks separated themselves from the rest of the league in most meaningful statistical categories. Since then, Seattle has lost several key contributors, including Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker. Meanwhile, the Rams added cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, along with defensive end Myles Garrett.
For context, Garrett is widely considered the best defensive player in football. Garrett set the single-season sack record with 23 just last year. McDuffie is routinely ranked among the NFL's five best cornerbacks, while Watson is arguably the league's top No. 2 corner.
And, like the Dodgers, the Rams are not finished adding.
Nearly every prominent NFL reporter expects Aaron Donald to come out of retirement and rejoin Los Angeles before the season begins.
In case anyone has forgotten, Donald is one of the most dominant defensive players of the past 30 years. He is perhaps the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history.
The only reason Garrett is not universally considered the greatest defensive player of his era is that Donald owns that distinction.
Now, they are expected to become teammates on a defensive line that already includes Byron Young, whom Pro Football Focus ranked as the NFL's ninth-best edge defender last season.
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But let us not focus solely on the defensive additions.
On offense, the Rams return reigning MVP Matt Stafford, a top-tier offensive line, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, running back Kyren Lacy and head coach Sean McVay, whom most preseason rankings consider the best in football.
Last season, the Rams led the NFL in both yards and points per game. Odds are they will do so again.
It is not unreasonable to argue the Rams enter the season with the NFL's best head coach, play-caller, quarterback, wide receiver, receiving duo, offensive line, defensive player, defensive line, cornerback and cornerback tandem.
Cowherd may have undersold this roster by calling it merely the best of the past decade. You may have to go back to the undefeated 2007 New England Patriots to find a roster this dominant across so many position groups.
The Rams do differ from the Dodgers in a few key ways. They have not won back-to-back championships. More importantly, they have sacrificed more of their future in terms of draft picks and inexpensive contracts because of the constraints of a salary-capped league. Perhaps the better comparison is the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors after signing Kevin Durant.
Those Warriors teams were not built for half a decade of dominance. But while they were together and healthy, no team truly had a chance to compete. I fear that is how the NFL could feel this season.
It is not ideal for the league when torn ACLs and pulled hamstrings become the biggest source of competitive balance. Yet that appears to be the most common argument for someone beating the Rams this season.
To be clear, I am not criticizing the Dodgers or the Rams for loading up. If anything, the criticism belongs elsewhere. Too many franchises have grown comfortable with mediocrity.
While the Rams spent the offseason assembling a super team, much of the NFL stood still, making only modest improvements. That imbalance is frustrating for fans because it sends a troubling message that not every franchise appears to care about winning with the same urgency.
There was a time, not too long ago, when nearly every NFL fan base could convince itself it had a chance to win the Super Bowl in August. Well, not every fan base. Sorry, Jets and Browns fans.
That is no longer the case. As the NFL preseason begins this week, the number of fan bases that can realistically convince themselves they can compete with a roster like the Rams is small.
For a league that prides itself on parity, resembling Major League Baseball in this regard is a problem. The Rams emerging as the NFL's version of the Dodgers, even if only for one season, is not good for the sport.
