With the calendar set to flip to October on Tuesday, that means one thing: playoff baseball! For the most part, the field is set for the 2024 MLB playoffs, but there’s still a couple of matchups to be decided.

The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets will play a doubleheader on Monday to determine the final two National League playoff-bound teams, in a complicated scenario that could also see the Arizona Diamondbacks squeeze their way into the postseason.

Regardless of the outcome of Monday’s pair of games, now is the perfect time to lock in a wager on a World Series winner, or a winner of the upcoming Wild Card series, which will begin on Tuesday.

Let’s take a look at the World Series futures odds courtesy of bet365:

The Dodgers were the preseason World Series favourites, and they’ll still enter the postseason as the team to beat after posting a MLB-best 98-64 regular-season record. They’ll get a first-round bye and advance straight to the National League Division Series.

The Phillies will also get a first-round bye and advance straight to the NLDS after winning the NL East Division title for the first time since 2011. They’ve been on the cusp of greatness the past two seasons, advancing to the National League Championship Series last year and the World Series in 2022.

The New York Yankees boast the best World Series odds (+400) out of the American League. They’ll get a chance to rest up before squaring off with either the Kansas City Royals or Baltimore Orioles in the American League Division Series.

The Cleveland Guardians entered the season with long +6600 odds at bet365 to win the World Series and +300 odds to win the division. They’ll also get a first-round bye and will play either Detroit or Houston in the ALDS.

Pick: If the recent past has taught us anything about the postseason, it’s that bullpens matter more in October. Cleveland’s relievers have been the gold standard in baseball this season, recording the best ERA (2.57), WHIP (1.05), and the most holds (122) in the majors. They also held the opposition to a .203 batting average (best in MLB) across 623 innings and an elite 9.23 K/9. At enticing +1100 odds, there’s value in backing the Guardians to navigate their way through the American League and into the World Series, where their bullpen can match up against any of the heavy hitters coming out of the NL. 

It’s going to be a dogfight in the NL between the Dodgers, Philllies, and the surging San Diego Padres. But every team in the AL has serious question marks, leaving the door open for the underdog Guardians to slip into the Fall Classic. If you want to play it a little safer and feel strongly that the Phillies or Dodgers are World Series locks, just take Cleveland (+425) to represent the AL in the World Series.

This best-of-three series will get underway on Tuesday from Minute Maid Park in Houston, which will host all three games in this series, if needed.

Both of these teams overcame adversity this season, with the Astros persevering through a 7-19 start to the season to claim their seventh AL West title in the last eight years.  And the Tigers were 55-63 on Aug. 10, leaving them with a 0.2% chance of making the playoffs at the time, according to FanGraphs. They went an incredible 31-13 down the stretch, with two of those losses coming after they had already clinched a playoff spot in the final days of the season.

A major storyline for bettors to monitor will be the health of Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez, who is questionable to play in this series with a knee injury he sustained on Sept. 22. The team is hopeful he can take, and respond well, to batting practice on Monday, but he’ll likely not be close to 100% for the short series, potentially leaving a big hole in the middle of the Astros’ batting order. Houston’s starting rotation isn’t at full strength either, with Lance McCullers Jr., Cristian Javier, and Jose Urquidy on the shelf, but that matters less in a short three-game series.

Pick: The underdog Tigers have a ton of momentum on their side coming into this series, and they have Tarik Skubal, who won the AL pitching triple crown, lined up for Game 1 on full rest. It won’t be easy against a veteran Astros squad, but it’s hard not to like Detroit at +145 odds in this short series.

This is another intriguing series between two up-and-coming teams, but oddsmakers are siding heavily with the Orioles, who will have home advantage in this three-game series.

The Orioles, who have lost eight straight postseason games dating back to the 2014 ALCS when they were swept by the Royals, are expected to take a step forward and make a deep playoff run this year. However, they’re just 33-33 since the All-Star break and have major question marks in the back end of the bullpen, which could be disastrous in October. Corbin Burnes, who has a solid 2.84 ERA across eight career postseason starts, is the likely O’s starter for Game 1, but Grayson Rodriguez, who the O’s would ideally like to slot in as the No. 2 starter behind Burnes, has been shut down for the year due to a lat strain. The rotation is thin after Burnes, one of the top hurlers in all of baseball.

Kansas City, meanwhile, is back in the postseason for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series. The health of Vinnie Pasquantino, who drove in 97 runs for the Royals hitting behind phenom Bobby Witt Jr, is in doubt heading into this series, although the team is hopeful he can return from a thumb injury and be effective. The Royals have been held to one run or less seven times in their last 11 games heading into the playoffs, so they really need Pasquantino back hitting third in the lineup.

Pick: Expect this one to go the distance with the Royals giving the Orioles a good scare before bowing out. Baltimore has a huge advantage offensively in this series, and with Burnes on the mound in a short series, it should come out on the winning end to face the Yankees in the ALDS. Take the Orioles to win the series, 2-1, at +240 odds, if the outright -170 series winner price is too much juice for you.