Yankees/Dodgers World Series: Who is fans’ pick to win a championship?

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across Major League Baseball. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in New York Yankees fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

The countdown to first pitch of the 2024 World Series is shrinking by the moment and we’ve just passed the one-hour mark. Before the festivities kick off at Dodger Stadium, we need to go through the final survey results for Fall Classic picks!

Earlier in the week, I asked Yankees fans at Pinstripe Alley a couple straightforward questions:

1. What is your World Series prediction?
A) Yankees in 4 or 5; B) Yankees in 6 or 7; C) Dodgers in 4 or 5; D) Dodgers in 6 or 7

2. If the Yankees win it all, who is your predicted World Series MVP?
A) Juan Soto; B) Aaron Judge; C) Gerrit Cole; D) Giancarlo Stanton; E) other

Now, we have our results:

The overwhelming majority think that it will be a long series, but the Yankees will win their 28th World Series title. If we combine the percentages to just a straightforward “Yankees or Dodgers” pick, then it would be 76 percent for New York and 24 percent for LA. Since this is a Yankees-focused audience and they’re a pretty darn good team anyway, that logic makes sense!

As an aside, I am sincerely loving the energy of the 10 percent who think the Yankees will take a page from their 1998-2000 dynasty and wrap it up in a tidy fashion. Those Yanks went a combined 12-1 in World Series play. Did it make for some less interesting World Series for the general population? You betcha. Did Yankees fans care? Not a lick. Would fans of another team care if their favorite team won it all with minimal drama? Nope!

We also had a new playoff hero emerge as the favorite to join the likes of Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson, and Hideki Matsui in the fraternity of World Series MVPs. His name is Juan Soto, and he will happily walk you through how he won the pennant in the final inning of ALCS Game 5 in Cleveland.

Soto fell just shy of a majority win, but that’s as strong a plurality as you’ll find, and no small feat with the best hitter in baseball getting a quarter of the vote (plus the actual ALCS MVP getting 11 percent).

I also asked the PSA staff to weigh in with our specific World Series picks. We took a stab at playoff predictions back at the beginning of October, and do not fret: we will revisit the original picks when it’s all said and done! But here’s how we’re picking them at this point.

“Yankees in 6” is the collective pick, but again, I appreciate Madison for going out on a limb and saying that the Yanks will win it all at Yankee Stadium — just like they did in 2009. That’s the kind of energy we need! Just to explain my World Series MVP pick personally, I think Gerrit Cole is particularly determined to win it all after missing out on his only previous shot at the crown in 2019 (partially foiled by now-teammate Soto). He’s been hunting for a ring even longer than Judge, and watching his team lose Game 7 of the Fall Classic from the bullpen—unused—had to sting. So I think he makes two fantastic starts. I’m happy to be proven wrong if one of the sluggers goes berserk!

Be nice to Estevão, by the way. He’s just sticking to his guns with his original selections, and he contributes to both PSA and True Blue LA. Consider him the (more accomplished) Taylor Trammell of our collective writing staff.

Speaking of the Dodgers, it’s worth checking out the similar survey questions that were sent to wider audience of baseball fans, too.

The Dodgers are the neutral fan’s pick, and honestly, that makes sense, too. They are the oh-so-slight World Series favorites, and it’s probably easier for the average fan to see them as champions given: 1) Shohei Ohtani, 2) Mookie Betts, 3) the tougher teams they faced in the NL playoffs, and 4) the fact that several of the guys on their team—like Mookie—did win it all in 2020. In contrast, only Soto and Anthony Rizzo have World Series rings in the Yankees’ clubhouse, and none of the 2009 champs are still around.

Those aren’t the only reasons, mind you, but they are a few. Oh yeah, and the Face of Baseball is the general World Series MVP pick, too. It tracks, though Soto isn’t a schmuck in this poll either.