For the third time in franchise history, the Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series. Thanks to another brilliant outing from Freddy Peralta and more big hits from their big three, the Rays polished off the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the ALCS on Monday night.

Junior Caminero and the Rays will now take on Jacob Misiorowski, Brice Turang and the NL-winning Milwaukee Brewers in the Fall Classic. Led by ex-Rays prospect and NLCS MVP Jake Bauers, the Brewers swept the Dodgers en route to capturing their first pennant since 1982. 

As if that weren't intriguing enough, we’re guaranteed to see baseball history, as neither the Rays nor the Brewers have won the World Series — and they’re not alone. 

Which teams have never won the World Series?

As of October 2026, the Rays and Brewers are among five teams that have never won the World Series:

Unsurprisingly, all five franchises are expansion teams, with the Brewers (then the Seattle Pilots) and Padres debuting in 1969. The Mariners followed in 1977, and the Rockies (1993) and Rays (1998) joined in the two most recent expansions. 

Who would have guessed the Rays, a franchise that didn’t have a winning record in its first 10 seasons of existence, would own three pennants since the start of 2008? Oh, and they’ve reached the World Series more times in that span than the Yankees, Blue Jays and Orioles. (That sound you hear is Yankees fans removing the chainsaws from their Halloween decorations and finding a new target to scare.)

As we discussed last week, the Brewers could become the second team to win the World Series after switching leagues. The Astros, who spent nearly five decades in the NL, achieved the feat in 2017 and 2022. 

Milwaukee’s NLCS victory also means that all 15 National League teams have won a pennant while in the NL. 

How did the Brewers and Rays do in their previous World Series appearances?

Well, they lost. 

Jokes aside, we’ll head down Memory Lane and start with the 1982 Brewers. Led by Robin Yount and Pete Vuckovich, who respectively won the AL’s MVP and Cy Young Awards, the Brew Crew defeated the then-California Angels in the ALCS to capture their first pennant.

Milwaukee looked destined for a championship parade when the Brewers took a 3-2 World Series lead over the Cardinals. But the shift to St. Louis helped World Series MVP Darrell Porter and the Redbirds bring home their first title since 1967.

Yount was one of five future Hall of Famers on that Brewers team, joining Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Don Sutton and Rollie Fingers. 

As for the Rays, there’s not much to say about their first World Series appearance. Chase Utley and the Phillies handled them with relative ease in 2008, and the greatest issue that October was the weather. If you’ve never experienced late-October rain in the Northeast, consider yourselves lucky. 

The 2020 World Series was both forgettable and immensely more memorable, which is quite the contradiction. But the less said about 2020 as a whole, the better. Randy Arozarena’s postseason breakout is really the only thing that we personally remember. 

Sorry, Rays fans. For your sake, we hope this year’s Fall Classic isn’t lost to time, too. 

Evaluating the Rockies, Padres, and Mariners’ 2027 World Series chances

Forget whatever the way-too-early odds or prediction markets tell you … except as it relates to the Rockies’ World Series chances. You can effectively pencil them in for yet another losing record in 2027, regardless of how many games they play amid a potentially shortened season.

As we’ve discussed, speculation is growing that the Padres will make significant roster changes — including potentially trading likely future Hall of Fame third baseman Manny Machado — following an ownership change. Superstar outfielder/second baseman Fernando Tatis Jr. is likely safe, as is veteran shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

The Padres’ new ownership group recently emailed fans, saying the team is “all-in” ahead of the 2027 season. What that means, and whether it matters, depends on whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist. 

We mentioned Arozarena earlier, and he’s a pending free agent who isn’t expected to re-sign with the Mariners. Seattle still hasn’t replaced Dan Wilson, and the organization overall reeks of dysfunction. If that sounds harsh, look no further than Cal Raleigh’s lack of leadership and the Mariners forcing Wilson to announce his own firing. 

That said, the Padres have the best chance of these three to reach the 2027 World Series, though that’s not saying much.