MLB 2024 playoff buzz: Bold predictions, dangerous teams, more - ESPN

There is less than a week remaining until the start of the 2024 MLB playoffs, and our MLB insiders are ready to break down the biggest questions, latest news and notable October buzz across the industry.

What is the boldest prediction we've heard from an MLB exec? How confident — or concerned — should New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers fans be heading into the postseason? And which under-the-radar players and teams are scouts raving about down the stretch? Here's the latest intel our MLB experts are hearing as Jeff Passan, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers, Jorge Castillo and Alden Gonzalez empty their notebooks heading into the playoffs.

Olney: One evaluator told me he thinks that Luke Weaver will emerge as a star through the postseason. If you close games for the Yankees, especially under the current circumstances, then you have that chance.

Passan: It's a toss-up between a pair of fiery takes: Detroit is going to win the American League pennant, and the San Diego Padres are going to sweep the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division series. The Tigers are the hottest team in baseball, yes, and they do have Tarik Skubal, who hasn't lost a game in nearly two months. But to go from 55-63 to the World Series with a roster that has almost no playoff experience is rather bold. The Padres are an excellent team, the best in MLB since the All-Star break, so picking them isn't a surprise. A sweep, though? That would be two straight for the Dodgers.

Olney: Most of the rival evaluators I talk to view the Yankees as a mystery, because they've played so inconsistently. «Jekyll or Hyde,» said one. «You really don't know what you're going to get.» They cite the uncertainty in the bullpen, the questions about some of the rotation members