The champagne has barely dried in Milwaukee, and already the question is shifting to next year: in a way-too-early look at 2027, are the Milwaukee Brewers the No. 1 team in baseball? After a 103-win season and an 11-2 postseason that ended with the franchise’s first World Series title, the case for keeping them on top is stronger than any challenger’s case for knocking them off.
Milwaukee Brewers after winning the World Series (Credits: MLB)
Start with the obvious: the Brewers just proved they are the best team in the sport, and their core is built to last. Ace Jacob Misiorowski finished the season as the game’s most dominant young pitcher — a 1.80 ERA, 252 strikeouts, and a World Series clincher on his resume. Rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt announced himself as a star in October, and Jackson Chourio set a five-game Series record with 11 hits. This is not an aging champion. It is a young one.
Way-Too-Early 2027 MLB Power Rankings: Are the Brewers No. 1?
The Brewers’ case goes beyond star power. They led the majors in hits (1,422) and finished near the top in runs (832) and ERA (3.52), a rare combination of an elite offense and an elite pitching staff. Their bullpen, which shortened games all October, returns largely intact. Their manager, Pat Murphy, has now won Manager of the Year in his first two full seasons and a title in his third. And the organization’s player-development pipeline — the engine that survived the departures of Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, and Willy Adames — keeps producing the next wave.
So who could challenge them? The Los Angeles Dodgers remain the obvious threat: a star-studded rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, and Tarik Skubal is the kind of talent that can flip any ranking on its own. The Tampa Bay Rays, fresh off a World Series run with the league’s best WHIP (1.14), will be hungry after losing in five games. And the Chicago Cubs, who led baseball in runs (850), have the offense to make a leap.
But early rankings are not about who has the most famous names — they are about who proved it most recently, and nobody proved more than Milwaukee. The Brewers closed the season on a 26-5 heater, swept the defending champions in the NLCS, and beat the Rays in five games while barely breaking stride. Until someone beats them, the burden of proof sits with the challengers.
What Could Knock the Brewers Off the Top in 2027
There are real questions, of course. Repeating is brutally hard in baseball, and the Brewers did it on the sport’s 19th-ranked payroll — the lowest for a champion in 23 years. Keeping this roster together, staying healthy, and surviving another 162-game grind will test even this organization’s depth. The Dodgers’ rotation, if healthy, is a nightmare matchup for anyone.
Still, if you are building a way-too-early 2027 power ranking today, the honest answer is simple: start with the champs. The Brewers earned the top spot the hard way, and they have the youth, the pitching, and the system to defend it. Everyone else is chasing Milwaukee now.
Also Read: Brewers Capture First World Series Title in Franchise History With 4-1 Game 5 Win Over Rays | World Series Champs, at Last! Milwaukee Brewers Barrel Their Way to the Top
Source: ESPN — read the full story there.
