Which playoff team most needs to win the World Series?
Fans of each team currently vying for the 2024 title would surely say, "Mine!" Nevertheless, every team has a different context, one that builds and ebbs and flows with each season. Teams age. Free agents leave and arrive. Playoff disappointments pile up. Playoff absences chafe.
Each season, we assess franchises by employing an old Bill James method for calculating "pressure points." The basic version assumes that the more success a team has without winning it all, the more their pressure builds. Not until they win it all does that pressure finally release, resetting the valve, and everyone who follows that team can relax. Thus, by that token, only fans of the Texas Rangers are currently in a state of pure release -- because Texas won last year.
This time, we mixed things up a little to account for other forms of pressure to create a new Pressure Index. Let's see how it all came out.
