The MLB playoffs do not, for the record, unfold according to what anyone wants to see. What happens happens, and that's the way it is.

It doesn't mean we can't dream, though, specifically about matchups that could come to fruition in the 2024 postseason.

With only 12 days left in the regular season, only a handful of playoff spots truly remain up for grabs. So at the least, nobody can say it's premature to look ahead to October and ponder what kind of entertainment it might contain.

Which is to say that it is with no misgivings that we're about to get into a list of 10 playoff matchups we want to see. And it's a good list, complete with rivalries of both classic and recent vintage and showdowns that would put a whole bunch of stars on the same field.

There are a few potential matchups that didn't make the cut, including clashes between division rivals such as the New York Yankees vs. Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets vs. Philadelphia Phillies or the Cleveland Guardians vs. Minnesota Twins or Kansas City Royals.

As for the 10 that did make the cut, they're ordered from least juicy to juiciest.

10. San Diego Padres vs. Milwaukee Brewers

2024 Season Series: Padres 5, Brewers 2

When It Could Happen: National League Championship Series

Action, Jacksons.

In other words, rooting for the Padres and Brewers to meet in the playoffs for the first time ever is worth it because it would put the two best rookie hitters in MLB on the same field: Jackson Merrill for San Diego and Jackson Chourio for Milwaukee.

The former was an All-Star in July, and he sure has a flair for the dramatic that would be right at home in October. Seven of his 24 home runs have come in late and close situations, including two walk-offs.

For his part, Chourio recently became the youngest hitter to ever notch a 20-20 season. And if the season had started on June 23, he'd be one of the three best players in the National League right now.

Apart from Jackson vs. Jackson, the bullpens would otherwise promise to turn this series into a nail-biter. Since the All-Star break, the San Diego and Milwaukee bullpens rank first and second in MLB for fWAR.

9. Baltimore Orioles vs. Kansas City Royals

2024 Season Series: Orioles 4, Royals 2

When It Could Happen: American League Wild Card Series

Speaking of playoff matchups that would result in head-to-head showdowns between ascendant players, this one would put the two best shortstops in MLB on the same field.

The Royals have Bobby Witt Jr., who ranks first among all shortstops in both rWAR and fWAR. The Orioles have Gunnar Henderson, who ranks second in both of those same categories.

The two aren't quite mirror images of each other, as Witt is a better hitter with more speed—he's batting .332 and is now the first shortstop ever with multiple 30-30 seasons—and Henderson is the more powerful slugger. With just three more home runs, he would become only the second shortstop since 2003 to reach 40 in a season.

What Witt and Henderson certainly have in common is credentials as ace defenders. The former co-leads shortstops in Outs Above Average, yet the latter has him beat in Defensive Runs Saved.

This would otherwise be a compelling matchup between starting rotations. The Royals rotation has gotten contributions from everyone to rank second in MLB with a 3.56 ERA. The Orioles, though, have 2021 NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes leading theirs.

8. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

2024 Season Series: Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 6

When It Could Happen: National League Championship Series

Enough about fascinating individual matchups. Let's talk revenge, starting with what the Dodgers owe the Diamondbacks.

By virtue of finishing 16.0 games behind them in the NL West standings, the D-backs should have been a massive underdog when they faced the Dodgers in the Division Series last year.

In the end, though, they scored as many runs in one inning off Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 as the Dodgers scored in the whole series as they got swept in three games.

"Disappointing no matter how it ends if you don't win the whole thing," Kershaw said after the damage was done. "Obviously this one hurts a lot just because of how it went down."

But you know what is just as titillating as revenge? Offense, and particularly when there's lots of it.

That would likely be the story of a rematch between the Dodgers and Diamondbacks. They're the two highest-scoring teams in MLB, which has been plenty apparent when they've met face-to-face. The 13 games between the two have yielded an average of 12.2 runs.

7. Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres

2024 Season Series: Padres 7, Dodgers 3

When It Could Happen: National League Championship Series

Then again, the Dodgers don't only have revenge to seek out against the Diamondbacks.

They also owe the Padres one for beating them in the NLDS in 2022, which was frankly more shocking than when Arizona pulled off the same feat a year later. Lest anyone forget, the 2022 Dodgers team was the one that won 111 games in the regular season.

Mind you, this is not to suggest the Padres should fear them.

That's not how these things work just in general, and certainly not in a year in which the Padres have had the Dodgers' number. The Friars have easily handled their blue-clad neighbors to the north this year, with two of those seven wins coming via walk-off at Petco Park.

Otherwise, it is with all respect to a potential Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks matchup that I dare say this one would feature a bit more star power.

It would be Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman vs. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill. And if Yu Darvish and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were to square off on the mound, a hunch says it wouldn't merely be a big deal here in the States.

6. Atlanta vs. Philadelphia Phillies

2024 Season Series: Atlanta 7, Phillies 6

When It Could Happen: National League Championship Series

By all rights, Atlanta should have been able to get back to the World Series in 2022 and/or 2023 after winning it in 2021.

Instead, though, a team that won 101 games in the 2021 regular season lost in the NLDS to the Phillies. And then in 2022, an even more formidable 104-win team lost in the NLDS again...to the Phillies, again.

"They played better than us last year and they played better than us this year," Atlanta slugger Matt Olson said after the latter defeat. "It sucks to have the success during the season and come in and lose the series."

If there's a downside to wanting to see if Atlanta could get revenge in a third straight playoff matchup with the Phillies, it's that only so many of their core members would have a say in the matter. Ronald Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider are both out of action, while Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies are racing against the clock to return from their own injuries.

What both clubs nonetheless have in abundance is electric starting pitching. These rotations rank third and fourth in ERA, and there's a solid chance of Atlanta's Chris Sale and Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler taking the top two spots in the NL Cy Young Award voting.

5. New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros

2024 Season Series: Yankees 6, Astros 1

When It Could Happen: American League Championship Series

Being 0-for-2 in recent playoff matchups against a bitter rival is one thing. Being 0-for-4 against a downright hated rival is something else entirely.

Such is the case for the Yankees against the Astros, who beat them in the do-or-die AL Wild Card Game in 2015 and then dispatched them in the ALCS in 2017, 2019 and 2022. The first of those ALCS defeats has since become, shall we say, famously infamous.

That was seven years ago, but it doesn't seem as if Yankees fans are over it. For their part, Astros fans have a history of letting Yankees fans know they should be careful what they wish for, vis-à-vis grudge matches.

Of course, all this is just theater.

What would really matter in a rematch between the Yankees and Astros is the ample talent on the field. Batting duos don't get any better than Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, though Houston might still prefer its Yordan Alvarez-Jose Altuve-Kyle Tucker-Alex Bregman quartet.

And, for that matter, a red-hot pitching staff that ranks second with a 3.18 ERA since the All-Star break.

4. New York Yankees vs. Philadelphia Phillies

2024 Season Series: Yankees 3, Phillies 0

When It Could Happen: World Series

Speaking of the Yankees, a fun fact about them is that FanGraphs favors them to win the World Series with an 18.4 percent chance of doing so.

One wonders how the actual best team in baseball feels about that.

That would be the Phillies, as the record should show that they have MLB's best, um, record at 90-60. And this is very much a case of them building on past success, notably in the sense that they've won more playoff games than any other team over the last two seasons.

That it's nonetheless been 16 years since the Phillies last won the World Series in 2008 is in part thanks to the Yankees, who denied them back-to-back championships with victory in the 2009 World Series.

Granted, all the players who participated in that Fall Classic are long gone. But these are two rosters worthy of a rematch, with each boasting a name-brand ace (Wheeler for Philly and Gerrit Cole for New York) and three hitters who each have at least 20 home runs.

That naturally includes Bryce Harper for the Phillies, and his presence alone would be a notable subplot in this matchup. Suffice it to say that the Yankees neglecting to shoot their shot at him in free agency six years ago is a point of exasperation in New York.

3. Houston Astros vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Season Series: Astros 2, Dodgers 1

When It Could Happen: World Series

The Yankees are certainly within their rights to hold a grudge against the Astros over what happened in 2017, but they were merely robbed of an American League pennant.

It's not nothing, but it doesn't quite compare with being robbed of a World Series title.

That was the sentiment coming from the Dodgers when the Astros' banging scheme came to light in 2020, and emotions have continued to run hot ever since.

Things got testy when the two sides met in Houston that year, and Dodgers fans didn't exactly turn the other cheek when the Astros visited Dodger Stadium in 2021 and 2023.

There is the complication that only so many players remain from the rosters that met in the World Series in 2017. But some do, including Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman for Houston and Clayton Kershaw for Los Angeles.

And, of course, neither team is necessarily less star-studded than it was seven years ago.

The Dodgers' offensive quartet of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernández is at least as good as Houston's. The pitching comparison is more lopsided in the Astros' favor for now, but Ohtani returning to pitch in October would shake up that equation.

2. New York Yankees vs. New York Mets

2024 Season Series: Mets 4, Yankees 0

When It Could Happen: World Series

There was drama aplenty when the Yankees and Mets threw down in the 2000 World Series, and not just because Roger Clemens chucked a shard of wood at Mike Piazza.

Though it only took the Yankees five games to dispatch the Mets, all five could have just as easily gone the other way. Not one game was decided by more than two runs, and the Mets held leads in two of their four losses.

So, if these two clubs meet for Subway World Series 2.0, they'll have a lot to live up to.

The sheer enormity of the occasion this time around would be impossible to ignore. Both the Yankees and Mets were big spenders in 2000, but they're even more so now with payrolls that combine for over $600 million.

And while stars would indeed be everywhere, nobody would be at the center of attention like Juan Soto.

Though he could theoretically have other suitors this winter, all signs point to an epic bidding war between the two New York clubs. The money is going to be huge no matter what, but you'd have to wonder if the outcome of a World Series clash would influence his outlook on which side is the better bet to chase Ws in the future.

1. New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

2024 Season Series: Dodgers 2, Yankees 1

When It Could Happen: World Series

We can debate whether Yankees vs. Dodgers is truly the best possible matchup for this year's World Series, but there's no arguing about one thing: It would be the most historic.

The Yankees and Dodgers have met in the Fall Classic 11 times, by far the most of any two teams in MLB history. You could get a good sense of baseball history just by studying those 11 World Series. Noted participants included Jackie Robinson, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax and, of course, Don Larsen and Reggie Jackson.

But since the last Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series was way back in 1981, it's past time they met for tête-à-tête No. 12.

There would certainly be star power-worthy of the 11 previous matchups. Above all, there might not be a more compelling clash of duos than Aaron Judge and Juan Soto vs. Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts. Across the last two seasons, they occupy four of the top six slots for rWAR.

And after last year's World Series was the least watched ever, it's impossible to fathom a better hope of a ratings boost than this one. New York and Los Angeles are the two biggest markets in MLB, and these are likewise the league's two highest-profile franchises.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.