Whereas the MLB regular season is an unrelenting, unforgiving gauntlet, the postseason is a smaller, anything-goes affair that can result in even the best teams going out like chumps.

When it happens, all one can really do is remember the victims.

That's what we're going to do by looking back at the 10 best teams since 2000 that dominated the regular season only to fall short of making it to the World Series. And lest anyone think it, we're not talking about lightweights here.

Though the ordering of these teams was a subjective exercise based on how impressive they still look in retrospect, two stats bind them all together. Each team won at least 100 games in the regular season, and with at least a plus-200 run differential to boot.

Without further delay, let's count 'em down.

Note: All historical playoff odds are courtesy of FanGraphs.

10. 2019 New York Yankees

Regular Season Result: 103-59, +204 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost ALCS, 4-2

They Had It All Going for Them

The 2019 Yankees were not what you would call a perfect team.

That was the year that injuries knocked Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino and Miguel Andujar out for basically the whole season. Aaron Judge also missed a bunch of time, and the year was a grind for the pitching staff. It landed in the middle of the pack with a 4.51 ERA.

But on the plus side, 2019 is also the year that the Bronx Bombers lived up to their moniker like never before in launching 306 home runs.

Thus did they fall just one short of that year's Minnesota Twins for the single-season record, though the Yankees out-homered their Minneapolis-based rivals by 16 in the second half. That was when Gleyber Torres hit 19 of his team-leading 38 homers. And only three of those were against the Baltimore Orioles, if you can believe it.

As volatile as the rotation was, the bullpen had Aroldis Chapman, Zack Britton and Adam Ottavino at the back end. The three combined for a 2.00 ERA in 2019.

By the time the regular season ended, the Yankees had gone wire to wire as a leading World Series contender. Their chances of going to the Fall Classic began at 26.9 percent and ended at 26.4 percent.

Until They Didn't

But then, in Game 6 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros, this happened:

Jose Altuve's home run was the one that sparked all those conspiracy theories about buzzers, but here's the thing about MVP-winning, Hall of Fame-bound hitters: They don't need to cheat to demolish hanging sliders.

9. 2023 Atlanta

Regular Season Result: 104-58, +231 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost NLDS, 3-1

They Had It All Going for Them

Speaking of clubs that might have simply bludgeoned their way to the Fall Classic, remember the team that Atlanta had last season?

Pick a statistic. Any statistic. Chances are it will rate Atlanta's 2023 offense as one of the best ever. Most notably, they tied the single-season record with 307 home runs and nearly matched the 1927 Yankees with a 126 OPS+.

It was, of course, mostly the Ronald Acuña Jr. show. He founded the 40-70 club with 41 home runs and 73 stolen bases, the latter of which were more than two whole teams had all year.

Atlanta also got 54 home runs from Matt Olson, plus 40 from Marcell Ozuna, 37 from Austin Riley and 33 from Ozzie Albies. It is the only case in history of a team getting at least 33 long balls from five different players.

Unlike the 2019 Yankees, Atlanta also had good starting pitching in 2023. Spencer Strider had one of the great strikeout seasons of all time, yet Max Fried, Charlie Morton and even Bryce Elder all bested him in the ERA department.

When the regular season ended, Atlanta was a 34.9 percent favorite to go to the World Series and a 20.6 percent favorite to win it.

Until They Didn't

But then a curious thing happened with Atlanta against the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS: They just stopped hitting.

There's no other way to put it. After posting an .845 OPS and scoring 5.9 runs per game during the regular season, Atlanta's hitters flopped hard with a .519 OPS and eight runs in the Division Series.

8. 2021 Los Angeles Dodgers

Regular Season Result: 106-56, +269 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost NLCS, 4-2

They Had It All Going for Them

This is a spoiler for the next team on this list, but it's saying something that the 2021 Dodgers dominated so thoroughly yet didn't even finish in first place.

There is, however, still no doubt that their dominance was the real deal.

Given their run differential, the '21 Dodgers should have been a 109-win team rather than a mere 106-win team. They led MLB in runs allowed, as well as the National League in runs scored.

Though injuries rendered 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger a non-factor in 2021, the Dodgers lineup only got more star-studded when Trea Turner joined Mookie Betts, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Max Muncy, Will Smith and AJ Pollock at the trade deadline.

Coming with Turner from the Washington Nationals was also Max Scherzer, who made an already elite pitching staff that much better. After he debuted in Dodger blue, Los Angeles pitchers put up a 2.69 ERA.

Despite not finishing in first place, the '21 Dodgers entered the playoffs as a 27.8 percent favorite to represent the NL in the World Series.

Until They Didn't

The Dodgers did fight hard to make it to the National League Championship Series, walking off the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Game and then defeating the San Francisco Giants in five games in the NLDS.

But then they just plain got beat by Atlanta in the NLCS. That was mostly on the starters, who managed a 7.71 ERA and gave up six home runs in 18.2 innings.

7. 2021 San Francisco Giants

Regular Season Result: 107-55, +210 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost NLDS, 3-2

They Had It All Going for Them

To understand just how out of nowhere the Giants came in 2021, let's consider their Opening Day odds to do the following:

• Make Playoffs: 5.7 percent
• Win NL West: 0.2 percent
• Win NL Pennant: 0.3 percent

These aren't even also-ran figures. They're nobody figures. The 2021 Giants were pretty much supposed to be irrelevant.

Instead, they ended up setting a franchise record for wins in a season.

It mostly came down to hitting the ball over the fence. Though Brandon Belt needed only 29 long balls to lead the team, he was one of 10 Giants hitters who produced at least a dozen home runs in the regular season. They even got 18 from Buster Posey, or six more than he had hit across the last three years combined.

This was also the pitching staff that finished second in MLB with a 3.24 ERA. Logan Webb, Kevin Gausman and Anthony DeSclafani did most of the carrying, combining for a 2.99 ERA over 508 innings.

By besting the Dodgers for the NL West lead, the Giants got to skip right ahead to the Division Series. At that point, their once-nonexistent pennant odds stood at 21.1 percent.

Until They Didn't

It's only been three years, but let's not forget that the Giants' 2021 season ended on a check swing that was very obviously not a swing:

Even with this said, it's hard to make the case that the Giants should have beaten the Dodgers in the NLDS. Though the series went the full five games, the Dodgers outscored the Giants by eight runs.

6. 2018 Houston Astros

Regular Season Result: 103-59, +263 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost ALCS, 4-1

They Had It All Going for Them

The Astros won AL pennants in 2019 and 2021 and the World Series in 2017 and 2022, so nobody will weep for them. Scold them, maybe, but not weep for them.

But what if the team they had in 2018 is the best in their history?

There's a valid case here just because of their Pythagorean record, which posits that the 2018 Astros should have won six more games than they did. Whatever the case, they peaked at the right time with a 21-6 record in September.

All things flowed according to a pitching staff that led MLB with a 3.11 ERA. More specifically, it flowed according to Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Though Blake Snell won the AL Cy Young Award, Houston's aces ranked first and second in fWAR that year.

The offense was weirdly just OK in the scheme of things, but star-studded nonetheless. Alex Bregman (.926 OPS, 31 HR) had his awakening as a superstar in 2018, while Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa remained threats as well.

Though the Astros shared the American League with a 108-win Boston Red Sox team, the odds favored the former to make the World Series (34.8 percent) and to win it (24.1 percent).

Until They Didn't

The Red Sox ultimately had something to say about that, and it came out loud and clear in an ALCS victory highlighted by that catch by Andrew Benintendi:

That was also the game with the fan interference call against Altuve, but the Astros can't claim to have been robbed. The Red Sox outscored them by eight runs for the series.

5. 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers

Regular Season Result: 106-56, +273 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost NLDS, 3-2

They Had It All Going for Them

As good as the Dodgers were in 2021, they'd had a slightly better team just two years earlier.

The 2019 season was, as Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis put it at one point, Cody Bellinger's time. He hit .305/.406/.629 with 47 home runs en route to winning the NL MVP, also leading the National League with 351 total bases.

Bellinger did have help, though. Max Muncy and Joc Pederson also topped 35 home runs that year, with Justin Turner pitching in 27 of his own. Those four drove the bus to 279 total home runs, which stood as the National League record until Atlanta broke it in 2023.

The 2019 season was also the last time that Clayton Kershaw resembled a workhorse, and he wasn't even the Dodgers' best pitcher. He shared the spotlight with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler. Together, the three pitched 543.1 innings and combined for a 2.87 ERA.

The bullpen was a relative weakness for much of the season, but came on strong as the Dodgers were winning 18 out of 24 in September. It had a 2.94 ERA for the month.

When September came to a close, the Dodgers were an overwhelming 38.6 percent favorite to go to the World Series.

Until They Didn't

Six outs. Just six outs. That was all the Dodgers needed to at least get to the NLCS in 2019, but Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto had other ideas in Game 5 of the NLDS:

That set the stage for Howie Kendrick's grand slam in the 10th inning and, with it, one of the more shocking upsets in recent MLB history.

4. 2017 Cleveland Guardians

Regular Season Result: 102-60, +254 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost ALDS, 3-2

They Had It All Going for Them

It's wild to look back and see that the 2017 Guardians only had a 0.5-game lead in the AL Central as late as July 19.

Things, uh, changed after that. The Guardians won 54 of their last 69 games, with an AL record-setting 22 wins coming in a single bunch between August 24 and September 17.

The 2017 Guardians should otherwise be remembered for having maybe the greatest pitching staff ever assembled.

It's the most productive staff in history in terms of fWAR. It owned the three true outcomes that year, racking up the most strikeouts of any team while also permitting the fewest walks and the fewest home runs.

The lineup wasn't too shabby either. Francisco Lindor and Edwin Encarnación both topped 30 home runs, with José Ramírez falling just short with 29. The Guardians also got a strong second half from Carlos Santana, who hit 13 homers with a .906 OPS.

Ultimately, the Guardians finished 2017 as a heavy favorite to win both the AL pennant (39.9 percent) and the World Series (23.9 percent). After it nearly happened in 2016, it seemed as if the burden of 1948 would finally come off their backs.

Until They Didn't

Things began well enough for the Guardians in the 2017 playoffs. They got out to a 2-0 lead over the Yankees in the ALDS, with a little help from a Lindor grand slam amid an epic comeback in Game 2.

But then Cleveland just plain stopped rocking. They lost the last three games of the series, getting outscored 13-5 in the process.

3. 2001 Oakland Athletics

Regular Season Result: 102-60, +239 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost ALDS, 3-2

They Had It All Going for Them

It is hard to call the A's the best team of 2001, given that there was another team that won 116 games that year. And yes, we will get more into them soon.

But the A's were, in fact, the best team in baseball by the end of the '01 season. They went 58-17 in the second half, ultimately winning 29 of their last 33 games.

This was the pinnacle for the Tim Hudson-Mark Mulder-Barry Zito trio. Each topped 210 innings and a 125 ERA+ in 2001, making them the last threesome of AL starters to do so.

Closing games was Jason Isringhausen, who was unhittable as the A's scorched their way to the finish of the '01 season. He allowed one run in his last 13 appearances.

This was also the year that Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Eric Chavez became the first trio of infielders to each top 30 home runs in a season. And after joining at the trade deadline, Jermaine Dye came through with a .913 OPS with 13 home runs.

Sadly, FanGraphs' odds don't go as far back as 2001. But speaking as someone who was there in the East Bay that year, I do recall the general vibe being one of the A's being the team to beat going into October.

Until They Didn't

The A's seemed to have their ticket to the ALCS as good as punched after they came back from New York with a 2-0 lead. But then in Game 3, Derek Jeter did this:

The A's never really recovered, losing that game and the next two to the Yankees by a lopsided run differential of 15-5.

2. 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers

Regular Season Result: 111-51, +334 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost NLDS, 3-1

They Had It All Going for Them

The Dodgers did not win 116 games in 2022. But even in coming as close as they did, they may have underachieved.

This is according to their Pythagorean record of 116-46, anyway, and they would have tied the single-season record for wins if it had come true. As it is, they salvaged the fourth-best run differential in modern history.

When looking back at the roster the Dodgers had in 2022, the phrase "embarrassment of riches" comes to mind.

They didn't yet have Shohei Ohtani, but they did have Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman and they came through with 35 homers and a .325 average, respectively. Trea Turner had a 20-20 season, while Max Muncy and Will Smith also topped 20 homers.

On the mound, not one, not two, not three, but four starters graced the Dodgers with at least 20 starts and a sub-3.00 ERA. They even had a former Cy Young Award winner pitching in relief, and David Price was quite good at it to the tune of a 2.45 ERA.

Come the end of the regular season, the odds actually favored Atlanta (28.3 percent) to go to the World Series over the Dodgers (26.2 percent). Rather than an early warning, it seemed like some sort of mistake.

Until They Didn't

So, how the heck did a team that won 111 games in the regular season only manage to win one in the playoffs?

It came down to the Dodgers not being able to cover up warts that were always there, and especially on the pitching side. Their starters especially looked gassed in coughing up a 6.86 ERA opposite the San Diego Padres in the NLDS.

1. 2001 Seattle Mariners

Regular Season Result: 116-46, +300 Run Differential

Postseason Result: Lost ALCS, 4-1

They Had It All Going for Them

You knew we would eventually get to the 2001 Mariners and, well, here they are.

They didn't have any business being historically good after waving goodbye to Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez in recent offseasons, but it turned out they knew something about Ichiro Suzuki that the rest of us didn't.

More than two decades later, it is hard to articulate what a sensation Ichiro was amid a season that netted him AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors. He was as big a star as the guy who won the NL MVP, which is remarkable considering that Ichiro hit 65 fewer homers.

The 2001 Mariners otherwise got 100-plus runs batted in from Bret Boone, Edgar Martinez and Mike Cameron, as well as a 21-homer season from Jon Olerud.

The team didn't have an ace, necessarily, but it still led the majors with a 3.54 ERA. Freddy Garcia, Aaron Sele and a relatively young (i.e., 38 years old) Jamie Moyer all topped 200 innings with ERAs in the 3.00s. In the bullpen, Kazuhiro Sasaki saved 45 games.

The 2001 Mariners won 15 games in a row at one point, and that was but one of seven win streaks of at least five games. They never lost more than nine games in a single month.

Again, there are no odds to refer back to. But it sure seemed then like nobody was going to be able to beat them.

Until They Didn't

Yet there is no other way to explain what happened to the '01 Mariners in the ALCS than to say that they just plain got beat.

The Yankees only outscored them by three runs in the five games, but it was enough. And it was certainly to their credit that they silenced who they needed to silence, particularly in allowing Ichiro to go just 4-for-18.

Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference, FanGraphs and Baseball Savant.