Yup, this idea/concept of “a WS contender team” is a myth.
You only need to be a playoff team to win the WS.
You can quickly look at recent winners like the Rangers, Braves, and Nationals to see that a borderline playoff team can still win it all.
The Braves and Nationals specifically had way better teams in other years and didn’t make it to the WS. They both won with pretty weak teams in their respective years.
Just make the f’ing playoffs and hope a guy gets hot.
The Dodgers didn’t win the WS last year because they were the best team. They won the WS because guys like Freeman/Edman/Betts got blazing hot at the right time.