​More than a quarter of the way through this 21st century, there’s a decent argument to be had over which Major League Baseball team is the Franchise of the Century. Looking for pure championship tonnage? The Boston Red Sox, with four World Series titles, are still the answer. A 14-year postseason streak that includes three World Series triumphs? It’d be hard to argue with the Los Angeles Dodgers, though we’d be remiss to not mention their archrival San Franciso Giants, who also reeled off three titles, in six years.Yet which champions of the 21st century were best-constructed, top to bottom? Dominant both in the regular season and October? USA TODAY Sports examines and ranks the 26 titlists since 2000:26. 2006 St. Louis CardinalsWe’re not here to take the shine off anyone’s diamonds, but this group is an easy choice for No. 25. At 83 wins, they tote the lowest win total of this group.  Their postseason run was turbocharged by manager Tony La Russa’s derring-do on the last day of the season, when he held out Chris Carpenter hoping his team would either win or back in with a Houston loss. They did both – and Carpenter plowed through the playoffs. The World Series was rainy and grim and error-prone. Best forgotten, unless you wash down your toasted ravioli with a swig of Schlafly.25. 2021 Atlanta BravesIt’s fitting that this seven-year run of Atlanta excellence netted a championship, but ironic that perhaps its most diminished team pulled it off. The Braves lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a midseason knee injury, won just 88 games and then saw Game 1 World Series starter Charlie Morton succumb to a broken leg. They gutted through with a handful of bullpen games, Max Fried’s brilliance and a three-headed, bepearled monster in the outfield to replace Acuña.24. 2011 St. Louis CardinalsWe mean no disrespect to the Gateway to the West. For real. It’s just that these Cardinals were 10 ½ games out of first on Sept. 5, won 90 games and needed some acts of nature to simply get in the playoffs. What they did have: Albert Pujols and Carpenter, who vanquished Roy Halladay and the Phillies in an epic NLDS Game 5 and made three World Series starts thanks to some timely rainouts.23. 2000 New York YankeesThe Yankees’ three-peat hardly ended with a whimper. They were just a little tired, perhaps. These Bombers won just 87 games and were forced to an ALDS Game 5 by the low-payroll Oakland Athletics. Yet all the usual suspects turned up when they needed them, buttressed by David Justice, who hit 20 homers after a June trade from Cleveland and three more big ones in the postseason, earning ALCS MVP.22. 2014 San Francisco GiantsPerhaps no franchise is tougher to slot in this exercise than the three-time champion Giants, whose whole was always grander than the sum of their parts. We’ll call this edition the weakest of their three even-year champions, simply because this was always a pitching-centric operation and Tim Hudson, 39, and Jake Peavy combined for