The Dodgers are going to win the World Series again, and most of the baseball world already knows it. They were the two-time defending champions before Opening Day even started, and then they went out and signed Kyle Tucker for $240 million and Edwin Diaz to close games. Nobody is stopping this team. But let me go division by division, team by team, and tell you exactly how I think this whole thing plays out in 2026.
2026 MLB Predictions: American League East
The Toronto Blue Jays went to the World Series in 2025 and nearly beat the Dodgers in seven games. They came within one out of pulling it off. This offseason they signed Dylan Cease to a 7-year, $210 million deal, grabbed Kazuma Okamoto at third base, and brought back Max Scherzer. Yes, they lost Bo Bichette to the Mets. But the lineup still has Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the center of it, Trey Yesavage developing into something real, and now a legitimate rotation ace in Cease. The Blue Jays are the class of this division again and win it.
The New York Yankees ran the best offense in the AL last season and are basically running it back. Gerrit Cole missed all of 2025 with Tommy John surgery but is back, and when he joins Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, and Cam Schlittler, New York will have one of the better rotations in baseball. Cody Bellinger re-signed on a five-year deal after being exactly what they needed in 2025. The Yankees will not win the division but they will not miss the playoffs.
The Baltimore Orioles had a rough 2025 and finished last in the AL East. Mike Elias went out and addressed it aggressively. Pete Alonso is an Oriole now, a five-year, $155 million deal for a guy who averaged 39 home runs per season since 2021. They also grabbed Ryan Helsley for the back of the bullpen and acquired both Shane Baz and Grayson Rodriguez to shore up a rotation that had a 4.65 ERA last year. The question is whether it is enough to get them to the wild card. I think it is.
The Boston Red Sox did not land a big-name bat. Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, and Sonny Gray give them a legitimately good rotation, but they plugged Willson Contreras in at first base and are banking on Roman Anthony taking a step forward. If Anthony hits like the scouts say he can, Boston will be a problem. If he does not, they are a 4th place team and nothing more.
The Tampa Bay Rays rebuilt the roster this offseason after losing Brandon Lowe and Josh Lowe. Shane McClanahan is back from two years of Tommy John and nerve damage, and that matters. Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz need to carry the offense in what remains a tough division. The Rays will compete but do not have enough to get to the postseason.
2026 MLB Predictions: American League Central
The Detroit Tigers were one of the best stories in baseball in 2025, building a big AL Central lead before Cleveland took the division from them late in the season. They still have Tarik Skubal, who has won back-to-back AL Cy Youngs and is the best pitcher in the American League. Top prospect Kevin McGonigle is making the Opening Day roster. The Tigers are not a complete team, but they are good enough to win a wide-open division and finally get a title.
The Kansas City Royals have Bobby Witt Jr. and that gets you in any conversation. Witt finished in the top five for AL MVP last season and enters 2026 as one of the three best position players in the American League. The Royals ranked 26th in runs scored last year, which tells you what the problem is. They added Lane Thomas, Isaac Collins, and Starling Marte, but none of those are lineup-changers. They sneak into the wild card.
The Cleveland Guardians won the AL Central for the second straight year in 2025 and did almost nothing this offseason. Their offense was 26th in the league despite having Jose Ramirez. That is not going to magically fix itself. They have the bullpen depth to stay relevant but a bad offense drags a good pitching team to mediocrity by September. They finish third.
The Minnesota Twins are in full teardown mode after trading Carlos Correa, Jhoan Duran, and others at the 2025 deadline. Pablo Lopez is out for the entire 2026 season with UCL surgery. Joe Ryan will get the ball on Opening Day for a rotation that has no real ace. The Twins will be competitive for a while but fall down the standings in the second half.
The Chicago White Sox are still rebuilding, but Munetaka Murakami is an interesting piece. The Japanese slugger hit 56 home runs in a single NPB season and is only 26. If his power translates even partially, Chicago has something worth watching. Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith are coming through the system. The Sox will not contend in 2026 but they are not historically bad anymore either.
2026 MLB Predictions: American League West
The Seattle Mariners came one win short of their first World Series in 2025. They lost ALCS Game 7 to the Blue Jays. They still have Bryan Woo, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Luis Castillo as arguably the best rotation in baseball. Cal Raleigh was the AL MVP runner-up last season. Julio Rodriguez enters his age-25 season and the entire organization believes this is when he puts it all together. Brendan Donovan was signed as an All-Star utility piece and Josh Naylor is back for a full season after the trade deadline pickup. Bryce Miller is opening on the IL with an oblique, which is the only real concern. The Mariners will make it back to the ALCS, and this time they get through it.
The Texas Rangers are not a World Series team but they are not completely cooked either. They picked up Marcus Semien in a trade with the Mets and they have enough veterans to stay relevant in the wild card picture. They need the rotation to hold up. Finish second in the AL West.
The Oakland Athletics have Nick Kurtz, who won the AL Rookie of the Year in 2025 with 35 home runs in 117 games. If he runs that back over 162 games in 2026, he is a legitimate MVP candidate. The A’s have an interesting young core but not enough depth around him to compete for a playoff spot.
The Houston Astros are hanging on. Josh Hader and Jeremy Pena open on the IL. The formula that made them a dynasty is no longer working, and Framber Valdez and Justin Verlander at the top of the rotation are both injury risks. Jim Crane is being patient with the front office, but this team is no longer built to compete for a pennant.
The Los Angeles Angels keep rebuilding and never getting anywhere. Anthony Rendon is finally off the books. Grayson Rodriguez was acquired from Baltimore in a trade. There is not enough here to make the postseason. Finish last.
2026 MLB Predictions: National League East
The Philadelphia Phillies win the NL East, and it is not as close as people think. Kyle Schwarber re-signed for five years and $150 million, JT Realmuto is back, Bryce Harper is still here, and Cristopher Sanchez got a long-term extension after becoming one of the best pitchers in the NL. Jesus Luzardo got a five-year, $135 million deal and gives them a real one-two punch in the rotation with Sanchez. Zack Wheeler is back from thoracic outlet surgery. This is a deep, veteran team that has repeatedly flopped in October, and I think this year they make a real run.
The New York Mets had a historic collapse in 2025 and did not make the postseason despite having the second-highest payroll in baseball. David Stearns overhauled the roster. They brought in Bo Bichette to play third, added Marcus Semien at second, signed Freddy Peralta and brought in Nolan McLean to stabilize the rotation. Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor are still two of the best players in the National League. The Mets will be good enough for the second wild card but not good enough to beat the Phillies in the division.
The Atlanta Braves were waiting on Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. to return in 2025 and they are fully back now. This is still a talented roster. They re-signed Raisel Iglesias and grabbed Mauricio Dubon. The issue is they are getting older at key spots and Brian Snitker could retire after this season. They finish third but make the wild card.
The Miami Marlins surprised everyone by going 54-42 in their final 96 games last season. Sandy Alcantara is healthy. Peter Bendix continues to rebuild the front office and the player development pipeline. Agustin Ramirez is going to hit. They are not a playoff team but they are no longer a laughingstock.
The Washington Nationals added Cedric Mullins and Gavin Lux but are still in a rebuilding phase. The young core is real but they are not yet ready to compete in this division. Finish last.
2026 MLB Predictions: National League Central
The Chicago Cubs finally made the big-name addition their fans have been begging for. Alex Bregman is a Cub. He brings a postseason pedigree, having been to October every single year since debuting in 2016. The Cubs had a strong first two months in 2025 before the Brewers passed them, and Bregman pushes them over the top this year. Pete Crow-Armstrong is turning into a legitimate star in center field.
The Milwaukee Brewers posted the best record in MLB last season and I am not going to pretend that did not happen. They traded Freddy Peralta and Caleb Durbin this offseason, which hurts the rotation depth. Jacob Misiorowski has to take a step as the ace they need him to be. The Brewers will compete until September but the Cubs have more firepower this year.
The Cincinnati Reds are in a tough spot with Hunter Greene expected to miss until July with a bone spur surgery. Chase Burns could be a legitimate Cy Young candidate as a result of getting regular starts. Eugenio Suarez was signed for some needed power. The Reds are a fringe contender and nothing more.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are the most interesting team in the NL Central to me, and yes, I am biased. Paul Skenes won the 2025 NL Cy Young with a 1.97 ERA and 216 strikeouts in 32 starts. He is the best young pitcher in baseball. The Pirates went out this offseason and actually spent money for the first time in franchise history, giving Ryan O’Hearn the biggest free agent deal for a position player ever in team history at 2 years and $29 million. They traded for Brandon Lowe, who hit 31 home runs last season with the Rays. They signed Marcell Ozuna as the DH. They finally gave Skenes some offense. Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft give the rotation depth behind Skenes and Mitch Keller. Konnor Griffin, the number one prospect in all of baseball, is starting in Triple-A but will be in Pittsburgh at some point. This is not a playoff team yet, but it is a legitimate 80-win team and a preview of what is coming. The window is opening in Pittsburgh, even if it is not all the way open in 2026.
The St. Louis Cardinals are in full teardown mode. Chaim Bloom came in as president of baseball operations and traded Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado, Brendan Donovan, and Sonny Gray. Top prospect JJ Wetherholt will debut in the infield. This is a 70-win team for a reason. Cardinals fans should have patience because the rebuild is real, but it is going to be painful this season.
2026 MLB Predictions: National League West
The Los Angeles Dodgers added Kyle Tucker on a 4-year, $240 million deal and Edwin Diaz to close games. They already had Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, and Roki Sasaki. Blake Snell is opening on the IL but the Dodgers have run through 40 pitchers in back-to-back seasons and still won the World Series both times. Ohtani is pitching more this year than he did in 2025, and he has publicly said he wants to win the Cy Young. This team is going to win 95 or more games and cruise to the NL West title.
The San Diego Padres signed Sung-Mun Song and re-signed Michael King on a three-year deal. They have Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, and Dylan Cease… wait, Cease went to Toronto. The Padres have a good bullpen and enough offense to stay in second place, but there is a massive gap between them and the Dodgers.
The Arizona Diamondbacks won the 2023 World Series and it feels like a decade ago. The rotation is not what it was. They had an aggressive trade at the deadline but their core is aging and they did not add enough this offseason to seriously challenge.
The San Francisco Giants finally did something this offseason, signing Tyler Mahle and making a few moves to get off the 81-81 treadmill they have been on for three years. If they can get to 87 or 88 wins, it would be a breakout by their recent standards.
The Colorado Rockies have been historically bad for two straight seasons. There is no realistic path to the postseason here. Michael Lorenzen on a one-year deal is the splash of the offseason. That is all you need to know.
The World Series: Dodgers Beat the Mariners for the Three-Peat
The Mariners are going to get to the World Series this year. They have the rotation, they have Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez in the lineup, and they have been one win away from the Fall Classic. That Game 7 ALCS loss to the Blue Jays in 2025 is going to fuel them all season. They get through the AL and they make history just by showing up to the World Series.
The Dodgers beat them in six games.
This is not a slight against Seattle. The Mariners are a genuinely great baseball team. But the Dodgers have Ohtani on the mound, Kyle Tucker batting cleanup, Edwin Diaz closing, and a lineup that is going to score five runs a night no matter what you throw at them. Yamamoto and Glasnow give them two shutdown starters for a short series. The Dodgers become the first team since the 2000 Yankees to win three straight World Series titles. This is the most stacked roster I have seen assembled in my lifetime of watching baseball, and I am not betting against them.
2026 MLB Award Predictions
AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr. Witt has been one of the three best players in baseball and the Royals have never built around him the way they need to. He is going to put up a monster stat line in 2026 and stop finishing second. The guy does everything. He is going to make voters pay attention and I think he finally gets the trophy.
NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani. There is no point in pretending otherwise. Ohtani has been the NL MVP in consecutive seasons and is the projected most valuable player in baseball when you combine his hitting and pitching contributions. His fWAR projection is 8.4, over a full win ahead of Aaron Judge. He hits leadoff, he throws 150-plus innings, and he does not appear to have a ceiling. This is his award until someone takes it from him, and nobody in the NL is close.
AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal. Two-time defending winner. The Tigers ace is the best pitcher in the American League and it is not close. He leads the AL in most categories that matter and enters 2026 looking to win a third straight. The guy is in his prime and has shown no signs of regression. Give him the trophy now.
NL Cy Young: Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The case for Ohtani winning the NL Cy Young is real, and ESPN has him as the favorite. But I am taking Yamamoto. He is the Dodgers’ true ace, the guy who carried the 2025 postseason on his back when everyone else was hurt. With a full, healthy season and Edwin Diaz taking the ninth inning off his plate in terms of team pressure, Yamamoto is going to be the most dominant starter in the NL. He has the stuff to post a sub-2.50 ERA and pile up 200-plus strikeouts. Ohtani is going to get MVP consideration anyway. Let Yamamoto have this one.
Home Run Leaders: Kyle Schwarber (NL), Aaron Judge (AL). Schwarber was the NL home run king in 2025 and signed a five-year deal to stay in Philly. Citizens Bank Park is still Citizens Bank Park. Judge is perpetually one of the three most dangerous power hitters in baseball and the AL does not have anyone who consistently challenges him. These two have been the standard for power in their respective leagues and I do not see that changing in 2026.
It is a 162-game season. Things will blow up. Someone I love is going to get hurt and someone I dismissed is going to win something. That is baseball. But those are my picks, and I am sticking to them.
