Image: (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Records
AL East
Yankees 97-65 – Running it back with the same roster with Cole and a progressed Schlittler and a currently healthy roster (besides Rodon and Cole who will be back early) will get the Yankees back to the top of the AL East.
Blue Jays 93-69 – The loss of Bichette but progression of Yesavage should put them in the wild card, but won’t be enough to win the division again.
Red Sox 91-71 – Adding Ranger Suarez but losing Alex Bregman with their young roster that should only get better will lead to a better season in Boston in 2026.
Orioles 80-82 – The addition of Alonso and bolstering the pitching staff won’t be enough to compete in this year’s AL East.
Rays 70-92 – The Rays traded away some of their best players and are looking at a rebuilding season.
AL Central
Tigers 90-72 – Adding Valdez and Jansen should lead to a division title for Detroit.
Royals 86-76 – The Royals have bolstered their outfield and bullpen which should lead to a better record in 2026
Guardians 84-78 – No real offseason moves and getting hot at the end of last year should result in some regression in 2026.
Twins 67-85 – The lack of offseason moves should lead to similar results as last season.
White Sox 55-107 – This team will be terrible once again despite getting Murakami.
AL West
Mariners 92-70 – The Mariners will improve after improving at first base and getting another season of Bryan Woo despite likely seeing some regression to the mean from Raleigh.
Astros 87-75 – Replacing Valdez with Imai will lead to a similar record as last season for the Astros.
Athletics 83-79 – Their collection of veterans this offseason coupled with young talent should set them up to compete for a wild card spot but will likely not be enough due to their lack of pitching.
Rangers 76-86 – Their roster overhaul this offseason will not work out well in this newly competitive AL West
Angels 65-97 – The Angels’ lack of moves this offseason will lead to another lackluster season for them.
NL East
Phillies 95-67 – Picking up Adolis Garcia and retaining their core will lead to another NL East win for the Phillies.
Braves 90-72 – A full year of Acuña and their bullpen depth should earn them a wild card spot.
Mets 85-77 – After a hectic offseason losing many key players, the Mets will fall short of a playoff spot once again
Marlins 70-92 – The Marlins’ lack of a splash in the offseason and a high likelihood of them trading much of their talent at the deadline will have them finishing even worse than last season.
Nationals 62-100 – Using the offseason to rebuild and not spend will set the Nationals back, however you should watch out for their young talent.
NL Central
Brewers 91-73 – Coming into 2026 with more pitching depth despite trading Freddy Peralta should help the Brewers win the NL Central once again.
Cubs 87-75 – Despite getting Bregman, the Cubs lost Kyle Tucker and will now have a full year of figured out PCA and should regress from their success last season.
Pirates 83-79 – The Pirates’ flurry of offseason moves will without a doubt improve their roster and record for 2026.
Reds 80-82 – Since the Reds were pretty quiet this offseason, they’ll finish similar to how they did last year.
Cardinals 60-102 – The Cardinals decided to go rebuild mode this offseason, trading away their remaining talent, and thus they will have a down 2026 season.
NL West
Dodgers 102-60 – This is easily one of the best rosters ever assembled and will be competing against history rather than this year’s NL West, despite the division being very good this season. The fact that the NL West and the NL as a whole is so good this season will stop the Dodgers from getting to the 110 win mark.
Padres 90-72 – The Padres didn’t make any large moves this offseason and instead deepened their roster, setting themselves up for a similar result in 2026 as 2025.
Giants 85-77 – Stacking up on pitching depth and defense this offseason should help improve the Giants for the 2026 season.
Diamondbacks 84-78 – The addition of Nolan Arenado will surely improve the Diamondbacks heading into the 2026 season.
Rockies 50-112 – Small moves from this Rockies squad will improve them from their 43 win season last year but still not much to look forward to in Colorado (besides Brenton Doyle of course.)
Awards
AL MVP: Aaron Judge: He’s the best player in baseball and is getting better every year. This is a no doubt pick for me.
NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani: Shohei is the second best player in the game and will be able to pitch this year which will take away some of his batting statistics but will easily be enough to win him another MVP.
AL Cy Young: Tarik Skubal: Skubal is on a contract year and will continue his dominance in 2026 as the best pitcher in the AL.
NL Cy Young; Paul Skenes: This is a no-brainer pick here that needs no explanation.
AL Rookie of the year: Trey Yesavage: Despite being out for the first part of the season, Yesavage opened as the clear favorite and his strong end to last season makes him a strong candidate.
NL Rookie of the year: Nolan McLean: McLean had 8 starts last year and had a 2.06 ERA in those starts. He is the front runner in the betting odds right now.
AL Manager of the year: Dan Wilson (Mariners): With his second year in Seattle and the core from last year still together, Wilson has high expectations I believe he will live up to.
NL Manager of the year: Walt Weiss (Braves): Since the Braves are one of the teams I predict to go from a non-playoff team to a playoff team, the voters usually give this award to the manager whose team has the most improvement.
AL Hank Aaron: Aaron Judge: This is a no brainer pick that needs no explanation. I would not be surprised if he goes for the triple crown.
NL Hank Aaron: Ronald Acuña: With Ohtani back to pitching, I think he will have a down year batting and Acuña will beat him out for the top slugger in the NL. He’s also getting his first full year back from ACL surgery and should be ready to rake.
League Champions
AL Champ: Yankees: The AL looks a lot different from last year. The teams at the top of the AL that gave the Yankees issues, like the Blue Jays for example, seem to have taken a step down. This puts the Yankees in a good position to get back to the world series.
NL Champ: Phillies: It sounds easy to pick the Dodgers but baseball is too random. I don’t think this Dodgers core is as good as some of the other teams to have gone to the world series 3 times in a row and I think they will lose at some point on the way to a pennant. Additionally, this Phillies team is extremely well built and balanced.
World Series Winner: Yankees: The Yankees have their ace back, they have the MVP, they have the bullpen, and the clock is ticking for the Stanton, Cole, Judge trio to get their ring (especially with the lockout coming next year).
World Series MVP: Aaron Judge: We saw Judge get over his postseason woes last year and he finally seems ready for the moment. He gets his ring and his world series MVP.
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