With Spring Training on its way and the season starting up in March, it’s time to establish some of the 30 MLB teams and what their seasons will look like in 2026 through some predictions. The teams are organized into multiple categories, as well as a few fun ones.
The Best of the Best
The Best of the Best category describes my prediction for the 6 division winners of the 2026 MLB season.
NL East: Philadelphia Phillies
This HAS to be the Phillies’ year as their championship window is closing. I think the Phillies will once again take over the division because I think the Braves will get hurt again and fall off and the Mets will always figure out a way to choke. However, come playoff time, they need to figure it out because Harper, Schwarber, Wheeler, and J.T. are all aging.
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are looking really good on paper. Despite losing Tucker, they signed Bregman to fill third base. They also improved their pitching as well, trading for Edward Cabrera. If this Cubs team can stay healthy, they can finally take the division for the first time since 2020.
NL West: Los Angeles Dodgers
Is this even a debate? The Dodgers continue to use their excessive wealth from TV deals and location to monopolize A-tier talent. The Padres could compete, but for now the Dodgers will continue to be an empire with the prospect of a salary cap as their kryptonite.
AL East: Toronto Blue Jays
This was a tough winner to pick. The Yankees, Red Sox, and Orioles are all also in the mix, but I can’t pick against the AL pennant winners. Additionally, the Red Sox and Yankees didn’t have a great offseason while I can’t really trust the O’s pitching. However, the Blue Jays still have most of their roster intact which leads me to believe they will come out on top in the AL East.
AL Central: Detroit Tigers
After a huge 2025 season from Detroit, I see them winning the division. How the Guardians won that division is beyond me as it came from small ball and tons of luck. However, the time to win for Detroit is NOW. This year could be the Tigers’ last chance to persuade Skubal to stay despite having an already great roster on both sides of the ball like Valdez, Jensen, Torres, Carpenter, Finnegan etc.
AL West: Seattle Mariners
Seattle had a great 2025, going seven games with the World Series runner up. In the offseason they made some great moves as well like trading for Brendan Donovan out of St. Louis and resigning Josh Naylor. Their only notable losses are Jorge Polanco to the Mets and Eugenio Suarez to the Reds. The pitching staff is still elite, and their offense will be filled with young talent like Colt Emerson.
The Sleeper Team For the 2026 Season
There are a couple teams in the running for this category: Athletics, Marlins, Pittsburgh, and maybe even Cincinnati. But my pick since the 2025 season ended has always been Miami. With their young rookie talent combined with Peter Bendix’s genius moves, I would watch out if I was part of a team playing them.
My World Series Matchup and Pick
For the World Series, I have the Cubs vs. the Mariners. I think the Cubs will have the pitching (if Steele and Cabrera stay healthy) to complement their explosive offense to bring them to the World Series. For the Mariners, though they lost Polanco to the Mets (who I have as my most overhyped team for the 2026 season) and Suarez to the Reds, I think they won’t miss a beat as they still have Cal, Julio, J.P. and Naylor. They also signed Brendan Donovan for some extra help on offense. In this series, I have the Cubs winning in 6 games. I think the Cubs are destined for another chip as PCA will take another leap and they have a lot of power in Seya, Bregman, Busch and more.
Conclusion
This upcoming season will be a lot of fun to watch with a lot of things to keep track of. Let’s hope the Dodgers don’t three-peat and ruin baseball this year.
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