Happy New Year, baseball fans!
As the calendar approaches 2026, what's next for the sport? epic 2025? We asked our MLB experts for their boldest predictions for what the new year will bring.
From breakthrough teams to the topics that will define the next 12 months, let's look into a crystal ball and pick the topics we'll all be talking about in 2026.
Breakthrough Teams
Baltimore Orioles will win the 2026 World Series
The Orioles finished last in the AL East in 2025, but their 75 wins were the most by a fifth-place finisher. Since then, the franchise has bolstered its young corps with a team of veterans, including 1B. Pete AlonsoFROM Taylor WardRHPS Shane Baz And Zach Eflin and closer Ryan Helsley.
Gunnar Henderson should be back in 2024 form. Trevor Rogers could continue its 2025 form. Best Prospects Samuel Basallo will be a breakout star. The Orioles don't mess around, and don't be surprised when Jackson Holliday becomes a legitimate AL All-Star and makes a 30/30 run. — Eric Karabell
Seattle Mariners wins the franchise's first World Series title
This will be the year when Julio Rodriguez fully reveals himself as one of the best players in the game, Cal Raleigh continues his reign as the best catcher in the majors, and Colt Emerson advances to the major leagues in May and wins the AL Rookie of the Year award. The Mariners are at the beginning of a long run of dominance that will resemble what the Astros accomplished from 2015-24. — Buster Olney
Dominican Republic ruined WBC final rematch Japan-USA
The current champion of Japan will take part Shohei Ohtani And Yoshinobu Yamamoto for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. The US roster will be more loaded than ever with players like Aaron JudgeRoles, Bobby Witt Jr.., Kyle Schwarber, Pull Skubala And Paul Skens. Everything points to a rematch of the 2023 final.
Except the Dominican Republic will win. His power lineup is a pitcher's nightmare. Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.., Jose Ramirez, Geraldo PerdomoJulio Rodriguez, Ketel Marte, Junior Caminero, Fernando Tatis Jr.., Ellie Dela Cruz and maybe Manny Machado. The challenge for coach Albert Pujols will be deciding who to play.
The key, however, would be the best staff, which could include Christopher Sanchez, Freddy Peralta, Framber Valdez, Luis Castillo, Sandy Alcantara, John Durant And Brian Abreu – if they all commit to play. After winning in 2013, DR was eliminated early in 2017 (second round) and 2023 (group play) with a score of just 6-4. Looking for memorable home runs, big swings at bat and perhaps an unbeaten path to a championship. — David Shenfield
Year of the Pirates?
Pittsburgh Pirates will make the postseason for the first time since 2015
The Pirates' top priority this offseason was clear: revamping an offense that ranks dead last in the majors in runs scored wherever possible so as not to waste another year of Paul Skeens and the rest of the team's strong pitching staff. So far, so good. The Pirates failed to land one of the best forwards available this winter after showing real interest in Kyle Schwarber and Josh Naylor among others, but they still managed to significantly expand the lineup with a first baseman/designated hitter. Ryan O'Hearn and second baseman Brandon Lowe plus a fast outfielder Jake Mangum and the announced long-term prospect Jostinxon Garcia on board.
The numbers illustrate the potential for significant improvement:
Spencer Horwitz led the Pirates with a 119 wRC+ and Joey Bart was the only Pirate above league average with a 101 wRC+ last season. Meanwhile, O'Hearn, a first-time All-Star in 2025, posted a 127 wRC+. Lowe scored 114 points.
O'Neal Cruz led Pittsburgh with 20 home runs. Brian Reynolds finished second with 16. Lowe alone hit 31 home runs, while O'Hearn hit 17.
There's also shortstop Connor Griffin, a promising prospect who turns 20 in April and could be on the Pirates' roster by then after reaching and starring in Double-A last season.
Pittsburgh finished 12 games shy of 83 wins. Cincinnati Reds for third place Wild Card. 83 wins likely won't be enough to make the postseason in 2026, so the Pirates will need a huge leap to break their postseason drought. But if the pitching staff picks up where they left off—the unit posted the seventh-best ERA in baseball, with Skens posting a 1.97 ERA and winning the NL Cy Young Award—and the roster additions play to their potential, the Pirates could make some real noise. — Jorge Castillo
Connor Griffin wins the 2026 NL Rookie of the Year award and the Pirates win the NL Central award.
Griffin, baseball's top prospect entering the 2026 class, has already been discussed as a candidate for the Opening Day shortstop job, and he is a five-tool player who should quickly make his way into the Pirates' lineup, perhaps on Paul Skeens' May schedule as soon as possible.
Griffin's arrival will continue the Pirates' youth movement, and while the team will have to make the right moves in free agency before the end of this winter as well as the season's trade deadline, they should take a significant step forward in 2026. In my estimation, with the NL Central wide open, the Pirates' early surge gives them momentum heading into October. — Tristan Cockcroft
Blockbuster is moving
Skubal will be traded to Los Angeles Dodgers in July
For several reasons – from the rarity of the three-run game to the potential new economic climate starting in 2027 – the Dodgers will likely move all their chips to the middle of the table in search of another title.
They might even be able to afford to trade Skubal for a rental if the move leads them to a third straight championship, while virtually every other team would have to immediately sign him to a long-term contract to justify giving up the prospects that would undoubtedly be required to land a back-to-back Cy Young Award winner. If the Tigers fall out of the race, Los Angeles would simply become a landing spot for Skubal – provided he isn't traded in the coming weeks. — Jesse Rogers
Kyle Tucker agree to a “pillow contract”
Entering the offseason, Keeley McDaniel projected an 11-year, $418 million deal for Tucker, the top free agent on the market according to experts. But history suggests caution: the vast majority of free agent mega-contracts come early in the winter with Manny Machado (February 21, 2019) and Bryce Harper (March 1, 2019) are notable exceptions. At the dawn of 2026, if Tucker turns his attention to a short, high-AAV deal, nearly every major club will have a reason to be involved. — Paul Hembekides
Themes that will rule 2026
This will be a breakthrough year for small market clubs.
At least half of next season's 12-team playoff field will consist of teams in the bottom half of the payroll rankings, including at least three of the bottom 10.
Top 10 applicants with low salaries: Pittsburgh Pirates, Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians, Cincinnati Reds and athletics, although the actual salary hierarchy remains to be seen. But there are plenty of teams in the smaller market that seem to be trying, and it would be great to see a surge of those teams next October. And it would be really interesting to see what effect a large-scale disruption of the postseason by revenue-sharing recipients would have on grim labor negotiations. — Bradford Doolittle
Going from the basement to the postseason will be the latest fad
The two teams that made the playoffs in 2026 will finish last in their division in 2025, and neither will be the Orioles. While worst-to-first results are not unusual, the six cellar dwellers averaged just 64.5 wins last year and were 28.5 games ahead of first. Earning a wild card spot will likely require an 18-20 win count.
For Baltimore, which is just one year away from a 91-win season, turning things around isn't that big of a deal. wild concept, even playing on a rostered AL East roster… but we're going to go out on a limb and predict that there are at least a couple of postseason appearances ahead among Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, Washington NationalsPittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies. — AJ Mass
There will be 50 players in the 2025 season… from the person who scores less than 40 points in 2025.
Last year at this time, the prediction that Cal Raleigh, with his career-high 34 long balls, would hit 60 homers in 2025 would have generated a lot of laughs. While I don't want to go that far, I will say that history is repeating itself, giving us a new member of the 50-home run club who has never broken 30 before.
Three top candidates to watch: James Wood, Riley Green And Nick Kurtz. Last season, Green hit 36 home runs and Wood hit 32, although they both finished in the bottom five in K%. While neither of them will ever lead the league in batting average, they're both still young, and if either of them can lower their strikeout percentage from the low 30% range to Kyle Schwarber's or Cal Raleigh's range (26-27%), hitting 50 home runs could be a distinct possibility.
Kurtz, on the other hand, is a simple math bet made during a rookie season in which he hit 36 home runs in just 117 games. — Dan Mullen
Shohei Ohtani wins NL Cy Young
He won a World Series in his first trip to the postseason, and then another – and started the 50/50 club in a year in which he couldn't pitch, becoming the first full-time designated hitter to win MVP. He now has four such trophies, all in just five years. But there was one thing left for Ohtani to establish himself as the greatest baseball player of all time, and that was to assert his dominance as a pitcher.
Don't think for a second that he didn't notice it either. Because despite all the praise he received for his offensive dominance and two-way nature, Ohtani's serve has long been considered inferior to his hitting. Some wondered if he should give it up entirely. Sharing the rotation with two of his compatriots and taking advantage of the Dodgers' resources, this year will be the year Ohtani asserts his dominance on the mound like never before.
By the end of this there will be no doubt: no one has been or ever will be like Shohei Ohtani. — Alden Gonzalez
