MLB’s regular season gets underway Wednesday night with a game between the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants before a full schedule Thursday with 11 Opening Day games. And you know what that means: It’s time for season predictions.
No one can definitively know what’s in store for this season, but that doesn’t stop us from making our best guesses. We asked 30 of ESPN’s MLB writers, analysts and editors to predict what will happen in baseball this year, from the wild-card contenders all the way to the World Series champion, plus the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards in both leagues.
For each category, we’ve asked a number of our voters to explain their predictions. Will they hit the nail on the head — or will they be way off their mark? Only time will tell. We’ll be circling back to these predictions come October to see how well (or poorly) everyone did.
Who else received votes? Kansas City Royals (10), Baltimore Orioles (7), Houston Astros (5), Seattle Mariners (5), Detroit Tigers (4), Texas Rangers (3), Athletics (1), Cleveland Guardians (1)
Who else received votes? Boston Red Sox (6), Detroit Tigers (5), New York Yankees (3), Toronto Blue Jays (1)
There hasn’t been a repeat World Series matchup in 48 years (Dodgers-Yankees, 1977-78) but Toronto has enough talent to set up a rematch with L.A. this October. — Dan Mullen
Again, the Dodgers seem to be inevitable. What makes it so hard for the other NL West teams to beat them? Well, let’s go back 12 months. Around this time last year, we were wondering if the Dodgers might challenge the 2001 Seattle Mariners for the regular-season wins record. They then became the first team in a quarter century to repeat as champions — albeit after a relatively disappointing regular season — and have since improved. Not just a little, but a lot.
Who else received votes? New York Mets (13), Pittsburgh Pirates (11), San Diego Padres (8), Cincinnati Reds (2), San Francisco Giants (2), Miami Marlins (2), Chicago Cubs (1), Arizona Diamondbacks (1), Los Angeles Dodgers (1)
Who else received votes? Seattle Mariners (6), Boston Red Sox (3), Detroit Tigers (2), New York Yankees (2), Philadelphia Phillies (1), New York Mets (1), Toronto Blue Jays (1)
Who else received votes? Bobby Witt Jr. (10), Roman Anthony (3), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3), Cal Raleigh (1), Junior Caminero (1), Julio Rodriguez (1)
Make the MVP case for Judge over Witt: Judge has slashed .311/.439/.677 (209 OPS+) across the past four seasons, a batting line we have not witnessed since Barry Bonds did it from 2001 to 2004. And as MVP voters modernize their methods, Judge’s ability to accumulate WAR (10.8 in 2022, 10.8 in 2024, 9.7 in 2025) puts him head and shoulders above his AL peers. A preseason nod to anybody else is merely a contrarian dart throw that might hit the bull’s-eye because, well, baseball. — Hembekides
Who else received votes? Munetaka Murakami (5), Carter Jensen (4), Kazuma Okamoto (4), Trey Yesavage (2), Samuel Basallo (2), Tatsuya Imai (1)
Who else received votes? JJ Wetherholt (7), Konnor Griffin (6), Sal Stewart (4), Bubba Chandler (1), Justin Crawford (1)
We’re predicting a third consecutive award season for Skenes, following his Rookie of the Year Award in 2024 and Cy Young in 2025. Does he face any challenges for a second Cy Young? Gosh, an anti-Skenes argument? It’s nitpicky, but if picking nits I must, it’d be based on one of three things:
But I don’t see any of these factors being an issue, hence my being on board with back-to-back Skenes Cys. — Cockcroft
There are lots of questions, in both the American League and National League, going into the 2026 season: Will the Los Angeles Dodgers be the first team to three-peat as World Series champions since the 1998-2000 Yankees? How will stars in new places — such as Freddy Peralta for the New York Mets or Alex Bregman for the Chicago Cubs — fare? Which team will come out on top in a competitive AL East? What will we see from Shohei Ohtani in his first full season as a two-way player for the Dodgers? And what surprises will the playoffs bring this year?
Despite the Blue Jays being the reigning AL champs, our voters favored the Yankees to win the division. What made New York the pick? The Blue Jays dominated the Yankees last season, both during the regular season and in the AL Division Series, but, remember, these clubs finished with identical 94-68 records. Yes, the Blue Jays were two outs from winning the whole thing. And yes the Yankees are “running it back.” But are they really? New York overhauled its roster over the course of last season, punctuated by a busy trade deadline. Marcus Stroman and DJ LeMahieu are out of baseball after playing significant roles in the first half. Oswald Peraza was one of the worst hitters in the majors before the Yankees dealt him.
The floor for this Yankees team is higher over 162 games as long as three-time MVP Aaron Judge stays healthy. Add Gerrit Cole’s impending return, Ben Rice’s anticipated development and the potential for Carlos Lagrange’s 102 mph fastball to show up in the Bronx and the Yankees could be loaded. As for the Blue Jays, they had themselves a very busy offseason, adding Dylan Cease among others, but injuries to the rotation have already surfaced and Bo Bichette’s departure is significant. — Jorge Castillo
And the Red Sox as the pick? Why? The Red Sox shook off the Rafael Devers mini controversy and righted the ship last season to the tune of 89 wins. There’s no reason they can’t take the next step, possessing a well-rounded roster that also includes a really good top of the rotation in Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray. Not to mention Boston gets a full year of Roman Anthony. It’s a sneaky good lineup behind him. The sum will be better than the parts for the Red Sox — and the parts aren’t shabby. — Jesse Rogers
Detroit was the overwhelming favorite to win the division. Why do you think that is? It feels as if all of the prevailing trend winds are fluffing up the Tigers’ sails. They’ve fallen one win short of the ALCS two years in a row with a roster still maturing and an incomplete starting rotation. Now, the Tigers have augmented their continuity with targeted pick-ups as much of the lineup is in or entering prime seasons, the rotation looks top-to-bottom strong, there’s a new closer in Kenley Jansen that makes the rest of a versatile bullpen that much better and, on top of it all, they have impact hitters from the system to raise the ceiling, starting with Kevin McGonigle. This is the team for which everything seems to be coming together. — Bradford Doolittle
The AL West has been a three-team race in recent season, but our voters are overwhelmingly favoring Seattle this year. What makes the Mariners the team to beat? The Mariners have the best rotation in the AL with five starters who are good enough to start on Opening Day. They have a deep bullpen, led by closer Andres Munoz. They came within one win of going to the World Series last year, and they improved their offense in several ways this winter, the biggest being the acquisition of second baseman Brendan Donovan. They have first baseman Josh Naylor for a full season, and it’s only a matter of time before Julio Rodriguez gets off to a good start and carries the offense along with Cal Raleigh. The Mariners got a good taste of the playoffs last year. They want more. — Tim Kurkjian
As the lone voter to choose the A’s to make the postseason as a wild-card team, how do they get there? Truth be told, I made this same pick last year — I was just a year early. Over the final 99 games of last season, the A’s went 53-46. That’s no small sample size, and it’s what’s driving this pick. If not for a 1-20 stretch last May/June, their overall record would look a lot different. I know, I know, all those games do count — but if that kind of stretch came later in the season, I might feel different. Their team feels more like the one that was scary to play in the second half. The A’s can hit. We know that. But can they pitch? A year at hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park under their collective belts can only help on the mound, right? Stay tuned. — Rogers
What makes the Cubs the overwhelming favorite to win the division this year? If not now, when? The Cubs have their highest payroll, are deeper than any of their more recent teams, had a taste of the playoffs last year and should be playing peak Cubs baseball under now third-year manager Craig Counsell. Their only real question entering the spring revolved around the ninth inning, but hard-throwing Daniel Palencia answered that question without even being in camp. He dominated for Venezuela in the WBC. The only thing standing in the Cubs’ way? The Brewers. It’s Chicago’s division … until it’s not. — Rogers
You picked the three teams that received the most votes: Atlanta, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. Why will this be the NL wild-card field? There is a wide second tier in baseball right now, at least if you put the Dodgers in their own tier and call that the first tier. You can argue that the three best non-Dodger rosters entering this season are the three leading contenders in the NL East. Only one can take the division and right now, I’ve got that as the Mets, who passed the Braves as the favorite this spring because of Atlanta’s injury woes.
Seasons rarely play out exactly how we think they might, but right now, it looks as if there are two up-for-grabs playoff slots in the NL — the Central title and the third wild card, since we’re putting the Phillies and Braves in the first two wild-card spots. I think the Cubs have done enough to be anointed Central favorites. Meanwhile, the Brewers are in a pack who could vie for the wild-card slot, and after what they’ve proved over the past couple of years, you have to give them the benefit of the doubt. — Doolittle
The Pirates seem to have some excitement building around them. What makes you think they can take it to the next level this season? The Reds earned a wild-card spot last year with 83 wins, and the Diamondbacks and Marlins made it in 2023 with 84 wins, so the bar might not be too high. With Paul Skenes, Rookie of the Year contender Bubba Chandler and Mitch Keller, there are high hopes for the rotation. But can the Pirates score enough runs? Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna are minor upgrades, so Oneil Cruz will have to hit and Konnor Griffin must provide a spark when he gets called up. If that happens, they can make the playoffs for the first time since 2015. — Schoenfield