Final MLB Power Rankings of Regular Season Before 2026 Postseason

Heading into the 2026 Major League Baseball season, the New York Mets, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays looked like three of the biggest challengers to the Dodgers dynasty. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays were supposed to finish in dead last in the AL East and a fourth consecutive season with at least 100 losses felt like a real possibility for the Chicago White Sox.

Good thing they played the games instead of letting preseason predictions and win total odds decide the postseason seeding, right?

Deviating from our normal weekly tradition of comparing each team's current ranking to where we had them seven days ago, we'll be noting where each of the 30 teams appeared in our preseason power rankings .

For the 12 postseason-bound teams—who will all appear in our top 12 on principle—we'll focus on how they're looking heading into the playoffs.

For the other 18 who have already shifted into offseason mode, we'll at least find something nice to say about their regular season.

After all, for some of them, it's been a while since anyone did.

In case you missed it, B/R's MLB Power Rankings from last week and every fresh power rankings throughout the season can be found at the new MLB Power Rankings hub .

30. Colorado Rockies (58-104) Preseason Rank: 29

Colorado sure did crater to the finish line, going 8-30 from August 17 onward. But they didn't suffer 119 losses, and their run differential (minus-192) was merely pretty darn bad as opposed to historically awful (minus-424). That's an improvement upon last season. They even bested their preseason win total of 55.5. Baby steps are better than back pedaling.

29. Los Angeles Angels (62-100) Preseason Rank: 26

While Mike Trout wasn't exactly his old dominant self, he was as healthy as we've seen him in more than a decade, appearing in more than 140 games for the first time since 2016. Alongside that now 12-time All-Star, the Halos had a breakout star in rookie Walbert Ureña, posting a 2.97 ERA in 148.1 innings of work.

28. Athletics (64-98) Preseason Rank: 23

As the injuries piled up, things unraveled in a hurry for the Athletics, going 26-60 after starting 38-38. But Zack Gelof bounced back admirably from brutal 2024 and 2025 campaigns while Henry Bolte emerged as the center fielder of the future. Pair them with a healthy Nick Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Tyler Soderstrom, Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers and this may have been a different story. Alas.

27. San Francisco Giants (65-97) Preseason Rank: 13

Speaking of the injury bug, the Giants spent six months walking through a swarm of them, seemingly never close to full strength after Opening Day. But after a slow start, at least Rafael Devers caught fire. Over his final 112 games, he hit 35 home runs while posting a .959 OPS. That would've been the best mark of his career were it not for that .570 OPS through the first 36 contests.

26. Kansas City Royals (69-93) Preseason Rank: 20

Jac Caglianone's rookie season was a nightmare, but the No. 6 overall pick in the 2024 draft looked much more the part this year, leading the Royals with both a .289 batting average and an .834 OPS. Unfortunately, this pitching staff took a colossal step backwards from last season and couldn't put Cags' breakthrough to much use.

Nos. 25-21: There Were Some Highs Amid the Many Lows

25. Cincinnati Reds (75-87) Preseason Rank: 17

Cincinnati's Big Three of Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart and Chase Burns was quite the triumvirate, and they're each under team control through at least 2029. The problem was, well, pretty much everyone else, as the Reds ended up bottom four in the majors in both runs scored and runs allowed in spite of those All-Star caliber players. (And, come on, how was De La Cruz not named an All-Star?)

24. Seattle Mariners (76-86) Preseason Rank: 4

Tough to put any sort of positive spin on this one. As a whole, the Mariners were the biggest disappointment in all of baseball, particularly since first place in the AL West was just there for the taking all year long. They did finally get a nice breakthrough year from Emerson Hancock, though. At least that paved the way for them to trade away Luis Castillo's contract.

23. Minnesota Twins (77-85) Preseason Rank: 25

The Twins hung around as a playoff hopeful for longer than most expected six months ago, even buying a few pitchers ahead of the trade deadline instead of repeating last year's fire sale. It turned out to be the wrong call, as they went 21-30 from August 1 onward. It was encouraging to see them actually go for it, though. And getting Pablo Lopez back from Tommy John surgery should provide quite the boost next season.

22. Washington Nationals (77-85) Preseason Rank: 30

Washington's bullpen was atrocious, blowing an MLB record 42 saves. But this offense was postseason-worthy, ranking first in steals, third in runs and sixth in home runs. And aside from the two they already traded away (Luis García Jr. and Curtis Mead), every hitter is under team control for at least two more seasons. Sign some respectable relievers this winter and they could really break through in 2027.

21. Detroit Tigers (76-86) Preseason Rank: 9

Detroit's full-season run differential (+71) was almost the same as Tampa Bay's (+86). Unfortunately, the Tigers struggled mightily in one-run games (17-27) and couldn't buy a win in May (6-22), subsequently fighting an uphill battle for months. Now, can they find the funds to bring Tarik Skubal back home?

Nos. 20-18: Two Massive Letdowns; One Pleasant Surprise

20. New York Mets (74-88) Preseason Rank: 3

Say this much for the Mets: They were much more respectable after July 4 than they were through those first few months. Good enough to lock in interim manager Andy Green on a three-year contract, at any rate.

Better yet, three of the best players on the roster were rookies. Perhaps a few of this team's extremely well-compensated veterans will pull their weight in 2027?

19. Toronto Blue Jays (79-83) Preseason Rank: 2

Toronto's entire season felt like a "one step forward, two steps backward" do-si-do, culminating in that disastrously viral quote from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the same day the Blue Jays got mathematically eliminated from the postseason.

Dylan Cease flirted with a Cy Young, though. Louis Varland was arguably the best reliever in the AL. And Kazuma Okamoto's four-year, $60M contract looks like an absolute steal right about now.

18. St. Louis Cardinals (77-85) Preseason Rank: 28

When the Athletics spent the 2021-22 offseason trading away every contract that they could, it was the precursor to a 102-loss season and quite the rebuild. So when the Cardinals took a similar approach this past winter—trading away Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan—it sure felt like they were destined for their worst season in more than a century.

Instead, they more than held their own, getting to as many as nine games above .500 on multiple occasions in the first half. Jordan Walker's breakout and JJ Wetherholt's NL ROY campaign spear-headed their surprisingly competent season.

Nos. 17-13: Should've, Would've, Could've

17. Texas Rangers (80-82) Preseason Rank: 18

The AL West was theirs for the taking all season long, but the Rangers kept refusing to seize the reins, ultimately finishing one game behind the Astros. Dropping two out of three this past week at home against the Mets was the straw that broke the camel's back, but posting losing records against both the A's and Angels this season was the real crime. It's too bad they couldn't give Jacob Latz two more leads to protect. The All-Star closer deserved a chance to pitch in the postseason.

16. Baltimore Orioles (79-82) Preseason Rank: 10

It's a shame Pete Alonso didn't really heat up until after the O's embraced a deadline fire sale, but it's hard to argue with the Polar Bear leading the AL in both home runs and RBI in his first year with the club. If Gunnar Henderson had produced like he did over the previous three seasons, that might've been enough to get Baltimore back into the playoffs.

15. Miami Marlins (80-82) Preseason Rank: 24

They sure did take a winding road to the middle of the pack, starting 26-34, winning 26 of their next 34 and going 28-40 down the stretch. During that middle section, though, we couldn't stop marveling as the Marlins came out of nowhere to almost chase down Atlanta for first place in the NL East. And for the first time since rebranding from the Florida Marlins to the Miami Marlins in 2012, they even ended up with a positive run differential (+3).

14. Pittsburgh Pirates (82-80) Preseason Rank: 21

Though they fell a few games shy of getting back to the promised land, the Pirates ended up having one of their best seasons in decades, posting a positive run differential (+28) for just the fourth time since 1993. Trading for one year of Brandon Lowe, signing Ryan O'Hearn for $29M and calling up Konnor Griffin one week into the season was an atypical combination of "We want to win now" moves from this franchise, but maybe they'll keep pulling at that thread after it did rather work out for them.

13. Arizona Diamondbacks (86-76) Preseason Rank: 22

'Twas a valiant, frantic comeback attempt by the Snakes, putting together a six-game winning streak while the Phillies suffered loss after loss at home. Unfortunately, they were in the wrong West division, eliminated from the postseason on the final day of the regular season for the second time in three years. Would have been fun to see Nolan Arenado back in the postseason after his 30-homer renaissance, but it wasn't meant to be.

Nos. 12-10: One of These Teams Will Be Playing in the ALCS

12. Houston Astros (81-81) Preseason Rank: 14

There have been a few 7-9 division winners in NFL history, and plenty of teams have made it into both the NBA and NHL postseason while finishing many games shy of .500. But for the first time in MLB history, we have a non-winning team in the playoffs.

While that's quite the unflattering distinction for these Astros, they do enter the postseason on a power surge, clubbing 32 home runs in their last 13 games to finish the regular season at No. 1 in the majors in that department.

What's more, Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier and Hayden Wesneski have each posted a sub-3.00 ERA over their last five starts.

11. Chicago White Sox (84-78) Preseason Rank: 27

A dumpster fire no more, Chicago stunned everyone by reaching the postseason after posting the worst record in the majors over the past three seasons (162-324)—including MLB's worst campaign in well over a century in 2024.

Munetaka Murakami, Miguel Vargas and Colson Montgomery each eclipsed 30 home runs—though the latter did set an MLB record for strikeouts in a single season (227)—as the White Sox led the American League in scoring.

However, they limped to the finish line, a sub-.500 team over their final 27 games. And though they held eight opponents to one run in September, the White Sox have what is perhaps indisputably the least intimidating pitching staff in this postseason field.

10. Cleveland Guardians (85-77) Preseason Rank: 16

Houston or Chicago could reach a World Series because weird stuff happens all the time during small sample sizes in baseball.

But Cleveland might be able to pull it off because the one-two punch of Gavin Williams and Parker Messick atop the starting rotation is no joke, while Cade Smith might be the best reliever in all of baseball. (And no, I haven't forgotten that Mason Miller exists. Smith has been that dominant for three years at this point.)

They must get José Ramírez going, though. The face of this franchise over the past decade has a .598 OPS and just two home runs since returning from his broken hamate in late July. Tough to envision Cleveland making a deep run if that continues.

9. Philadelphia Phillies (88-74) Preseason Rank: 8

After going 21-7 in August to nearly chase down Atlanta atop the NL East, the Phillies either lost or split each of their final seven series en route to a photo finish.

They held on by the skin of their teeth, though, and now hope for rejuvenated bats with their new lease on life. (Bryce Harper's homer in Game 162 might have been a spark.)

The unfortunate news is they had to burn Zack Wheeler on Sunday and won't have him (at least on normal rest) in the wild card round. Cristopher Sánchez also pitched on Friday and probably won't go until Game 2 in Atlanta. Though, cobbling together a postseason rotation certainly beats not making the postseason at all.

8. Chicago Cubs (89-73) Preseason Rank: 5

Remember when the 2023 Texas Rangers relentlessly clubbed their way to a World Series, leading the AL in regular season scoring before hitting 30 home runs in 17 games and averaging 6.5 runs per win in the postseason?

Such is Chicago's championship blueprint after leading the majors in scoring this season. At any rate, it is highly unlikely that this pitching staff (especially once the bullpens get involved) will be the driving force of a deep run.

The Cubs scored at least five runs in 85 of their games, going 71-14 when reaching that plateau. But if Pete Crow-Armstrong and Co. are held in check, they might get bounced before the calendar even flips to October.

7. San Diego Padres (91-71) Preseason Rank: 15

The San Diego Padres had a "bizarro Miami Marlins" type of season trajectory.

Instead of starting slow, catching fire for six weeks and then just kind of leaking oil for three months, San Diego went 29-18 out of the gates, dropped 35 of its next 56—Maybe gave some serious thought to trading away Mason Miller?—and had the best record in baseball (41-18) from July 24 onward.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill both sputtered through the first half of the season, but they've combined for 36 home runs, 23 stolen bases and a roughly .950 OPS since the All-Star Break—all while Ty France has had one of the best bounce-back seasons in recent memory.

How will the starting rotation fare in October, though?

Trading for both Robbie Ray and Casey Mize was their "all-in on 2026" sequence, but Mize is on the IL and they might leave Ray off their postseason rosters altogether. But if Michael King, Nick Pivetta and Co. can hand over leads to this loaded bullpen, best of luck taking it away.

Nos. 6-5: The Wild Cards Who Could Win It All

6. Boston Red Sox (87-75) Preseason Rank: 7

"Started from the bottom, now we're here."

When the Red Sox fired Alex Cora in late April, they had the fourth-worst record in baseball.

Two months later, they were 32-46, had just lost a series to the Colorado Rockies and would've had the worst record in the majors were it not for the 32-49 Rockies.

Since June 25, though, the Red Sox have gone an MLB-best 55-29.

Granted, that record can be broken up as 32-5 through August 7 and 23-24 since, not exactly sprinting to the finish line. But it still feels like this team is a serious threat to win it all if the offense can awake from its slumber of 89 runs scored in the past 30 games.

It's too bad they didn't fade even more down the stretch, though, as the AL's No. 6 seed has a drastically easier path to the World Series than the No. 5 seed does.

5. New York Yankees (93-68) Preseason Rank: 6

We still have no clue if Aaron Judge is going to play in Game 1 against Boston or miss the postseason altogether with his calf injury. (Frankly, you almost have to admire the gamesmanship.)

But can we stop acting like the Yankees are dead men walking if Judge doesn't play, considering they've gone 43-26 in their last 69 games while getting virtually nothing out of Judge since mid-May?

Yes, he's a three-time MVP. It's a big deal. But the actual most valuable part of this team has been the pitching staff with a 3.01 ERA dating back to July 9.

In fact, all 10 pitchers who have logged at least 26 innings during those 70 games have done so with a sub-3.60 ERA, with Cam Schlittler (1.87), Carlos Rodón (1.89) and Max Fried (2.29) really setting the tone.

Meanwhile, Ben Rice has a 1.055 OPS since the beginning of September and might be gearing up for his time in the spotlight.

Nos. 4-3: Really Good Teams Who Didn't Quite Win 100 Games

4. Atlanta Braves (94-68) Preseason Rank: 11

Traditionally, Memorial Day weekend is when you're 'allowed' to start peeking at the standings every now and then. And heading into Memorial Day weekend, these Braves looked like a juggernaut.

They were 36-16 and had already opened up a seemingly insurmountable 10.5 game lead in the NL East. They were also second in the majors in both runs scored and runs allowed per game.

Since then, they've gone 58-52 with a +11 run differential—good enough to lead the division for 170 consecutive days for what might as well have been a wire-to-wire crown, but gradually losing their early status as the team to beat in October.

Since the beginning of August—i.e. since trading for Tyler Mahle, who was the steal of the deadline—they've once again had one of the stingiest pitching staffs. However, the offense has barely even resembled its early greatness.

Can they flip the switch when it matters most? Or will it be a repeat of their last two trips to the postseason: shut out in Game 1 and immediately eliminated?

3. Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) Preseason Rank: 19

While the other four AL East teams combined to spend a little more than $887M in free agency—not to mention traded for Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Shane Baz, Ryan Weathers, Taylor Ward, Jesús Sánchez and more—the Rays became everybody's pick to finish in dead last in the division.

Little did any of us know that the Rays were going to become the MLBPA's Exhibit A in this offseason's heated arguments about a salary cap, becoming the AL's No. 1 seed for the third time in the past seven years.

Early on, it felt like smoke and mirrors. They finished April at 18-12, but with a negative run differential.

But at some point during their three-month reign atop the American League—between Victor Mesa Jr.'s breakout, Chandler Simpson's push for a batting title and giving Freddy Peralta the exact change of scenery that he evidently needed—it became clear that the Rays actually are the best team in the league as opposed to merely the AL team with the best record.

Nos. 2-1: Bring on the 2025 NLCS Rematch

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (100-62) Preseason Rank: 1

Adding Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz was supposed to be the one-two punch that enabled the free-spending Dodgers to flirt with breaking MLB's record for most wins in a single season.

Instead, they merely followed their tried-and-true blueprint from the past two World Series-winning seasons: Dominate in the first half, sputter through the doldrums of the summer and then re-ignite somewhere around Labor Day.

The Dodgers won 18 of their final 23 games, fueled in part by Tucker finally waking up for an OPS of nearly 1.000 during that closing stretch. Díaz, too, has looked like his old self since returning from his second stint on the IL and might be a major part of their postseason run after all.

Throw in the dominance of this mostly (aside from Shohei Ohtani) healthy starting rotation and Mookie Betts ending August with a .701 OPS before becoming possibly the NL Player of the Month in September and, well, here we go again.

1. Milwaukee Brewers (103-59) Preseason Rank: 1 2

One of these years, we'll learn our lesson and stop assuming that the Brewers are going to regress in a big way just because they traded away one of their best players during the offseason.

(Please print that out and smack me over the head with it if and when Milwaukee uses the final year of Willson Contreras' contract as a bartering chip this winter.)

Even as the Dodgers caught fire, the Brewers refused to give an inch in the race for home-field advantage throughout the postseason, going 18-6 with a +51 run differential in September alone.

It was their fifth consecutive month going at least five games over .500. And maybe, just maybe, this will be the year they also do so in October.

If Logan Henderson and Robert Gasser continue to shine alongside Jacob Misiorowski, you have to like their chances.

Complete Rankings (Preseason Rank in Parentheses)