Just say those words: spring training. I always knew it was the greatest invention since the light bulb. But never more than this year.
And why is that? Because these feel like the choices I’m pondering while I’m still stuck in the tundra where I’ve been shivering all winter:
Snow and sleet … or pitchers and catchers?
That hockey rink on my lawn … or palm trees swaying in the spring breezes?
Snow shovels and plows clanging across the pavement … or four-seamers popping those sun-baked catchers’ mitts?
It’s not much of a contest! So welcome to spring training 2026. It has never felt more welcome. It has never seemed more interesting — and not just because we can follow it without fully zipping our parkas.
No, this is when we can begin to answer life’s most important questions:
• What exactly does Alex Bregman see in ivy-covered brick that beats the hulking shadows of the Green Monster?
• How many home runs might Pete Alonso bash in Baltimore now that he’ll never get stuck in traffic on the RFK Bridge again?
• Has it occurred to Bo Bichette yet that when he visits Philadelphia, that won’t be “Bo” they’re chanting?
• And is this the year we can finally ace America’s favorite spring game, “Name Six Rockies”?
To help break down all of that — or, to be honest, almost none of that — we’re here to reveal the results of my annual spring preview survey, in the first of four articles. For this year’s edition, I somehow convinced 36 executives, retired executives, managers, coaches and scouts I know to weigh in on the biggest storylines of this winter and spring.
So how did they vote? Let’s hear from them!
Did the Mets major in addition or subtraction? 
Devin Williams is now in the back of the bullpen for the new-look Mets. (Jim Rassol / Imagn Images)
I have a helpful suggestion for the 2026 Mets. They definitely need to redesign their logo. That old stitched blue and orange sphere, with the bridge and the skyline? Doesn’t cut it anymore.
How ’bout an animated logo, of Mrs. Met watching Mr. Met spinning through a revolving door, kind of like Zooey Deschanel and Buddy the Elf in “Elf.” What would sum up the wild winter of Mets comings and goings better than that?
Just to recap … flying out their door this winter went Alonso, Edwin Díaz, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, Luisangel Acuña, Brandon Sproat and Frankie Montas. Meanwhile … in charged Bo Bichette, Freddy Peralta, Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, Luis Robert Jr., Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Tobias Myers and the artist formerly known as Craig Kimbrel.
One thing we can all agree on: That team won’t look familiar. But is it clearly better? I was honestly shocked that, in this year’s voting in the Most Improved NL Team portion of the survey, the Mets and Dodgers were even close — but they couldn’t get much closer. Here’s how that category shook out:
Mets — 32
Dodgers — 30
Cubs — 18
Pirates — 14
Braves — 8
Giants — 6
So the Mets showed up on all but four ballots. That’s usually a sign of consensus. Except this is not just a one-question survey, so I know the truth. And the truth is, many of the Mets-related responses in the other categories left me confused.
I found out how “irreplaceable” Alonso was, for example. (See below.) And the two leaders in our Best Free Agent category were both ex-Mets (Díaz and Alonso). Not to mention that two of the new dudes this team brought in — Robert and Semien — got a bunch of votes for “best subtraction” by their old teams.
So how did these same voters explain their Most Improved votes? It was, well, interesting.
• “Not sure it’s better, but it is really different,” said an American League exec. “And I think they needed it.”
• At least, said a National League exec, “they are taking sort of the opposite approach of the Phillies (i.e., not running it back). … Did (the Mets) get better overall on paper? Probably not, but they restructured the roster in such a way that I believe they will be contenders while also addressing the clubhouse.”
OK, got it. But that doesn’t exactly sound like: Boy, that team won the winter!
You know who didn’t think the Mets won much of anything? A voter who included them on his Least Improved list. He did that, he said, because “just about every move they’ve made” actually made them worse at positions all over the field.
So congratulations to the Mets — I guess — on finishing first in this competition. But you should know something. I’ve been conducting this survey for two decades now, and this felt like the strangest “victory” in survey history.
SURVEY SAID: Man, what a strange offseason. How many NL teams were even trying? That answer, apparently, is six, because 111 votes rolled in for Most Improved in this league — and the six teams above collected 108 of them! (Voters were asked to rank their top three or four.) … You know what made me chuckle? How guilty our panelists felt about casting Most Improved votes for the Dodgers. “I mean, they added the most firepower (in Díaz and Kyle Tucker),” said one AL exec. “But how much better can they actually get?” … Wait. Was that really the Pirates on our tote board behind the big-market behemoths (Mets, Dodgers, Cubs)? It was! “I don’t know that they won the winter,” said another AL exec. “But from what they were to where they are, I would say they did. Hell, it gets old saying the Dodgers every year.” … Does anybody feel sorry for the Phillies? They guaranteed more money to free agents ($227.9 million) than anyone but the Dodgers, Blue Jays and Mets — and got zero Most Improved votes (clearly because $195 million of that went to their own free agents, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto).
It isn’t just the sun rising in the East
The Orioles, with Pete Alonso and other upgrades, aim to be a factor again in an intriguing AL East. (Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
I’m starting to think the AL East is going to be fun. Oh, it might not be that fun for whatever team is about to win 93 games, bash like 300 homers and finish fourth. But for those of us who just get a charge out of watching a good heavyweight title bout? This is the place.
I say that because we had something stunning and unprecedented happen in this survey. Three AL East teams finished 1-2-3 in the Most Improved AL Team category — and none of them were known as “the Yankees”!
Orioles — 28
Red Sox — 21
Blue Jays — 19
Mariners — 17
Tigers — 14
White Sox — 8
Those votes notwithstanding, I’m going to tiptoe out on the nearest limb and suggest you don’t have to address any sympathy cards to the Steinbrenner family. FanGraphs just gave the Yankees a 67.9 percent probability of making the playoffs. And over at Baseball Prospectus, PECOTA projects them to win the division. So this version of the AL East is going to be wild.
“Those top four teams, wow,” said an NL exec. “It’ll be a bloodbath.”
So why did the Orioles rank first on this list? The power and presence of Alonso (signed for five years, $155 million) and Taylor Ward (trade with the Angels) should take the heat off all the young studs. Andrew Kittredge and Ryan Helsley should be upgrades to, say, Cionel Pérez and Scott Blewett in the ’pen. And while there’s a wide range of outcomes with their two new rotation additions, Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt, doesn’t it seem like a good omen that both of their names start with the letters “B-A”?
“They had a plan,” said one of our voters, “and were aggressive in executing it.”
The Red Sox revamped their rotation with Ranger Suárez and company, but how much will they miss Alex Bregman? (Maddie Malhotra / Boston Red Sox / Getty Images)
What about those Red Sox? Over and over, I heard from these voters how much the Sox will miss Bregman. But since our panel apparently appreciates a flurry of low-pizzazz moves, the Sox still got a ton of Most Improved votes. So can they sell depth and flexibility (as opposed to star power) to a fan base coughing up $700 for two box seats?
Ranger Suárez (five years, $130 million), Sonny Gray (trade with the Cardinals) and Johan Oviedo (trade with the Pirates) join the rotation band. Willson Contreras (another trade with the Cardinals) and Caleb Durbin (trade with the Brewers) are the big lineup additions. Plus there’s a full, much-anticipated year of Roman Anthony coming. But what do you think? Will any of that make all those New Englanders stop muttering about how they used to have this guy named Mookie?
“I put them on my (most improved) list,” one NL exec said of the Sox. “But nothing they’ve done, for me, is really sexy.”
Could the Blue Jays actually be better? It’s been a long time since we lived in a world where a bunch of cool free agents couldn’t wait to play for the Blue Jays. But here we are. Dylan Cease! Kazuma Okamoto! Tyler Rogers! Cody Ponce! Their contracts add up to almost a half-billion Canadian dollars (plus tax). So even minus Bo Bichette, this team still has The Look.
“Many of the signings felt like overpays,” said one voter. “But they have the money … and often have to overpay to convince players to sign there.”
SURVEY SAID: Biggest surprise to me? I thought we’d get more votes for the Tigers after they landed Framber Valdez. On the other hand, you should know this voting took place before they added Justin Verlander. … So the White Sox made the Most Improved leaderboard in the AL and the Pirates made it in the NL? What a time to be alive. Here’s one rival exec on the White Sox: “I don’t think they’re a good team, but I do think they had an interesting offseason.” … Also, the A’s got more Most Improved votes (three) than the Yankees (two). When was the last time that happened? Maybe 1974? Was vaunted New York baseball scribe Red Foley conducting surveys like this in 1974? If you’re a descendent of Red, let me know!
Long live King Tuck — now let’s overthrow the king 
Kyle Tucker, the best — and worst? — free-agent signing. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
One of the most entertaining parts of this survey is that we ask these voters to rank their best free-agent signings and their worst. Then the votes come streaming in … and it can be hard to tell the difference. See if you can pick which is which.
List No. 1
Dylan Cease (Blue Jays) — 13
Kyle Tucker (Dodgers) — 8
Pete Alonso (Orioles) — 5
Bo Bichette (Mets) — 5
Devin Williams (Mets) — 4
Jorge Polanco (Mets) — 4
List No. 2
Pete Alonso (Orioles) — 13
Edwin Díaz (Dodgers) — 13
Kyle Tucker (Dodgers) — 11
Bo Bichette (Mets) — 11
Alex Bregman (Cubs) — 11
Framber Valdez (Tigers) — 7
So now it’s your turn to make your guesses. Which of those is the Best Free Agents list and which is the Worst Free Agents list? Come to think of it, does it even matter?
If you were paying attention, you know I already tipped off which is which earlier in the column. But if you’d already nodded off by then, I can now reveal (again) that the first list is the “worst” list and the second list is the “best” list. And those lists are so interchangeable that the top of one voter’s ballot went like this:
Best free-agent signing — Kyle Tucker
Worst free-agent signing — Kyle Tucker
So what’s up with that? You could guess exactly what’s up with that.
“It’s very simple,” said the longtime exec who cast that vote. “It’s a great signing if you are the Dodgers. And it is a terrible signing if you are Major League Baseball.”
It’s a great signing? Obviously: “A top-15 player in the sport on a four-year deal? Sign me up!” said one voter.
It’s a terrible signing? Obviously: “The player is awesome. The contract is hard to embrace,” said another.
At four years, $240 million, that’s $60 million a year (not counting deferrals), for a player who has never gotten a first-place MVP vote. And it came one winter before the expected arrival of Labor Armageddon. So even if this deal doesn’t turn into the contract that breaks baseball, it is at least guaranteed to be the contract that shakes baseball.
If it’s still shaking at the collective bargaining table this time next year, don’t say this survey didn’t warn you.
SURVEY SAID: Have I mentioned how confusing it is that the two “best” free agents were guys who bailed on the “most improved” team in the National League? … All of Alonso’s “worst” votes were contract-related, naturally. But his “best” votes were a reminder of the respect he garners around the sport. He “brings credibility to a team that needs some stability after the last few years,” said a manager who voted. That word, “credibility,” jumped out at me. … How did Cease wind up atop the “worst” list? Um, have you noticed this guy can be a little erratic? And that $210 million he’ll rake in is a record for a pitcher who has led his league in walks and wild pitches twice. “If he walks less guys than the dollars that he’s paid,” quipped one voter, “he’s got a chance” (to be worth the money). … Here’s the good news for guys like Tucker: Those “worst” votes were nothing personal — because 22 players got votes for best and worst signing. … You know which player got the most “best” votes but not a single “worst” vote? Alex Bregman. “Perfect fit for a team that is ready to win,” said one voter. “His influence will be felt, and it is a perfect city for his style of play.”
Leaving from Central Station 
The three-team trade that sent Brendan Donovan to the Mariners generated a range of opinions. “He fits so much of what Seattle needed,” said one voter. (Dilip Vishwanat / Getty Images)
So you want to make the best trade of the winter, huh? Here’s what this survey taught us. Confine your shopping list to All-Stars from the NL Central whose teams are in roster-churn mode … and that’ll do it.
When I ask our voters to rate the best trades of every offseason, I always learn a lot. And once again, there are lessons to be learned from how that balloting went this year:
Best trades of the winter
Brendan Donovan, Cardinals to Mariners — 8*
Freddy Peralta, Brewers to Mets — 7*
Rays’ prospect haul for Shane Baz — 5*
Loved both ends of the Peralta trade — 4*
Grayson Rodriguez, Orioles to Angels — 4*
Ryan Weathers, Marlins to Yankees — 4*
Milwaukee’s haul for Peralta — 3*
Loved Orioles’ deal for Baz — 3*
Loved all three teams’ return in Donovan trade — 3*
(*everybody got votes for these trades)
See all the asterisks on that list? They’re a reminder that the best trades aren’t usually heists. If they were, Lupin, the gentleman thief, would be a perennial executive of the year.
No, the best baseball deals, said one voter who has made a lot of them, are “win-win trades” that work for everybody. So let’s review the breakdown of the voting in those Peralta and Donovan trades.
The Peralta deal
Mets’ end — 7
Brewers’ end — 3
Both ends — 4
The Donovan deal (three teams)
Mariners’ end — 8
Loved all three teams’ return — 2
Cardinals’ end — 1
Rays’ end — 1
Just loved Mariners/Rays — 1
Just loved Mariners/Cards — 1
I don’t know if I can recall another trade that inspired votes for six different angles of the same deal, but the Donovan trade did that. What’s crazy is that, despite that wide range, no team got more approval for any trade than the Mariners did for this one.
“He fits so much of what Seattle needed,” said one voter, “and adds grit and grind to the lineup, too.”
Then there was the Peralta trade, which featured two teams clearly filling each other’s needs.
That one “works for both sides,” said a rival NL exec. “The Mets are trying to get to the next level. The Brewers just keep doing their thing, trading guys while they have high value and acquiring players who fit their development and can impact their major-league club soon.”
But for all the love the Brewers got for acquiring Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, why do we think the entire population of Wisconsin wasn’t busting out the cheese curds to celebrate this one? It’s hard to clap too loudly for teams that go to the NLCS, then trade their ace for future value.
“Look, man. You had a guy that you depended on, that was a proven October pitcher, and now he’s gone,” said one rival exec. “So where does that leave them? … Man, I love Brandon Woodruff. I think him coming back is going to be huge. But boy oh boy, you’re leaning on him, with a shoulder issue, to come back and now jump to the front of that rotation? I don’t know.”
SURVEY SAID: Other trades that attracted votes for both sides: MacKenzie Gore from Washington to Texas, the Mets-Rangers Nimmo-for-Semien swap and the Orioles-Angels Rodriguez-for-Ward trade. … That left only one trade all winter which attracted multiple votes for only one side of the deal: Sonny Gray from the Cardinals to the Red Sox (for pitchers Richard Fitts and Brandon Clarke). … New Cardinals trade master Chaim Bloom dealt away Gray, Donovan and Contreras — and all three of them got “best-trade” votes — for the team that acquired them. … My favorite vote in this category was for “all Mets trades that eliminated the negative culture.” Not to name names here, but there were only two of those — which involved Nimmo and McNeil heading far, far from Queens (to Texas and Sacramento, respectively).
Didn’t you used to be the Rockies?
Name that Rockie! (Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)
Did you know that 25 teams have won a postseason game since the last time the Rockies won one? (Remember the 2018 Wild Card Game at Wrigley Field? The Cubs are trying not to!)
I mention that only because I’m starting to get the impression that the Rockies have slightly faded off America’s radar screens since then. That can happen, apparently, when your team just crossed the minus-400 run-differential barrier — a feat last accomplished as recently as the 19th century.
But is it possible that anonymity is actually underrated? It turns out it’s really helpful if you’re aspiring to guide your roster to the top of one of my favorite all-time categories in this survey. Which would be this one …
Least recognizable team
Rockies — 29
Marlins — 10
White Sox — 8
Rays — 8
Cardinals — 4
Twins — 4
So you know what happens when a team obliterates the rest of the sport in the Least Recognizable Derby, right? It gives us the only excuse we need to play America’s favorite game …
Name Six Rockies!
Here’s how that game went when I invited two of my favorite panelists to play it.
• “I can’t. I can’t do it. I know that’s sad, but I can’t do it.”
• “Hunter Goodman, Brenton Doyle, Michael Toglia,” another voter began, encouragingly, until (uh-oh), “Vinny Castilla, Dante Bichette and Darren Holmes.”
Geez, he left out Jhoulys Chacín … but whatever. I gave him an A-plus!
SURVEY SAID: Does it tell us anything that last year’s top four in this category also made the top four this year (though not in the same order)? Let us know! … The Cardinals made the leaderboard? When was the last time the Cardinals were unrecognizable? I’m going with, hmmm, maybe 1908? … One exec tried hard to convince me that the White Sox were the correct answer. His retort, when I dared him to name six Rockies: “Ha. Name six White Sox!”
In other voting news …
Eugenio Suárez, who blasted 49 homers last year, is back in Cincinnati, where he played for seven seasons. (Sam Greene / The Enquirer / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Best free-agent bargain of the winter
Josh Naylor (Mariners) — 4
Eugenio Suárez (Reds) — 4
Zack Eflin (Orioles) — 3
SURVEY SAID: One of the first votes I got in this category came from an NL executive who decided the real answer was “No Such Thing.” As the votes began to roll in, I began to see why. These voters were decisively telling me I should outlaw the use of the word, “bargain,” to describe these guys! … On one hand, 25 different free agents got a vote. On the other hand, only the three players above got more than two votes. … Does it mean anything that the same three players who led this category all got multiple votes for “worst” free agent? … Nevertheless, there was a lot of love for the Naylor signing, at the (cough, cough) Nordstrom Rack price tag of five years, $92.5 million. One voter’s thumbs-up review: “A productive 1B/ DH for five years and under 100 mil!”… Among the almost hilarious votes in this category: Bo Bichette! Framber Valdez! Cody Bellinger! Yeah, really. … The six free agents who got exactly two votes: Bichette (Mets), Harrison Bader (Giants), Luis Arraez (Giants), Cody Ponce (Blue Jays), Steven Matz (Rays), JJ Bleday (Reds) and Munetaka Murakami (White Sox). Pretty eclectic group!
The six least-improved NL teams
Cardinals — 25
Rockies — 21
Padres — 17
Marlins — 12
Diamondbacks — 11
Brewers — 10
SURVEY SAID: We could almost divide this leaderboard into tiers. If you’re thinking — Wait, weren’t the Cardinals and Rockies basically trying to win this category? — you’re not wrong. The Cardinals spent their whole winter dumping big names. So as one NL exec observed, “improvement” (for 2026) wasn’t even their goal: “I mean, obviously it’s not their goal.” … The Padres, on the other hand, are still dreaming October dreams. They’re also still trying to do something bigger than just re-signing Michael King and adding the likes of Miguel Andujar and Sung-Mun Song as multi-positional Band-Aids. But have you noticed they’re a little short on dollars in the old checking account? One voter’s take on the quiet winter of the normally hyper-active A.J. Preller, their president of baseball operations: “I’m sure he’ll rescue himself off this list, but I just don’t see the action to make them better.” … I could have kept going here! Lots of NL contenders that don’t appear above got votes: Phillies (six), Braves (two), Reds (two) and Mets (one).
The five least-improved AL teams
Twins — 26
Guardians — 26
Rays — 14
Angels — 11
Astros — 9
SURVEY SAID: I don’t know what to make of this, but would you believe 12 of the 15 AL teams got at least one Least Improved vote? The only three teams that didn’t: Tigers, Orioles and Red Sox. … And one voter said he was ready to put the Tigers on his list until the Valdez signing saved them. … The Twins have been hurtling toward the top of this leaderboard since the trade deadline last July. Now, said one rival exec, they’re “in a tough spot — with the directive (from new controlling owner Tom Pohlad) to try to win and no resources to do it.” … It always comes through how much our voters respect the Guardians — including their “gritty” comeback to steal their division last year. But was there anyone who didn’t notice “they haven’t done anything to improve their offense”? That is literally true, by the way. They didn’t add a single bat to their major-league roster, via trade or free agency, after finishing 28th in the sport in runs scored! … Finally there were the Angels, who keep showing up in this column every time they squander yet another year in the life of Mike Trout. “I always put the Angels in there,” said one AL exec, “just because they have one of the greatest players ever that’s never going to be seen in October.”
The four most important injury comebacks of the spring
Gerrit Cole — 13
Zack Wheeler — 12
Carlos Rodón/Clarke Schmidt/Yankees starters — 7
Grayson Rodriguez — 4
SURVEY SAID: Here’s a shocker. In a category where 23 players got votes, none of them were named Jacob deGrom, Mike Trout or Byron Buxton. … Do we even need to explain what Cole (Tommy John surgery) is doing at the top of this list? “Cole feels critical” for the Yankees, said one voter. … Ditto with Wheeler (thoracic outlet decompression surgery). “Zack Wheeler,” said an AL exec, “is crucial for the Phillies.” … The players who just missed this list, with three votes apiece, were all pitchers (of course): Woodruff, Justin Steele, Shane McClanahan and a Chris Sale/Injured Braves Starters combo pack. … Who got the most votes among guys who don’t pitch for a living? Anthony Volpe, with three, and Yordan Alvarez, with two. I’d have guessed Alvarez would have been up there with Cole and Wheeler — but obviously, your average GM spends way too much time looking at their list of great pitchers who aren’t actually healthy enough to pitch.
“This kid has a Bobby Witt mentality, with a lot of Bobby Witt’s tools,” one scout said of Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin. (Matt Dirksen / Getty Images)
Six rookies/phenoms to watch this spring
Konnor Griffin (Pirates) — 19
Kevin McGonigle (Tigers) — 16
JJ Wetherholt (Cardinals) — 8
Nolan McLean (Mets) — 5
Justin Crawford (Phillies) — 4
Munetaka Murakami (White Sox) — 4
SURVEY SAID: It must be the Year of the Cool Kids, because 35 different rookies/prospects/Keith Law-anointed phenoms got a vote in this category. … I knew this sport was loaded with young dudes who can play. But it must be more loaded than I thought. Trey Yesavage only got one vote. As did Bubba Chandler, Andrew Painter, Travis Bazzana and Jonah Tong. Even Roman Anthony only got two votes. Amazing. … If you’re not holding a ticket for the Konnor Griffin train yet, maybe this will get your attention: “This kid has a Bobby Witt mentality, with a lot of Bobby Witt’s tools — and he’s maybe a little more fun,” said one scout. … Not to give you the idea that the votes in this category don’t come with a fully refundable guarantee, but you know who didn’t get a single vote in last year’s survey? Nick Kurtz!
Five storylines to watch this spring
The Mets ain’t running that show back — 16
The Tigers: Framber, JV, and the Skubal fallout — 10
The Pirates: Is there October on their calendar? — 10
The Dodgers: Can they even break baseball in spring training? — 9
The Giants don’t care what you think — 9
SURVEY SAYS: Not pictured above: the Astros. But they are definitely a topic to keep both eyeballs on. One AL exec’s suggestion for a must-read spring story: “End of the Astros dynasty.” Wait. What? … So much curiosity out there about just how far outside the box the Giants’ new manager, Tony Vitiello, will operate. “Could this,” asked one voter, “be the start of an industry trend?” … Still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that the Pirates got five times as many “most intriguing” votes as the Yankees. … Here’s an intriguing spring story for you: Thirty robot umps walk into a ballpark near you. Who will they freak out the most? The hitters? The pitchers? The catchers? The managers? Or the longtime human umpires whose strike zones are about to get robot-ized? The debut of the challenge system will be a monster topic. … Finally, did you notice which storyline didn’t make this leaderboard? It’s the “L” word. One NL exec asked if all of us storytellers can please keep that one from dominating the conversation while we’re all staring at palm trees: “Any spring training storyline,” he said, “is more intriguing than another story about labor.” I can’t vouch for my fellow storytellers. But if the mission statement is to avoid that “L” word, I’m in!