As MLB teams flock to Florida and Arizona to participate in another go-around in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues, fans anxiously anticipate the start to the 2026 season, following an eventful offseason with plenty of player movement and controversy to keep fans entertained.
The old saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” held for the league’s best this offseason. Last year’s powerhouses remain this year’s top contenders, with the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers occupying the top position in FOX’s preseason power rankings, while the American League (AL) remains topped by last year’s AL champions, the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers, in particular, made an effort to solidify themselves as the league’s benchmark for success, signing the league’s top free agent, Kyle Tucker, to a four-year, $240 million deal in an effort to solidify an already-potent offense.
The Blue Jays, on the other hand, retained a large portion of their roster, except for Bo Bichette, who made his way over to the Mets during free agency, increasing New York’s chances of being a dark horse for the National League (NL) pennant. The Mets enter at fifth in FOX’s power rankings. Another large climber has been the Baltimore Orioles, who look like an entirely new organization, revamping their pitching staff and adding top-tier slugger Pete Alonso. Baltimore, who finished 75-87 last year, has climbed the most in preseason power rankings, from a finish in the bottom third of the league to a projected wild-card position in many preseason projections.
Focusing on the large stories surrounding spring training, much of the scrutiny has been on young prospects, who hope to claw their way from the expanded 40-man rosters of spring training onto the 25-man final Opening Day roster. One notable prospect is the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Konnor Griffin. The 19-year-old was picked ninth in last year’s draft and appears likely to sign a long-term extension with Pittsburgh’s organization. The Pirates seem to be betting on Griffin, baseball’s No. 1 prospect, to offer a spark for a team that has failed to make the postseason in over 10 years.
Another highly coveted young prospect is the Seattle Mariners’ Colt Emerson. For a team generally considered to be slated for a deep postseason run, a prospect being the most significant story is rather odd. Emerson, however, is competing for a final roster spot, boasting an impressive stat line, which includes an RBI triple in a recent game against the Cleveland Guardians. While unlikely to feature as a prominent roster piece immediately due to the strength of Seattle’s current roster, Emerson is looking to be a highly valuable late-in-the-order weapon, or a star minor league player to be promoted during roster expansion in September.
As always in major sports, injuries plague the preseason, generating plenty of issues for teams. In particular, this year has seen a spike in wrist injuries, namely the Hamate bone, a small bone that incurs a stress fracture after contact with the knob of the bat and the heel of the hand. This offseason alone, multiple players, including the Orioles’ Jackson Holliday, have undergone surgery for a Hamate breakage, with Holliday projected to start the season on the injury list.
While baseball’s powerhouses have maintained their position at the top for now, the offseason has offered us good reason to see promise in both the Mets and Orioles rosters; both slotted themselves as strong contenders for playoff runs with big-name signings. This year’s MLB season will prove to be full of surprises and excitement and spring training has kicked the year off to a strong start.