Grading all 30 MLB teams halfway through the 2026 season

The 2026 MLB season is about to get real in a hurry. By the end of the week, all 30 teams will have played at least half of their 162-game schedule. We're less than three weeks away from the All-Star break, and from there, the trade deadline is around the corner — the drop-dead time for front offices to decide whether they believe in a playoff push or whether they should pull the plug.

What happens next will go a long way toward determining who will be holding the commissioner's trophy when all is said and done. So what better time to take stock of where every team is at? As season nears its official halfway point, we're handing out grades for all 30 Major League clubs, based on their performance relative to expectations so far.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Grade: C

• Buying or selling?: Soft sell
• Biggest need: Pitching for 2027

Arizona has done an admirable job of staying above water in the NL West, but this just feels like a .500 team at this point — with a run differential that suggests they should be even worse. While they remain squarely in the race for the third NL Wild Card spot right now, and GM Mike Hazen is making noises about buying, don't expect any splashes this summer. Instead, it's time to regroup, get healthy (particularly Corbin Burnes) and start planning a run in 2027 around Corbin Carroll and an up-and-coming group of young hitters.

Athletics

Grade: C+

• Buying or selling?: Buying at the margins
• Biggest need: Pitching, pitching and more pitching

Granted, it wasn't so long ago that hovering around .500 and sitting in second place in an admittedly weak division would've been cause for celebration. This team feels like it should have progressed beyond that by now, though, and yet the starting rotation is no closer to viability. The future is still pretty bright here, but it doesn't matter how many good young hitters you have when you're at or near the bottom of the league in darn near every pitching category. It's time to take a step forward.

Atlanta Braves

Grade: B+

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: Pitching reinforcements

When we first did this exercise back in the beginning of June, the Braves were on top of the world. Now, though, the wheels might be falling off a bit: Atlanta is just 8-10 so far this month, including nine losses in their last 12 games. The pitching has started falling back to Earth, and Ronald Acuña Jr.'s hamstring injury might be more severe than we initially thought. This team should still be fine — lord knows they built enough of a cushion in the NL East — but Alex Anthopoulos might need to work overtime ahead of the deadline to fix this rotation.

Baltimore Orioles

Grade: D+

• Buying or selling?: Soft selling
• Biggest need: Long-term pitching solutions

The AL Wild Card race is messy enough that the O's can tell themselves they still have a shot, but let's be real here: At no point this season has this looked like a team capable of making noise in October. The rotation has been up-and-down, and the homegrown core — looking at you, Jackson Holliday and Weston Richburg — hasn't come along as hoped. Baltimore is too pot-committed to strip the roster, but if they remain a few games below .500 come the end of July, expect Mike Elias to flip rentals like Taylor Ward for controllable pitching.

Boston Red Sox

Grade: F

• Buying or selling?: Selling
• Biggest need: More power

Simply no other grade will do for a team that started the year with legitimate World Series aspirations only to fire its manager (and half the coaching staff) before the end of April. Things haven't gotten much better under Chad Tracy, either; this is still one of the worst lineups in baseball, and Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony aren't coming back any time soon. A full autopsy report is in order for Craig Breslow and Co.

Chicago Cubs

Grade: C

• Buying or selling?: ... buying? I think?
• Biggest need: A way to appease whatever injury gods they've managed to anger

The Cubs have stabilized things a bit, winners of seven of their last 10 and entering play on Wednesday in possession of the final NL Wild Card spot. But framing that as a good thing shows just how far the bar has been lowered, partly due to a downright comical run of pitching injuries but also due to a lineup that has underperformed for the most part this season. Either way, Chicago is fighting for its life in a year that was supposed to be the culmination of a competitive window.

Chicago White Sox

Grade: A+

• Buying or selling?: Buying, as long as it doesn't compromise 2027 and beyond
• Biggest need: Rotation depth

On the South Side, meanwhile, it's a party, as Chicago took two more close games from Cleveland to sneak back into first place in the AL Central. The pitching still isn't great, but the lineup is ahead of schedule, and the longer this goes on, the more it seems like the White Sox really might be able to make a run at a playoff spot. It's a dream outcome for a team that wasn't expecting much of anything but a moderate step forward this season, with the No. 1 pick in this year's draft and plenty of more young talent still to come.

Cincinnati Reds

Grade: C-

• Buying or selling?: Selling
• Biggest need: More offense

Elly De La Cruz's injury turned Cincy's offensive struggles into a full-on crisis, and at this point, it's hard to figure a way back into meaningful contention. The crowded nature of the NL Wild Card race means the Reds will give this team every chance to avoid a sell-off, but there's very little cause for optimism here — which should bring even more heat on a front office that had a solid young core in place and then neglected to spend a single dime building around it this past offseason.

Cleveland Guardians

Grade: B-

• Buying or selling?: Buying, though not as big as previously thought
• Biggest need: A liferaft on offense

Cleveland's offense, a pleasant surprise to start the year, has gone back into the tank with Jose Ramirez on the IL. That makes this team look less like a legit World Series contender and more like the pesky Guards we've grown accustomed to seeing — not bad, certainly, but a little underwhelming after a while. There's still time and talent to turn things around, but Cleveland fans have a right to be sick of the same old story.

Colorado Rockies

Grade: C+

• Buying or selling?: Selling
• Biggest need: Pitching (duh)

Colorado has at the very least been respectable, and considering how bad things have been of late, that's good enough in year one under a new regime. Shane Dollander is the most promising homegrown pitcher this team has had in a very, very long time, and the Rockies' new, analytically inclined front office is finally committed to cracking the code of playing at Coors Field.

Detroit Tigers

Grade: D-

• Buying or selling?: Hello there, Tarik Skubal
• Biggest need: A very hot few weeks

It's now or never for the Tigers. Despite everything that's gone wrong so far this year, the final Wild Card spot is still, somehow, in reach, which is the only thing keeping this from being a failing grade. But if Detroit can't get hot in the next month or so, Tarik Skubal is as good as gone — and an F will be the least of Scott Harris' worries after this once-promising core fizzled out.

Houston Astros

Grade: D+

• Buying or selling?: Buying on the margins
• Biggest need: Pitching

The Astros are never ones to punt on a season — not when Jim Crane is footing such a big bill, anyway — and the team is already trying to get ahead of trade rumors by shooting down any notion that they'd deal stars like Yordan Alvarez or Jeremy Pena. But at a certain point, this team is what it is, and it's hard to justify going into the luxury tax without getting anywhere close to contention. With a bottom-of-the-barrel farm system, a reckoning is coming sooner or later.

Kansas City Royals

Grade: F

• Buying or selling?: Everything must go
• Biggest need: More bats around Bobby Witt Jr.

At least the Astros are still on the fringes of playoff contention, though. Kansas City is one of the few teams in baseball that feels cooked already, with Cole Ragans apparently done for the year and Bobby Witt Jr. on the IL. This team was struggling to score even with its best player healthy, and while Jac Caglianone's breakout has finally arrived, this is still one of the biggest disappointments of the season — one that will likely end in a fire sale come August.

Los Angeles Angels

Grade: D

• Buying or selling?: Selling (though not as much as they should)
• Biggest need: Some sort of direction

It feels almost wrong grading this current Angels team. What Los Angeles needs more than anything is a long-term direction, an adult in the room who can stop this franchise from tripping over itself and actually build a stable foundation for the future. Until that arrives — or Arte Moreno sells the team — it's hard to much care about anything else.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Grade: Incomplete

• Buying or selling?: Come on
• Biggest need: A clean bill of health (and a reliever or two)

Does it really matter? Breaking news: the Dodgers are very, very good, with an offense that's rapidly rounding into form after an uncharacteristic dry spell. But we knew that already; the only question is whether they can get all of their high-priced veterans to the postseason healthy, and whether the baseball gods will smile on their bid for a historic threepeat. On paper, though, L.A. has everything it needs, with a new bullpen likely coming at the trade deadline.

Miami Marlins

Grade: B

• Buying or selling?: Standing pat
• Biggest need: Another bat

It seemed like the Marlins were sliding slowly into irrelevance once again, but a scorching June has Miami above .500 and very much in the mix for an NL Wild Card spot. Will that convince this always future-conscious front office to get aggressive at the deadline? Don't hold your breath, especially given how many pitching injuries they're dealing with right now. But it's undoubtedly a step forward, and this team could make real noise in 2027 if it holds on to Sandy Alcantara.

Milwaukee Brewers

Grade: A-

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: Rotation depth

Death, taxes and the Brewers inevitably running away with the NL Central. While the Cubs have faded, Milwaukee has surged behind Jacob Misiorowski and a suddenly sizzling offense. I don't blame you if you still don't fully trust that it'll be enough to push the Dodgers come October. But don't let this team's past postseason flameouts diminish just how good they've been in spite of tons of change.

Minnesota Twins

Grade: B-

• Buying or selling?: Selling (I think)
• Biggest need: More bats to build around

Minnesota is one of the most fascinating teams to monitor ahead of the trade deadline. They've been better than expected, just 4.5 back in the division and 2.0 out of a Wild Card spot. But they're still not good, and is a 38-43 record really worth holding on to guys like Joe Ryan and Ryan Jeffers (or even Byron Buxton, if he's open to waiving his no-trade clause)? The Twins have a better base of talent than they get credit for, but it's hard to know what's next here as long as the Pohlads remain at the helm.

New York Mets

Grade: D-

• Buying or selling?: Soft selling
• Biggest need: 

The Mets have actually been decent enough since that awful April, but when you dig yourself that deep a hole, "decent enough" isn't going to cut it. The only thing keeping this from an F is that there is technically still time to get Francisco Lindor healthy, turn things around and climb back into the Wild Card chase. More likely, though, the most expensive team in baseball will wind up as soft sellers at the deadline, which is a catastrophe of epic proportions.

New York Yankees

Grade: B+

• Buying or selling?: It's the Yankees
• Biggest need: Bullpen help (and a righty catcher)

The Yankees continue to hold their ground, which is impressive when you consider that Aaron Judge, Max Fried, Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham are all on the IL at the moment. If they can get healthy, New York feels like the clear class of the AL at the moment. Then again, we've said that before, and their past October flops make it hard to fully buy in.

Philadelphia Phillies

Grade: B-

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: Lineup depth

Don't count the Phillies out just yet. They still can't be graded too highly, given how mightily the struggled to start the year and how far behind the likes of the Dodgers, Brewers and Braves they still feel right now. But they've at least managed to right the ship and give their front office a chance to add reinforcements at the deadline. And hey, no one wants to face Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo in a short series, with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper backing them up.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Grade: C+

• Buying or selling?: Buying on the margins
• Biggest need: More pitching

Pittsburgh's once-promising start has taken a turn for the worse, and surprisingly enough it's been the pitching that's let them down of late. The bullpen has been a mess for a while now, but that's hardly the only problem plaguing this team of late. Granted, hovering around .500 and very much in the mix for a playoff spot would've sounded pretty good this offseason to a fan base so starved for relevance, but it's hard not to feel disappointed at the moment given the talent on this team — and the missed opportunities in free agency.

San Diego Padres

Grade: C

• Buying or selling?: Preller gonna Preller
• Biggest need: The stars to wake up

Maybe this feels harsh for a team that is four games above .500 and tied for the final Wild Card spot in the NL. But the trend lines with this Padres team are clear, and does anyone really take San Diego seriously when they've had the worst offense in baseball for weeks now? None of the stars are hitting, and while the bullpen is awesome, that doesn't much matter if they don't have leads to protect. Their negative run differential paints a bleaker picture, which, given how they've mortgaged their future for the present, is not a great sign.

San Francisco Giants

Grade: F

• Buying or selling?: Fire sale
• Biggest need: A fresh start

We mean that both on the field — where San Francisco is desperate to get out from under even one of several bloated contracts at the deadline — and off of it, given Buster Posey's complete lack of leadership lately. There's actually a promising pipeline of talent burgeoning in the Giants' system, but the MLB product is a mess right now, and we have no reason to believe Posey is the man to fix it. Things are likely to get worse before they get better.

Seattle Mariners

Grade: B-

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: Another bat

If the AL West had anything resembling a pulse, the Mariners would likely be under a far harsher spotlight right now. Sure, they lead their division, and there's still plenty of potential here for another pennant run. They've been quietly underwhelming just about all year, though, from a top-heavy lineup to a rotation that hasn't always lived up to its reputation. We can't grade them too harshly, but it's time to get out of second gear.

St. Louis Cardinals

Grade: A

• Buying or selling?: Buying, as long as it doesn't compromise 2027 and beyond
• Biggest need: More pitching

As someone who expected the Cardinals to fade back to the pack by now, count me impressed by how St. Louis has sustained this hot start. The pitching is still cause for concern, but that's more than okay given how far ahead of schedule this team is in year one under Chaim Bloom. And the lineup has a chance to be dynamite moving forward, especially once top prospect Joshua Baez arrives.

Tampa Bay Rays

Grade: B+

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: A starter and (at least) one bat

If you'd told a Rays fan they'd be 10 games above .500 and safely in a playoff spot entering play on June 24, they would've taken that in a heartbeat. And yet ... well, they're just 7-13 this month, now three games back of an AL East that they once held control over. The overall grade is still positive, but Tampa has questions to answer about whether this offense is good enough and whether this pitching staff can hold up amid workload restrictions down the stretch.

Texas Rangers

Grade: C

• Buying or selling?: Standing pat
• Biggest need: Another starter

Just when Texas' lineup begins to figure it out — hello, Wyatt Langford! — the rotation goes in the tank, with none of Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom or MacKenzie Gore pitching up to their reputations right now. Given just how much money is invested in this team, this sort of mediocre result isn't nearly good enough, and should prompt some hard questions for team president Chris Young ahead of the trade deadline.

Toronto Blue Jays

Grade: C+

• Buying or selling?: Buying
• Biggest need: Better health (and more pitching)

I'm almost inclined to bump Toronto's grade up a mark or two, given just how many injuries the Jays have had to weather already this season. The lineup isn't nearly as dynamic as we saw during last year's World Series run, but there's still more than enough talent here to make noise in the AL. The wide-open Wild Card race has extended them a lifeline, and we know this team loves to swing big at the deadline.

Washington Nationals

Grade: A

• Buying or selling?: Soft selling
• Biggest need: More arms

Really, everything from this point on is found money for Washington in year one under new president Paul Toboni. The pitching staff needs a lot of work, but there's a rock-solid foundation to build upon, and a front office that is finally operating near the cutting edge of the sport after falling behind toward the end of Mike Rizzo's tenure. Those were the most important boxes to check this season, and it's been a resounding success.

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