Folks, we finally made it. The 2026 MLB playoffs have arrived, and the Wild Card Series kicks us off on Tuesday. Philadelphia and Houston locked up playoff spots on Sunday, with the latter holding off the Rangers for another AL West crown.
For these MLB power rankings, we honestly didn’t really take the regular season win-loss record into account. We focused far more on roster construction, how the team looked in recent weeks, and the overall context of their organization. Are they truly built to contend for a title?
That said, you shouldn’t need long to figure out where our list starts.
12. Houston Astros (81–81; AL West champions)
First round matchup: vs. AL No. 6 White Sox
Honestly, this isn’t even about final records. We genuinely don’t care that the Astros are the first team to reach the playoffs with a non-winning record in a full 162-game season.
Outside of Yordan Alvarez, the 2026 Astros aren’t exactly glowing with positive stories. Jeremy Peña exceeded 4.0 bWAR for the third time in five seasons, and veteran third baseman Isaac Paredes offered stability at the hot corner; his 25 home runs and 94 RBIs marked the second-most of his career, and his 13.4 percent strikeout rate was a personal best.
But other than that, what else is there? Josh Hader is the only trustworthy pitcher on their staff, and his role is to pitch the ninth inning. We’ve said enough lately about Jose Altuve becoming dead weight, and the Astros finished with a below-average on-base percentage.
Bleh. Chances are they’ll take down the White Sox and keep things close with the Guardians in the second round.
11. Chicago White Sox (84–78; AL No. 6)
First round matchup: at AL No. 3 Astros
Credit to the White Sox for finishing strong, winning seven of their final 10 and not letting one of the more remarkable turnarounds in league history end in heartbreaking fashion. That’s not us being generous, either; Will Venable’s club is the first to win 80 games after posting at least 100 losses in consecutive seasons. There is absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t be the unanimous AL Manager of the Year.
As for the White Sox’s overall roster, they’re young and inexperienced when it comes to the playoffs. Naturally, we’re planning on seeing them reach the ALCS and cultivate a massive following in the process.
10. Philadelphia Phillies (88–74; NL No. 6)
First round matchup: at NL No. 3 Braves
Based solely on their roster, the Phillies probably deserve to be higher. Then again, even putting them above the White Sox feels generous, considering how lifeless Don Mattingly’s squad looked throughout September. You could go either way here and still infuriate some fan bases, which is always fun.
But at the end of the day, the Phillies still have a loaded roster. We’re especially intrigued to see how the duo of Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez handle the Braves; all signs point to Wheeler pitching in Game 1 and Sánchez, who finished with a 2.91 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 207 innings, taking the mound in Game 2.
By the way: If we had a Cy Young ballot, we’d put Sánchez and the Braves’ Chris Sale over the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski.
9. Cleveland Guardians (85–77; AL Central champions)
First round matchup: BYE; will face No. 3 Astros OR No. 6 White Sox in the ALDS
By this point, you know the Guardians’ identity as the scrappy, small-budget underdog that seemingly always, at the risk of cliché, finds ways to overachieve. Frankly, they’re a far better version of the Rays, except they lose the attention associated with competing in the AL East.
No one talks about Cleveland’s rotation, but Gavin Williams and Parker Messick are two of the most underdiscussed young starters leaguewide. Williams led the American League with 248 strikeouts, and Messick recorded a 2.56 ERA and 6.1 bWAR over 183.1 innings. If the Guardians shock the world and win their first title since 1948 (!), then we expect these two to be a major reason why.
8. Chicago Cubs (89–73; NL No. 5)
First round matchup: at NL No. 4 Padres
Baseball is weird. The Astros and Cubs have the presumptive MVP winners in Alvarez and Crow-Armstrong, yet neither ranked higher than No. 8. We have our reasons, partly because the National League is far superior to its American League counterparts. So if you’re looking for a reason for optimism, the North Siders would arguably be the AL’s No. 3 team.
We’ll let you figure out whether we’d have the Rays or Red Sox behind them in that case, even though both finished higher on our list. Speaking of the Red Sox, they were the victims of Alex Bregman’s two-homer game on Sunday afternoon. It’s too bad we won’t see him wear a “Phantom of the Opera”-type mask in the Wild Card Round.
7. Tampa Bay Rays (98–64; AL No. 1 seed; AL East champions)
First round matchup: BYE; will face No. 4 Yankees OR No. 5 Red Sox in the ALDS
Very rarely will you see a league’s top seed outside the top three, let alone place No. 7 on such a list. But outside of Junior Caminero, who in the Rays’ lineup truly scares you? Sure, we like Yandy Díaz, but he managed a sub-.700 OPS in the second half, down from .888 before the All-Star Break.
Freddy Peralta has looked better than he did with the Mets, though his strikeout rate has plummeted. Shane McClanahan landed on the injured list yet again, this time with left forearm tightness, and the bullpen doesn’t intimidate us.
Not even Caminero or ace Drew Rasmussen are enough to excite us, and definitely not with playoff underachiever Kevin Cash still managing the AL East champs.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (100–62; NL No. 2 seed; NL West champions)
First round matchup: BYE; will face No. 6 Phillies OR No. 3 Braves in the NLDS
The fact that the Dodgers’ regular season feels underwhelming despite winning 100 games — their most since 2023 — is a testament to what Dave Roberts and the baseball office have built. We can talk however much we want about their payroll, but ask the Mets what happens when you don’t have a championship culture.
And yes, we’re aware that “culture” is perhaps the most overused term in sports. Find us a better word to describe the Dodgers. They’re built to capture their fourth title in six years, a feat no team has achieved since the 1996–1999 Yankees.
Special kudos to Edwin Díaz, who pitched five scoreless innings with nine strikeouts and only one walk after various injuries and meltdowns.
5. Boston Red Sox (87–75; AL No. 5)
First round matchup: at AL No. 4 Yankees
Here we go again with the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, which still doesn’t carry the emotional weight that it once did. Personally, we blame free agency and what’s become a disappointing trend across all sports: the lack of “We don’t like them, and they don’t like us” mentality previously seen in these situations.
As previously discussed, we’ll see whether this marks the end for Sonny Gray, who has publicly said he’s open to retiring this winter. The veteran righty is projected to start Game 1, with rookie Peyton Tolle following on Wednesday night. We nonetheless appreciate Gray, who understood the assignment by making it clear how much he hates the Yankees.
4. San Diego Padres (91–71; NL No. 4)
First round matchup: vs. NL No. 5 Cubs
This year marks the first time in franchise history that the Padres have reached the playoffs in three consecutive years, and we have high hopes. Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado caught fire in the second half, and the Friars rode a strong late-season surge into October.
Fun fact: Tatis’ 31.8 bWAR trails only Tony Gwynn (69.2) and Dave Winfield (32.0) in Padres history. Granted, it won’t matter outside of San Diego, because Tatis torpedoed his Hall of Fame chances when he tested positive for PEDs in 2022. No player ever suspended for performance-enhancing drugs has made it to Cooperstown, and we expect it to stay that way.
3. New York Yankees (93–68; AL No. 4)
First round matchup: vs. AL No. 5 Red Sox
We have historically been very critical of Aaron Boone, who has somehow managed the Yankees for nine seasons without winning the World Series. But depending on what happens in the playoffs, this year could go down as arguably his best yet. Yes, we went there.
Even as injuries decimated the lineup and limited Aaron Judge to 66 games, the Yankees just kept fighting. Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t played since April, and most of the rotation missed time at points. Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s effectiveness diminished, and Anthony Volpe’s struggles finally resulted in a demotion and position change.
And yet, here we are. Cam Schlittler appears destined to become the Yankees’ third Cy Young winner since 1979, and we have far more faith in their lineup than they likely deserve.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (103–59; NL No. 1 seed; NL Central champions)
First round matchup: BYE; will face No. 4 Padres OR No. 5 Cubs in the NLDS
Say what? Despite us only placing the Brewers No. 2 on our list, don’t be shocked if they finally break through and reach the World Series. There aren’t many teams that have four hitters — Brice Turang, Jackson Chourio, Garrett Pratt, and Jake Bauers — worth at least 3.2 bWAR, and that’s not even factoring in Misiorowski’s NL Cy Young-caliber season.
Really, you could put the Brewers and Braves at 1A and 1B, and we’d be fine with it. Milwaukee objectively has the more dangerous lineup, and Turang is truly the sport’s most underappreciated player. So what caused the MLB-best Brewers to fall short of the top spot?
1. Atlanta Braves (94–68; NL No. 3 seed; NL East champions)
First round matchup: vs. NL No. 6 Phillies
We know, Brewers fans. You might feel like we did you guys wrong … but we didn’t, because have you guys noticed how hot Ronald Acuña Jr. has been? He made some subtle changes to his batting stance near the end of August and casually put up MVP-caliber numbers over the season’s final month. When you hit over .330 with an OPS nearing 1.000 across a 20-game stretch, you know you’re doing something right.
The Braves have their holes, especially at shortstop — the fact that Ha-Seong Kim will start some, if not all, of the Wild Card Series is disgraceful — and in the back of the rotation, but come on. We’re not betting against a lineup with Acuña, Michael Harris II, Drake Baldwin, and Matt Olson, at least not in the first round.
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