Ranking the 8 MLB City Connect jerseys: Why the Braves and Pirates stand out

After weeks of speculation and leaks, Major League Baseball officially announced the 2026 City Connect uniforms on Thursday.

Eight clubs — the Braves, Brewers, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Rangers, Reds, and Royals — showcased their new uniforms on social media. Most of those teams will debut the City Connect sets this weekend, with the Pirates (April 17) and Rangers (April 24) waiting until later this month.

For this list, we’re ranking the uniforms worst to best, and we’ve also included details on when each team will wear their City Connect sets. Let’s start with an organization that provided a perfect example of a great idea with terrible execution.

The Rangers’ new look doesn’t work

Before you claim that the Rangers’ new jerseys are misspelled, “Tejas” is the Caddo word for “friends.” The more you know!

I’m never going to criticize a team solely for introducing uniforms that pay homage to their state or area’s history. My issue is more that these jerseys look identical to the Angels’ red alternates. There was really nothing else that the Rangers could have done here to spice things up?

The collar includes “¡VIVA TEJAS!”, which is cool … except fans won’t see it unless they buy the jersey. So then what’s the point? Bad job by the Rangers here.

The Rangers will wear the City Connect uniforms during every Friday home game, starting April 24.

Something feels off about the Royals’ uniforms

I don’t hate the Royals’ City Connect set, but I also don’t like them. Sometimes, indifference is fine with uniforms, but not here.

After some reflection, I think my biggest issue is with the purple. Unless purple is involved as a primary color, as with the Lakers or Rockies, I’m not a fan of incorporating it into uniforms. It’s nitpicky, I know, but you have to do purple correctly.

What’s especially weird is that the Royals’ uniforms resemble something that the Rangers would wear. If I had to name a positive here, I like the crown above the “R.”

The Royals will wear the City Connect uniforms during every Friday home game.

What were the Reds thinking?

On the one hand, I respect the Reds for trying something extremely unique, at least by these standards, in going with the all-red set. They understood the assignment of wanting to go all-out instead of being boring.

Part of me dislikes these uniforms … and yet, they’re growing on me, perhaps in part because they’re bold without being eccentric. That’s where the Nationals’ cherry blossom City Connect set and the White Sox’s hybrid White Sox–Bulls uniforms went wrong. Those organizations tried to do too much, and it backfired.

Originally, I had these as the worst uniforms on this list, and then it went from “these are awful” to “OK, maybe I don’t hate it, after all.” Right now, it’s a solid C–, and that’s good enough to pass.

These uniforms will be worn on home Saturdays, and the Reds will also retain their black City Connect jerseys as an alternate set for Friday home games.

All hail the mini oriole on Baltimore’s City Connect uniforms

As I said with the Royals, white City Connect uniforms are boring. In a way, that defeats the whole purpose of the City Connect uniforms. You have to strike a balance, which is exactly what the Orioles did here.

Working green and orange into the uniform was an excellent choice, and the oriole on the “R” in “BMORE” is a terrific addition that made me smile. As for opting for “BMORE” over “Orioles” or “Baltimore,” let it be known that 'The Wire' is my favorite show of all time. So when I see “BMORE,” I think of Omar Little, and that is always a plus.

*My favorite characters from “The Wire” in no order: Omar, Frank Sobotka, Cool Lester Smooth, and Bodie.

The Orioles confirmed they intend to wear the City Connect jerseys during every Friday home game.

We need to talk about the Brewers and Padres’ City Connect uniforms

When I first saw the Brewers and Padres’ City Connect uniforms, all that I could think of was fictional teams in a movie or video game, like the Gotham Rogues in 'The Dark Knight Rises'. They play at Heinz Field, and they wear black-and-yellow jerseys, but they’re not the Steelers.

So, in this case, the Brewers are almost like the Wisconsin Warriors, and the Padres are the San Diego Surf. Now all they need is Jon Dowd in their lineup.

To be clear, I don’t dislike the Brewers or Padres’ City Connect sets. In fact, I think the Padres have the best jersey of the six teams we’ve discussed. I also found it interesting that the Padres cited Día de los Muertos in explaining the jersey’s design, yet they remind me more of the Tony Gwynn and Kevin Brown late-1990s teams.

As of publication, the Brewers had not announced if they will have a specific City Connect uniform schedule. The Padres will wear their City Connect sets during every Friday home game.

The Pirates got the all-black right

When the Pirates’ City Connect uniforms leaked last month, I praised them for opting for all-black rather than all-yellow. I was glad to see that the version that went viral on social media is indeed the set we’ll see this season.

As appealing as all-black uniforms might sound, it’s very easy to create an ugly final product. Pittsburgh nailed pairing the yellow and black, especially with the text and the hat. The Pirates will wear these uniforms during every Friday home game, beginning April 17.

The Braves embraced history, and the final result looks awesome

I’m a bit too young to remember the Dale Murphy era, but that’s all I could think of when I saw these Braves uniforms. That’s by design, because these jerseys took inspiration from those 1980s sets and act as a modernized version.

Moving forward, teams need to follow the Braves’ lead in identifying previous uniform sets and creating a current-day edition. There’s a reason why the Braves and Pirates both scored so high here.

The Braves will wear the City Connect uniforms during this weekend’s series against the Guardians, and then for every Saturday home game this season.

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