First things first: The extremes aren't so very extreme inMajor League Baseballthis year.
These aren't the dark days of the 2010s, when teams were blatantly trying to lose, making for some easy 100-loss seasons and an equal amount of moderately decent teams stacking wins like folded laundry.
In 2026, there's probably no more than five teams who can be confidently counted out of postseason contention. And that makes the annual exercise of bold predictions a little trickier.
Yet even if there's legitimate hopes in almost every precinct, we can still take some stabs at eye-opening feats and surprise outcomes. With that, a venture out onto the limb for 2026:
The Mets – not the Dodgers – are the real super team
Owner Steve Cohen, who still spends like no other individual in ownership, has gotten a free ride out of this whole Dodgers-ruining-baseball narrative. Credit to his players, we suppose, for not winning the past two World Series.
Yet after a highly-disappointing 83-win, no-playoffs season, the Mets are stacked, hungry and primed for a huge season. Maybe it's just a 2026-only alignment, but there is no more dynamic 1-2-3 in the game than Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Bo Bichette. Freddy Peralta gives them a real No. 1 in the rotation.
Clay Holmes is fully stretched out. Rookie Nolan McLean (and, later, Jonah Tong) gives them high-end arms to miss plenty of bats. The bullpen is… different, anyway, which isn't a bad thing.
Can they dislodge Philadelphia atop the NL East? It will be a great race. But more quietly than usual, we feel something special coming from Queens.
The Pirates will make the playoffs
Throwing this out there while it remains a "bold" stance to take.
We're not patting ownership on the head for actually bringing in reinforcements but will begrudgingly allow that they've at least given the Buccos a chance. An always fallow lineup finally has definition.
And while we're concerned they got too excited about trading away pitching, the Paul Skenes-led group – which should get Jared Jones back, too – is deep enough to contend. We'll take the trades of Johan Oviedo and Mike Burrows as a rousing endorsement of top prospect Bubba Chandler.
And we'll wait like everyone else for the arrival of Konnor Griffin, franchise shortstop. Nothing's automatic about all this – but for once, the ingredients are there.
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Here are some of the more interesting foods and beverages available this season atmajor-leaguestadiums: The "Take Me Out to the Ballgame Milkshake" at Diamondbacks home games is a salted caramel shake with whipped cream, peanut butter sandwich cookies, Kit Kat bars and Cracker Jack.
ABS will be kind of a bummer
This is ostensibly the year all the Screenshot Warriors have waited for – the automatic ball-strike system, or, colloquially, "robot umps" at least partially integrated into the game.
Hey, the system works great: Challenges must come in a timely fashion and the "Robot" cooks up a verdict far quicker than a judge in traffic court. Yet in a mild bit of be-careful-what-you-wish-for, the notion of fighting over 0.1 of an inch will seem silly.
Especially when a pitcher like Skenes paints a perfect pitch on the corner to ring up a hitter, only for the prince of pedantry – ABS – to say, "Nah, you're not good enough."
JJ Wetherholt is the NL's Rookie of the Year
Players aren't concocted in a lab, but if you had to put together a perfect package for the modern game – without simply saying, "Give me Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani" – Wetherholt might be your guy.
He's speedy. He puts the ball in play. Has power that will only continue to develop. Is a natural shortstop but can play all over the field.
In this case, he'll be at second base because there's a Gold Glover, Masyn Winn, at short. They should make beautiful music together up the middle. And while theSt. Louis Cardinals' rebuild may get unsightly at times, Wetherholt, the seventh overall pick out of West Virginia in 2024, will be appointment viewing.
Tarik Skubal tosses a perfect game
The stars will align someday. Tarik Skubal's combination of dominance and efficiency and his frequent dates against AL Central lineups will result in the ultimate pitching accomplishment: Twenty-seven up, 27 down.
The lefty many expect will get close to a half-billion dollars this offseason can get deeper in games quicker than most, thanks in part to a fastball-changeup combo that can bury hitters in an 0-2 hole before their walk-up music has faded. And consider some of his gems last year:
Nine innings, two hits, no walks, 13 strikeouts, 94 pitches against Cleveland.
Seven innings, two hits, one walk, 90 pitches against the Chicago White Sox.
Seven innings, three hits, no walks, 10 strikeouts, 93 pitches against Cleveland.
Seven innings, one hit, one walk, 13 strikeouts, 93 pitches against Minnesota.
At some point, every liner will find a glove, every blooper will hang up long enough for an outfielder to run underneath it. And while it won't make Armando Galarraga whole, the Tigers will have instant replay this time as abackstop against injustice.
Jason Benetti's star continues to rise
For now, from a national perspective, he's something of a "guy you're familiar with yet don't totally know." Now, as the man behind the mic for a rebooted Sunday Night Baseball on NBC and its streaming arm, Benetti has a platform to become the entertaining and familiar voice viewers want from their big-time broadcasts.
The Detroit Tigers play-by-play man has done plenty of baseball and college hoops for Fox, yet this is his first foray as a true No. 1 guy. The booth format on NBC – which will integrate analysts from the participating clubs – will keep the product fresh each week while allowing Benetti to tee up the visiting talent. Like he does with, say, Bill Raftery on a Big Ten hoops game.
In an increasingly complex viewing world - especiallywithin baseball- Sunday nights will once again be a safe harbor for fans seeking the familiar.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:MLB bold predictions for 2026: Pirates to playoffs, Mets best in NL