MLB Opening Day 2026: How different are all 30 teams compared to last season?

Another offseason has come and gone, and another marathon of an MLB season is staring us in the face. To close the book on the winter and set the stage for the season ahead, it’s time to conduct my annual exercise of evaluating all 30 rosters based on how much they changed since last year. This is not about determining whether a squad is better or worse, simply whether they are different.

The methodology is simple and remains the same as it was in 2024 and 2025 . Tally every plate appearance taken and inning pitched for each team last season. If the players behind those plate appearances and innings are still in the organization, they qualify as “returning.

” For example, Francisco Lindor recorded an MLB-leading 732 plate appearances in 2025, roughly 11. 8% of his team’s trips to the batter’s box. He is still on the Mets, so his plate appearances are returning.

The same cannot be said about Pete Alonso (709 plate appearances), Brandon Nimmo (652) or Jeff McNeil (462). By subtracting that trio’s playing time from the Mets’ returning total and comparing the results to teams across the league, we can arrive at an objective measure of how different the new-look Mets are from the 2025 squad, rather than merely marveling at the chaotic roster shuffling that took place in Queens this winter. Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season In other words, this is a straightforward avenue to assess roster turnover, a vehicle for answering a popular offseason question: Which teams ran it back, and which teams shook things up?