MLB Opening Day 2026: Expert picks for World Series champion, division winners, surprise playoff teams, Cy Young, MVP and more
With the season beginning on Wednesday, Yahoo Sports' baseball experts make their picks for what's to come in 2026.
After another long, cold, dark winter, there’s good news: Baseball is back. The Yankees visit the Giants on Wednesday to kick off the MLB season . Twenty-two teams will be in action Thursday on Opening Day, starting with Pirates versus Mets , and the final six teams will join the fun on Friday.
To get you ready for Opening Day and the season ahead, Yahoo Sports' MLB experts — Jake Mintz, Jordan Shusterman, Jack Baer, Chris Cwik, Jason Owens and Scott Pianowski — made their predictions for the 2026 season, from the division winners and World Series champion to the Cy Young winners and MVPs to the first no-hitter thrown, the biggest name traded and everything in between. Plus, we’ve got some fantasy analysis from Pianowski sprinkled in . Let’s dig in.
Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports Mallory Bielecki/Yahoo Sports The AL East is the only division to get three different nominees for the title this season. The AL Central is a 4-2 verdict for the Tigers over the Royals; no one even has the Guardians (who stole the division last year) making the playoffs. The Mariners are a clean sweep in the AL West after coming within one game of their first World Series.
Two other experts have Kansas City with a wild-card spot, which means four of six writers put them in the playoffs. It’s a fun time to be Royals-invested for fantasy, with the fences coming in (and down) and staff ace Cole Ragans presumably healthy. Half the poll put the Mariners in the World Series, while the other half picked an AL East team.
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