Opening Day is just a few weeks away, which means it’s time to ask the question that’s on everyone’s mind as the new MLB season approaches: Who will be the best player in 2026?

To answer that question, we created our annual MLB Rank list of the top 100 players in baseball. More than two dozen ESPN baseball experts sent in their top 100 rankings, which we averaged to create the final list.

However, the exercise raised a host of other questions around how to compare players who have vastly different but still important roles across the sport. How do you match up a two-way generational talent such as Shohei Ohtani against another starting pitcher, or the best sluggers in the game? How do you rank players who don’t have much (or any) major league experience? And what about the top relievers? It seems impossible to pit these stars against one another, but we did it — and you shouldn’t be surprised as to which superstar came out on top.

Our top 100 list features a huge variety of players, from MVP and Cy Young Award winners to veterans filling out Hall of Fame résumés to young megastars who could dominate MLB for years to come, building their own cases to be enshrined in Cooperstown. But who’s No. 1? And where does the best player on your team rank?

ESPN MLB experts Jeff Passan, Alden Gonzalez, Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers, Jorge Castillo, Bradford Doolittle, David Schoenfield, Kiley McDaniel, Eric Karabell and Tristan Cockcroft broke down why each player is ranked where he is and what to expect from each this coming season.

Jump to team’s top-ranked player:

American League
ATH | BAL | BOS | CLE | DET
HOU | KC | LAA | MIN | NYY
SEA | TB | TEX | TOR
(No top 100 players: CHW)

National League
ARI | ATL | CHC | CIN
LAD | MIL | NYM | PHI
PIT | SD | SF | WSH
(No top 100 players: COL, MIA, STL)

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It almost seems unfair to include Ohtani on this list. At times, it feels as if he belongs in a category all his own. He has claimed four MVPs in the past five seasons, all of them unanimously. And now, somehow, the thought is that Ohtani can elevate to an even higher level.

After recovering from a second elbow surgery to pitch down the stretch and in the postseason, Ohtani will return to full-time two-way duties for the first time in three years. He’ll do so atop the game’s best lineup and within its deepest rotation. Two words continue to hover over Ohtani as he ventures into his age-31 season: Cy Young. It’s the only major award he has not won, and many around him believe he’s motivated to earn it.

Season prediction: At the plate: .980 OPS, 45 home runs, 20 stolen bases. On the mound: 2.65 ERA, 160 innings, 213 strikeouts. The result: a third-place finish in Cy Young voting and a fifth MVP. — Gonzalez

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Ohtani is undoubtedly the best player in the world. There is no arguing that. But Judge, not Ohtani, is the best hitter in the world. The Yankees captain has ascended to all-time great status with historic production in three of his past four seasons — and he was on pace for another round in 2023 if not for a fluke toe injury.

His numbers over the past four years are rookie-mode video game level production: a .311/.439/.677 slash line with 210 home runs and 37.9 bWAR in 573 games. He has accumulated 56 intentional walks over the past two years. He won the first batting title of his career last season. To top it off, he exorcised some postseason demons with a dominant October showing.

Judge says he wants to steal more bases this year after watching speed-challenged runners rank among the league leaders last season. His flexor strain from last summer remains a concern in the field, but nothing suggests Judge will slow down if he stays healthy.

Season prediction: Judge slugs 55 home runs, becoming the first player to record five career 50-homer seasons. He adds a career-high 20 steals and wins his fourth American League MVP in five years. — Castillo

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If 2024 turns out to be Witt’s best season, he wouldn’t be the first great player whose career year came in his age-25 season. Yet, while the encore was a little less elite, it in many ways underscored just how much of a superstar Witt has become. It wasn’t a down season; 2025 was merely a different gradation of greatness. He still put up 7.1 WAR, landed another top-five finish in the AL MVP race, led the majors in hits and doubles, and piled up across-the-board value with his mesmerizing baserunning and Gold Glove defense.

As long as Witt is healthy, he’s going to be one of baseball’s top producers for years to come. This will always be reflected in the value metrics, but one of the key questions about the coming season is what impact the dimension tweaks at Kauffman Stadium might have on his numbers, as well as how that might play into his quest to win what feels like an inevitable first MVP award.

Season prediction: With half his games in the smaller K, Witt enters his career prime poised for a monster season. A 40-40 season supported by elite defense and a WAR in the 9-to-10 range will land him his first MVP. — Doolittle

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The best at his job — only one player can claim that label about his given profession, and Skubal is it among pitchers on this planet. Paul Skenes might catch him someday, but until he or someone else wins back-to-back Cy Young Awards, let’s not overthink this. Skubal is at the top of his game as he heads into his free agent year. Not only is he starting to build up a dominant regular-season résumé, but, after a couple of trips to the playoffs, the left-hander’s 2.04 ERA in six career postseason starts screams “pitcher you want on the mound in a must-win game.” In April or October.

Season prediction: Why stop at two? Skubal will win his third consecutive Cy Young Award and then hit the free agent market, where the terms of his contract will make him the first pitcher to sign a package worth $500 million — or more. — Rogers

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The baseball world is rightly excited about Konnor Griffin, the Pirates’ star prospect who turns 20 in April, and his ascension helps put Soto’s journey into perspective. Before he turned 20, Soto had already posted a .923 OPS in his rookie season and been intentionally walked in a World Series game en route to a title. He’s 27 now, and he’ll reach two career benchmarks this year: 250 home runs and 1,000 walks. An inner-circle Hall of Famer in the making.

Season prediction: He’ll give Ohtani a run for National League MVP, as he has talked about, but will ultimately finish second or third. And along the way, he’ll pick up career steal No. 100 (he needs only five more). — Olney

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Since May 11, 2004, the day he arrived in the big leagues, Skenes has found himself squarely in the conversation for “Best Pitcher in the World.” And the numbers back Skenes’ claim to that title.

Since his debut, he has the best ERA in the sport by nearly four-tenths of a run (1.96), the fourth-lowest home run rate (0.59 per nine innings), the sixth-best strikeout rate (10.83 per nine), the hardest average fastball (98.5 mph) and, even with restrictions on his output, the 10th-most innings (320⅔). What’s scary is that this is just the beginning. Health permitting, Skenes will be an all-time great.

Season prediction: 18-4, 2.03 ERA, 206 innings, 251 strikeouts, 48 walks, 11 home runs allowed, second consecutive NL Cy Young Award. — Passan

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It’s one of the most important questions heading into 2026: Can Raleigh do it again? This ranking suggests the panel believes he’ll remain one of the top players in the game. That’s reasonable. From 2022 to 2024, Raleigh hit 91 home runs and ranked fourth among catchers in Baseball-Reference WAR. Via FanGraphs, which incorporates pitch framing into its WAR metric, he ranked first among catchers and 18th among all position players. Replace 2022 with 2025, and now he ranks sixth among position players in WAR. Even with some expected regression, Raleigh’s combination of power and defense makes him a star.

Season prediction: Of the 23 players who have hit 50-plus home runs only once in their career, their average drop to their second-highest total is 13. Baking in a similar decline for Raleigh, let’s go with 47 home runs. — Schoenfield

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Anyone concerned about Crochet being able to get through a six-month season with a full workload is certainly convinced now. In 2024, he made 32 starts for the cautious Chicago White Sox, throwing only 146 innings. Changing his socks, er, Sox, worked.

Boston traded for the 6-foot-6 left-hander and then permitted him to be one of only three pitchers to eclipse 200 innings last season. Crochet won 18 games (double his career output) and led MLB with 255 strikeouts. Nobody seems too concerned about his health anymore.

Season prediction: It is far from outrageous to project Crochet goes from second in AL Cy Young voting to No. 1. How about 20 wins, too? — Karabell

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Rodriguez plays the game with energy and enthusiasm, always smiling and always playing hard. While he has flaws in his game — he doesn’t walk much, he gets off to slow starts — focusing on what he has already accomplished tells the picture of one of the game’s brightest young stars: three top-10 MVP finishes, two 30/30 seasons, 10th all time in WAR among center fielders through age 24.

He hit .290/.341/.560 in 65 games in the second half last year, once again leading to the belief that there is still room for improvement with more consistency.

Season prediction: This is the year it all comes together. He hits better in April. He hits better at home. He goes 40/30 and finishes with 8.0 WAR, which puts him in the thick of the MVP race. — Schoenfield

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Since Acuña’s superstar 2023 season (41 homers, 73 stolen bases) that landed him a unanimous MVP, he has played only 149 games because of a torn left ACL and some other minor issues. His eight-year extension actually ends after 2026, but his two club options are locks to be picked up for 2027 and 2028. It feels as if this season is the beginning of the second half of Acuña’s career, now fully healthy and 28 years old, no longer the wunderkind who signed an extension at age 21.

Season prediction: He returns back to his healthy self, posting a 5-plus-WAR season. — McDaniel

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It’s hard to imagine how different the Blue Jays’ franchise trajectory could have been had they not surrendered in their negotiations with Guerrero last spring and signed him to the $500 million contract. He might’ve been traded last summer, and the Jays might not have made the playoffs. Instead, the Jays reached Game 7 of the World Series, with Vladdy propelling Toronto through the postseason with one of the greatest October performances we’ve ever seen — 29 hits, 16 walks and eight homers in 24 games.

Season prediction: Having learned something about himself during the postseason run, he’ll carry his greatness over into 2026 and challenge Aaron Judge for the AL batting title. — Olney

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Those who regard Ramirez as one of baseball’s most underrated superstars have a valid case, as his 54.9 WAR over the past 10 seasons trails only Mookie Betts (66.9) and Judge (62.3), yet wasn’t enough to qualify him for our top 10.

A model of consistency, Ramirez batted .284 while averaging 30 homers, 29 steals and 5.7 outs above average at third base per 162 games over the past decade, rarely straying far from those numbers in any single season. He’s the cornerstone for a Cleveland franchise that advanced to October in seven of those seasons.

Season prediction: Ramirez, now 33, might soon exhibit signs of decline, but it’s tough to see him falling far from his 30/40, 6-WAR form in 2026. We’ll predict a .280 batting average, 32 homers and 31 steals. — Cockcroft

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Henderson had a huge first full big league season in 2023 (4.7 WAR, 122 wRC+) and basically copied that last year (4.8 WAR, 120 wRC+), but his 2024 season was on another level: 7.9 WAR, 154 wRC+. He played through a shoulder issue in 2025, and you could see that in his diminished (but still above-average) bat speed, which disrupted his timing enough that, according to his Baseball Savant page, his swing was a bit longer and his barrels (and overall performance) at the heart of the plate plummeted.

Season prediction: Expect him to bounce back to close to his 2024 levels, even if predicting a 7.9 WAR-season would be a high bar for most any player. — McDaniel

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As Tatis enters his age-27 season, often the best year for a hitter, we might find out how much of his early-career luster he can recover. Not that he hasn’t been good, but consider that from 2019 to 2021, he averaged 8.0 bWAR and 48 homers per 162 games. Tatis was suspended for 2022, and then, the past three years, those averages have dipped to 5.6 bWAR and 28.9 homers. He’s still a star, but those early numbers had him on an all-time-great track. The Padres could very much use that version of Tatis to return. If it does, he’s as well positioned as anyone for that No. 2 slot in the NL MVP voting behind Ohtani.

Season prediction: Tatis has predominantly hit cleanup this spring after leading off in 150 of his 155 starts in 2025. We’ll see if that carries over into the regular season, but if it does, Tatis should top 100 RBIs for the first time in his career. That is, of course, if those hitting ahead of him get on base as often as he does. — Doolittle

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15. Kyle Tucker, RF, Los Angeles Dodgers

Tucker’s swing is not one you want to imitate, but it gets the job done, as he continues to dominate the strike zone in the same way Soto does. These guys swing only at strikes. For Tucker, it has led to a .500 slugging percentage while drawing as many walks as strikeouts over the past couple of seasons. He just needs to avoid the more fluke injuries. His swing path lends itself to the occasional foul ball off the shin, and then there was the fracture in his hand last season that slowed him down. When healthy, Tucker is still among the best hitters in the game.

Season prediction: There are two: a healthy, full year in the Dodgers’ lineup and he’ll produce an 8-WAR season — or higher. If Tucker is banged up, just cut that number in half. A 4-WAR season is good — but he can do a lot better. — Rogers

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For all of his talent, and he has plenty, Lindor’s greatest attribute might be his durability. The shortstop has not landed on the injured list since 2021. He has played at least 160 games in three of the past four seasons. He played 152 in 2024 — his best season with the Mets — despite dealing with a back injury in September, and then returned to lead New York to the NLCS.

Last season, Lindor’s defense took a step back as he played through a broken pinkie toe and hamate discomfort. The hand bone irritation surfaced enough again last month for Lindor to opt for surgery. He and Mets officials have said they’re optimistic that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, but it’s a tight window. How quickly Lindor taps into his usual production at the plate following a surgery that can sap a hitter’s power for months is another story. The revamped Mets will need him to produce to make a real run.

Season prediction: The hamate surgery leads to a slow start before Lindor gets on track, finishing with 20 home runs, an OPS of .800 and 5 fWAR. — Castillo

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The Dodgers lavished Yamamoto with the largest contract ever given to a starting pitcher, then watched him struggle through both injury and inconsistency as a rookie during the 2024 regular season. But then he stepped up in the playoffs, approached 2025 with noticeable conviction and ultimately showed why he is among the world’s greatest pitchers.

In 30 regular-season starts in 2025, Yamamoto put up a 2.49 ERA. In 37⅓ playoff innings, he gave up only six earned runs — including none when he entered out of the bullpen on zero days’ rest in a heroic Game 7 performance.

Yamamoto’s command of six different pitches is legendary. The way he leverages his body to exert velocity and maintain stamina is seen by many — including recently retired ex-teammate and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw — as revelatory.

Season prediction: The Dodgers will give Yamamoto a break at some point, given his workload in the postseason and his presence on Team Japan in the WBC this March. He’ll be limited to 20 starts, but he’ll once again warrant Cy Young consideration. — Gonzalez

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The broken hamate bone in Carroll’s right hand will keep him out of spring training and could affect his Opening Day status. Even if he’s back, though, the power surge he experienced last season, with a career-best .541 slugging percentage, could see a regression.

Hamate bone injuries take time for full recovery, and as hard of a worker as Carroll is, few are immune to the waiting game. Regardless, he is among the game’s most well-rounded players: strong, extraordinarily fast, intelligent in all phases. And he’s still only 25 years old, smack dab in his prime and eminently capable of finding himself in the top 10 next year.

Season prediction: .282/.370/.495 with 23 home runs, 47 stolen bases, 116 runs and 82 RBIs. — Passan

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A year after his surprising breakout, lanky left-hander Sanchez continued to ascend, finishing second to Skenes in NL Cy Young award voting. Philadelphia’s emergent ace was one of three pitchers to surpass 200 innings (Logan Webb and Garrett Crochet were the others) and one of 12 to reach 200 strikeouts. No pitcher — not even Skubal — posted a higher bWAR (8.0).

Sanchez continues to befuddle hitters on both sides of the plate with his sinker/changeup combination, and he went unbeaten in 15 home starts (6-0, 1.94 ERA, .90 WHIP) in Philly’s bandbox.

Season prediction: Thanks to better bullpen performance, Sanchez becomes the Phillies’ first 20-game winner since … Roy Halladay in 2010, and only the second since Steve Carlton in 1982. — Karabell

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20. Ketel Marte, 2B, Arizona Diamondbacks

You could argue he’s the most underrated hitter in the game, except this ranking shows the respect he has earned in recent seasons. Since 2023, Marte has matched Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in wRC+, hitting more home runs with a higher slugging percentage. His wRC+ is higher than that of Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Schwarber and Jose Ramirez over those three seasons. Marte plays a solid second base and ranked in the top 15% in walk rate and lowest strikeout rate in 2025. He spent the winter mentioned in trade rumors and is coming off a season that saw him scrutinized for an absence following his house being burglarized and his apology to the team.

Season prediction: He starts his fourth All-Star Game and third in a row — and then, with Arizona’s pitching in a free fall and the Diamondbacks under .500, gets traded in a blockbuster deadline deal. — Schoenfield

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21. Kyle Schwarber, DH, Philadelphia Phillies

Schwarber provides his team little defensive contribution, but what a powerful designated hitter he is. He is one of three hitters with at least 180 home runs, 420 RBIs and 420 runs in the past four seasons combined (Judge and Ohtani are the others). He led the NL in home runs (56) and the majors in RBIs (132) last season, and he also posted the third-best barrel rate (20.8%) in the sport. Schwarber’s keen eye at the plate is a boon to his hitting, as his 426 total walks and 15.2% walk rate from 2022 to 2025 rank third and fourth in that span, respectively.

Season prediction: Schwarber falls three homers shy of another 50-homer season, but as the Phillies’ No. 2 hitter, he drives in 116 runs, scores 108 and walks 104 times. — Cockcroft

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PCA burst onto the scene last April, hitting everything hard and many out of the park. And “everything” is not just an exaggeration — Crow-Armstrong was arguably the best bad-ball hitter in the first half last season, seemingly slugging anything from his shins to his shoulders. It led to an All-Star selection and an .847 OPS with 27 stolen bases. But bad-ball swinging can catch up to a young player, and it finally did in the second half: PCA stole only eight bases after the break because he wasn’t getting on very much. His .262 OBP in the second half helped tank his finish. But it was still a very good season: 36 home runs with 33 stolen bases.

Season prediction: The baseball world is wondering who the real PCA is. The easy answer is he’s somewhere between who he was in the first half of last season and the second half. Vowing to get on more this season, he will steal 50 bases and hit 20 home runs. — Rogers

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Caminero delivered on being one of the top prospects in baseball quite quickly, posting 4.6 WAR last year in his first full MLB season.

He has major power, in large part because he has the second-best bat speed in baseball and the highest percentage of swing speeds over 75 mph. He also has the second-longest swing in baseball, a worse-than-average chase rate and a launch angle sweet spot among the worst in the league, so there are clear risk points. But I’d worry more about those in a decade when his bat speed will be lower.

Season prediction: Caminero’s offensive numbers will be down a bit in 2026, partly because 45 homers is hard to replicate but also because of the aforementioned risk points. His expected wOBA being lower than his actual wOBA last year suggests there was some luck on balls in play. — McDaniel

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One of these years, De La Cruz is going to put everything together and win an MVP award. Over his first three seasons, though, he has been as much about potential as production. He has never had an on-base percentage over .340. His slugging percentage topped out at .471. And while his ability to post is admirable — De La Cruz was one of only six to play in all 162 games last season — the tools are there for more.

At 24 years old, he has plenty of time to find them, and when he does, the entire package — a 6-5, switch-hitting shortstop with otherworldly power and speed — won’t look like anything the game has ever seen.

Season prediction: .257/.338/.504 with 32 home runs, 44 stolen bases, 109 runs and 94 RBIs. — Passan

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25. Mookie Betts, SS, Los Angeles Dodgers

If Betts can combine the shortstop defender he miraculously became in 2025 with the hitter he consistently was from, say, 2019 to 2024, he would easily crack our top 10 again. Betts, our No. 3-ranked player last year, had an OPS of just .657 as late as Aug. 4 last season. And though he turned it on down the stretch and somehow finished with 3.4 fWAR, he came out of 2025 with questions — given his frame, his age and the demands of his new position — about whether he can continue to be as impactful as we’ve always known him to be offensively. Maybe the 33-year-old will prove us wrong yet again.

Season prediction: He’ll have a better offensive season, with an adjusted OPS of 135 (his average from 2019 to 2024: 142). He’ll also be a Gold Glove finalist at shortstop again, the type of feat we haven’t taken enough time to appreciate. And he’ll be good for 5 fWAR. — Gonzalez

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26. Trea Turner, SS, Philadelphia Phillies

As he enters his age-33 season, Turner’s speed-and-contact game remains very much intact and shows up in every facet. These enduring traits also keep his value strong even as a slowing bat has led to diminishing power numbers. Turner is at plus-38 baserunning runs above average for his career, per Baseball Reference, which ranks 75th all time. With a sprint speed that’s improbably still at the top of the charts despite his age, he’s likely to wind up as one of the top 30 or 40 baserunners of all time, a good excuse to keep showing replays of his beautiful slide years after his eventual retirement.

Season prediction: Once a paragon of durability, Turner has averaged 131 games over the past two seasons. His 141 games in 2025 were enough to get him 5.4 bWAR, his second batting title and a fifth-place finish in the NL MVP race. Expect the quality of Turner’s play to continue even as the quantity begins to wane a bit. — Doolittle

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If you appreciate pitching more as an art than as something constructed in a high-tech laboratory, then Webb is your guy. By current standards, his 92-mph fastball is pedestrian, but he knows how to set batters up with a five-pitch arsenal and even led the NL in strikeouts in 2025 — while also topping the circuit in innings for the third consecutive season. He does have a notable home-field advantage (his career ERA is more than a run lower at home), but his track record of durability and success makes him one of the safest bets for 2026.

Season prediction: He leads the league again in innings pitched, wins 15 games and his improved strikeout rate from 2025 holds as he once again tops 200 K’s. — Schoenfield

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Baseball’s top catcher – who did not slug 60 home runs – performed solidly despite dealing with a fractured left middle finger for months, reaching base at a .350 clip for the fourth consecutive season but slugging only .399. Despite the injury, Contreras appeared in more games at catcher than in previous seasons, and the Brewers figure to rely on him heavily again. He walked at a career-high rate (12.7%) and struck out less (18.2%) than ever, splitting time hitting in the Nos. 2, 3 and 4 spots in the lineup. He continues his prime in his age-28 season.

Season prediction: Though his career high for home runs is 23, Contreras is certainly capable of reaching 30. After all, he bashed nine homers last August. It’s time for his first 30-100 season. — Karabell

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If this ranking seems aggressive for a player with only 159 days in the big leagues, well, consider the company he keeps in baseball’s best statistical neighborhood. Kurtz generated a wRC+ of 170 last season, and the only two hitters who were better than that were Judge (204) and Ohtani (172). Like Ohtani, Kurtz is a left-handed hitter, and think about the triple-slash numbers each of them produced against right-handed pitching last season:

Kurtz: .336/.439/.714
Ohtani .283/.416/.661

Season prediction: Kurtz will have more competitive results against left-handed pitchers this year and join Judge, Ohtani and Schwarber in the 50-homer club. — Olney

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30. Pete Alonso, 1B, Baltimore Orioles

Alonso does two things at an elite level: He posts and he smashes home runs. Nobody has played in more regular-season games than him since he debuted in 2019. His 264 career home runs are third in the majors — behind Judge and Schwarber — during that span. And yet the Mets decided he was not worth a long-term contract the past two offseasons. The Orioles made a very different calculation and gave him a five-year, $155 million deal after Alonso’s bounce-back season hitting behind Soto in 2025. In Baltimore, he’ll hit behind Henderson — another elite left-handed batter — in the middle of a deep lineup that should rank among the best in the majors.

Season prediction: Alonso exploits the hitter-friendly conditions at Camden Yards for his third career 40-home run season and partners with Henderson to create one of the best one-two punches of any lineup in the majors. — Castillo

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Brown’s historically ugly stat line from April 11, 2024 — two-thirds of an inning pitched, 11 hits, 9 earned runs — seems like a distant memory. Since then, he ranks second in quality starts (40), sixth in ERA (2.64), ninth in innings pitched (347⅔) and 10th in strikeouts (377). Brown’s six-pitch repertoire is brilliant for both minimizing hard contact (an MLB-best 30.3% hard-hit rate allowed the past two seasons) and balancing his righty/lefty splits (.286/.273 wOBAs), making him a model of consistency who’s perfect for inheriting the Houston’s staff ace role after the departure of Framber Valdez.

Season prediction: Brown is as good a bet for 30-plus starts and a sub-three ERA as there is (we’ll say 31 starts, 2.98 ERA, 196 K’s). He’s a shoo-in to start any playoff Game 1, should his Astros qualify. — Cockcroft

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Perdomo had a huge breakout season in 2025 with career bests in walk rate, strikeout rate, isolated power, home runs, stolen bases, runs, RBI, OPS, WAR … yes, everything. He was the second-best shortstop with 7.1 WAR last season, behind only Witt. Perdomo probably will regress a bit in 2026 but still be elite because of his wide base of skills: He can be above average at everything you can measure in all phases of the game when he’s at his best.

Season prediction: He’ll still post a 5-WAR season in 2026 and be the fifth-best shortstop in baseball by that measure. — McDaniel

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It takes a particular sort of player to go from his rookie season to the top 5% of big leaguers, and the 21-year-old Anthony more than qualifies. Though he’s expected to hit leadoff for the Red Sox this season, he’s the best hitter on the team by a considerable margin, hitting the ball harder on average than anyone other than Oneil Cruz, Judge and Ohtani last year while walking at an elite rate. What will separate Anthony the All-Star from Anthony the perennial MVP contender is his capacity to hit the ball in the air. Like De La Cruz, Anthony hits too many ground balls — 50.6% last season — and for his power to really matter, that needs to change.

Season prediction: .286/.391/.538 with 31 home runs, 116 runs and 84 RBIs. — Passan

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34. Will Smith, C, Los Angeles Dodgers

The sturdy, unsung rock behind the plate for the Dodgers, Smith never has a bad season, making his 10-year, $140 million contract that runs through 2033 one of the best bargains in the game. The World Series hero is coming off perhaps his best season yet, hitting .296/.404/.497 while topping the league-average caught-stealing rate for the third year in a row. Smith overcomes a relatively slow bat with elite plate discipline and a high barrel rate. It’s not the flashiest approach to success, which suits Smith just fine.

Season prediction: Smith didn’t qualify for the leaderboards last season after sitting out most of September because of an injury, but if he had, his .404 OBP would have led the NL. Only two catchers have led their league in OBP: Mickey Cochrane and Joe Mauer (who did it twice). No, it won’t happen in 2026 — there’s Soto, after all — but Smith will top .400 again. — Schoenfield

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35. Max Fried, SP, New York Yankees

Fried’s first season in pinstripes was a rousing success, at least until its closing note. Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA, fourth-place finish in AL Cy Young balloting) lived up to the hype generated by his $218 million contract. He set career highs in starts (32) and innings (195⅓), giving the Yankees some much-needed rotation stability. The uptick in volume came without any apparent drop in his trademark consistency. The end was not as encouraging, as Fried was knocked around early in a Game 2 loss to Toronto’s Trey Yesavage that put New York in an 0-2 hole in the ALDS. Getting that last game right will be imperative in securing Fried an honored place in Yankee annals.

Season prediction: More of the same, which is good. Fried’s year-to-year performance resides in a narrow band of desirable outcomes. His average over the past two seasons is 15-8, 3.04 ERA and 185 innings. Expect those numbers, plus or minus a couple of clicks in each column. — Doolittle

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Freeman wants 3,000 hits — so badly that he no longer does a good job hiding it. He’s at 2,431 as he approaches his age-36 season. If he averages 143 hits over these next four years, he’ll get there by 2029, when he’s 40 (his average in 12 full seasons is 175). That would require a two-year extension with the Dodgers, one Freeman has already openly vouched for. Even at this stage of his career, he remains a model of consistency. He’s going to play every day, he’s going to hit for a high average, he’s going to slug on occasion and he’s going to show up in the big moments that October produces.

Season prediction: In an effort to keep Freeman healthy for the stretch run, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts will somehow convince him to make only 135 starts. He’ll still reach 20 homers, he’ll still drive in roughly 90 runs and he’ll still provide an .800-plus OPS. — Gonzalez

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Besides slipping just under .800 (.797) this past year, Alvarez has never had an OPS lower than .877 in a single season in his career. In fact, he has had only one full season where it dipped below .900. But after an injury-plagued 2025, his ranking on this list has plummeted. The Astros need him to be that pre-2025 guy again, especially without Kyle Tucker around to help from the left side of the plate. Can Alvarez put together a healthy season? That’s the only question with him. Otherwise, he has answered all the other ones as a hitter. He can be as dangerous as anyone in baseball.

Season prediction: Alvarez stays healthy and shoots back up our rankings in next year’s edition. He’ll be back in the top 10 with another .900 OPS season. — Rogers

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38. Bo Bichette, 3B, New York Mets

Everything about Bichette’s free agency, from his résumé to how it unfolded, was unusual. He was a shortstop his entire career with Toronto, but his regression at the position meant interested teams didn’t want him to play there. The Phillies emerged as the heavy favorites and were convinced they were going to sign him to a seven-year, $200 million contract before the Mets snatched him with a three-year, $126 million offer. The $42 million annual average value for the two-time All-Star is tied for the fourth highest in the majors.

If all goes as planned for both sides and Bichette produces, it essentially amounts to a one-year agreement since there is an opt-out clause after this season. Bichette should benefit from hitting behind Soto. The question is his defense. In New York, he’ll play third base — a position he has not played since high school travel ball. It’s a short-term gamble the Mets were willing to make.

Season prediction: Bichette’s transition to third base is rocky, forcing the Mets to use him as a designated hitter more than they planned. But his offensive production does not waver. He eclipses .300 with 20 home runs and opts out after the season to hit free agency again. — Castillo

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Langford’s second MLB season looked quite like his solid rookie campaign, as he participated in precisely 134 games again, but hit six more home runs, stole three more bases and had a lot more walks and strikeouts. His OPS of .775 in 2025 was a 35-point improvement but still short of expectations. Perhaps Langford did not make as much progress as many hoped, but he is only 24. He spent three separate stints on the IL because of oblique strains. The Rangers hope durability doesn’t hold back the No. 4 pick in the 2023 draft.

Season prediction: Let the All-Star seasons commence. Langford was one of 24 players to compile both 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases last season. In 2026, he will eclipse 30 of each. — Karabell

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40. Matt Olson, 1B, Atlanta Braves

He has played in 746 consecutive games, a streak that makes him the ironman of his generation. New Braves manager Walt Weiss intends to rest his players more regularly than his predecessor, Brian Snitker, giving his regulars perhaps a couple of games off every month. But in Olson’s case, Weiss might be more apt to rest him by taking him off the field and getting him off his feet in one-sided games. Olson has hit at least 29 homers in seven of the past eight seasons, with the shortened COVID-19 season of 2020 standing as the outlier. Sometime this year, he probably will hit his 300th career homer.

Season prediction: Once he hits No. 300, his name will be more regularly mentioned among players who might one day make a speech at Cooperstown. Olson’s career OPS+ is in the range of George Brett, Al Kaline and Fred McGriff. — Olney

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Every Seager season seemingly brings us more of the same: elite contact-quality metrics and a torrid second half with the bat, but also a trip (or three) to the IL. Hamstring issues and an appendectomy that prematurely ended his season in August ended his three-year streak of 30-homer seasons to begin his Rangers career, but Seager still posted the majors’ 12th-best WAR (6.2) and sixth-best expected wOBA (.400) in 2025 while significantly improving his selectivity. He’s a big injury risk at age 32, but he’s also an underrated superstar with one of the best postseason track records among active players.

Season prediction: It’s all in what luck has in store for Seager in terms of games played, but there’s little doubt that 120-plus games of him should mean a better batting average (let’s say .282) and a return to the 30-homer plateau (31). — Cockcroft

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42. Bryce Harper, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies

Harper heads into 2026 coming off two not-up-to-his-standard seasons, and it alarmed Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski enough that at the end of the 2025 season he questioned whether Harper remains an elite player. Harper’s measurables have sagged, certainly, and at age 33, he heads into his 15th season with something to prove. A hungry Harper is a terrifying prospect for opposing pitchers, who know that he’s still an all-fields hitter with plenty of power and that his willingness to work walks hasn’t abated. Anger can be a gift, and as long as he stays on the field, a classic Harper season is in the offing.

Season prediction: .284/.402/.555 with 39 home runs, 111 RBIs and 107 runs. — Passan

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This ranking is testament to the panel’s faith that Merrill will bounce back from a bit of a disappointing second season that saw his WAR drop from 4.4 in 2024 to 2.7 in 2025 and his OPS decline from .826 to .774. A trio of injuries certainly played into that as he sat out a month because of a hamstring strain, another few weeks because of a concussion and then a couple of more because of a sprained ankle. But Merrill is still just entering his age-23 season, so his superstar potential remains intact. The key to getting there, besides health: improve his seventh percentile chase rate.

Season prediction: Merrill stays healthy and joins Steve Finley (1996) as the only Padres center fielder to hit 30 home runs — and regains his rookie magic with a couple of walk-off blasts. — Schoenfield

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I have fond memories of scouting Wood in the summer of 2021, when he was an outlier by most measures even at that point: 6-6 with plus speed, at least plus raw power and the ability to take any pitch out to any part of the stadium. He’s still quite singular today, with elite bat speed and opposite-field power, though could be primed to make the leap this season, as evaluators say pull power is often the last thing to actualize for the best players.

Season prediction: Wood is one of those Ryan Howard- or Freddie Freeman-type hitters, in which the all-fields power is an indelible part of their game, but Wood will hit more homers this year — 41, to be exact. — McDaniel

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Chourio is slowly climbing up this list following back-to-back 21-home run seasons after debuting in 2024 at just 20 years old. He had nearly an identical year in 2025 but saw his OBP dip about 20 points. That’s a minor issue for a player still learning the game, the strike zone and what his ceiling actually could be. A jump in all his offensive numbers as he heads into Year 3 would not surprise anyone. He’s one of the young stars who hasn’t come close to reaching his potential just yet. This season will be another step — but not the finished product.

Season prediction: Chourio will be the Brewers’ MVP in 2026, eclipsing 30 home runs for the first time in his career. — Rogers

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46. Bryan Woo, SP, Seattle Mariners

Woo had been effective in 22 starts in 2024, but 2025 was his true breakout: 15-7, 2.94 ERA, 4.2 WAR. Unfortunately, he injured his pectoral muscle late in September and pitched only limited innings out of the bullpen in the playoffs. He makes it look easy, filling the top of the zone with 96 mph four-seamers and sinkers. He threw his two fastballs 72% of the time — the highest rate of any pitcher with 100 innings. Only Miles Mikolas was in the strike zone more often. Throw strikes? That’s what Woo does.

Season prediction: Woo will have to stay healthy after seeing a big increase in his innings last season — more than 50 above his previous career high — but if he does, he’ll be good again, as batters hit just .153 against his four-seamer. Look for another sub-3.00 ERA. — Schoenfield

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Machado has been in San Diego long enough to see the franchise both rise and, in less dramatic fashion, fall around him. He arrived as a free agent in 2019, signaling the start of a renaissance in the Gaslamp Quarter, and became the focal point of star-laden teams inspired by the ultragenerous Peter Seidler.

Now, as the Padres seek to cut costs while holding onto the last vestiges of their late owner’s vision, Machado remains their engine. His production has fallen off since he finished second in MVP voting in 2022, but not enough to prevent him from being one of the game’s best players. From 2023 to 2025, Machado slashed .270/.327/.465, averaged 29 home runs with 97 RBIs and accumulated 10.7 fWAR.

Season prediction: Machado will do what he always does: He’ll play somewhere in the neighborhood of 155 games, OPS close to .800, challenge for 30 homers and 100 RBIs, and turn in several highlight-reel plays at third base that will make you shake your head. But with his body aging and his range increasingly limited, he’ll also see plenty of time at DH. — Gonzalez

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Peña enjoyed his best season in 2025, posting a 5.6 bWAR and .304/.363/.477 slash line while earning some down-ballot MVP votes. But it could have been much more, as a fractured rib suffered on a hit by pitch cost him 27 games. While it’s hard to say whether the injury sunk the Astros’ playoff chances, they did go just 13-14 during that stretch in a season where one more win would have gotten them back to October. Either way, Peña has established himself as Houston’s best all-around player.

Season prediction: Part of Peña’s breakout was driven by an OBP that featured too many hit by pitches (including the one that knocked him out) and a .345 BABIP (batting average on balls in play). Expect another five-or-six-win season, but perhaps one that features slightly regressed percentages with fewer missed games. — Doolittle

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He’s just starting his age-25 season, and he’s already a two-time All-Star coming off a 2025 campaign in which he hit 36 homers. There is clearly room for improvement in his approach at the plate — he racked up 201 strikeouts last year, perhaps the trade-off for a big power year — but he’s showing more patience at the plate this spring.

Season prediction: The Tigers’ lineup is going to be better and deeper, and Greene will be among those who benefit the most, compiling 100 RBIs for the second straight season. — Olney

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If not for the right groin strain that cost him 85 days across two IL stints, Greene might’ve enjoyed one of 2025’s biggest breakthroughs on the pitching side. He set personal bests with his 31.4% strikeout and 6.2% walk rates as well as his 99.5 mph average fastball velocity, and he posted a 46.9% whiff rate with his slider that was ninth best among any pitch. Greene is a burgeoning ace for a Reds team with legitimate playoff aspirations, but durability is a question after he spent five-plus weeks on the IL in each of his first four seasons.

Season prediction: Thankfully his 2025 injuries weren’t arm-related, giving him a realistic chance at Cy Young votes as a 26-year-old this year. Greene’s upside might make him the most underranked pitcher on our entire list, as I see 26 starts with a 2.95 ERA and 202 K’s. — Cockcroft

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51. Chris Sale, SP, Atlanta Braves

The nine-time All-Star left-hander who claimed the 2024 NL Cy Young Award and pitching Triple Crown could not, like many Braves, recapture his success in 2025. That doesn’t mean Sale struggled, though. He started slowly, compiling a 6.17 ERA through five outings, but then he thrived, posting a 1.23 ERA over his next 10 starts before a fractured rib sidelined him. Sale returned after two months, closing strong and finishing with a 2.58 ERA — it was 2.38 in 2024 — over 20 starts. Few can reasonably question his skills, even as he enters his age-37 season, but it is anyone’s guess how many times he will be able to perform.

Season prediction: Let’s be positive and project 29 starts — just like 2024 — and another sub-3.00 ERA. Sale will end up in the Hall of Fame, but he isn’t leaving MLB yet. — Karabell

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Bellinger was the Yankees’ top priority for their offseason run-it-back program — and for good reason. The veteran easily fit in in New York on and off the field last season. After a slow start — he batted .198 through 33 games — he was one of the best players in the majors over the season’s final five months, batting .288 with an .859 OPS and 26 home runs in 122 games. He was especially dangerous against left-handed pitchers despite hitting left-handed, batting .353 with a 1.016 OPS against southpaws.

Defensively, Bellinger was at least average at all three outfield spots and first base. The platform-year performance resulted in the long-term contract the former NL MVP sought three years after the Dodgers non-tendered him. He returns for his second season in the Bronx as the Yankees’ starting left fielder and an integral component to the best offense in the majors last season.

Season prediction: Accustomed to his surroundings, Bellinger avoids a slow start this time around, capitalizes on Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field to hit 30 home runs and makes the AL All-Star team. — Castillo

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Neto has quietly posted back-to-back 20-20 seasons, and he’s now entering his age-25 season, so the projection systems have him setting career highs in 2026. His contact and chase rates along with his defense are all just OK, while his speed on the basepaths and usable game power (despite being listed at 5-11, 185 pounds) are what’s driving his value here. But there might be another gear coming. A little more contact and slightly better range up the middle would go a long way toward a breakout campaign.

Season prediction: I think he does post a career year, beating his previous career best of 3.5 WAR. — McDaniel

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Rival evaluators see Kirk as a microcosm of what made the Blue Jays great last year, with a high rate of contact in his plate appearances and a discernible connection with teammates when he’s on defense, in the way he supports and cajoles pitchers. Only Patrick Bailey — widely regarded as the best pitch-framer in the industry — posted better numbers in this category than Kirk, who had 17 catcher-framing runs, per Baseball Savant. Not to mention he also had a 111 OPS+. The Jays have him locked up through the 2030 season.

Season prediction: With catchers, there’s always an inherent question about health, but like teammate Vladdy Jr., Kirk will build on his experience of last fall and push his average closer to .300. — Olney

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Quick, who’s the only player to finish in the top 45 in fWAR last season while hitting fewer than 10 home runs? It’s Hoerner, who actually ranked 27th with 4.8 fWAR. He did everything exceptionally well on the baseball diamond except hit for power. That includes Gold Glove-caliber defense, incredible contact with men on base (.371 RISP), few strikeouts (49) and a whole bunch of stolen bases (29) while helping the Cubs to the postseason. Hoerner was, and is, the quintessential winning player that every team in MLB would love to employ.

Season prediction: After a late-season power surge that got him to seven homers last year, Hoerner hits at least 15 home runs for the first time in his career. That will help his free agency case this winter — unless the Cubs make him an offer he can’t refuse before November. — Rogers

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56. Rafael Devers, DH, San Francisco Giants

Playing at Oracle Park will do a number on even the best hitters, and Devers’ OPS dropped nearly 100 points with San Francisco compared to the first 2½ months he spent with Boston last year. Entering his 10th big league season at just 29, he heads into 2026 without any of the drama that ensconced his final days in Boston. Between how hard he hits the ball and how good he is at drawing walks, Devers should be one of the foremost sluggers in baseball. If the Giants’ aspirations to make the postseason for the first time since 2021 are going to come true, they need him to be just that.

Season prediction: .272/.385/.491 with 28 home runs, 102 RBIs and 91 runs. — Passan

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At 6-6 with huge extension, Gilbert is all arms and legs as he attacks batters with a 95-mph fastball that plays up due to its release point. He’s another Mariners pitcher who pounds the zone, averaging just 1.8 walks per nine the past three seasons. His splitter has become a huge wipeout weapon, helping him post a career-high strikeout rate in 2025. Indeed, only Dylan Cease induced more swing-and-miss last season among starters than Gilbert’s 32.9% rate. He did suffer his first injury last season after leading the majors in innings in 2024, but he was healthy in the second half.

Season prediction: Gilbert would like a do-over of his ALCS performance, when he allowed eight runs in seven innings against the Blue Jays and lost Game 6. This year: He wins twice in the ALCS and leads the Mariners into the World Series. — Schoenfield

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58. Matt Chapman, 3B, San Francisco Giants

From Heinie Groh to Evan Longoria, the Giants have a long history of solid play at the hot corner, a tradition that has certainly continued during Chapman’s first two years with the franchise. While there was some regression from Chapman in the fielding and baserunning columns from his debut for San Francisco in 2024, the biggest difference was games played. Troublesome hand issues landed Chapman on the IL twice and limited him to 128 games in 2025, his fewest in a normal season since his 2017 MLB debut with the A’s. Keeping that number over 140 is the key to Chapman’s 2026 season — and one of the keys to the Giants’ playoff chances.

Season prediction: You don’t want to read too much into one spring training swing, but a 460-foot Cactus League blast suggests that last year’s hand woes are behind Chapman. If so, a positive regression in the power department will push him into the five-or-six-win range and bump him up that solid Giants’ all-time pecking order for third basemen. — Doolittle

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59. Dylan Cease, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

Cease finished last season with a 4.55 ERA, then parlayed that into a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Blue Jays. It’s because he does two things very well, making him exceedingly valuable in today’s game: He takes his turn, and he misses bats. Cease made a major-league-leading 162 starts from 2021 to 2025, racking up 884 innings during the regular season. His strikeout rate in that five-year stretch was 29.7%, ranking 14th among 277 starting pitchers. Some years (2022 and 2024) he is elite at limiting runs. Other years (2023 and 2025), not so much. But the foundation for dominance is always there.

Season prediction: Cease, now 30 years old, will go from spending half his time in a pitcher-friendly ballpark to a more neutral one. He’ll also pitch in baseball’s toughest division. His ERA will finish in the 4.00s again, but he’ll take down innings and miss bats along the way, thus providing plenty of value. — Gonzalez

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60. Mason Miller, RP, San Diego Padres

Once Miller joined the Padres, he became a cheat code disguised as a pitcher, freezing hitters with a fastball that has been clocked at 104 mph and a breaking ball which, because of the fastball, is simply unfair. Wearing a San Diego uniform, Miller faced 92 batters, including nine in the postseason, and of those, he struck out 53 — that’s a strikeout rate of nearly 60% — and allowed seven hits and one home run. The wisdom of the Padres’ trade of an elite position player prospect, Leo De Vries, for a reliever will be debated for years, but we already know this: San Diego has one of the most overpowering relievers in history.

Season prediction: At 27 years old, Miller has fully blossomed as a pitcher, and with former reliever Craig Stammen serving as his manager and protecting him, he will post one of the best seasons ever for a relief pitcher. — Olney

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The Cubs’ post-Ron Santo history at third base has been famously spotty, but if Bregman stays healthy enough to hold down the spot for the duration of his five-year contract, he’ll be just the third player to string together a half-decade at Chicago’s hot corner since Santo was traded after the 1973 season, joining Aramis Ramirez and Kris Bryant.

The intangibles Bregman brings to a team are considerable and real. As for on-field production, he remains consistently good, if below the MVP-ish level he was at for a couple of years in Houston. If Bregman reads these rankings, he might find some motivation in them, as he’s the sixth-ranked third baseman on the list … which is good! But it still feels low for one of the game’s most respected players.

Season prediction: While Bregman’s swing will never be better-matched with a home park as it was in Houston, Wrigley Field should net him a small power boost. With better health than he enjoyed in 2025, he will climb back over the 25-homer mark this season. — Doolittle

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62. Willy Adames, SS, San Francisco Giants

Year 1 in San Francisco ended up looking much like his final season with the Brewers, as Adames reached 30 home runs for the third time in four seasons and 80 RBIs for the fourth consecutive season. In fact, he became the first Giants hitter to reach 30 home runs since Barry Bonds (2004), doing so with a first-inning blast in the final game of the season. Sure, Adames is unlikely to ever compete for a batting title (he hit .225 in 2025), but he hits for power and offers excellent defense. In short, this is what Giants president Buster Posey expected when he signed Adames to a seven-year contract.

Season prediction: Adames appears in all 162 games and earns his first Gold Glove award. Oh, and he hits a career-high 34 home runs. — Karabell

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Buxton was both fortunate (he played more than two-thirds of his team’s games for the first time since 2017) and had more of the same (two trips to the IL totaling 29 days) on the injury front last season. On the whole, better health helped him rebound with some of his best raw power and speed metrics, as he set a career high with 35 home runs and was a perfect 24-for-24 on stolen base attempts. Buxton has MVP-caliber skills when healthy, but he has been healthy enough to play at least 100 games only three times (2017, 2024, 2025).

Season prediction: Buxton makes his 19th (and perhaps 20th) career trip to the IL but still bats .262 with 24 homers and 15 steals. — Cockcroft

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DeGrom isn’t the best pitcher in the world anymore, but he’s not far off. After making nine starts in his first two seasons with the Rangers in 2023-24, deGrom reestablished himself among the top hurlers in the majors in 2025. Dialing back his fastball velocity, the right-hander posted a 2.97 ERA, made the AL All-Star team and finished eighth in AL Cy Young voting. Most importantly, he avoided the IL and accumulated 172⅔ innings over 30 starts. Now entering his age-38 season, deGrom will attempt to compile at least 30 starts in consecutive seasons for the first time since winning his back-to-back NL Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019. He’s not the otherworldly pitcher he once was, but he remains elite when healthy.

Season prediction: The Rangers dial back deGrom’s workload, but he remains effective with a 3.10 ERA over 140 innings and 25 starts. — Castillo

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It took a while, but Valdez finally got his payday late in the offseason after having to deal with questions about being a good teammate after an incident last year in Houston in which he hit his own catcher. That question was answered by the Tigers when they offered him $37 million a year to pitch for them. Valdez is still one of the best in MLB. With a bigger ballpark and perhaps better defense, his numbers might look even better in Detroit. Valdez has a career 3.36 ERA but is only one year removed from a 2.91 season — and his 17 career playoff appearances will come in handy for a Detroit team with huge goals for 2026.

Season prediction: Valdez will reach 190 innings and produce a 3.00 ERA without having to be the best starter in the rotation. The Tigers will be a really good destination for him. — Rogers

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A first-round pick of the Twins in 2017, Rooker was a throw-in in a trade with the Padres in 2022, who then traded him to the Royals for Cam Gallagher. The Royals waived him at the end of the season, the A’s claimed him and Rooker went on to become one of only eight players with at least 30 home runs each of the past three seasons. More or less a full-time DH now, Rooker has managed to cut his strikeout rate from 32.7% in 2023 to 22.2% in 2025, helping him to bash 40 doubles and 73 extra-base hits last season, tied for ninth in the majors.

Season prediction: Rooker’s home run rate didn’t increase as might have been expected in the move to Sacramento, but his improved strikeout rate is a good sign. He’ll reach 30 home runs for the fourth year in a row, the first A’s player to do that since Mark McGwire. — Schoenfield

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So who is Duran? The Red Sox believe he’s closer to the 2024 version of himself who finished eighth in AL MVP voting than the 2025 version who was a well-above-average player but not elite. Other teams that discussed him in trades this winter valued him more like last year, when he managed 70 extra-base hits but wasn’t the game-changing dynamo of ’24. Duran has settled into left field, with Ceddanne Rafaela manning center at an elite level, Roman Anthony in right and Wilyer Abreu in the mix as well. Loaded in the outfield, the Red Sox still could look to move Duran or Abreu.

Season prediction: .271/.338/.455 with 18 home runs, 33 stolen bases, 79 RBIs and 84 runs. — Passan

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The newly acquired ace of the Mets’ staff has been quite consistent the past five years, and he actually pitched the first five seasons of his career with now Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns as his GM, when both were with the Brewers. Peralta has close to average fastball velocity, but he creates a good fastball shape with big extension, a low release and more-than-average lift to the pitch. He gets plus life on his changeup, which is his most effective pitch, though his slider and curveball also perform well. If Peralta can continue posting bulk innings, he will help stabilize the top of the Mets’ rotation.

Season prediction: Peralta will throw at least 170 innings and post at least 3.8 WAR; it’s a contract year and the stakes are high. — McDaniel

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69. Cole Ragans, SP, Kansas City Royals

In retrospect, it feels as if the early hot stove whispering about Ragans being a trade candidate was more wishful thinking than realistic. That’s just how good Ragans is … when healthy. He entered 2025 on the shortlist of AL Cy Young favorites but his season was derailed by midseason shoulder soreness. After sitting out over three months, he returned late and struck out 22 batters over 13 innings in three appearances, not only offering some reassurance about the arm but reminding everyone of what he can do.

Ragans has a clean bill of health this spring, so any list of Cy Young possibilities that leaves him off of it is incomplete. His deep arsenal, which pairs elite power stuff with timing-destroying secondary pitches, is the stuff of aces.

Season prediction: Ragans averaged 14.3 whiffs per nine innings during his 13 starts in 2025. That number is awe-inspiring but probably needs to come down a tick in favor of better per-inning efficiency that will allow him to work deeper into games. He has spoken about this need for heightened pitch efficiency. Look for a 200-strikeout/200-inning season that has Ragans back in the top five of AL Cy Young balloting. And he’ll be a lot higher on this list next year. — Doolittle

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70. Blake Snell, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Snell is one of the game’s best, most dominant pitchers. It just takes a while to see it. Now entering his 11th season, he’s a notoriously slow starter. His career ERA in the first half is 3.95, but in the second it’s 2.33. The Dodgers experienced that firsthand in 2025, the start of Snell’s five-year, $182 million contract. The 33-year-old left-hander made two uninspiring starts, then spent four months on the IL because of a shoulder injury. But he was really good in August and September, and dominated through the first three playoff rounds (before taking his lumps in the World Series). The Dodgers are expected to slow-play Snell going into 2026. All they really care about is how it finishes.

Season prediction: The Dodgers are notoriously slow in bringing back starting pitchers off the IL. There’s a reason for that: Since it’s so difficult to predict injury, their only true recourse is being extra judicious on the front end. That will play out with Snell. He’ll sit out the first month or so, make roughly 20 starts, finish with an ERA under 3.00 and strike out more than 10 batters per nine innings for the ninth straight year. — Gonzalez

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71. Maikel Garcia, 3B, Kansas City Royals

Before last season, Garcia looked as if he was established as a speed-based player who will help you on the bases and in the field, but one whose offensive upside was limited by a shaky approach at the plate. Now he’s an All-Star — and he became that by mindfully attacking that very weakness.

Garcia upped his walk rate by 2.6 percentage points while slicing his strikeout rate by 3.9 percentage points, an amazing combination that not only led to gains in average and OBP, but unlocked more power in his game than anyone could have anticipated. He went from a second-division regular to a five-win star and a Gold Glove third baseman, earning a five-year contract extension in the process and giving the Royals another foundational player.

Season prediction: A player who takes as much of a leap as Garcia did last season is invariably a regression candidate. In his case, because his breakout was based on an improvement of measurable skills, he stands a better chance than most to keep his value close to where it was in 2025. With a more efficient performance on the bases, he’ll maintain last season’s gains. — Doolittle

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Perhaps Baldwin would have made the Braves’ roster out of spring training last year even had starter Sean Murphy remained healthy, but things really worked out. Baldwin hit .274 with 19 home runs and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors (the first catcher to do so since Buster Posey), posting an OPS above the league average in each of the six months of the regular season. A capable defender with room for growth in that area, Baldwin needs to be in Atlanta’s lineup, and depending on Murphy’s problematic health, might earn designated hitter plate appearances when not behind the plate.

Season prediction: Projected to hit cleanup in the lineup, Baldwin takes advantage of a full season of Ronald Acuña to knock in 105 runs to go with 25 home runs. — Karabell

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73. Edwin Diaz, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers

Diaz shocked the Mets by leaving them in December to fortify one of the Dodgers’ “weaknesses” after Tanner Scott‘s forgettable first season in Los Angeles. Diaz’s stuff is electric. His fastball averaged 97.2 mph last season. Both his fastball and slider had plus-nine run values. His strikeout percentage, whiff percentage and expected batting average against were all in the 99th percentile. Walks are a weakness, but he usually finds a way of wiggling out of jams.

But that flaw could lead to trouble. Diaz has essentially been elite every other season over his nine-year career. ERA is not the best barometer to evaluate a reliever, but it is the simplest. Here were his six seasons in New York (he sat out 2023 because of a torn ACL): 1.63, 3.52, 1.31, 3.45, 1.75 and 5.59. The Dodgers hope the pattern ends this season.

Season prediction: Diaz isn’t as dominant as last season, but he’s still an upgrade in the ninth inning for Los Angeles with 40 saves and a 2.30 ERA. — Castillo

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74. Brice Turang, 2B, Milwaukee Brewers

A onetime speedster and defensive whiz who lacked much punch with the bat, Turang hit 12 home runs over the Brewers’ final 52 games last season (plus another during their postseason run), along with the underlying metrics to support the change in offensive approach. After posting 29.7% hard-hit and 17.7% fly-ball rates in 2024, he sported 30.2% and 51.2% in those categories after the All-Star break in 2025. Time will tell whether the change is sustainable, but he’s looking like a well-rounded breakout candidate who might hit closer to the middle of the order.

Season prediction: I see 50 being the total of Turang’s homers and steals, with the distribution of the two being the toughie (I’m going 15 of the former and 35 of the latter). A permanent move to second in the order leads to another 78 RBIs and 90 runs. — Cockcroft

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Langeliers had a breakout year at the plate in 2025, even if his homer total and expected wOBA barely changed from 2024. His batting average jumped over 50 points, helping his OPS jump over 120 points, though some of those gains included lucky balls-in-play outcomes. Langeliers’ defensive improvement was real — framing and blocking improved by a combined 14 runs — so even with some contact regression, there’s a wide base of skills. He should be one of the better hitters in an improved A’s lineup and with the most defensive value of any of those candidates.

Season prediction: I see a 3.0 WAR season, with less contact but still 25-plus homers and solid defense. — McDaniel

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76. George Kirby, SP, Seattle Mariners

After going 35-26 with a 3.43 ERA and one of the lowest walk rates in major league history through his first two-plus seasons, Kirby ran into some bumps for the first time in 2025. He didn’t start his first game until late May because of shoulder inflammation, his walk rate doubled from the previous two seasons and his ERA climbed to 4.21 (over 5.00 on the road). This ranking suggests he can bounce back to the 190-inning threshold he produced in 2023 and 2024 and reach what many still believe is the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the Seattle rotation.

Season prediction: The days of thinking of Kirby as a sleeper Cy Young pick are probably past, but we’ll go with a return to his 2024 level: 14 wins and an ERA around 3.50. — Schoenfield

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77. Joe Ryan, SP, Minnesota Twins

Ryan’s evolution as a pitcher has been fascinating. He came up with a standard four-pitch arsenal that leaned heavily on a four-seamer he threw nearly two-thirds of the time as a rookie. The past two seasons have seen him throw that pitch about half the time as he has ditched his old changeup and curveball and introduced a sweeper, splitter, knuckle-curve and sinker. Ryan has established himself as a starter who always lands in the 100-to-120 ERA+ range and reliably strikes out 10 batters per nine innings. But last year’s 171 total innings were a career best and that lack of high-end volume is what currently separates him from the ace class.

Season prediction: Speaking of Ryan’s volume, back soreness limited him during spring training and impacted his WBC availability. It appears to not be serious, so if he’s a full go by Opening Day, expect him to post a representative season. And expect that to translate to him making at least one postseason start this October. But it won’t be for the Twins. — Doolittle

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Chisholm has been amenable to position changes throughout his career, moving from the infield to the outfield for the Marlins and initially squeezing into the Yankees’ lineup as a third baseman before he returned to what seems to be his best and most natural position at second base. Only three players rated higher at the position in terms of Fangraphs’ defensive metric, and of course, Chisholm has the swing and the speed to produce lots of runs — he has talked with reporters this spring about wanting to go 50-50, as in 50 homers and 50 steals. “I got everything to accumulate a 10-WAR season,” Chisholm told The Athletic. The timing would be perfect: He’ll be eligible for free agency in the fall.

Season prediction: He’s not going to join Shohei Ohtani in the 50-50 club — but with his free agency looming and the big-contract carrot right in front of him, Chisholm is going to have the best season of his career. — Olney

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What’s happened? In our 2024 edition of MLB Rank, Rutschman came in at No. 11, coming off his first two seasons in the majors in which he finished 12th and ninth in the AL MVP voting and averaged a .369 OBP. His offense collapsed in the second half of 2024 and then he hit a lackluster .220/.307/.366 in 2025, sitting out two months because of separate oblique injuries. Over those two seasons, his OBP was just .314. His defense also suffered as his throwing and blocking metrics both declined. His plate discipline and in-zone contact rates remain elite, so there is still a belief he can bounce back.

Season prediction: Let’s be optimistic here and chalk up 2025 to injuries. Rutschman rebounds, makes the All-Star team, gets his OBP back up over .350 with 20 home runs — and leads the Orioles to the playoffs. — Schoenfield

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Springer came off the 2024 season with the worst numbers of a fine career, leading to low expectations and leaving Blue Jays fans wondering when his contract would expire. Then he adjusted his swing and approach and — voila — delivered arguably his best season in 2025, with a .959 OPS. It was difficult to see that one coming.

The 36-year-old upped his hard-hit rate and exit velocity, drew more walks and cut his chase rate. He finished third in OPS, behind only Judge and Ohtani. For the record, Jays fans, Springer has one more year on his six-year contract.

Season prediction: Well, we can’t possibly expect a repeat of that season, but perhaps, as he entertains a more regular role as designated hitter, Springer plays in 150 games for the third time in his career, and hits 30 home runs for the fourth time. — Karabell

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81. Steven Kwan, LF, Cleveland Guardians

A nagging wrist injury caused Kwan to bat .220 over a 55-game span around midseason in 2025, something we can forgive him for considering his generally elite bat-to-ball skills. He’s otherwise as reliable as they come atop Cleveland’s lineup and is one of the game’s best defensive left fielders, with four consecutive Gold Gloves. Kwan’s smarts on the base paths also rank among the league’s best, as despite declining raw speed, he was successful on 21 of 26 stolen base attempts last year.

Season prediction: Kwan rebounds to a .288 batting average and .357 on-base percentage, fueling an 85-run, 18-steal stat line. He also wins his fifth straight Gold Glove. — Cockcroft

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Believe it or not, but in three seasons for the Cubs, Swanson has put up almost as much bWAR as he did during seven seasons in Atlanta — 14.9 (Braves) vs. 13.6 (Cubs). His performance in Chicago so far has more than justified the club’s faith that the value spike he enjoyed in his final Atlanta season represented a legit level of play and not just a career season. Swanson strikes out a lot and always will, but he’s reliably league average at the plate. When you add in the value he brings on the bases and his role anchoring Chicago’s airtight infield defense, you’ve got a winning player whom the Cubs have been able to build around.

Season prediction: As a Cub, Swanson has hit .243/.313/.408 with 21 homers, 74 RBIs and 16 steals per season. There has been little season-to-season variance, and there is no reason to expect anything but the same in 2026. — Doolittle

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There are worrying trends for Harris. After winning Rookie of the Year in 2022, his batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage have declined three straight seasons. Even though his defense in center field has remained positive, his WAR has dropped from 5.1 in 2022 to 2.2 last season, the difference between an All-Star and an average regular. This is tied to his chase rate, which ranks in the first percentile of all hitters (and he has gotten worse since his rookie season). The silver lining: He hit .299/.315/.530 with 14 home runs in 67 games in the second half of 2025.

Season prediction: Harris has the Javier Baez vibe going, where his ultra-aggressive approach undermines a talented player. Harris can still have stretches, like last August and September, where his numbers will impress, but the consistency will suffer. He was a little unlucky last year, so expect his OPS decline to reverse, but he’s still a 3-win player rather than the potential 6-win player he showed as a rookie. — Schoenfield

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The old-school mantra of playing every day and producing big numbers was passed along from Chipper Jones to Freddie Freeman to Austin Riley, the latter of whom played in 478 of the Braves’ 486 games from 2021 to 2023, slashing .286/.354/.525 with 108 home runs and 297 RBIs. But a fractured right hand forced Riley to sit out the last month and a half of the 2024 season. In 2025, sports-hernia surgery prompted a lost August and September. Over the past three years, Riley’s OPS has gone from .861 to .783 to .737. Thus, his place in our top 100 has gone from 29th to 38th to, now, 84th.

Season prediction: A year from now, Riley will vault up our rankings almost as quickly as he fell in them. A bounce-back year is in the cards for someone who is still only 28 years old. He will play in more than 150 games, reach 30 homers, drive in triple-digit runs and finish within the top 10 in MVP voting, if not top five. — Gonzalez

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The Red Sox lavished $130 million on Suarez even though he has never thrown more than the 157⅓ innings he did last year. They were mighty good innings, and Suarez’s career-long playoff excellence — in 42⅔ postseason innings, he has a 1.48 ERA with 44 strikeouts, 13 walks and only three home runs allowed — is a bonus for a team that already boasted Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray before signing Suarez to a free agent deal. He’s not flashy. His fastball is one of the slowest in MLB, averaging 90.5 mph. But he creates bad contact, offers six different pitches and really knows how to control a game.

Season prediction: 14-9, 3.64 ERA, 162 innings, 154 strikeouts, 40 walks, 15 home runs allowed. — Passan

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Left-handers don’t always have an easy time hitting with power at Wrigley Field, and though Busch hit “only” 13 of his 34 home runs there, he proved to be one of the better lefties in the game in 2025. His best quality is his mastery of the strike zone, which produced a .343 OBP last year, sometimes as a reliable leadoff hitter for manager Craig Counsell. Busch had that role in the postseason, forcing teams to use a lefty to open games as he ambushed the opponent early and often. Counsell says Busch will start against lefties this year, giving the 28-year-old more chances to add to his career high in home runs that he set last season.

Season prediction: Playing against lefties will be an adjustment. Busch will see his strikeout total rise, but so will his chances to drive in runs. He’ll reach 100 RBIs in 2026 but with 150 strikeouts. — Rogers

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87. Jesus Luzardo, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies acquired Luzardo from the Marlins before last season after injury concerns deterred other clubs, and they were rewarded with a strong season. The 28-year-old left-hander posted a 3.92 ERA over 32 starts. He set career highs in strikeouts (216) and innings (183⅔). His addition became invaluable when Zack Wheeler was lost for the season in August. Luzardo remains crucial this season with Wheeler out for the start of the year and Suarez leaving for the Red Sox. A free agent next offseason, Luzardo has an opportunity to squash any injury questions and put himself in position for a significant payday.

Season prediction: Luzardo continues as an invaluable bedrock in Philadelphia’s rotation with a 3.60 ERA over 180 innings. — Castillo

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Last August, Rafaela made a catch — one of the best plays of the season, really — that demonstrated so much of what he does well defensively. At the moment that Corbin Carroll ripped a fly ball toward Arizona’s swimming pool in right-center field, Rafaela read the contact perfectly. With his extraordinary speed, he raced toward the fence in his effort to beat the ball to the landing spot and then timed his leap at the wall, hanging in the air and plucking the ball with his glove. He could be baseball’s best defender, and he also can hit home runs and steal bases.

Season prediction: At 25 years old, he’ll continue to add to his value, learning through experience to chase just a little bit less and hit for more power. That will lead to his first 20-homer season. — Olney

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Abbott isn’t that big (6-foot) and doesn’t throw that hard (92.7 mph average on his fastball) but lefties don’t need to have all the premium ingredients to be effective. He’s a fastball-dominant pitcher (47% usage) with a good feel for changing speed, limiting damage and hitting spots while mixing in a changeup, cutter, sweeper and curveball. Abbott’s raw stuff grades as average to above, so he needs the full bag of tricks to post midrotation results. He joins Hunter Greene atop Cincy’s rotation, though Chase Burns might be joining them soon.

Season prediction: Another strong year of bulk innings and a mid-3.00 ERA for a WAR figure that also starts with a 3. — McDaniel

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90. Jhoan Duran, RP, Philadelphia Phillies

Sometimes you wonder how anyone ever gets a hit on Duran. His fastball averaged 100.6 mph in 2025 and he has two excellent breaking balls in his splitter and curveball. Indeed, he even threw his splitter more often than his fastball, so he has supreme confidence in it.

He had his best overall season in 2025, posting a 2.06 ERA, 32 saves and 3.2 WAR between the Twins and Phillies, but we’re still waiting for that dominant, best-in-the-game season his stuff portends. He still blew five saves last year and his strikeout rate was the lowest of his four-year career.

Season prediction: The Phillies have made four straight trips to the postseason, but they’ll finally have a lockdown closer for an entire season. Duran’s strikeout rate ticked way up after the trade. Look for 40-something saves as he becomes the first Phillies closer to lead the NL in that category since Steve Bedrosian in 1987. — Schoenfield

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91. Zack Wheeler, SP, Philadelphia Phillies

How good is Wheeler? Despite having his season derailed by injury, and despite undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery last August — and despite all of this happening in his age-35 season — he’s in our top 100 again. As a Phillie, Wheeler has 162-game averages of a 15-8 record, a 2.91 ERA, 237 strikeouts and 6.6 bWAR. That’s over six seasons, during which Wheeler has four top-10 NL Cy Young balloting finishes. He hasn’t won one yet, and after the injury, it would be pushing it to anoint him as a 2026 front-runner. But the injury news has continued to trend upward and it’s possible he might get close to a full season. So, it’s anyone’s guess what Wheeler’s late-career ceiling might be.

Season prediction: A ramp-up in effectiveness. Not that Wheeler will get crushed early in the season, but if all goes well, he’ll be at his best by October, giving us the postseason we expected him to have in 2025. — Doolittle

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Suzuki’s fourth MLB season was not his best in terms of OPS, but he finally delivered the power the franchise expected of him with 32 home runs and 103 RBIs. His previous bests were 21 home runs and 74 RBIs. He achieved these career highs by playing in 151 games and adjusting his swing to focus on barreling up many more home runs. Suzuki’s batting average and OBP dropped precipitously, but who cares? Only nine players had both more home runs and RBIs than Suzuki. That gets noticed, and it couldn’t happen at a better time: The five-year contract he signed in 2022 ends after this season.

Season prediction: Suzuki agrees to a new four-year contract in April, earns his first All-Star berth and tops his power numbers with 35 homers and 110 RBIs. — Karabell

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One of 2025’s most shocking returns to glory, Chapman posted the 12th-best single season WHIP (0.70) in history while becoming the 12th reliever to save 30-plus games with a sub-1.25 ERA, all at the ripe age of 37. Though he no longer has the radar gun-busting fastball velocity that he had during his prime, a 98.4 mph-average four-seamer is still awfully tough to hit, and Chapman complements it well with a trio of secondary pitches (sinker, slider and splitter) that all generated 35%-plus whiff rates. He’s a rock at the back end of Boston’s bullpen.

Season prediction: Chapman’s age and expected correction to his hit and homer rates assure something closer to a 2.68 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in 2026, though he’ll remain effective enough to save another 31 games with 81 strikeouts. — Cockcroft

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Wilson is such a throwback player with his supreme ability to put the ball in play that you half expect him to be out there with a dirty wool uniform, batting with his hands split apart on the bat and tobacco juice dripping down his chin. As a rookie in 2025, he hit .325 in April, .368 in May, .323 in June and was the surprise starter in the All-Star Game. He suffered a fractured forearm and sat out time after that but still finished with a batting average of .311, the first of what should be many .300 seasons.

Season prediction: It’s not an insult to suggest he shouldn’t be starting All-Star Games in a league that has Bobby Witt Jr., but Wilson’s bat-to-ball skills make him the new Luis Arraez, although with a little more power. That should translate to batting championships, with the first of those arriving in 2026. — Schoenfield

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95. Kevin Gausman, SP, Toronto Blue Jays

Gausman was the fourth player selected in the 2012 draft by the Orioles, and after some struggles, they moved on from him, unloading him in a midseason deal with Atlanta. What he did in his late 20s to resurrect his reputation to what it is now has been nothing short of remarkable. Over his last five seasons, Gausman has been as consistent as any starting pitcher in the big leagues, making 158 starts and mustering a 3.34 ERA; he has been a two-time All-Star in that span. He’s entering the final year of a five-year deal that has paid off big for the Jays.

Season prediction: You can pencil him in for at least 30 starts and 175 innings, and he’ll reach 2,000 strikeouts for his career (he needs 46 more to get there). — Olney

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The last time Suarez was a Red, Cincinnati tried to resurrect his career as a shortstop. The plan did not work out. Five years later, he’s back and this time, all the Reds need is for Suarez to do what he does best: make the ball go far. Suarez mashed 49 homers for the Reds in 2019, a career-best total he matched last season between the Diamondbacks and Mariners. According to Statcast, if Suarez had played all of his games at Great American Ballpark, he would have hit 54 home runs. That’s kind of what Cincinnati had in mind when they re-signed him. And, this time, no shortstop.

Season prediction: Fifty homers, on the nose. Geno is back. — Doolittle

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97. Josh Naylor, 1B, Seattle Mariners

He became an immediate fan favorite after coming over in a deadline trade from Arizona, then re-signed as a free agent this offseason to stay in Seattle. The most remarkable statistic of 2025 might not have been Cal Raleigh’s 60 home runs, but Naylor stealing 30 bases, no doubt making him the slowest player ever to swipe 30. Importantly, he seems to love hitting at T-Mobile Park (.360 in 2025 and .304 in his career). He’s more contact-over-power but did hit 31 home runs in 2024. If he can combine that power with his .295 average from 2025, he’s a star.

Season prediction: Probably batting behind Brendan Donovan, Raleigh and J-Rod, Naylor is in a great RBI slot. Look for 115 RBIs as he hits .300 with 25 home runs. — Schoenfield

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98. CJ Abrams, SS, Washington Nationals

There has been a good bit of smoke around a potential Abrams trade and also his troubles defensively at shortstop. It seems as if Washington is open to the idea of trading him while not actively shopping him, so he could move in 2026 in the right deal. Defensively, Abrams has had trouble coming in and going up the middle, with the raw tools to correct this (at least in part) — but some evaluators are wondering if center field or second base is a better long-term fit. Abrams had a hot offensive start last season (132 wRC+ in the first half) but a dreadful second half (75 wRC+); opinions vary about how he performs from here.

Season prediction: A solid season in the 2.5-to-3.0 WAR range, but a change of scenery might be the thing to unlock his remaining potential. — McDaniel

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Eovaldi pitched to a 3.80 ERA and 1.11 WHIP over 29 starts in 2024, solid but unspectacular numbers befitting expectations for a fine career. In fact, the best full-season ERA that he had ever achieved was a 3.39 mark for the 2013 Marlins. Entering 2025, his career ERA, with six franchises, was 4.07. Few expected a 1.73 ERA and 0.85 WHIP in his age-35 season — but that’s what Eovaldi did.

He altered his pitch mix, relying more on a cutter and less than ever on his typical fastball, and walked fewer than one batter per outing. He did not earn Cy Young Award votes (for the second time), but he could have.

Season prediction: Eovaldi earns Cy Young votes by posting a 2.90 ERA over 30 starts, and he surpasses 150 innings for the fifth time. — Karabell

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McLean was called up to join a struggling Mets rotation in August, and he performed so well over eight starts that many were touting him as their prospective Game 1 starter had they advanced to the postseason. His skills warrant the label, as he has a great combination of a whiff-generating fastball and sweeper and a ground ball-generating sinker among his six total offerings. McLean is a top contender for Rookie of the Year honors and will play a big role for the 2026 team.

Season prediction: McLean runs away with the hardware, making 27 starts with a 3.13 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 176 strikeouts, and starts Game 2 of the Mets’ wild-card series. — Cockcroft

The Pakistan Super League has formally unveiled the official logo for its 11th edition, marking the beginning of preparations for the highly anticipated season.

The league’s official X account released the new branding, which creatively features the Urdu word for eleven (گیارہ), prominently incorporating the numeral “11” into its design.

The new logo drop comes as preparations finalise for a historic season, which is scheduled to get underway on March 26 at Lahore’s iconic Gaddafi Stadium.

This year’s tournament will see the league expand to eight teams for the first time.

In the opening fixture, defending champions Lahore Qalandars are set to take on tournament debutants Hyderabad Houston Kingsmen. The match will be preceded by a colourful opening ceremony in Lahore .

In a significant development just weeks before the tournament, the franchise initially operating as Sialkot Stallionz has been officially rebranded as Multan Sultans.

The change follows a strategic partnership and majority takeover by CD Ventures, with Gohar Shah appointed as the new CEO.

The rebranding, approved by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has increased the franchise’s valuation from Rs 1.85 billion to Rs 2 billion and marks the return of a team representing South Punjab.

PSL Chief Executive Officer Salman Naseer confirmed the opening match details while addressing the media, alongside franchise representatives.

He noted that the first leg of the tournament will be heavily centred in Lahore, with the full schedule expected to be released shortly.

Discussions are also ongoing regarding the potential expansion of the league’s footprint.

Naseer addressed speculation about hosting a match overseas to engage the Pakistani diaspora, stating that the matter is under active consideration as the PSL aims to solidify its status as a global league.

It is no secret that Zion Williamson has had his struggles.

Nearly three years ago, the NBA star admitted to dieting struggles, and in a recent interview with ESPN, he said the lowest point of his career was missing his third season with a broken foot and being criticized for his “weight” and “care for the game.”

ESPN star Stephen A. Smith has ripped Williamson on those critical issues in the past, and he did so again on Tuesday, going as far as to suggest that the New Orleans Pelicans actually “encouraged” him to attack Williamson.

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“The information that emanated about Zion Williamson, it came from inside the organization. It came from people even closer than that to Zion Williamson, I’m gonna leave it at that,” Smith said on Tuesday’s “First Take.” “People that called up and encouraged us to get in his a– because of some of the things that he was doing. You got people that are alcoholics, you got people that are drug addicts and stuff like that. What was Zion’s problem? Food! Food addict!

“The joke was everybody in New Orleans that cooked, it could be everybody from a restaurant, a chef, to your grandmama. Everybody that cooked knew about Zion Williamson. And he knew them! They were on a first-name basis. Cause that brother ate a lot! You even have rumors, and literally, I’m here thinking it was a joke, and somebody told me to go on the air and point out how he got busted hiding food under his bed. This is the kind of stuff that was happening.”

Smith’s comments prompted the Pelicans’ social media team to troll him and his athletic abilities, which is hardly a new phenomenon. They did the same in 2024.

“Stick to solitaire Stephen,” the team posted with a montage of Smith’s embarrassing athletic moments.

Pulling out stuff from a decade, two decades, three decades ago, ???? No problem. See y’all tomorrow on First Take. Remember one thing: YOU ASKED FOR THiS!!!!” Smith replied.

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Williamson transformed his body over the offseason, and it has resulted in him playing 46 games — his second-highest total since the 2020-21 season. His stats have taken a hit, as he’s averaged a career-low 21.5 points.

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