The MLB regular season has come to a close. Every team (except the Orioles and Yankees) has played their full 162 games. Here’s where they all land in our final MLB power rankings: September.
Just based on their recent performance, the Brewers would be heavy World Series favorites if it wasn’t for the big bad wolf behind them. They have the presumptive Cy Young, and multiple guys in the running for All-MLB. The most wins in franchise history is a special season.
This is the big bad wolf. The Dodgers cruised through the regular season as they rested their stars for October. The Dodgers have power up and down the lineup and a pitching staff that is as nasty as they come. Los Angeles looks to bring a third-straight championship home to Chavez Ravine.
The Rays were unquestionably the best team in the American League for most of the season. They pitch, they hit, and they got significant contributions from almost everyone who stepped into that dugout. They have bats that can strike in big moments, giving them a ton of confidence to go on a deep postseason run.
Atlanta rode its deep lineup and a magnificent season by Chris Sale to a resurgent year back atop the NL East. They also have one of the best bullpens in baseball, keeping them in any game.
The Padres looked to be teetering in early September, and then they ripped off one of the best stretches in baseball this season, winning 17 of 20. They went from playoff hopefuls to hosting a wild-card series. Tatis and Machado have gotten red-hot, and the bullpen continues to shove.
The team known as the Bronx Bombers has been carried by their pitching staff for much of the season. Cam Schlittler will likely win the Cy Young, and he is followed by Max Fried, Gerrit Cole, and Carlos Rodon. No Aaron Judge most of the way has been devastating for their offense.
The Red Sox had their fans in shambles early in the season. Then, they won 15 in a row, and everything changed. Their pitchers gained steam, the offense started to click, and they won… a lot. Willson Contreras leads the offense and embodies the never-back-down mentality of this club.
The Cubs’ young star will almost certainly win the MVP in the NL. Pete Crow-Armstrong is having a season among the greats of the game, and every game seems to add to his legend. He leads their high-powered offense, which they need as their pitching staff continues to leak oil.
The Phillies have limped into the playoffs, barely edging out Arizona for the final spot. They have gone cold in their star-studded lineup as of late, and their bullpen has had its struggles all season. They will likely lean on their dominant starting pitching if they want to get anywhere in October.
If the Diamondbacks were in the American League, they would likely have a bye to the divisional series. Unfortunately for Snakes fans, they reside in the NL, where they missed out on the playoffs altogether. They did get hot down the stretch, but it was too little, too late.
Once again, the Guardians come out of nowhere to take the AL Central. Like the Tigers of 2025, the White Sox had a stranglehold on the division, but a little falter allowed Cleveland to get hot and come for the crown. They rely on a one-two punch of Parker Messick and Gavin Williams to hold down opposing lineups, as their offense is nothing to write home about.
What a season it has been on the south side of Chicago. They have been much maligned the past few seasons, but it has all paid off in 2026, resulting in an 84-win season and a playoff berth. Munetaka Murakami may be the signing of the year, as he has come in and energized this franchise.
Houston has had one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball all season. That has been more or less balanced out just by having Yordan Alvarez healthy and in the lineup every day. Alvarez could be the first full DH to win MVP, and he has carried a really good Astros lineup.
Pittsburgh bought at the trade deadline to bolster their main issue, their bullpen. Almost directly after that, everything imploded on the Pirates. Their starting pitching struggled. The offense, one of the best in the league all year, went cold. It all fell apart for a team that looked to contend in a very strong National League.
Baltimore has been an enigma for the last couple of seasons. When you look at that lineup, they have the names to really compete, but year after year, they have middled at best. They signed Pete Alonso to bring more thump, and he brought it, having another great season. Unfortunately, that didn’t change a thing in terms of their end-of-season standing.
Miami was one of the best teams in the league before the All-Star break, but they just couldn’t continue anything near that pace. They have the makings of a good team with pitchers like Eury Perez and Max Meyer, as well as a good offense, but just couldn’t ever put it all together.
With the way that the AL West played out, the Rangers finished the season only one game back at two games under .500. They played themselves out of a playoff spot at the end, dropping their last two series to subpar teams.
The Twins’ season sputtered when Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton got banged up. It never really recovered after a small losing stretch at the start of September. They had some big bats, but not enough pitching to really compete.
Both teams in the 2025 ALCS missed the 2026 playoffs. Not many could have predicted that. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went ice cold, and so did the offense. Cy Young contender Dylan Cease couldn’t pull the team out of that hole.
Washington fans will look back at this season and ask, “What if we had pitching?” The Nationals were top-10 in almost every relevant offensive statistic, but struggled to find any sort of consistent performance on the mound.
St. Louis came out of the gate strong, and in doing so, surprised many who expected them to be in a rebuild. Jordan Walker was a potential MVP, and JJ Wetherholt was a potential ROY in the first half, but as they sank back down to earth, so did the Cardinals.
Mariners fans turned their team subreddit into a boating community at one point. That may say everything you need to know about the disappointment that Mariners fans have endured in 2026. A World Series favorite that was unable to make the playoffs in a weak AL.
Detroit and Seattle had similar trajectories this year. High expectations coupled with underperformance, regression, and a season to forget. They traded Tarik Skubal, signaling to fans that they had essentially thrown in the towel.
Terry Francona came out of retirement for this? Another season with high expectations ends in a last-place finish in Cincinnati. Sal Stewart will win the ROY, Elly De La Cruz may get MVP votes, but almost everyone else regressed at some point.
The Mets have long been a bit of a laughingstock, and nothing highlights that like 2026. They ranked second in the league in payroll, after paying stars like Juan Soto and Bo Bichette. Nothing ever clicked, as their pitching staff faltered, and their stars never produced to their billing.
Once again, Bobby Witt Jr. has a legitimate MVP case, and once again, the Royals cannot take advantage of a superstar at a premium position. Their bullpen really sank them, ranking last in the league in total bWAR.
A disappointing first year under Tony Vitello, the Giants did not have an identity at any point this season. Rafael Devers finally started hitting towards the end, and perhaps that gives them some solace after giving him that monster contract.
This team was at the very least fun to watch before injuries torpedoed their season. All their stars went down at one point, and many of them never came back. Their young core is strong, so there is hope for next season and their future in Las Vegas.
The 2026 Angels became the first team in franchise history to lose 100 games. They are no longer the only team to have never lost 100 games in a single season. A fitting way to end Arte Moreno’s tenure as owner.
A lot of people probably had Colorado slotted at number 30 at the start of the season, and the Rockies keep proving them right. There isn’t much to be excited about year in and year out in Denver, outside of Hunter Goodman’s power and young guys like TJ Rumfield and Cole Karros.
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