Back in March, when the upcoming season looked bright for the Seattle Mariners and bleak for the Chicago White Sox -- oh, how wrong we were! -- I made a bold prediction for each MLB team as part of our season preview. I always try to make these reasonable and realistic, although some were a little more fearless than others.
Let's go back and grade each one of those predictions to see how I did -- and then spin things forward to 2027.
Chicago White Sox
The prediction: With Grant Taylor, look for the late innings to get better and the White Sox to improve by another 19 wins in 2026.
They didn't improve by 19 wins -- they improved by 24! And made the playoffs! Taylor was the most important player in the bullpen turnaround, going 7-3 with 10 saves and a 2.25 ERA and pitching 84 innings in various high-leverage roles. The bullpen improved from 30th in win probability added to 15th (while pitching the most innings in the majors).
Grade: A+
Looking ahead to 2027: Chicago cobbled together a solid bullpen, getting good work from journeymen like Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson. That won't necessarily be repeatable, so the White Sox will need more innings from their starters to alleviate some of the burden. In a best-case scenario, Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz will become key members of the rotation.
Detroit Tigers
The prediction: Kevin McGonigle posts an .825 OPS and 5.0 WAR to win American League Rookie of the Year.
McGonigle had an .806 OPS and 7.1 WAR via Baseball-Reference -- the eighth-highest total for a rookie position player since 1900 -- and will surely win top rookie honors. If we use FanGraphs, which was a little less generous with his defensive value, McGonigle comes in at 5.4 WAR.
Grade: A+
Looking ahead to 2027: McGonigle was an immediate star, riding a sweet swing, impeccable strike zone control (95 walks, 98th percentile chase rate) and positional value in splitting time between shortstop and third base -- all while adding 18 home runs. He might not be a shortstop in the long run, but he's such a well-rounded offensive player, with the potential for a little more power, that he should be one of the best players in the league for a long time.
Baltimore Orioles
The prediction: Pete Alonso leads the AL in RBIs -- becoming the first player to top both leagues.
Ding, ding, ding!
Grade: A+
Looking ahead to 2027: Alonso hit 43 home runs and drove in 113 runs. In case you were wondering, Mets first basemen hit 18 home runs and drove in 77 runs. The Mets worried about how Alonso might age, but he can still mash. Expect more of the same for at least another season.
Cincinnati Reds
The prediction: Chase Burns will live up to the hype and pitch 150 innings with a sub-3.00 ERA and more than 10 K's per nine.
Nailed it: 15-3, 2.86 ERA, 154 innings, 10.8 K's per nine. Don't blame Burns for Cincinnati's 75-87 season.
Grade: A+
Looking ahead to 2027: With a spectacular first full season, Burns should be ready to add another 25 innings or so -- he pitched seven innings just twice -- which could make him a top-five starter in the game.
Cleveland Guardians
The prediction: Parker Messick leads the team with 15 wins, becomes the first lefty Cleveland starter to make the All-Star team and finishes third in Rookie of the Year voting.
Well, Messick won only 12 games while Gavin Williams led the team with 14, but Messick was even better than expected: 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA, 193 strikeouts and 6.3 WAR -- arguably the best rookie season by a pitcher in Guardians history. He was an All-Star and should finish second behind McGonigle in rookie voting.
Grade: A
Looking ahead to 2027: Messick is your classic "knows how to pitch" lefty -- although that undersells his super-effective 94 mph four-seam fastball, which ranked as the fourth-most valuable pitch in baseball via Statcast's run value metric. (Jacob Misiorowski's and Cam Schlittler's four-seamers were first and second, respectively.) Impressively, Messick pitched 186 innings, so he has already shown he can handle a big workload.
Colorado Rockies
The prediction: Hunter Goodman becomes just the eighth primary catcher with a 40-homer season and makes the All-Star team again.
Check and check. Goodman hit 41 home runs while playing 99 of his 138 games behind the plate. He was a key part of a Rockies offense that improved from 597 runs to 752, the second-biggest year-to-year increase in the majors.
Grade: A
Looking ahead to 2027: The pitching is still a mess, so despite the development of homegrown hitters like Cole Carrigg and Kyle Karros, plus the emergence of TJ Rumfield, who led the National League in on-base percentage, the Rockies aren't close to contending. That probably means another offseason of Goodman trade rumors, even though he's under team control for three more seasons.
Houston Astros
The prediction: The Astros bounce back to win the AL West as Yordan Alvarez reaches 40 home runs for the first time in his career.
Look, this prediction worked out, but it's a little awkward to take full credit for it since the Astros won the division with an 81-81 record. Alvarez though? He bounced back from his injury-plagued 2025 and hit 42 home runs while capturing the batting title with a .316 average.
Grade: A-
Looking ahead to 2027: The Astros weren't a good team in 2026, getting outscored by 32 runs on the season, and it's hard to see how they'll get better in 2027. They'll be paying $55 million just for Jose Altuve (0.0 WAR in 2025) and Carlos Correa (1.3 WAR), plus the rotation is a mess. Of course, anything is possible in the AL West.
San Diego Padres
The prediction: Mason Miller will become just the second reliever ever with a sub-1.00 ERA and 100 strikeouts (Blake Treinen did it in 2018).
Almost got there. Miller had a 0.81 ERA as late as Aug. 24 but then had a 4.91 ERA over his final 13 appearances and finished with a 1.67 ERA and 129 strikeouts. It was the most strikeouts by a reliever since Josh Hader in 2019 and Miller's 16.59 strikeouts per nine innings was the fourth-highest total ever.
Grade: B+
Looking ahead to 2027: Assuming no lingering effects from his meltdown in the NLDS, Miller should once again be the top closer in the game.
Milwaukee Brewers
The prediction: Jackson Chourio has his breakout season, hitting .290 with 30 home runs and 5.0 WAR while making his first All-Star team.
So close. Chourio hit .291 with 25 home runs and 4.9 WAR -- but didn't play his first game until May 4 after starting the season on the injured list. That late start prevented him from making the All-Star team, but we'll still give this a high grade.
Grade: B+
Looking ahead to 2027: Chourio will be 23 years old, and there's still room for improvement as he's still below average in his walk and strikeout rates. If he can tighten up his swing-and-miss, his explosive tools will lead to even higher productivity, as he hit the ball harder in 2026 and hit it in the air more often.
Philadelphia Phillies
The prediction: Cristopher Sanchez will be great again ... but fellow lefty Jesus Luzardo will be even better.
This was a spicy prognostication and we almost nailed it, despite Sanchez having another huge season:
Sanchez: 18-7, 2.91 ERA, 8.1 WAR
Luzardo: 14-5, 2.86 ERA, 6.5 WAR
Luzardo was the Phillies' best pitcher in the second half and was red hot when he came down with shoulder inflammation in early September, not pitching again until the final day of the regular season. If he hadn't missed those starts, he might have matched Sanchez in WAR.
Grade: B+
Looking ahead to 2027: Luzardo has fanned 200-plus batters in three of the past four seasons, missing that mark only in 2024 when he made just 12 starts due to a stress reaction in his back. He has firmly established himself as a premier starter and should be primed for another big season, assuming there are no lingering issues with the shoulder.
Tampa Bay Rays
Prediction: Junior Caminero will tie Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s age-22 record with 48 home runs.
OK, this wasn't the boldest prediction considering Caminero hit 45 home runs in 2025, but only Eddie Mathews had two 40-homer seasons through age 22. Caminero didn't quite get to Guerrero, hitting 42, but he joins Mathews in that two-man club and will finish high in the MVP voting.
Grade: B
Looking ahead to 2027: Caminero had a better all-around offensive season than in 2025, improving his on-base percentage from .311 to .360. That improved selectivity is a scary thought for opposing pitchers. Not all 22-year-old hitters improve -- Bryce Harper had his best season at age 22; Guerrero has been up and down in his career since -- but it wouldn't be surprising to see Caminero push his way closer to a .400 OBP and .600 slugging percentage.
Boston Red Sox
The prediction: The Red Sox lead the AL in rotation ERA for the first time in 24 years.
Boston starters had a 3.92 ERA, which ranked fourth in the AL. Of course, this prediction was counting on Garrett Crochet to lead the way, but he made just six starts with a 6.30 ERA. The newcomers -- Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Payton Tolle -- were outstanding. Brayan Bello was not. Jake Bennett was a pleasant surprise.
Grade: B-
Looking ahead to 2027: Crochet made it back for an ill-advised appearance in the wild-card series, so he should be ready. Gray has a $30 million mutual option, so he may or may not be back. Bello pitched much better as a bulk guy out of the bullpen but should be back in the rotation. Trades have depleted the depth, but if Crochet can tee it up 30 times, this should once again be a top rotation.
Athletics
The prediction: Leo De Vries and Gage Jump will both debut in 2026.
Hey, 1-for-2 in baseball is a great average. De Vries entered 2026 as ESPN's No. 11 overall prospect. He spent the entire season as a 19-year-old in Double-A and held that status, climbing up to No. 4 in Kiley McDaniel's updated August rankings, after hitting .290/.378/.458. He might have been in line for a September call-up but injured his shoulder and eventually underwent surgery to repair a labrum tear. Jump made 21 starts for the A's, going 6-11 with a 5.47 ERA.
Grade: C+
Looking ahead to 2027: De Vries' surgery will keep him out until May or so and probably delay his progress to the majors. Prior to the injury, he was projected as a better defensive shortstop than Jacob Wilson, but De Vries will have to show the arm strength is still there. Jump should be in the rotation, looking to refine his control and a six-pitch repertoire that plays off a 96 mph fastball.
Kansas City Royals
The prediction: Bobby Witt Jr. posts 9.5 WAR, breaking the club record of 9.4 he shares with George Brett. He belts 92 extra-base hits, which would be a record for a shortstop. And he wins AL MVP.
First off, that's three predictions rolled into one giant "Witt is going to have an absolute monster season" forecast. Second, Baseball-Reference now lists Witt's 2024 WAR as 9.6, so he's now above Brett. Third, Witt was great -- 6.7 WAR, which ranked third among AL position players -- but not "92 extra-base hits" great (he had 52 while missing 19 games).
Grade: C
Looking ahead to 2027: For now, Witt's .332 average that drove his best season in 2024 remains an outlier, as he's followed that up with seasons of .295 and .281, with less over-the-fence power as well. Some of this is batted ball luck -- his Statcast expected average in 2024 was .309 compared to .302 in 2026 -- but he also began this past season with a 27-game homerless streak. At the minimum, he's one of the best all-around players in the game. If he can get back to hitting 30 home runs, maybe he'll get that MVP trophy.
Arizona Diamondbacks
The prediction: Geraldo Perdomo proves his 2025 wasn't a fluke, hitting .300 while scoring and driving in 100 runs.
Perdomo hit .290 with 20 home runs, 100 RBIs and 98 runs to finish fourth in the MVP voting last season but fell off to .262/.370/.377 with nine home runs, 59 RBIs and 75 runs this year. With 5.1 WAR, it was still an excellent season, confirming Perdomo as one of MLB's top shortstops.
Grade: C
Looking ahead to 2027: Perdomo's hard-hit rate was identical to 2025, but he didn't barrel up quite as many baseballs. Don't expect 20 home runs, but his ability to get on base and play excellent defense (98th percentile in range via Statcast) will make him a valuable player once again.
Texas Rangers
The prediction: Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom both pitch 170 innings and post sub-3.00 ERAs.
Well, the two vets did have nearly identical seasons, but the prediction was overly optimistic. Eovaldi went 11-10 with a 4.20 ERA, deGrom 11-11 with a 4.20 ERA (although a 3.11 FIP). Eovaldi had a stint on the IL and pitched 145 innings; deGrom made his 31 starts but pitched just 162 innings as he became a five-and-dive guy.
Grade: C
Looking ahead to 2027: Hard to believe, but deGrom is already entering the final season of that five-year deal he signed (not including a $20 million team option for 2028). He'll be making $37 million. Eovaldi will be in the final year of his three-year contract. The Rangers will probably be happy to get 54 starts out of this pair again, and it's reasonable to expect both to lower those ERAs if they stay healthy.
Los Angeles Dodgers
The prediction: The Dodgers take on a new challenge after winning back-to-back titles and crush the regular season, winning 110 games.
It easy to say the Dodgers didn't push to be great, but there were on-field reasons why they didn't win 110 games: Kyle Tucker was a flop, Freddie Freeman had a down season (he hit just one home run after the All-Star break), Mookie Betts didn't hit much until September and Will Smith played just 73 games. Not to mention Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell combined for just 36 starts. All that happened and the Dodgers still won 100 games.
Grade: C
Looking ahead to 2027: More innings from Ohtani, Glasnow and Snell will help and a better year from Tucker and the likely emergence of Josue De Paula as an immediate offensive force will also help cover the age-related concerns with Freeman and Betts. Once again, 100 wins almost feels like a slam dunk.
Los Angeles Angels
The prediction: Mike Trout plays 140 games for the first time since 2018 (including 100 in center field), hits 35 home runs and finishes in the top 10 of MVP voting.
Hey, he played 142 games! And 109 in center! Trout finished seventh in the majors in on-base percentage, but he hit just 22 home runs, including four in 64 games in the second half. His 4.1 WAR was his most since 2022, but his days as a top-10 MVP finisher appear over.
Grade: C
Looking ahead to 2027: Trout's first half was certainly encouraging, but the lack of power in the second half was hopefully just an anomaly. The Angels should still find a better defensive center fielder, but if staying in center helps keep Trout motivated and stay in the lineup, they'll probably live with his defense.
Atlanta Braves
The prediction: The Braves will score 100 more runs than in 2025.
The Braves did improve on offense -- but by 18 runs, not 100. Austin Riley had his worst season, shortstop was still a big problem and Ronald Acuna Jr. was good but not great. The big gains came from Michael Harris II, plus Drake Baldwin getting more plate appearances.
Grade: C-
Looking ahead to 2027: The Braves need to find a solution for shortstop, and now Riley, who is signed through 2032, looks like a potential long-term problem as well. Acuna's MVP season of 2023 is starting to look like the distant past. They're probably a league-average offense again unless Acuna stays on the field and reignites.
Washington Nationals
The prediction: They lose more games than the Rockies and finish with the worst record in the majors. CJ Abrams and Zack Littell are traded.
From the list of things we did not see happening: The Nationals finishing third in the majors in runs scored. They scored more runs than the Dodgers! The pitching, while still not great, was a little better and the Nationals finished a respectable 77-85, their best record since their World Series year of 2019. Abrams wasn't traded but Luis Garcia Jr. and Curtis Mead were, and while Littell wasn't traded either (he was released instead), Foster Griffin was, so we got the part about the Nationals trading players away at the deadline correct. But that won't salvage this grade.
Grade: C-
Looking ahead to 2027: Washington needs to replace the offense Garcia and Mead provided and still needs help in the rotation, too. Connelly Early, acquired for Mead, should be part of that solution if healthy, but president of baseball operations Paul Toboni might need to dip into free agency to cobble together the rotation.
New York Yankees
The prediction: The Yankees become the fifth team with five 30-homer players as Aaron Judge, Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger all get there. They lead the majors with 290 home runs.
Rice, who hit 41 home runs this season, was not just the club's only 30-homer hitter -- he was also the only one to even reach 20. Not including 2020, the last time the Yankees didn't have at least two 20-homer guys was 2013. They did manage to finish second in the majors with 223 home runs.
Grade: D+
Looking ahead to 2027: Death, taxes and Yankees hitting home runs. They've finished first or second in the AL in home runs in eight of the past 10 seasons. Judge played just 66 games in 2026, plus they'll get a full season from trade acquisition Luis Garcia Jr., who hit 30 home runs between the Nationals and Yankees. Spencer Jones likely takes over in center field and he can hit 30 if he makes enough contact.
Chicago Cubs
The prediction: Michael Busch becomes just the second Cubs first baseman with a 40-homer season.
If only the prediction had been Pete Crow-Armstrong hitting 45 home runs and having perhaps the best all-around season in Cubs history. That would have been bold. Busch, who hit 34 home runs while playing mostly against just right-handers in 2025, played every day in 2026 but finished with 20 home runs.
Grade: D
Looking ahead to 2027: Busch still did some good things, such as drawing 92 walks to give him a .352 OBP, so we're not giving this a complete failing grade. He even hit better against lefties than righties. He had just three home runs through 45 games, so look for a better start in 2027 and a 30-homer season.
New York Mets
The prediction: Francisco Alvarez will hit 30 home runs, make the All-Star team and be the best offensive catcher in the NL.
Alvarez, who hit 25 home runs as a 21-year-old rookie in 2023, finished at .233/.311/.399 with 16 home runs. He was not an All-Star and ranked eighth in wRC+ among NL catchers with at least 300 plate appearances.
Grade: D
Looking ahead to 2027: Alvarez got hurt once again, suffering a torn meniscus in his right knee (although he missed only a month). He had a .710 OPS before the injury and a .710 OPS after returning, so that didn't seem to affect his production. He was hitting well through mid-August but hit just .188 with three home runs in his final 32 games. He'll still be just 25 years old in 2027, but it's becoming less likely he pops big.
Minnesota Twins
The prediction: The Twins trade Joe Ryan to the Brewers.
Ryan was one of the few Twins veterans to survive the trade deadline purge of 2025, so with the Twins viewed as unlikely contenders heading into 2026, he seemed like a reasonable trade candidate. Alas, in the muddy AL, the Twins were just four games back in the AL Central at the deadline and one game back of the final wild card. They kept Ryan, who then got hurt the day after the deadline and missed a month as the Twins faded out of the race. (The Brewers did trade for a starting pitcher, acquiring Dustin May from the Cardinals, so at least we got that part right.)
Grade: D
Looking ahead to 2027: Ryan has a $13 million mutual option for 2027 (although he's not eligible to become a free agent until after the 2027 season). He, Bailey Ober and Dean Kremer are all eligible for free agency then, so it's possible the Twins look to trade one of those guys rather than risk losing all three -- and Ryan will make the most money and bring back the best return if they do look to deal.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The prediction: Paul Skenes wins the Cy Young Award, Konnor Griffin and Bubba Chandler finish 1-2 in the Rookie of the Year voting and the Pirates win the final wild card with 83 wins.
Nope, nope and nope -- although the Pirates did win 82 games, so this isn't quite a complete failing grade. We won't dig into Skenes' numbers here, but it was a combination of regression -- and certainly regression in velocity -- and bad luck as the Pirates weren't a good defensive team in 2026 (he still ranked 14th in FanGraphs pitching WAR). Griffin and Chandler certainly showed off their high-ceiling talent. Suffice it to say: If this trio had met preseason expectations, the Pirates win more than 83 games and likely grab a wild card.
Grade: D-
Looking ahead to 2027: Things are ... dare we say ... going in the right direction? Better seasons from Skenes, Griffin and Chandler should make the Pirates a strong playoff contender, at least if the offense doesn't regress much after improving 184 runs from 2025 to 2026.
San Francisco Giants
The prediction: Logan Webb leads the NL with 18 wins.
The guess here was that after leading the NL three straight years in innings, all Webb needed was better run support to surpass his previous high of 15 wins. A swing-and-miss. The Giants' offense didn't get any better, plus Webb missed three weeks in May with bursitis in his knee (which snapped a streak of 156 consecutive starts) and then his season ended in mid-September due to a blister. He pitched just 160 innings and posted a 4.31 ERA, his worst since his breakout in 2021, while finishing with eight wins.
Grade: F
Looking ahead to 2027: Webb had fanned 26.2% of the batters he faced in 2025 but fell off to 20.1% this past season. That's not necessarily a crisis since it's close to his rates in 2022 and 2024, but he'll be 30 years old next year with that string of 200-inning seasons on his right arm. Webb said the knee didn't bother him after receiving a cortisone injection, so hopefully a healthy knee is all he needs to get back to his usual workload and performance.
Miami Marlins
The prediction: The Marlins will trade Sandy Alcantara ... to the A's.
Well, sometimes you're more Nuke LaLoosh than Luke Littler when throwing darts. The theory here was (A) the A's would be competitive and would need pitching help at the deadline; and (B) the Marlins would not be competitive and trade Alcantara. This is not what happened and Alcantara remained with the Marlins, who finished 80-82.
Grade: F
Looking ahead to 2027: The Marlins will pick up Alcantara's $21 million option for 2027, the final year on his contract. Coming off a year in which he led the majors in games started and innings pitched, his ability to pitch deep into games is especially important for an organization that has had trouble keeping starters healthy. With the Marlins harboring playoff hopes after an 80-win season, the best bet now is to keep him as the veteran leader on the staff.
St. Louis Cardinals
The prediction: After working with Nolan Arenado's personal hitting instructor in the offseason, Nolan Gorman will hit .250 with 35 home runs.
If we substitute "Jordan Walker" for "Nolan Gorman" this would have been a first-rate prediction. Alas, while Gorman did get one final opportunity, it did not work out: He hit .184 with nine home runs and spent most of the summer in the minors.
Grade: F
Looking ahead to 2027: Gorman has over 500 games in the majors now, but it just hasn't clicked following a promising 2023 season in which he hit 27 home runs. The Cardinals will be searching for a new third baseman for 2027.
Seattle Mariners
The prediction: Julio Rodriguez avoids his usual slow start, hits .290 with 40 home runs, reaches 8 WAR and finishes third in the MVP voting.
There was some logic here: Rodriguez hit .290/.341/.560 with 18 home runs in 65 games in the second half in 2025. All he had to do was perform at that level for six months. He did not. He had one good month -- he hit .274 with 10 home runs in May -- but the rest of his season was a disappointment as he finished hitting .247/.307/.401 with 22 home runs and 2.8 WAR.
Grade: F
Looking ahead to 2027: J-Rod's on-base percentage has declined four straight seasons since his rookie season. He lacked focus at times and his frustrations at the plate seemed to carry over to his defense, where his metrics declined. His chase rate was a career worst 38.6%, which ranked 125th out of 134 qualified regulars. The swing decisions need to improve, but after five seasons in the majors, that's becoming less likely.
Toronto Blue Jays
The prediction: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hits .335 and joins John Olerud as the only Jays hitter to win a batting title.
As bad as the Rodriguez prediction was, this one was even worse. Guerrero hit an empty .260 with just nine home runs, including one at home.
Grade: F
Looking ahead to 2027: No player will be under the spotlight more in 2027 than Guerrero, who will be entering the second year of his 14-year, $500 million contract. While he apologized for his comments late in the season when he said he was getting paid for what he had done, not what he would do in the future, that contract already looks like a potential franchise-altering disaster for the Jays if he doesn't turn it around.