MLB Power Rankings: Picking the best offenses for the 2026 baseball season

Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports

Spring training is underway and while we’re waiting for real, regular-season baseball, we can run through some different versions of Power Rankings. We aren’t going to rank all 30 for a lot of these, but instead top 10s. We’ll start with lineups. That is, which teams do I expect to have the best offenses in the 2026 season.

This shouldn’t be a spoiler, but things go wrong for teams quite often. I ranked the Braves second last season when I did this and they finished 13th in runs scored. It happens. Plus, this wasn’t done by a team of people. It’s just little ol’ me. It’s a subjective exercise and we’re going to disagree at times. I’m still totally OK with people yelling at me on social media. Bring it.

Let’s get to it!

Honorable mention: Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Kansas City Royals

10. Baltimore Orioles

The 2025 season was a disaster in Baltimore, but I like the Orioles to be much stronger this time around. They were brutal, notably with power, against left-handed pitchers. Adding right-handed power hitters Taylor Ward and, of course, Pete Alonso really helps in a big way. I think that elevates the rest of the lineup, too. A full season of health will help Jordan Westburg and maybe it’ll help Adley Rutschman get back to his 2023 ways? Jackson Holliday has shown signs of breaking out and that hamate injury likely only costs him a little bit of time. There’s potentially a lot of upside from the lower-order guys like Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo, too.

Maybe I’m too bullish, but I’m expecting a good Orioles offense this season. Remember, they were fourth in runs scored in 2024 and Alonso can provide as much power as Anthony Santander did that season.

9. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies were eighth in runs and fourth in OPS last season, but there are question marks here.

I have very few concerns at the top of the order with Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Of course, none of them are young, but they’ll still hit.

Is Alec Bohm the fourth-best hitter? If so, isn’t that a concern? How good will Brandon Marsh be? Can Adolis García turn the clock back to 2023? Will Bryson Stott ever be better than league average? J.T. Realmuto is clearly well past his offensive prime. How will the rookie, Justin Crawford, acclimate to the majors?

That’s everyone; their entire starting nine. We’ll obviously see Edmundo Sosa and others getting starts, but this looks like a good group that’ll be inconsistent throughout the season.

8. Chicago Cubs

It was a tale of two seasons for the Cubs in 2025. They were among the very best offenses in baseball for a few months. Slumps from Seiya Suzuki, Pete Crow-Armstrong and (possibly related to injury) Kyle Tucker made them much less scary down the stretch. They ended up seventh in OPS and fifth in runs. They lost Tucker to free agency, but signed Alex Bregman. They have Mr. Consistency in Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ reliably ends up with pretty much the same season every year — even if he gets there in inconsistent ways — but how will Suzuki and PCA fare? Michael Busch provides power at the top and Dansby Swanson provides it toward the bottom. How will Moisés Ballesteros fare in a full season at DH?

There’s great potential here, but plenty of variance. The best versions of Suzuki and PCA could elevate them, but can those versions hold up for a whole season?

7. Toronto Blue Jays

The defending American League champs were fourth in runs and third in OPS last season. The have depth and it’ll be tested, thanks to the departure of Bo Bichette and long-term injury to Santander. We need to see how Kazuma Okamoto adjusts to Major League Baseball and we have to allow for the likelihood that George Springer being one of the best hitters in baseball again, especially at his age, is unlikely. Still, they have Vladimir Guerrero Jr. holding down the middle of the order and Springer won’t be bad or anything. Daulton Varsho topped 20 homers in less than half a season last year. Utility/depth pieces like Addison Barger, Ernie Clement and Davis Schneider are very helpful. It’s still a good offense. The questions just hold them back a little.

6. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners were ninth in runs and 10th in OPS last season despite playing half their games in what has generally been the worst park for hitters in the majors (funny note: Globe Life Park in Texas was the worst last season after ranking as high as fourth just a few years ago, so what in the world is going on there?). This means that while the Mariners’ offense gets held down at home for 81 games, they are still good enough to overcome their opponents far more often than not.

I don’t think we’ll ever see another Cal Raleigh season like we did in 2025, but he’ll still be a beast. Julio Rodríguez is still only 25 years old, has two 30-30 seasons to his name and might finally be able to shake the slow starts that have plagued him. Josh Naylor is back and a proven, productive player. Randy Arozarena is another solid contributor and the M’s recently traded for Brendan Donovan, who will be helpful. J.P. Crawford and Dominic Canzone can provide nice lower-order help.

5. Athletics

The young A’s were seventh in home runs and fifth in slugging last season. They are helped by a friendly “home” ballpark in Sacramento, but hey, it’s allowed to help. They get to play 81 games there and no one else does.

Lawrence Butler disappointed in a big way and he’s due for a bounce back. Shea Langeliers is one of the best power-hitting catchers in baseball, coming off a 31-homer season. Tyler Soderstrom is streaky but can carry an offense when his power shines through. Brent Rooker has become a reliable, All-Star slugger. Jacob Wilson hits for high average without a ton of power and it’s always nice to have balance.

Oh, and then there’s Nick Kurtz. Once the rookie figured things out, he was one of the top performers in baseball. In his last 94 games, he hit .309/.409/.691 with 24 doubles, 35 homers and 80 RBI. That pace suggests he could approach 50 home runs this season.

As things stand, the A’s have at least four players likely to get to 30 homers.

4. New York Mets

They were ninth in runs and sixth in OPS last season and starting with Francisco Lindor (even if he misses time to start the season, it won’t be much) and Juan Soto is as good a 1-2 punch as anyone has. I think losing the raw power from Pete Alonso in the middle of the batting order will be missed, but capable bats have been added like Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien. Plus, there’s always the chance that Mark Vientos looks more like 2024 than 2025 while Luis Robert has the potential to be a major needle-mover. How about the talent in Francisco Alvarez’s bat? There’s variance in here, in that it isn’t difficult to see how things could go poorly, but there’s immense upside.

3. Atlanta Braves

This might be aggressive, but there’s so much bounce-back ability here. So many things went wrong last season from the start and they just never recovered, but they have the main pieces from what was a scary-good offense for several years. Ronald Acuña Jr. is now back for a full season after his recovery from ACL surgery carried over into 2025. The last time this happened, he won MVP. Austin Riley was top-seven in MVP voting three straight years from 2021-23 and he’s still just 28 years old. Ozzie Albies was basically back to being his old self late last season, same with Michael Harris II. Matt Olson still has plenty of years left as a middle-of-the-order threat. Drake Baldwin is coming off a Rookie of the Year win. The most likely outcome here is this lineup is stacked in 2026.

2. New York Yankees

The Yankees led the majors in runs, home runs (by 30) and OPS last season. I always find it funny when people rank Shohei Ohtani as the best hitter in baseball (he’s the best player) when Aaron Judge exists. Seriously, compare their numbers at the plate from the last however many seasons you want. It’s Judge. He does some heavy lifting here in this Yankees lineup. He’s not alone, though. I do think we can expect some backslide from Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger and Giancarlo Stanton on a rate basis, but this group is still pretty loaded. Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 30-30 last season and Ben Rice is a keeper who is in line to see even more plate appearances.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

The defending champs ranked second in runs, sixth in average and second in OPS last season. They have the second-best hitter in baseball in Ohtani along with fellow former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Any concerns with age-related declines on those two should be mitigated by the addition of Kyle Tucker. Will Smith is one of the best offensive catchers in baseball and Teoscar Hernández is capable of a 35-homer season. Andy Pages hit .272 with a 114 OPS+ and 27 home runs last season. He’s expected to hit eighth or even ninth.