Where does each team start the 2025-26 offseason? It’s not necessarily the exact same place where they ended the 2025 regular season (or postseason).
Even though it’s only been a few days since the conclusion of a thrilling World Series, roster machinations are already in full swing. Players have become free agents, and decisions have been made in regards to contract options and qualifying offers.
What does all this mean? It means that, at least for the moment, Bo Bichette is not a Blue Jay, Kyle Schwarber is not a Phillie, Pete Alonso is not a Met, and so on. Since no one has really made any meaningful additions yet, we’ll kick the winter off by doing exactly what we’ve done for the last several years, which is to rank the teams 1-30 based on their rosters right now.
As usual, we’ll do that using the data from FanGraphs, which use projections based on current depth charts. The fact that some roster spots look nothing like they will on Opening Day is exactly the point. The roster you had a week ago or a month ago isn’t the roster you have now. This helps us set a good starting point to see where everyone stands right now, and what they’ll need to do in order to contend for next season.
The 30 teams, as of Friday, start with …
Top free agents: OF Michael Conforto, UTIL Kiké Hernández, SS Miguel Rojas
Biggest needs: Outfield, bullpen, second base, lineup youth
You’re stunned at this ranking, surely, and you might think that the team that has everything has, well, everything, but even the back-to-back World Series champs enter the offseason with some holes to fill. That starts in the outfield, where last offseason’s Conforto gamble was a failure, and the unit as a whole finished just 18th in the Majors in WAR before generally falling apart in October. Maybe that’s waiting on prospects Zyhir Hope or Josue De Paula. Maybe it’s going after Kyle Tucker. Maybe it’s both. It will be something. It has to be.
There’s also obviously going to need to be a ton of work put into the bullpen, though how exactly that happens is unclear, since they put some big spending into that unit last winter, and it clearly didn’t pay off. The bigger-picture question, however, is this: How and when do they start to reinvigorate a talented-but-aging lineup core, which features four key players (Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Teoscar Hernández, and Max Muncy) who all will be 33 or older next season? Each has shown signs of aging already, and even Will Smith and Shohei Ohtani, somehow, will be 31. Baseball’s oldest team needs to incorporate some position-player youth.
Top free agents: OF Cody Bellinger, OF Trent Grisham, 1B Paul Goldschmidt
Biggest needs: Center field, shortstop, bullpen
“It’s still a good team despite a disappointing end to the season” is going to be a common refrain for every team that isn’t the Dodgers, and it definitely applies to the 94-win Yankees, who are still going to have Aaron Judge and Max Fried leading the lineup and rotation, respectively. The latter group should get more from Cam Schlittler and the in-season return of Gerrit Cole, but also might be without Carlos Rodón to start the season. The more important questions here are obvious: Aside from the bullpen questions every contender has, 1) What do they do about shortstop in the wake of Anthony Volpe’s disappointing year and ensuing shoulder surgery, and 2) What does the outfield look like with Bellinger a free agent and Grisham pondering whether to accept the qualifying offer?
Top free agents: RP Raisel Iglesias, SS Ha-Seong Kim, DH Marcell Ozuna
Biggest needs: Shortstop, starting pitcher, bullpen
If you’re surprised to see Atlanta rank this highly – well, we are too. This is mostly because they aren’t losing much off the roster to free agency, and because so much of the team’s 2025 issues were about injuries, not talent. It’s not that hard to see Ronald Acuña Jr., Austin Riley, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López and friends contributing more in 2026, right? Aside from the usual need for more pitching depth — adding another starter is nearly certain — the big need here is at shortstop, where Nick Allen’s elite defense couldn’t offset the fact that he was baseball’s weakest regular hitter. Allen is still here, but after Kim declined his option, it’s clear the Braves will seek to upgrade offense in the middle infield.
Top free agents: 1B Josh Naylor, 2B Jorge Polanco, 3B Eugenio Suárez
Biggest needs: Offense all around the infield
Seattle’s roster looks a lot like it did before the Trade Deadline, when they traded for Naylor and Suárez. In other words, “They look to again have strong pitching and a lineup led by Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez,” and that’s all pretty good. That means that filling first and third base are the obvious needs once again, and while there may be interest in having Naylor return, Suárez is unlikely to be back. Polanco is also a free agent after a very successful (if up-and-down) year, so the infield aside from shortstop JP Crawford right now looks… let’s say, sparse. Since Seattle seems to have the payroll flexibility to go a little bigger, this could get interesting – particularly if Raleigh’s success makes it a little easier to convince big bats to play in the best pitchers park in the game.
Top free agents: Pete Alonso, Edwin Díaz, Cedric Mullins
Biggest needs: Rotation, center field, first base, bullpen
Yes, fifth. Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor remain extremely good. Yet as it did last year, this winter will rotate around the will-they-or-won’t-they drama with Alonso, who once again hits the market in hope of a long-term deal. Whether he returns is a crucial component of the offseason, since they can’t easily replace his bat if he departs. But it may not be more important than answering the question of just how they plan to improve the rotation that failed them last year. It’s safe to assume that the young trio of Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat will factor in in some way. It’s even safer to assume that relying on three rookies to provide 30 starts apiece is setting yourself up for disaster.
Throw in the dire need in center field, and a bullpen that was already shaky even without the prospect of much of it departing via free agency, and this is set up to be the most consequential offseason of any team in the Majors.
Top free agents: SP Chris Bassitt, SS Bo Bichette, SP Max Scherzer
Biggest needs: Middle infield, bullpen, rotation, left field
Baseball’s biggest 2025 success story isn’t going to sneak up on anyone again, as this relatively lofty projection shows. They already resolved their biggest offseason concern in April when they agreed with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a huge extension, and got an early gift this week when Shane Bieber surprisingly declined his opt-out, keeping him in the rotation in 2026. That’s all good news, but aside from “can we really count on George Springer, Ernie Clement, and Addison Barger to do all that again,” the big question is whether Bichette returns, or how he’s replaced if not. (Andrés Giménez being able to play either middle infield spot surely opens up some options, though.) They may also need another starter, with Bassitt and Scherzer unsigned, since Kevin Gausman will be 35, José Berríos is coming off an elbow injury, and it’s a lot to expect Trey Yesavage to immediately be penciled in for 180 high-quality innings, no matter how magical his October was.
Top free agents: Alex Bregman, Lucas Giolito, Dustin May
Biggest needs: Starting rotation, corner infield power
We know that shortstop Trevor Story is coming back, as he opted in to the final two years of his deal, and we know the entire winter will revolve around whether Bregman does as well, after a successful first year in Boston. It’s excessively clear what the team is looking for here, because they’ve been pretty openly talking about it already, which is “a top starter to pair with Garrett Crochet and a power bat who can play the infield.” That’s going to lead to a ton of rumors around Bregman, Alonso and Schwarber, but also about whether a member of an overstuffed outfield gets moved to solve one of these issues via trade. It’s a little hard to see Jarren Duran and Masataka Yoshida both being on the 2026 roster.
Top free agents: SP Zach Eflin, C Gary Sánchez, SP Tomoyuki Sugano
Biggest needs: Starting rotation, bullpen, outfield
A disappointing season doesn’t mean that there’s a roster without talent here; you might remember that the Blue Jays just went from last-in-the-AL-East-to-the-pennant in a single year. We know that Tyler O’Neill will remain in the mix, having opted in to the final two years of his deal, and it’s beyond obvious that adding a front-line starter and reinforcing the bullpen are going to be keys to the winter. They could probably also use a right-handed outfielder who can handle center, but most of a potential 2026 lineup improvement is going to have to come internally – from the likes of Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, and Colton Cowser. It’s not impossible. It’s not easy, either.
Top free agents: J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, Ranger Suárez
Biggest needs: Catcher, multiple outfielders, bullpen
No, Bryce Harper isn’t getting traded, but even so, this is a real inflection point for this franchise, which has been one of baseball’s best for the last five years but now faces some truly key pieces of an aging core reaching free agency. That starts with catcher, where there’s no internal – and very few external – options to replace Realmuto. They want to bring him back, and Schwarber as well, and yet even if they do, the outfield needs to be all but entirely blown up and rethought. Nick Castellanos, with one year left on his deal, is not expected to be a part of the 2026 roster, which is one part of it. All of that, and we haven’t even touched on what it would mean if Suárez moves on while Zack Wheeler attempts to work back from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery. For a team that just won 96 games, there’s a lot more work to do here than you’d think.
Top free agents: Victor Caratini, Brendan Rodgers, Framber Valdez
Biggest needs: Starting rotation, lineup clarity, catcher, pitching velocity
After missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the Astros primarily have to retain or replace their long-time ace, Valdez, yet otherwise can return most of the same group if they so choose. (They did get a head start on the winter when they brought back Carlos Correa in July, solving third base going forward.) At the same time, there’s a position player group that doesn’t always make sense now. Can Christian Walker provide more? Can Yordan Alvarez stay healthy? Is Jose Altuve a second baseman, a left fielder, or a DH? How does Isaac Paredes fit into the puzzle with first and third both spoken for? Is Cam Smith the early-season sensation (.776 OPS through end of June) or the overmatched second half rookie (.546 OPS final three months). It seems likely a trade is coming from this group in some way, potentially to help a stunningly soft-tossing pitching group which badly needs to find some flamethrowers.
Top free agents: Rhys Hoskins, Jose Quintana, Brandon Woodruff
Biggest needs: Veteran starting pitcher, power bat, shortstop
Wins Above Replacement projections may not always capture what makes Milwaukee special, but also this is higher than two-thirds of the sport, so that’s still pretty good. The big question is if they trade starter Freddy Peralta, much as they did with Corbin Burnes two years ago, though that would leave them with an extremely inexperienced rotation group, particularly if Woodruff choses not to accept the qualifying offer. While we certainly talked a lot about how the lineup’s contact-and-speed approach made them very difficult to play against, it’s also been endlessly proven that you simply can’t advance in the playoffs without a little more power. Who that hitter might be is only part of the equation, because every single spot on the diamond is occupied by a returning player. There’s no hole to fill, only a contributor to displace. It will be interesting to see if that comes at shortstop, where Joey Ortiz was the rare Brewer hitter who took a big step back in 2025.
Top free agents: 2B Adam Frazier, SP Michael Lorenzen, OF Mike Yastrzemski
Biggest needs: Outfield, outfield, another outfielder, second base
Last year, we talked about how weak the outfield looked, and then the 2025 Royals outfield ended up being baseball’s weakest. Sometimes you can predict baseball, apparently, and that remains an obvious need going into 2026, especially since the highly-touted Jac Caglianone didn’t exactly make a smooth transition to the Majors on either side of the ball. There’s also a big need at second base, where the Michael Massey / Jonathan India duo didn’t really work out. There’s always room to add more pitching depth, but if this team wants to get Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Maikel Garcia to October, they desperately need to add some thump to the outfield. Finishing with baseball’s least imposing outfield again simply won’t cut it.
Top free agents: SP Alex Cobb, RP Kyle Finnegan, 2B Gleyber Torres
Biggest needs: Skubal resolution, middle infield, bullpen, center field, contact
The shadow of Tarik Skubal’s final year before he’s eligible for free agency will linger over absolutely everything this team does. Of course, there’s other work to be done, too – namely at shortstop, where neither Trey Sweeney nor Javier Báez did all that much and the team ended up with the seventh-weakest production. (Yes, Báez was an All-Star, but that was mostly about a hot start that didn’t last, and largely as a center fielder, at that.) They’d like to cut down on baseball’s fourth-highest strikeout rate, and they’ll also have to figure out what to do at second base if Torres doesn’t return, meaning there’s maybe a totally new middle infield here – unless they run it back with Colt Keith and Sweeney, or entrust top prospect Kevin McGonigle with a job right away. Ultimately, it all pales to what’s at stake with Skubal.
Top free agents: 1B/2B Luis Arraez, SP Dylan Cease, SP Michael King
Biggest needs: Starting rotation, first base and/or DH, power
It’s going to be a complicated winter in the rotation in San Diego, with Cease and King each free agents and Yu Darvish likely to miss all of 2026 with elbow surgery. They’ll welcome Joe Musgrove back from his own surgery, and Nick Pivetta was strong in 2025, but the whole winter revolves around how they staff the rotation – or how they’ll backfill the bullpen if they really do try to make Mason Miller a starter. Just as urgently, they’ll need to figure out how a lineup that still has some star-studded names managed to hit the third-fewest homers in baseball. Most of that improvement has to come internally, though a power bat to replace Trade Deadline acquisition Ryan O’Hearn would be welcomed.
Top free agents: RP Pete Fairbanks, SP Adrian Houser, INF Coco Montes
Biggest needs: Catcher, shortstop, outfield, starting rotation
It’s likely that the Rays get back to Tropicana Field next season, which is a nice return to normalcy, and the long-awaited sale of the team has been completed, allowing the entire franchise to look forward to the future. But for now, they have some shorter-term questions, mostly how to flesh out a lineup that was very top-heavy with Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda, Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe, then thinned out quickly. Catcher was a revolving door last year, and remains a big need; it’s not at all clear how they’ll cover shortstop, since Taylor Walls has never really hit and Carson Williams didn’t lock down the job in his opportunities. Oh, and there’s this: The entire outfield hit just 29 homers, easily the fewest in the Majors, making that a massive need. There’s always pitching questions. They’re dwarfed by the hitting ones.
Top free agents: Brad Keller, Shota Imanaga, Kyle Tucker
Biggest needs: Bat-missing starters, bat-missing relievers
Despite the high likelihood that Tucker departs, the Cubs lineup seems mostly set, assuming that they’re willing to roll with Matt Shaw at third after an inconsistent rookie season. Maybe there’s room for an OF/DH to share some fielding time with Seiya Suzuki, but the majority of this winter is going to be about pitching, especially given the somewhat surprising decision to decline a three-year option on Imanaga, who had lost some velocity and strikeouts in his second year. The rotation has a lot of depth, particularly if Justin Steele returns healthy and rookie sensation Cade Horton can contribute more work next year, but only six teams, mostly non-contenders, had weaker rotation swing-and-miss – and the bullpen outdid only three teams. That’s simply not going to cut it, especially without Tucker in the middle of the lineup.
Top free agents: RP Shawn Armstrong, SP Merrill Kelly, SP Tyler Mahle
Biggest needs: Bullpen, back-end starter, catcher, outfield, power from … somewhere
Does it feel surprising that the team with baseball’s best ERA and 22nd-best run scoring may need to focus as much on the arms as the bats? It’s largely because of the fact that nearly 40% of the team’s innings came from pitchers headed to free agency – and because the rotation is led by a 37-year-old (Jacob deGrom) and a 36-year-old (Nathan Eovaldi). Yet after two years of underwhelming offense, some kind of change has to happen, and it’s difficult to see this trio of veterans coming off of two straight down years – Adolis García, Marcus Semien and Jonah Heim – anchoring lineup spots in 2026. Given what sounds like a need for some budget tightening, president of baseball operations Chris Young might have to get creative to shake things up.
Top free agents: C Christian Vázquez
Biggest needs: Bullpen, first base, catcher
It’s somewhat difficult to get a read on the Twins, who disappointed badly in a 92-loss 2025, then moved on from Carlos Correa, most of their bullpen and manager Rocco Baldelli. That generally wouldn’t make for an all-in playoff push in 2026, but if it’s intended to be a step back, then the biggest questions are going to be around if and when starters Joe Ryan and Pablo López get traded, and if Byron Buxton ever becomes willing to waive his no-trade clause. For now, the starting five in the rotation actually looks pretty good, so trying to rebuild a competent relief staff is most crucial. They’ll also likely seek some support at first base and backup catcher.
Top free agents: SP Miles Mikolas
Biggest needs: Do well with the trades that are coming. (And young starting pitching.)
After the year-long transition from John Mozeliak to Chaim Bloom, a new era of Cardinals baseball is beginning, and there’s a ton of work to do. We’re likely to see at least two of veterans Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras moved, if not all three, and Brendan Donovan would be an appealing piece to a contender if he were made available. Throw in the potential of a trade that sees one or more lefty bats — Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson or Lars Nootbaar — leaving town, and there’s going to be a lot of moving pieces here. The goal won’t be so much about 2026 contention as being able to look back from the team’s next playoff berth and realize that just maybe, it started here.
Top free agents: RP Jalen Beeks, SP Zac Gallen, C James McCann
Biggest needs: Starting pitching, relief pitching, corner infield
The rotation was supposed to be a strength in 2025, but Corbin Burnes getting injured and Eduardo Rodriguez and Brandon Pfaadt both posting ERAs north of 5 put an end to that, leading to Merrill Kelly getting traded in July. With Gallen no longer on the roster (though he received a qualifying offer), this is projected to be baseball’s fourth-weakest rotation at the moment, so adds are vital to support a productive, entertaining lineup. That can’t all be done via free agency, so a trade from outfield depth seems like a possibility. Yet with maybe the best middle infield in the game between Ketel Marte and Geraldo Perdomo, as well as an MVP-caliber outfielder in Corbin Carroll — all Silver Slugger winners — this roster isn’t that far away from making noise in the National League. As long as someone can get some outs, that is.
Top free agents: RP José Leclerc, RP Scott McGough, RP Sean Newcomb
Biggest needs: Starting pitching, bullpen, second base, third base
The A’s, believe it or not, were a top-10 offense in the second half, and while that was indeed in large part thanks to the historic efforts of Nick Kurtz, it was also about Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom, too. Put those three with Brent Rooker, Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson, know that megaprospect Leo De Vries is not that far away, and all of a sudden you have something resembling a pretty good Major League offense. The less said about the pitching, however, the better, particularly with Mason Miller traded to San Diego. While there’s some intriguing arms here, they’ll need external veteran help, and that might be difficult to find after Luis Severino’s struggles pitching in West Sacramento.
Top free agents: RP Jakob Junis, OF Lane Thomas
Biggest needs: Middle infield, center field, right field, first base, pitching depth
We could go on about how badly the Guardians need some thump in the lineup – outscoring only Colorado and Pittsburgh isn’t good enough – but really, we’ve been talking about this annually for about a decade now. There are, to be fair, several interesting young players who could make an impact now or in the near future, like Chase DeLauter, George Valera, Travis Bazzana, Jorge Brito, etc. There’s maybe some pitching depth questions, too, especially given the uncertainty surrounding the future of closer Emmanuel Clase.
Top free agents: SP Zack Littell, SP Nick Martinez, RP Emilio Pagán
Biggest needs: Corner outfield, corner infield, bullpen, improved roster construction
There’s something missing about this lineup, and it’s hard to put a finger on what. Individually, there’s a lot of players to like, and yet as a whole, it was tied for the fifth-weakest group in the game. That’s partially due to Elly De La Cruz’s second-half slide, but it’s also about a whole lot of similarly-aged batters like Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Will Benson and Gavin Lux showing flashes here and there yet nothing like consistent above-average hitting. The rotation is a strength. The hitting and defense were not. It might take cutting the cord on one of the internal hitting options in favor of an external replacement to support Hunter Greene and friends.
Top free agents: 1B Wilmer Flores, 1B Dominic Smith, SP Justin Verlander
Biggest needs: Starting rotation, bullpen, outfield, second base, backup catcher
Hiring Tony Vitello was certainly a big swing in the skipper’s spot, but no matter how quickly he adapts to the role, he’s going to need a talent boost to contend. To start with, Logan Webb and Robbie Ray are strong atop the rotation, and you’ll probably have Landon Roupp in there after that, and then the rotation has a ton of options and no actual solutions. That absolutely has to be improved, as does a bullpen that was mostly sold at the Deadline, and there’s a corner outfield spot up for grabs, too. The Giants need to make some big moves to avoid a fifth straight season hanging around the .500 mark.
Top free agents: DH Andrew McCutchen, OF Tommy Pham
Biggest needs: Offense. So much offense.
Spencer Horwitz, acquired last winter in a trade from Cleveland, missed the start of 2025 with a wrist injury, then posted a 118 OPS+. That’s all fine, except he was the only Pirate hitter to be league-average (100 OPS+), and that made them the only team in the last three seasons to be unable to manage multiple league-average hitters in a season. (The 2023 Rangers, by comparison, had 10. They also won the World Series that year.) You can’t rebuild an entire lineup in one year. There’s still reason to see if Oneil Cruz can take a step forward. But there’s just a ton of work necessary to find enough run-scoring to support Paul Skenes and a decent pitching staff.
Biggest needs: First base, right-handed outfield bat, bullpen
Miami had a surprisingly competitive 2025, improving by 17 games over a disastrous 2024, and there’s some momentum going into 2026, particularly since they’ve identified some potential lineup building blocks in outfielders Kyle Stowers and Jacob Marsee. They badly need a first baseman with power, and a righty bat in the grass would be welcome since Stowers, Marsee and right fielder Griffin Conine are all lefties. But the main question this winter will be whether they finally trade starter Sandy Alcantara, who’s headed into his final year before free agency.
Top free agents: SP Tyler Anderson, SP Kyle Hendricks, RP Kenley Jansen
Biggest needs: Rotation, bullpen, third base, center field
Baseball’s longest postseason drought heads into its 12th season with one of baseball’s weakest projections. This is not to say there’s not bright spots, because it was really easy to miss that Jo Adell (37 homers) and Taylor Ward (36) had outstanding power seasons. Yet either or both might be traded to find the starter, third baseman or center fielder they badly need, and removing one would take away a big bat from the middle of the lineup. Mike Trout is still here, for what it’s worth. He might outlast another manager in Kurt Suzuki, who’s on a one-year deal.
Top free agents: 1B Josh Bell, 3B Paul DeJong, RP Derek Law
Biggest needs: First base, catcher, bullpen
New baseball ops head Paul Toboni and new manager Blake Butera have their work cut out for them. Their first year figures to be as much (or more) about reimagining the front office, coaching staff, and organizational priorities than adding players to win right now. (This is what the Orioles did, anyway.) Little is more important here than making sure that Dylan Crews and James Wood develop into long-term answers – and, perhaps, Daylen Lile too, given his loud debut. To that end, they’ll add a first baseman, and likely try to find a better catching option than Keibert Ruiz. The biggest question, however, will be this: If it’s going to take a minute to contend, is this the winter that MacKenzie Gore, two years from free agency, gets traded?
Top free agents: LHP Tyler Alexander, RHP Mike Clevinger
Biggest needs: First base, corner outfield, pitching everywhere
We swear this is true: In the second half of the season, only nine teams outscored the White Sox. If 2024 was about the team bottoming out, then ’25 was about beginning the journey upward — and this 29th-place ranking is about just how much further there is to go. Still, there’s a lot more optimism than a year ago, thanks to Colson Montgomery and Kyle Teel impressing in their rookie seasons and highly-regarded prospects such as outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitchers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith on track for 2026 debuts. They’ll add some support this winter, and potentially look once again into a Luis Robert Jr. trade. Finally, it’s headed in the right direction here.
Top free agents: SS Orlando Arcia, INF Kyle Farmer, SP Germán Márquez
Biggest needs: Everything, everywhere, all at once
The 2025 Rockies lost 119 games, and the 2026 Rockies aren’t terribly likely to be all that different, record-wise. That may sound grim, but for the first time in decades, something really is different here, because they’ve committed to hiring an outsider to lead baseball operations for the first time since 1999. Of course, they haven’t just gone outside the organization in hiring Paul DePodesta; they’ve gone outside the sport, since DePodesta has spent the last decade working for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Unexpected though that may be, it’s still a step forward for a generally insular team, though we can’t emphasize the word ‘unexpected’ here enough.
