Major League Baseball Opening Day is next week. Here are six storylines to watch this season.
The Dodgers’ chase for a three-peat
The Los Angeles Dodgers are back-to-back World Series champions. They’re also the heavy favorites to win the 2026 Fall Classic. Why? Because they only got better during the offseason.
Los Angeles added Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz in free agency. Tucker signed a four-year, $240 million deal. Díaz signed on for three years and $69 million.
Tucker is a four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He hit .266/.377/.464 with the Chicago Cubs in 2025 and is 10th in the majors with a 142 wRC+ since 2021.
Díaz, a three-time All-Star and two-time Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award winner, is an elite closer. He saved 28 games for the New York Mets last season, and has a career 2.82 ERA in 520 career appearances. Since 2021, Díaz is tied for the fifth-most saves (112) in the majors.
With their elite core still intact, Tucker and Díaz are now part of that for the Dodgers. A 100-win season is very reasonable for this team. So is winning the World Series. If Los Angeles wins it all again, it’d be the first MLB team to three-peat since the New York Yankees won three straight World Series between 1998 and 2000.
The NL MVP race
National League Most Valuable Player voting hasn’t been close the last two seasons. Shohei Ohtani deservingly received all 30 first-place votes both times. And given that he’s likely to pitch plenty in 2026 while taking 600 at-bats, it’s not crazy to assume he’ll win the award again this year; he’s baseball’s most talented and best player. But can anyone make the voting close?
FanDuel Sportsbook has Ohtani as the favorite to win NL MVP this year; it’d give him five MVPs for his career, all since 2021. Behind Ohtani in the odds are Juan Soto, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Unless someone has a historic season, Ohtani probably walks away 2026 NL MVP. And even if someone does have a season for the ages, that may only be enough to stop Ohtani from doing so unanimously.
Cy Young Award history in the making
Tarik Skubal has won back-to-back American League Cy Young Awards. Only two pitchers — Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux — have ever won three straight Cy Youngs. Johnson and Maddux both won four in a row.
There’s no doubt Skubal is baseball’s best pitcher. Since 2024, he leads MLB in wins above replacement (12.6), according to Fangraphs. He also leads baseball in ERA (2.30), FIP (2.47), strikeouts (469), and win probability added (8.26); Skubal is second in innings pitched (387 1/3).
There are no other pitchers to favor this year for AL Cy Young. He’ll have strong competition, but Skubal is the clear choice. He should also be plenty motivated to be at his best. The left-hander is scheduled to be a free agent after the season. He will likely sign for the most money ever for a pitcher. The current record is the $325 million the Dodgers signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to ahead of 2024.
If Skubal, 29, secures a Cy Young three-peat, he’ll easily pass Yamamoto’s record by a lot. A $400-million contract would surely be on the table, right?
CBA talks
MLB’s collective bargaining agreement is set to expire at 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 1. And it probably will. During negotiations for the next CBA, nothing will be more important than the fight about the implementation of a salary cap.
Owners have long wanted a salary cap. The players have always strongly been against the idea. The two sides are going to butt heads regarding a cap — just one of a few key things during these negotiations — and talks could get ugly and drawn out.
The owners and players association will start talking at some point in April. What comes from those talks will be interesting to monitor. A new deal likely won’t come together, but the in-season talks could shed light on where exactly the negotiations are headed later this year.
A lock out seems like a certainty. A lengthy lock out is probable. One that leads to lost games in 2027? Maybe. Just look back at the talks before the 2022 season. Games were in jeopardy then but were not missed — only barely, though.
Surprises, both good and bad
Every year, there are good and bad surprises. Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays were a good surprise, winning their division and taking the Dodgers to Game 7 of the World Series. Nobody expected that to happen before Opening Day last year. The Mets were expected to compete at a high level. They did not, winning just 83 games and missing the playoffs. New York was a bad surprise.
This time last year, Cal Raleigh wasn’t projected to make history by hitting 60 home runs and competing with Aaron Judge for AL MVP. But he did. Raleigh was a good surprise. Devin Williams was supposed to be the Yankees’ best reliever and maintain his spot as one of the game’s best closers. He didn’t, posting a 4.76 ERA in the worst season of his career. Williams was a bad surprise.
There were more good and bad surprises in 2025. And, just like every season, 2026 will have its share of good and bad surprise players and teams. Who will those surprises be? We don’t know. That’s why they’ll be surprises!
Tony Vitello as Giants manager
This is a fascinating story. Vitello was hired away from the University of Tennessee, where he was head baseball coach, by the San Francisco Giants. He’s the first person ever to directly go from being a collegiate baseball coach to major-league manager without prior professional coaching experience.
Vitello did a great job at Tennessee, turning the school’s baseball program into one of the nation’s best; the Volunteers won the 2024 College World Series. The Giants are hoping he can help them return to prominence. But as is the case in all sports, coaching in college is different than coaching in the pros.
College baseball coaches mainly run their teams. Vitello won’t be running the Giants. Managing in the majors will require a different skillset for Vitello. Seeing how he handles leading a group of 26 grown men during the grind of a 162-game schedule will be fun to watch.
