MLB Power Rankings: Milwaukee ends 2026 at No. 1, and 26 clubs move on the first 2027 board
All 30 clubs in the first 2027 board, each printed beside the season-ending rank it moved from, with the reasons behind the 26 changes and the clubs whose records and run differentials point different ways.
Milwaukee won the World Series in five games, beating Tampa Bay 4-1 on Oct. 28. The Brewers went 11-2 in October. 1
It was the franchise's first title in 57 seasons in Milwaukee, and the city's first since the Braves won in 1957. 1
William Contreras was voted series MVP after hitting .381. 2
The same night, ESPN published two all-30 boards at once: its final 2026 ranking and a way-too-early 2027 ranking. 3
The second board leaves four clubs where they were. It moves the other 26.
This edition prints the 2027 order and the 2026 place each club vacated.
How this board is built
Until this week, the only current team ranking in circulation was a four-club panel published Oct. 11. No outlet had ranked all 30 since the regular season ended. 4
ESPN fixed that on Oct. 28. Its 2027 list prints every club's final 2026 ranking beside its 2027 slot. 3
That makes the move column one outlet's own change of mind. It measures no rival's board and no previous edition's.
The distinction matters, and it is why the moves below are large.
Last week's board had Milwaukee first and Tampa Bay second, with the 28 eliminated clubs frozen behind them. This one reorders the whole field.
The other three outlets still have nothing newer. The Athletic's rankings page ends Sept. 22. 5
MLB.com's newest team ranking remains the Oct. 11 panel. 4 FanGraphs' archive still ends Sept. 29. 6
All four were checked on Monday morning.
Every record, run differential and expected record below is the final regular-season figure from MLB's standings feed. 7 Every score comes from its game log. 8
The week's games
| Date | Game | Result | What it settled |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 26 | World Series Game 3 | Milwaukee 10, Tampa Bay 1 8 | Milwaukee led 3-0 |
| Oct. 27 | World Series Game 4 | Tampa Bay 4, Milwaukee 3 (12 innings) 8 | Milwaukee led 3-1 |
| Oct. 28 | World Series Game 5 | Milwaukee 4, Tampa Bay 1 8 | Milwaukee won the series 4-1 |
Game 3 broke on an eight-run inning. 1
Christian Yelich kept the inning alive by beating a throw to second on a two-out grounder. 1 Brandon Woodruff, who skipped shoulder surgery in August to try to pitch again, threw the ninth. 1
Game 4 was the one that got away. Milwaukee was three outs from a sweep and lost in the 12th. 1
Game 5 belonged to Jacob Misiorowski: 5⅔ scoreless innings on two hits, until a calf cramp ended his night. 9
Cooper Pratt set a Series rookie record with hits in six straight plate appearances. 2 He drove in two more runs in Game 5. 9
Three of the five games were decided by one run. The totals were not close: 51 hits to 29, and 25 runs to 12. 910
The board
| Rank | Club | 2026 | Final 2026 | Move | Run diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brewers | 103-59 | 1 | 0 | +214 |
| 2 | Dodgers | 100-62 | 2 | 0 | +201 |
| 3 | Yankees | 93-68 | 5 | +2 | +138 |
| 4 | Rays | 98-64 | 3 | -1 | +86 |
| 5 | Red Sox | 87-75 | 9 | +4 | +78 |
| 6 | Braves | 94-68 | 4 | -2 | +116 |
| 7 | Tigers | 76-86 | 20 | +13 | +71 |
| 8 | Guardians | 85-77 | 10 | +2 | +11 |
| 9 | Pirates | 82-80 | 13 | +4 | +28 |
| 10 | Phillies | 88-74 | 8 | -2 | +15 |
| 11 | Mariners | 76-86 | 22 | +11 | -58 |
| 12 | Marlins | 80-82 | 17 | +5 | +3 |
| 13 | White Sox | 84-78 | 12 | -1 | +56 |
| 14 | Cardinals | 77-85 | 19 | +5 | -29 |
| 15 | Diamondbacks | 86-76 | 11 | -4 | +9 |
| 16 | Mets | 74-88 | 23 | +7 | -32 |
| 17 | Cubs | 89-73 | 6 | -11 | +147 |
| 18 | Rangers | 80-82 | 14 | -4 | -46 |
| 19 | Twins | 77-85 | 24 | +5 | -58 |
| 20 | Blue Jays | 79-83 | 16 | -4 | -46 |
| 21 | Padres | 91-71 | 7 | -14 | +41 |
| 22 | Orioles | 79-82 | 18 | -4 | -21 |
| 23 | Nationals | 77-85 | 21 | -2 | +6 |
| 24 | Astros | 81-81 | 15 | -9 | -32 |
| 25 | Royals | 69-93 | 26 | +1 | -120 |
| 26 | Athletics | 64-98 | 28 | +2 | -238 |
| 27 | Giants | 65-97 | 27 | 0 | -91 |
| 28 | Angels | 62-100 | 29 | +1 | -97 |
| 29 | Reds | 75-87 | 25 | -4 | -160 |
| 30 | Rockies | 58-104 | 30 | 0 | -192 |
Rank and final rank are both ESPN's. Records and run differentials are the season's final figures. 37
Twenty-six clubs moved. Milwaukee, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Colorado held.
The two biggest climbs belong to clubs that lost 86 games apiece. The biggest fall belongs to a club that won 91.
The risers: Detroit and Seattle
Detroit finished 20th and starts 2027 seventh, a 13-place climb. 3
The record does not explain it. The run differential does: plus-71, fourth in the American League. 7
MLB's standings feed puts Detroit's expected record at 89-73, thirteen wins better than the 76-86 it posted. 7
That is the widest gap in the majors in either direction, and it is the whole argument.
ESPN adds the roster. Kevin McGonigle posted 7.1 WAR as a rookie. Troy Melton, Jackson Jobe and River Ryan can absorb the innings Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize leave behind. 3
Seattle finished 22nd and starts 11th. 3
The Mariners won 76 games because their stars stopped hitting. Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodríguez and Josh Naylor all fell off.
The rotation regressed too, and closer Andrés Muñoz led the majors in blown saves. 3
The rebound case rests on those same hitters and on Kade Anderson, who ESPN calls a Rookie of the Year favorite. 3
The fallers: San Diego, Chicago, Houston
San Diego finished seventh and starts 21st, the largest drop on the board. 3
Michael King declined his player option on Oct. 30, walking away from two years and $53 million. 11
King made 32 starts at a 3.21 ERA and posted a career-high 4.3 WAR. 11 Randy Vásquez is now the only rotation member guaranteed to return. 11
ESPN ranked San Diego 21st two days before King decided, and listed his option first among the club's winter questions. 3
Chicago scored more runs than any club in baseball, 850, and dropped eleven places anyway. 7
The Cubs went 89-73 against an expected 95-67, six wins short, and eight of their key players are free agents. Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and Shota Imanaga head that list. 37
FanGraphs makes the demotion stranger still. Pete Crow-Armstrong led the majors at 10.6 WAR, and Alex Bregman added 5.5. 12
The board is not rating the 2026 Cubs. It is rating the 2027 ones, and eight of that roster are unsigned.
Houston won the American League West at 81-81 and fell nine places. 3
The Astros ran a minus-32 run differential this season. Their season-ending differentials since 2021 read plus-205, plus-219, plus-129, plus-91, plus-21 and minus-32. 3
Where results and run differentials disagree
| Club | 2026 | Expected | Gap | Board move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tigers | 76-86 | 89-73 | -13 | +13 |
| Reds | 75-87 | 65-97 | +10 | -4 |
| Angels | 62-100 | 71-91 | -9 | +1 |
| Rays | 98-64 | 90-72 | +8 | -1 |
| Giants | 65-97 | 72-90 | -7 | 0 |
| Padres | 91-71 | 85-77 | +6 | -14 |
| Cubs | 89-73 | 95-67 | -6 | -11 |
Expected records are MLB's own figure, computed from runs scored and allowed rather than from wins. 7 Moves are ESPN's. 3
The board behaves like a run-differential model in some rows and like nothing of the kind in others.
Detroit is the clean case: the worst gap in the majors, the biggest climb.
Cincinnati is the counter-example. The Reds won ten more games than their run differential implied, and still dropped four places. 3
The Angels lost nine more games than their differential implied and moved up one.
San Diego is the outright disagreement: six wins better than expected, fourteen places lower.
None of that is an error. The 2027 board prices rosters rather than results, which is why a 91-win club can fall further than a 100-loss one.
The champion, priced 19th in payroll
Milwaukee is first on both boards. Nothing in its winter picture moved it, and Contreras is the largest reason. 3
Jacob Misiorowski carried the highest pitching WAR in the majors, 6.6 across 174⅔ innings. 12
He hit .381 in the series, threw out four attempted base stealers, and won 10 of 13 automated-ball-strike appeals. 2
In the regular season he led the majors with 185 challenges and 105 overturns. 2
The payroll is the other half of the story. Milwaukee ranked 19th at $154 million, the lowest-ranked champion since the 2003 Marlins. 13
Cot's projects about $115 million for 2027, Contreras' $15.5 million option included. 13
Four Brewers hit free agency before the parade: Jake Bauers, Brandon Woodruff, JoJo Romero and Dustin May. 13
The front office has traded Josh Hader, Devin Williams, Corbin Burnes and Freddy Peralta within 16 months of free agency. Contreras is one year out, and the same logic now has his name on it. 1013
Tampa Bay at No. 4
Tampa Bay reached the Series, won 98 games, and dropped one place. 3
Its case is the roster. Freddy Peralta and Nick Martínez are free agents, and Martínez took a $4 million buyout. 13
Drew Rasmussen's option escalated to $20 million, which is below market for a borderline Cy Young season and above what the Rays usually carry. 13
Sixteen players on the postseason roster arrived by trade. Rasmussen's salary is the kind this club has traded away before. 13
Tampa Bay sits fourth, behind a Yankee club that finished four and a half games back. 7
The Rays also came out of the weaker league. Only five American League clubs finished above .500. 710
What would move this board next
Very little, and not by baseball. The collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and ESPN frames a lockout as the live possibility. 3
Tarik Skubal, who finished the season in Los Angeles, is the winter's biggest name. 3
San Diego must settle its remaining options by 2 p.m. PT on Monday, and the qualifying-offer deadline lands the same day. 11
Awards come first. Misiorowski is the likely National League Cy Young winner, and Pat Murphy has a third Manager of the Year in reach. 13
No game will settle a place on this board until February.
What this board cannot tell you
One outlet ranked all 30 clubs this week, not four. There is no four-way consensus to report in the first week of November.
So the move column is ESPN changing its mind, not a consensus shifting. Treat a 13-place climb as one analyst's argument, not a verdict.
The 28 clubs whose seasons ended are now being re-ranked on contracts, prospects and projections. There is no result left to appeal to.
That is the honest state of the board with no games on the schedule.
References
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5MLB Power Rankings — The Athletic
nytimes.com
- 6FanGraphs Power Rankings archive
blogs.fangraphs.com
- 7MLB Stats API final standings, 2026
statsapi.mlb.com
- 8MLB Stats API schedule, Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2026
statsapi.mlb.com
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12MLB WAR Leaderboards 2026
fangraphs.com
- 13
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