For all the consternation about the forthcoming CBA negotiations, there’s a lot of baseball to be played before then.
This month, MLB stars will represent their home countries in the World Baseball Classic, then return to spring training camps to get the regular season started. From that point forward, all eyes will be on the Los Angeles Dodgers’ back-to-back title defense.
We wrap up our MLB fan survey by looking at 2026 and beyond. Who are the most improved teams? Who will win the World Series? Which team won’t even win in the next decade? These questions touch on the WBC, the 2028 Olympics, expansion, the possibility of an in-season tournament, and more.
Let’s jump right into the results.
Reader comments have been edited for brevity.
Others: Braves: 0.9 percent; Athletics: 0.9 percent; Reds: 0.8 percent; Giants: 0.6 percent; Brewers: 0.6 percent
When the league’s most-improved team is also its two-time defending champion, the “Who will win the World Series” question becomes a formality. But a few interesting teams landed toward the top of the list. The Orioles leveled up their lineup with Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward while stabilizing their pitching staff with Ryan Helsley, Andrew Kittredge, Chris Bassitt and Shane Baz. The Pirates added Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna. The White Sox turned heads by signing Munetaka Murakami, signaling a high-ceiling pivot for a rebuilding club.
The Mets are the heavy favorite here after missing the 2025 playoffs by a tiebreaker and doing considerable work to improve their roster. The Braves are due for a bounce-back year after their 2025 season was wrecked by injury and underperformance. Coming off an 87-loss season, the Orioles enter 2026 with a handful of new arms and much, much more power.
Nearly 60 percent of fans believe the Dodgers will become the first team since the 1998-2000 Yankees to “three-peat.”
When we asked this question after the 2023 season, the Braves led, at 33.2 percent, and the Dodgers were second at 16.1 percent. Since then, the Dodgers added Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, Edwin Díaz, Teoscar Hernández, Tommy Edman, Blake Snell and Kyle Tucker, to name (more than) a few.
Paul DePodesta, the Rockies’ new president of baseball operations, inherits a club burdened by seven consecutive losing seasons and zero World Series titles. While the Athletics have shown some signs of life in West Sacramento, they have not appeared in a World Series since going to three in a row from 1988 to 1990. The Pirates, a team with a strong pitching core (yet an aversion to spending), find themselves in a unique purgatory: voted both the fourth “most improved” and third “least likely to win a World Series in the next decade” club.
We asked this question twice before (but did not include a “no opinion” option) and had 61.7 percent of participants in favor of expanding in 2022, and 72.2 percent in favor in 2023. Maybe expansion was more top of mind at that point. Or perhaps allowing people to have no opinion has simply muddied our numbers. Either way, it’s interesting to note that while expansion is often discussed as an inevitability, only a slim majority of respondents strongly support the notion.
Top write-in options: Montreal: 1,047 mentions; Charlotte: 192; Oakland: 154; Vancouver: 119; Mexico City: 68; San Juan, Puerto Rico: 40; Indianapolis: 35; New Orleans: 35; Sacramento: 33; Buffalo: 29; Omaha: 24; San Antonio: 24; Oklahoma City: 22.
Among the six cities selected due to their established expansion efforts underway, Nashville is the runaway favorite. Out West, Salt Lake City, which is considered the front-runner, received considerably less support from respondents than Portland.
Write-in responses show a massive nostalgic push for a Montreal Expos revival. A return to Montreal would be remarkably popular, though it’s unclear local officials would move mountains to lure an MLB club as other markets will. Rounding out the top write-ins were a second North Carolina market (Charlotte), a reboot (Oakland), another Canadian city (Vancouver) and some more international flavor (Mexico City).
Andrew C.: The league should be looking at international expansion and not domestic. Montreal, Mexico City, San Juan. This is the future of the league financially.
The nays have it.
Commissioner Rob Manfred floated the idea of a split season or an in-season tournament similar to the NBA Cup earlier this year. It does not appear that fans are clamoring for it.
Blaise D.: What’s the point of a tournament when you’re playing the same teams you play in your league? That’s not how soccer does it.
Ole S.: The only way I’d be in favor would be if it was opened up to every team in MLB through Single A and was a single-elimination knockout. MLB teams get a bye to the round of 64, so they would play six more games max.
Jay O.: The only in-season tournament I’m interested in is having the top four teams from the WBC play during the All-Star break. Replace the All-Star game with the semi-finals and the finals. Have the Home Run Derby by national teams, perhaps as many as six teams.
For as much momentum as the event has gained in recent years, it’s not exactly approaching World Cup levels of enthusiasm from fans. Still, the bell curve skews in a direction the league will like.
While 41.1 percent of fans report high interest (4 or 5) in the World Baseball Classic, excitement for baseball at the 2028 Olympics is slightly more muted, with 35.4 percent answering 4 or 5. The most common response, by a hair, was “not interested,” and for the most part, we see mild to moderate interest.
Stu A.: Sending MLB players to the Olympics doesn’t work either within the season schedule. Even if you skip the All-Star Game for it, you’re putting players at risk in the middle of the pennant races. No can do.
Alan J.: The USA only gets to host every 20-30 years. Letting the players go to the Olympics once a generation is fine.
Joseph M.: I’d be OK with skipping the All-Star Game for the Olympics. The Olympics actually mean something.
We’ve seen MLB games played internationally and in Iowa cornfields. What’s one outside-the-box location you’d like to see a game played?
After sifting through and grouping more than 10,000 responses, here are the top 10 most common locations:
1. Alaska — 460 mentions
2. Hawaii — 426
3. The moon — 334
4. A European city — 303
5. Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, N.Y. — 301
6. Dominican Republic — 285
7. Beachfront property — 277
8. A sandlot — 247
9. Central Park — 181
10. A national park — 168
Other popular responses were former Negro League ballparks; minor-league, college and high school fields; cricket grounds and backyards; and an MLB game in Omaha during the College World Series; Area 51, Augusta, Churchill Downs, Disney, the Grand Canyon and the White House lawn. Here’s a sampling of other responses from the survey:
The only answer is at the Vatican, so the pope can see his White Sox play again.
A barnstorming tour through small-market areas like Nebraska, the Dakotas, Indiana, or other states that don’t have a major-league team.
The Salt Flats of Utah. The contrast and landscape would be dramatic.
Maybe somewhere in Rome? Saint Peter’s Square is plenty big enough. Since the obelisk in the middle of the square can’t be moved, we’ll have to employ some Savannah Banana rules.
There is a field in Japan with Mt. Fuji as the batter’s eye. That would be fun.
A recreation of the Polo Grounds.
A floating barge in the ocean or the Great Lakes. Players may leap into the water to catch a ball.
A tall-grass prairie with bison roaming beyond the outfield fence — a strong outfield fence.
Super Mario World at Universal. I want bricks and pipes everywhere with all the gimmicks.
Peru’s Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrión, the highest stadium in the world (almost 14,000 ft).
