Way-too-early 2026 MLB Power Rankings: Are the Dodgers or Blue Jays No. 1?
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David Schoenfield
In a dramatic finish to the 2025 postseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in an extra-innings, winner-take-all Game 7 to become the first repeat World Series champions since the 2000 New York Yankees.
Now, the offseason begins. Contract options to consider! Free agency! Trade rumors! Let the fun begin.
We kick it off with our annual Way-Too-Early Power Rankings — focusing on how teams look right now, minus their free agents, while factoring in rookies and young players who will make an impact next season and considering second-half performances, age of the roster and holes to fix. The top team? Probably not a surprise.
Final 2025 Power Rankings | Final 2025 regular-season grades
2025 record: 93-69
Final 2025 ranking: 3
There is no doubt that a rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Shohei Ohtani and Tyler Glasnow can get the Dodgers back on top and maybe even back to 100 wins. They weren’t completely healthy in 2025 until late in the season, so they should produce more volume and more value in 2026. The bullpen will be better, especially if that’s where Roki Sasaki ends up, but there are age-related concerns with the lineup. Freddie Freeman turns 36; Mookie Betts, coming off his worst offensive season, will be 33; Max Muncy turns 35; and Teoscar Hernandez turns 33. That was the oldest lineup in the majors in 2025 — though it scored the most runs in the National League — and one becoming heavily dependent on Ohtani. But now the Dodgers have a new motivation: A three-peat is on the line.
2025 record: 94-68
Final 2025 ranking: 4
The Blue Jays were two games under .500 through May 27 when the offense took off — all the way to a World Series appearance (and a crushing Game 7 loss). Toronto relied on the best contact rate in the game and production up and down the lineup to do it.
All the key position players are back except for Bo Bichette, who heads to free agency after hitting .311 with 94 RBIs in the regular season and the clutch three-run homer in Game 7 of the World Series. Though you can expect some regression from George Springer and Ernie Clement, the Jays can also assume better numbers from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Anthony Santander and Addison Barger. The big holes to fill will be in the rotation, and that will make re-signing Bichette difficult. Chris Bassitt and Max Scherzer are free agents, and Shane Bieber has a $16 million player option he will likely decline (plus Jose Berrios missed the postseason because of an elbow injury). Trey Yesavage will join the rotation and could make for a dynamic 1-2 punch with Kevin Gausman.
If the Jays can fill out that rotation, maybe they will be back in the Fall Classic again next year — with a different outcome.
2025 record: 90-72
Final 2025 ranking: 5
The 2025 Mariners made it closer to the World Series than any Mariners team ever has before — and fans will spend the offseason wondering what might have happened if manager Dan Wilson had brought in Andres Munoz in the seventh inning of Game 7.
The good news: Most of the team returns, although you always want to see weaknesses addressed. Josh Naylor is the top free agent, and the Mariners will undoubtedly make a strong bid to bring him back. They’ll probably let Eugenio Suarez leave as a free agent, with top prospect Colt Emerson likely taking over at third base. Jorge Polanco (player option) is another potential free agent who was a key hitter in the middle of the lineup, although they do have Cole Young ready at second base. The Mariners have never won back-to-back division titles. With the rotation projecting to have a better performance, they’ll be favored to repeat in 2026.
2025 record: 94-68
Final 2025 ranking: 6
There is an argument to rank the Yankees first overall. They’ll be adding Cam Schlittler (2.95 ERA in 14 starts) and 2024 Rookie of the Year Luis Gil (3.32 ERA in 11 starts) to the rotation full time and getting Gerrit Cole back at some point in 2026. Along with Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Will Warren, that might give the Yankees the best rotation in baseball.
On the other hand, Cody Bellinger (player option that he’ll presumably turn down) and Trent Grisham are free agents, and that’s 63 home runs and 8.5 WAR to replace between the pair. The Yankees might let both walk as they’ll keep Jasson Dominguez in left field and give Spencer Jones the opportunity in center. There are also potential issues at shortstop, with Anthony Volpe coming off a bad season, and third base, as Ryan McMahon didn’t hit after coming over at the trade deadline.
2025 record: 89-73
Final 2025 ranking: 9
Back in the playoffs for the first time since 2021, the Red Sox will look to pursue their first AL East title since 2018. The team is built around Cy Young contender Garrett Crochet and budding superstar Roman Anthony, who produced 3.1 WAR in just 71 games and was starting to hit for power until missing September with an oblique strain.
We’ll see if Alex Bregman opts out (he gets $40 million if he doesn’t) and whether Lucas Giolito takes his $19 million option after a solid comeback season. Even without Giolito, rookie lefties Connolly Early and Payton Tolle look ready to contribute, and don’t forget Kyle Harrison, who came over in the Rafael Devers trade. The offseason intrigue: Will the Red Sox trade one of their four outfielders (Anthony, Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu)?
2025 record: 92-70
Final 2025 ranking: 7
While the Cubs will likely part ways with free agent Kyle Tucker, this will still be a team built around an excellent offense and superb defense. Of course, whether they get first-half Pete Crow-Armstrong or second-half PCA will be a huge key there, but outfielder Owen Caissie (.937 OPS in Triple-A) and DH/C/1B Moises Ballesteros (.316 average, .858 OPS in Triple-A) are ready to contribute, and third baseman Matt Shaw is a strong “take a big leap” candidate after posting an .839 OPS in the second half. As the playoffs showed when Cade Horton was hurt, the Cubs will need to address rotation depth — getting Justin Steele back at some point will help — and several key relievers, including Brad Keller, are free agents, so some bullpen moves will be in order.
2025 record: 97-65
Final 2025 ranking: 1
This ranking isn’t meant as an insult to a team coming off an MLB-best 97 wins and plus-172 run differential. Indeed, all the Brewers’ key players are back, although they’ll have to make some decisions on Brandon Woodruff ($20 million mutual option) and Jose Quintana ($15 million mutual option). They’ll also be adding Jacob Misiorowski and his triple-digit fastball to the rotation after he showed promise — and inconsistency — in his 14 starts as a rookie. But a lot also went right for the Brewers in 2025, including Quinn Priester and Quintana going a combined 24-10 despite below-average strikeout rates.
The big offseason decision concerns Freddy Peralta entering the final year of his contract (a bargain at $8 million). Will the Brewers keep him or trade him like they did with Corbin Burnes? It does seem the Brewers emphasize “keeping it going” — and they’ve done that exceptionally well — rather than going all-in. That could mean a Peralta trade is coming.
2025 record: 83-79
Final 2025 ranking: 13
The Reds made the postseason for the first time in a full season since 2013, so that’s to be applauded, but it was with just 83 wins, so they can thank the expanded playoffs. Elly De La Cruz led the regulars with just a 109 OPS+, so the offseason goal is to improve the offense.
With Chase Burns ready for the rotation and Rhett Lowder hopefully healthy after a lost 2025, the Reds have more depth on the way for a unit that ranked second in FanGraphs WAR in 2025. That has already led to Hunter Greene trade rumors — he is signed for three more years at a team-friendly rate — although president of baseball operations Nick Krall downplayed the idea of trading from the team’s strength. Free agents include closer Emilio Pagan, swingman Nick Martinez and trade acquisitions Zack Littell and Miguel Andujar, but the rotation gives them a high floor.
2025 record: 96-66
Final 2025 ranking: 2
The Phillies won 96 games but have a long list of key players hitting free agency this winter, including Kyle Schwarber, Ranger Suarez, J.T. Realmuto, Max Kepler, David Robertson. That’s 12.2 WAR — mostly from Schwarber, Suarez and Realmuto, three huge keys to their success the past four seasons. Then throw in more uncertainty with Zack Wheeler‘s health, Aaron Nola coming off a 6.01 ERA, and Bryce Harper turning 33 and coming off his lowest OPS since 2016. Top prospect Andrew Painter had a 5.40 ERA in Triple-A, so you can’t automatically pencil him in for 30 starts either. Look, the Phillies will make some additions — everyone predicts they’ll re-sign Schwarber, for example — but right now, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has some work to do this offseason to keep an aging team in the thick of things.
2025 record: 87-75
Final 2025 ranking: 11
The postseason exposed the Tigers’ weaknesses: a lack of starting pitch depth behind Tarik Skubal, the need for more swing-and-miss in the bullpen and a lineup that could use an enforcer in the middle — Riley Greene topped the club with 36 home runs and a 120 OPS+ but also whiffed 201 times. Of course, the pivotal decision of the offseason: If they can’t sign Skubal, who has one more season on his contract until he hits free agency, do they trade him? Or do they attempt to make a run with him? Hovering over all that: The Tigers used to run big payrolls under owner Mike Ilitch, but that hasn’t been the case under his son, Chris. In other words, another offseason of second-tier signings — while Gleyber Torres worked out, Alex Cobb didn’t — probably won’t move the needle.
2025 record: 82-80
Final 2025 ranking: 18
The success of the 2026 Royals probably will depend more on the health of starters Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic than anything the club does in the offseason — although addressing the lack of offense from the outfield (29th in the majors in both home runs and OPS) will be the top priority. Maybe Jac Caglianone will be an answer after getting exposed following a quick promotion to the majors (.157/.237/.295 in 62 games). Rookie catcher/DH Carter Jensen will share time with Salvador Perez and could be an impact bat — and if Bobby Witt Jr. bounces back (he was still great but created about 36 fewer runs than in 2024), the offense should improve.
2025 record: 83-79
Final 2025 ranking: 14
After their disastrous collapse over the final two months, no team will be under more pressure to improve this offseason than the Mets (seems like we’ve heard that story before). That will start with a decision on re-signing Pete Alonso, who enters free agency for a second straight offseason but this time following a much better year (38 HRs, 126 RBIs, 144 OPS+). Closer Edwin Diaz has an opt-out, although is expected to return to the Mets, but most of the other key relievers are also headed to free agency.
Rookie starters Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat and Jonah Tong will provide rotation depth. Close-to-the-majors prospects such as outfielder Carson Benge, infielder/outfielder Jett Williams and first baseman Ryan Clifford give the Mets options — like pursuing a No. 1 starter if, say, a certain Detroit left-hander is made available.
2025 record: 77-85
Final 2025 ranking: 19
The Rays were battling for the AL East lead in early July but averaged just under four runs per game the rest of the way — Jonathan Aranda‘s injury was a key there — and finished with their second consecutive losing season (although their run differential improved from minus-59 to plus-31). Brandon Lowe ($11.5 million) and Pete Fairbanks ($12.5 million) have club options the Rays will likely pick up, but that also makes both potential trade pieces. The farm system isn’t as loaded as it has been, but shortstop Carson Williams got a September call-up and could take over at the position in 2026. Getting back Shane McClanahan, who has missed two seasons with Tommy John surgery and then a nerve issue, will help, and Tampa Bay will need to get more power from the outfield (an MLB-low 29 home runs).
2025 record: 76-86
Final 2025 ranking: 21
The Braves were essentially running out a Triple-A rotation by the end of the season after injuries devastated the group, which helps explain their first losing — and first non-playoff — season since 2017. But that wasn’t their only problem, as the offense was mediocre once again. It’s easy to project improvement here if they get better health from Reynaldo Lopez (shoulder), Spencer Schwellenbach (elbow fracture) and Chris Sale (fractured rib), an improved Spencer Strider (7-14, 4.45) and a full year from late-season standout Hurston Waldrep (6-1, 2.88 ERA).
Ha-Seong Kim, if he takes his $16 million player option, will help the offense at shortstop, but Michael Harris II (.268 OBP) and Ozzie Albies (.304 OBP) struggled to get on base. Atlanta also has two holes to address in the offseason with closer Raisel Iglesias and DH Marcell Ozuna free agents.
2025 record: 90-72
Final 2025 ranking: 8
When the fall comes for the Padres, it’s going to hit hard, given all the long-term contracts they’ve committed to. The immediate problem is that Dylan Cease, Luis Arraez and Ryan O’Hearn are free agents while Michael King will likely use his player option to opt out.
The Padres didn’t score enough runs in 2025, ranking 28th in home runs, and there isn’t any immediate help coming from the farm system, so the pitching is going to have to deliver. You can certainly see why they might move Mason Miller to the rotation. If that holds and Joe Musgrove makes it back from Tommy John, maybe they’ll be OK.
2025 record: 88-74
Final 2025 ranking: 10
I know, I know … underestimate the Guardians at your own peril, so we’ll rank them here in the middle. They won a shocking division title powered by an incredible September run, but this is still a team that hit just .226/.293/.373 and ranked 28th in the majors in runs scored. They do have some potential help on the way in outfielder Chase DeLauter, who was on the playoff roster after not playing a regular-season game in the majors, and second baseman Travis Bazzana, the top overall pick in 2024. They will likely have to move on without closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz, but the pen remains deep and Ortiz wasn’t that good anyway. It’s wishful thinking given ownership, but adding an impact bat would be the offseason priority.
2025 record: 81-81
Final 2025 ranking: 17
The Giants have already made the most interesting move of the entire offseason, hiring University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello as their manager. It’s basically an unprecedented move for an MLB team to hire from the college ranks. Brewers manager Pat Murphy coached at Notre Dame and Arizona State but coached for years in the majors before taking the Milwaukee job. For now, the Giants look like the same .500-ish club as always. They’ll have to replace Justin Verlander‘s innings in the rotation and their top two relievers in Richard Rodriguez (Tommy John surgery) and Tyler Rogers (traded/free agent). Rafael Devers will be here for the entire season, but what they need is a young star. Maybe slugging first baseman Bryce Eldridge will be that guy.
2025 record: 81-81
Final 2025 ranking: 16
Flags fly forever, but the 2023 championship year remains the only winning season for the Rangers since 2016 (although they did have a plus-79 run differential in 2025). There are some obvious issues to address in the offseason: Tyler Mahle, Merrill Kelly and Patrick Corbin are free agents (that’s 56 starts to replace) as are three of the top five relievers in appearances. Jake Burger wasn’t the answer at first base and Joc Pederson hit .181 as the primary DH, although both remain under team control for 2026.
New manager Skip Schumacher will once again have to rely heavily on Nathan Eovaldi (11-3, 1.73 ERA), who had a season-ending rotator cuff strain and will turn 35 before Opening Day, and the middle infield combo of Marcus Semien (entering his age-35 season) and Corey Seager (turning 32). There’s risk with that trio, given their ages.
19. Athletics
2025 record: 76-86
Final 2025 ranking: 23
The A’s have shown remarkable on-field improvement in two years, despite the off-the-field chaos, going from 50-112 in 2023 to 76-86 in 2025, and they had an impressive post All-Star break run, going 35-29 with a plus-50 run differential as the pitching allowed 4.2 runs per game compared to 5.6 prior to the break — even after trading closer Mason Miller to the Padres.
Expect more of the same from slugging standout Nick Kurtz, who had one of the best rookie seasons ever with a 1.002 OPS, and everyone of importance is back. They still lack front-line pitching, and the defense — other than when Denzel Clarke is in center field — is a problem, but the A’s appear to be on the rise.
2025 record: 75-87
Final 2025 ranking: 24
The Orioles stumbled out of the gate and never recovered — despite winning records in June, July and September — so they enter the offseason as the sport’s biggest enigma. What has happened to the offense? The Orioles scored 109 fewer runs than 2024 and 130 fewer than 2023 — even though the young core was supposed to get better, not worse. Can the pitching bounce back? The O’s allowed 89 more runs than 2024 and 110 more than 2023. The good news is Trevor Rogers had a 1.81 ERA over 18 starts and Kyle Bradish pitched well after returning from Tommy John surgery. Maybe 2025 was just a bad season — like the Blue Jays’ 2024 season. Or maybe they just have too many holes to fix.
2025 record: 79-83
Final 2025 ranking: 22
The Marlins won 79 games but exceeded their Pythagorean record by seven wins and the rotation finished 26th in ERA. There is hope there, however: Sandy Alcantara — if they don’t trade him — was much better in the second half; Edward Cabrera threw a career-high 137 innings; Eury Perez returned after missing 2024 and will be turning just 23 in April. If rookie left-handers Thomas White and Robby Snelling can make an impact, the rotation could be much improved. But, as always, limited resources will make it difficult to improve their production at first base (15 home runs, 27th in OPS) or provide more offensive help for breakout slugger Kyle Stowers.
2025 record: 80-82
Final 2025 ranking: 15
The Diamondbacks finished 80-82 and have scored a lot of runs the past two seasons, though they will be missing 47 home runs from Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor. But they head into the offseason with lots of pitching holes to fill: Zac Gallen is a free agent, Merrill Kelly was traded, and Corbin Burnes might miss the season or most of it after Tommy John surgery. Even with Gallen, Kelly and Burnes combining for 66 starts, the Diamondbacks were just 19th in rotation ERA. Oh, and they had 17 pitchers record a save, which is a fun statistic but not really a good boat to be in, so they need to figure out the back end of the bullpen.
2025 record: 87-75
Final 2025 ranking: 12
Whoa? Twenty-third? Well, start with the Astros’ declining run differentials since 2022: plus-219, plus-129, plus-91, plus-21. The payroll includes $160 million for just seven players in 2026, which makes it unlikely they can afford to re-sign Framber Valdez. Several key players are getting old: Jose Altuve (36), Christian Walker (35) and Carlos Correa (31).
Correa is now a third baseman, the same position as Isaac Paredes, so maybe they move Correa to second base and Altuve to DH, except you don’t really want to play Yordan Alvarez in left field. Yes, a healthy Alvarez and a healthier rotation (Valdez and Hunter Brown were the only pitchers to reach 100 innings) could help keep the Astros in contention, but that downhill slope is starting to get steep.
2025 record: 60-102
Final 2025 ranking: 28
It’s obviously been a rough three years with three consecutive 100-loss seasons, but I like the general direction here with an interesting group of impact rookies arriving in 2025 (Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, Shane Smith, Sean Burke), plus outfielder Braden Montgomery and pitchers Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith not far away.
It will be interesting to see if the club picks up its $20 million option on Luis Robert Jr. He certainly hasn’t been worth that salary in the past two seasons, but maybe the White Sox will take the gamble and hope once more he can find his 2023 level (5.3 WAR).
2025 record: 71-91
Final 2025 ranking: 25
You know the story: Paul Skenes is awesome, but owner Bob Nutting is about as committed to building a winner around Skenes as Larry King was to marriage. The Pirates could be a lot of fun with Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Jared Jones returning from injury and maybe even top hitting prospect Konnor Griffin making the team despite not turning 20 until April, but they need offense (they hit .216 on the road), and there is no evidence Nutting will spend any money to improve it.
2025 record: 78-84
Final 2025 ranking: 20
It feels like the Cardinals overachieved to even finish 78-84, with a pitching staff that ranked 29th in the majors in strikeout rate and an offense that ranked 29th in home runs, two categories that prime wins and losses in this era.
Now Chaim Bloom takes over as head of baseball operations and the Cardinals will apparently be willing to include cash in deals for Sonny Gray (one year left at $35 million) and Nolan Arenado (two years left at $42 million total).
The Cardinals’ young players simply haven’t taken off and the team lacks any semblance of a star player. If 2025 was a “hold steady” season, 2026 looks more like a rebuilding year.
2025 record: 70-92
Final 2025 ranking: 27
Teardowns are usually not good for the short-term success of a franchise, although it’s certainly possible to dig out of one. The Marlins dealt all their stars after winning it all in 1997 and were back in the playoffs — and winning a World Series again — in 2003. The Padres had a big teardown in 1993, lost 101 games that season, and then won the NL West in 1996. Then there are the 1995 Expos, who had a winning season in 1996 but then didn’t have another one until 2002 and eventually became the Washington Nationals. The Marlins had another teardown after 2017 and have had one winning full season since. The Twins have some talent here, but they went 19-35 the final two months after the deadline dump and have owners who seem more focused on saving pennies than on trying to win.
2025 record: 72-90
Final 2025 ranking: 26
The most dysfunctional franchise in the majors, perhaps best symbolized by pitcher Yusei Kikuchi telling Japanese reporters that the team’s weight room lacked air conditioning. Hey, at least the Angels appear to be finally fixing the issue: The team’s job board recently listed an opening for a part-time HVAC technician ($39.38 per hour!).
Unfortunately, a lack of AC was only a small part of the problem for a team that has now suffered 10 consecutive losing seasons, including the worst two-year stretch in franchise history, and will be paying Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout a combined $75 million in 2026.
29. Washington Nationals
2025 record: 66-96
Final 2025 ranking: 29
It has now been six years of bad baseball since the 2019 World Series crown. The lack of progress led to the firings of longtime executive Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez, with Paul Toboni, a former executive with the Red Sox, taking over as the new president of baseball operations. He is expected to lead an overhaul of the baseball operations department. The Nationals were absolutely horrible over the final three months, going 31-47 while getting outscored by a Rockies-like 144 runs. That doesn’t bode well for 2026.
2025 record: 43-119
Final 2025 ranking: 30
The Rockies set a dubious record with the worst run differential since 1901 at minus-424, 79 runs worse than the 1932 Red Sox (who previously had the worst mark in the modern era). That gives the Rockies a strong case as the worst team of all time, or at least the worst since the 1890s if early baseball is your thing.
While the Rockies could no doubt dominate 1890s baseball, the going will be difficult in 2026. What do they even do in the offseason? They don’t have a Garrett Crochet to trade like the White Sox did last offseason, so it’s probably more scrounging around for players who are blocked elsewhere and maybe finding some free talent.
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Dave Wilson
BATON ROUGE, La. — Capt. Dale Dicharry, the commander of Homeland Security for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, has heard plenty of strange calls in his time in law enforcement, particularly here in south Louisiana. But this one beat all the others.
Someone had called in about a wounded animal, and the call was coming from right in his own neighborhood.
“He said, ‘A wounded moose,'” Dicharry said. “I said, ‘We ain’t got no moose around.'”
Then it struck him: That would be Kent.
Kent Broussard, Dicharry’s new neighbor, was a retiree who had just moved to Baton Rouge determined to fulfill his life’s dream: to join the Golden Band from Tigerland at LSU. And he was learning to play, of all things, the tuba.
Dicharry tells the story in the Broussards’ living room, alongside his wife Dawn, Broussard’s wife Cheryl and fellow neighbors Lynette Wilks and Barry Searles. They all immediately leap to Kent’s defense. He wasn’t so bad at the tuba that his playing was confused with moose noises, they say. It was just that confusion was natural; nobody in the neighborhood was expecting someone to be playing a tuba at all.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. But it turns out it takes this neighborhood, on the southern edge of Baton Rouge, to raise a 66-year-old tuba player. It was here that Broussard serenaded the neighbors from his porch, marched around the streets in a weighted vest to get his stamina up and avoided the heat by playing early in the morning and late at night.
Leaf blowers might be annoying at those hours. But nobody was ever bothered by Broussard’s brass. He was bringing a little bit of Tiger Stadium into everybody’s homes.
He soon became the envy of the neighborhood. He had a lifelong goal and made it happen. He is now a member of the LSU band, playing the fight songs on Saturday nights at Tiger Stadium. Welcome to the Tiger Tuba Kent Fan Club.
“I’ve had ’em in my head for 60 years and now I’m getting the opportunity to play them,” Broussard said of the tunes.
It’s a quintessential Louisiana tale. The Broussards were among the first Acadian families (later shortened to Cajun) to settle in Louisiana two centuries ago, arriving from France via Canada where they were expelled after rebelling against the British. Kent Broussard, born in Cajun country in Lafayette, got an accounting degree and MBA from Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond and played trumpet in the band for two years. He went to work for Sazerac Spirits, named for a cocktail first invented in New Orleans, then was instrumental in the creation of the Sazerac House on the city’s Canal Street. He and Cheryl lived in LaPlace along the Mississippi River, but after two floods and Kent’s retirement, they decided to pick up and move to Baton Rouge so he could do the most Louisiana thing possible: Join the LSU band.
“You can’t get much more south Louisiana than that,” he joked.
Since the 1960s, Broussard had gone to LSU football games and loved hearing the band play. In the 1980s, when he and Cheryl started dating, he would take her to LSU games and make her stay after the game and watch the band play. So five years ago, before he retired, he emailed the band director and asked what he would have to do to join the band.
There were challenges. First, he would have to be a student. Second, competition was going to be tight, and he would have to learn to march, which most of the students had done for years in middle and high school. There would likely be too much competition on trumpet, he was told. But the world has fewer tuba players than trumpet players and the LSU band loves having a robust tuba line — after having 24 sousaphones last year, they decided to accept 32 this year. So that’s where Broussard decided to direct his energies.
“It started really 30 years ago when I made a commitment to myself that I wanted to do something that really no one else had ever done,” Broussard said. “I just love the band. And I didn’t look at it like, because of my age, I don’t think I should try out. That has really never crossed my mind. I’m young at heart.”
To practice at home, Broussard bought a $3,000 tuba off Facebook Marketplace — a friend jokingly called it a “Temu Tuba” — from a member of a mariachi band in Los Angeles who collects sousaphones, repairs them and sells them. An LSU student who helps the band repair instruments helped him assemble it and get it set up right. Dale Dicharry gave him the idea of walking around with the weighted vest. Over dinner conversations with neighbors, he would reveal his plan.
“We were all like, are you serious?” Dawn Dicharry said. Someone joked they thought they had all had too much wine. But Broussard was so enthusiastic about it that they all realized they could live vicariously through him.
“To watch that man train and persevere through this heat and do what he does on the daily has just simply been amazing,” said Lynette Wilks, who lives behind the Broussards. “My granddaughter is 11 and was out riding the bike in the neighborhood. She came in and threw the bike down. She said, ‘Lulu, there’s a man marching around in the street playing a tuba.’
“Yeah, that’s Tuba Kent,” she said.
He started out playing inside for a year. The first audition was basically a screening, just to make sure that the applicants could play. Kent had to perform assigned music and upload it to YouTube for the band directors to review. After he cleared that hurdle, he started going outside to get acclimated to the grueling summers because the LSU band practices outside every day. So he would play early in the morning or later in the evening. One morning, at about 7 a.m., Broussard said he was out marching through the streets with his tuba and two cyclists rode by. As they passed him, one looked at the other and said, “That’s not something you see every day.” Broussard shot back, “Go Tigers,” and he could hear them laughing as they rode away.
At a neighborhood event, a neighbor two doors down told the Broussards that her 12-year-old son was going to bed at about 9:15 one evening and told her he thought it was so cool that he was going to bed serenaded by one of the greatest fight songs in the country.
Kent thought it was awesome. Cheryl had another reaction: “I put him on a 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. curfew,” she said, laughing.
In mid-to-late August, Broussard was invited to the band’s preseason camp, a four-day long audition where he said they “learn the LSU way of playing,” along with their marching styles and do some sight-reading of music. Mostly, he said, it was a way to make sure the culture fit was right for band members.
There are 325 members in the LSU band, including the color guard and the Golden Girls dance line, with roughly 275 members who are strictly musicians. There are always more freshmen looking to join the band than there are spots. There are no guarantees.
So the entire gang waited anxiously for the final band roster to be announced. Once they got the news, everyone went crazy. Tiger Tuba Kent was officially a Tiger.
“Barry and I grabbed us a cocktail and we ran down the street,” Dawn said. She texted Cheryl, who told her Kent wasn’t home, but everyone could come over. Then they all celebrated together in the Broussards’ home.
“It makes us all feel good,” Searles said. “You get to a certain age and then you feel like you’re done, but we really don’t feel like we’re done. So it feels good to be accepted in the world.”
Broussard became a media darling. He did TV appearances on “Good Morning America” and the SEC Network, did interviews with NPR and PBS, and appeared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” just this week. Dawn said she was never bothered by the tuba; it was the notifications on the group chat and the neighborhood board cheering Kent on that would wake her up at night.
So Cheryl has had to share her husband with everyone. First of all, he’s taking a full class load with 13 hours as a “non-matriculated student,” or without being in a degree program. He’s only taking classes that he finds interesting. He loves American Popular Music because it explains how all the music of his life is intertwined. His classes in Louisiana History, Fundamentals of Emergency Management and Comparative Politics all work together to explain the current LSU football situation, it seems. Then he has band practice and then the games. Cheryl said she misses seeing him tend to the yard because he was so meticulous about it, but she has picked up some tips and taken care of it in his place.
“We had gone from being together all the time, which was a little too much, to all the way over here,” she said of Kent’s retirement. “I’ll see him 20 or 30 minutes, and then he’ll need to go study.”
They go to dinner on Fridays and make the most of their time. But seeing Kent get to live his dream and become an inspiration for others has been worth it. She said she has already told him it’s totally up to him and she’ll support him if he wants to do it again next year.
Every time they show Broussard’s image on the video board at Tiger Stadium, the crowd erupts. Dawn, Barry and Lynette cried the first time they saw it happen.
“I’m one of almost 400 [in the band],” Broussard said. “The overwhelming support has been humbling. Maybe I was naive about the whole situation. I think it’s a good story. Hopefully it’s kind of pushing people my age or older to say, ‘This guy’s doing something really physically and mentally challenging. He’s going back to school.’ So I’m hoping that message is resonating with some folks.”
But one place where it has already made a big difference is in the Broussards’ neighborhood. They’re just happy to be along for the ride, helping encourage their local celebrity/tuba player.
“This has just been incredible for all of us,” Wilks said.
The year hasn’t gone according to plan for the Tigers on the field. But in the stands, they’re one of the best stories of the season. And Tiger Tuba Kent likes to keep the positivity.
“Come to cheer on the band,” he said.
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Greg Wyshynski
The Nashville Predators disagreed that a “weird” Minnesota Wild overtime goal scored with the net displaced Tuesday night should have counted.
Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov sent a pass across the crease to teammate Marcus Johansson just as Predators goalie Justus Annunen pushed the net off its moorings. Johansson’s shot hit the side of the net as the cage continued to slide out of place. He collected the puck and then backhanded it over the goal line and off the end boards with the net dislodged.
The referee signaled a goal at 3:38 of overtime, and it was upheld after an NHL video review. Minnesota won, 3-2, overcoming an emotional letdown when Nashville’s Steven Stamkos tied the score with just 0.3 seconds left in regulation.
“The explanation was that, in [the referee’s] opinion, it was a goal. I disagree with his opinion, but that’s the way it is,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said.
Stamkos wasn’t pleased with the goal call after the game.
“Obviously, a weird play. I can see the confusion, but the confusing part for us was why it was so emphatically called [a goal]. I get it. Listen, the net came off. If the puck goes in right away, no problem if the net is off. But he missed the net, and the puck actually bounced back to him because the net was sideways,” he said.
The NHL’s Situation Room upheld the goal because it felt Annunen caused the net to be displaced before to an “imminent scoring opportunity” by Johansson and cited Rule 63.7 as justification. The rule reads:
“In the event that the goal post is displaced, either deliberately or accidentally, by a defending player, prior to the puck crossing the goal line between the normal position of the goalposts, the Referee may award a goal. In order to award a goal in this situation, the goal post must have been displaced by the actions of a defending player, the attacking player must have an imminent scoring opportunity prior to the goal post being displaced, and it must be determined that the puck would have entered the net between the normal position of the goal posts.”
Stamkos said he believed that Johansson’s goal-scoring shot was made possible only by the net having come off its moorings.
“I understand the net came off. I don’t think there was any intent from our goaltender to knock it off — it came off twice today. From our vantage point, we thought the puck came back to him on the second attempt because the net was off. If not, the puck goes behind the net, and we live to fight another day. So, that’s where we didn’t agree with the call,” he said.
Brunette said he didn’t believe his goalie intentionally dislodged the net.
“I don’t think just by the physics of pushing that’s what he was trying to do. I thought they missed the net. If the net didn’t dislodge, you would have ended up hitting the net,” he said.
“Unfortunately, they didn’t see it the same way. And you move on.”
This was the second win in a row for the Wild, moving them to 5-6-3 on the season. Nashville dropped to 5-6-4, losing its second straight overtime game.
“We deserved a lot better, for sure. One of our best games of the season, for sure,” Stamkos said.
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Greg Wyshynski
The NHL Players Association has announced a licensing deal with Sense Arena that will bring stars like Connor McDavid and Matthew Tkachuk into virtual reality for the first time.
NHL Sense Arena is the only licensed NHL and NHLPA virtual and mixed reality hockey platform. The company has had an agreement with the NHL for over two years to bring team branding and events like the Winter Classic into Sense Arena’s VR training games.
Now, thanks to this name and likeness deal with the NHLPA, NHL players — around 15 per team to start — will replace the generic ones inside the game, allowing fans the chance to pass pucks to Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews or attempt to beat goaltenders like reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck.
“This partnership with Sense Arena is an exciting opportunity to bring fans closer to the incredible talent of NHL players,” said NHLPA chief commercial officer Steve Scebelo. “This is truly a dynamic new platform that will showcase the talents of the players and bring fans closer to the action in a way they have never experienced before.”
NHL players will be prominently featured in a 3-on-3 mode, which includes an 82-game season, roster management and the chance to unlock additional players. Earlier this year, NHL Sense Arena released DanglePro, a mixed reality hockey training game in which users play with their own stick and a training puck while stickhandling through virtual obstacles.
“The future of hockey training and fan engagement is evolving, and we’re excited to push the boundaries of innovation with the help of the NHLPA,” said Sense Arena founder and CEO Bob Tetiva.
Sense Arena launched its hockey VR experience in 2018 for off-ice training. It has had partnerships with USA Hockey, over a dozen NCAA programs and NHL teams like the Los Angeles Kings, New Jersey Devils and Vegas Golden Knights. Its training programs have become popular with goaltenders like Joey Daccord of the Seattle Kraken, who said he has incorporated VR training into his daily routine and has used Sense Arena between periods of NHL games to regain his focus.
“I think it’s been instrumental in my career and a factor for why I’m able to play the way that I do at the NHL level. It’s integral in my training and my preparation,” Daccord told ESPN recently. “As more guys use it, it just becomes more normal. And getting the backing of the NHLPA shows that it’s here to stay.”
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