The Los Angeles Dodgers greeted their fans at the tail end of their championship parade on Nov. 3, and virtually every player who grabbed the microphone atop a makeshift stage at Dodger Stadium expressed the same goal:

Three-peat.

Only two franchises, the Oakland Athletics of the early 1970s and the New York Yankees of the late 1990s, have won three consecutive World Series titles since Major League Baseball introduced divisional play in 1969. And yet the current Dodgers are unabashed in their desire to do the same.

“It’s not whether or not [or] how we’re going to do it,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “it’s just that we’re going to be extremely driven and do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to do it again.”

What that looks like, exactly, is a source of intrigue throughout the sport.

The Dodgers have spent the past two offseasons throwing around money at jaw-dropping levels. In signings and extensions, they added five nine-figure contracts to their payroll, which, for competitive-balance-tax purposes, stood at roughly $415 million in 2025. The industry seemed to bend to their will because of it. Now the Dodgers operate as a sort of boogeyman. Agents attach them to their clients in an attempt to drive up prices, rival executives worry they’ll swoop in on trade targets they’re eyeing.

The Dodgers, though, continue to fight an internal battle, one voiced by general manager Brandon Gomes at last week’s general managers meetings in Las Vegas.

“How do you win this year,” he asked rhetorically, “without falling off that cliff?”

Friedman, Gomes and the rest of the Dodgers’ decision-makers are constantly trying to balance winning now with winning later, an inexact science that periodically strays them from the middle. Over these past two winters, the Dodgers leaned heavily into the present. Now they hope to find more of a balance, said multiple sources familiar with their thinking, though to what degree remains to be seen.

On one side, the Dodgers are cognizant of how much depth they have coming back and how much older their roster has become. On the other, they’re determined to maximize what Friedman has deemed this franchise’s “golden era,” mindful of how a third straight title can cement that legacy.

“I think definitionally, it’s a dynasty,” Friedman said after watching his team claim a third championship in six years. “But that to me, in a lot of ways, kind of caps it if you say, ‘OK, this is what it is.’ For me, it’s still evolving and growing, and we want to add to it and we want to continue it and do everything we can to put it at a level where people after us have a hard time reaching.”

How they do that will depend on how they answer three key questions.

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How do they fix their bullpen?

With everything on the line in Game 7 of the World Series, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts deployed six starting pitchers, including his entire postseason rotation (Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto) and two young starters who had become relievers out of necessity (Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski).

It said everything about how hard the Dodgers’ bullpen fell in 2025, and yet it runs in stark contrast to the front office’s staunch belief at this moment, according to sources — that their bullpen depth should inspire confidence in 2026.

There’s some truth to that. If everyone is healthy, seven of the Dodgers’ eight bullpen spots are already accounted for: Tanner Scott, Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart, Brusdar Graterol and Anthony Banda. Then there are as many as eight optionable relievers on the 40-man roster, all of whom are promising in their own right: Edgardo Henriquez, Ben Casparius, Will Klein, Jack Dreyer, Paul Gervase, Bobby Miller, Kyle Hurt and Wrobleski, assuming the latter three remain in the bullpen.

This certainly does not mean the Dodgers are set here. Their bullpen is coming off a season in which it posted a 4.27 ERA, 21st in the majors. And there are a litany of questions surrounding their returning arms, whether it’s coming back from injury (Graterol and Phillips), advanced age (Treinen and Stewart), control issues (Henriquez, Klein, Hurt and Gervase) or stark memories of a disastrous 2025 (Scott). But if there is one thing to take away from all that, it’s this:

The Dodgers will carry a high bar when it comes to their pursuit of bullpen help.

A solidified closer, or at least one leverage arm capable of handling the ninth inning on a championship team, will be what they spend the most time on in the coming weeks. And though the trade option remains their ideal path, free agency is primed with standout closers. The headliner is Edwin Diaz, though the thought of a long-term deal and the presence of a qualifying offer might scare away the Dodgers. More likely is someone such as Devin Williams, who they’ve already expressed interest in, according to sources. And a tier below are a host of others who, like Williams, can be had for the type of short-term deal the Dodgers prefer, including Brad Keller, Pete Fairbanks, Emilio Pagan, Kyle Finnegan, Luke Weaver, Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suarez.

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How badly do they need another bat?

You know what else the Dodgers didn’t do all that well this past season? Hit. For a decent chunk of it, at least. Over a 33-game stretch from early July to mid-August, they batted .235 and averaged the sixth-fewest runs in the majors. Over their past three playoff rounds, they slashed a combined .213/.303/.364. If this sounds a bit harsh, well, it might be: 33 games represents only about 20% of the regular season, and hitting in the playoffs has proved to be quite difficult for any team. Keep this group intact, and on paper, it would represent arguably the best lineup in the sport.

But last season’s lulls help to underscore another important point about the Dodgers’ offseason: They can stand to add another bat, and chances are they will.

The easiest path is to add an outfielder, and this year’s free agent options just so happen to be headlined by two of them in Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger. The Dodgers aren’t expected to be one of the more aggressive suitors for Tucker, sources have indicated, but they’ll remain on the periphery if his market collapses and a short-term, high-dollar deal becomes appealing to his representatives at Excel. They’ve also expressed interest in a reunion with Bellinger, according to sources, though it remains to be seen whether they’d be motivated enough to win a potential bidding war with the Yankees.

ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projects an 11-year, $418 million contract for Tucker, who turns 29 in January, and a much more modest six-year, $165 million contract for Bellinger, who will be 31 in July.

The cost for a Bellinger deal makes more sense, but so does his ability to play center field. The Dodgers are a far better defensive team if they can slide Andy Pages to right and shift Teoscar Hernández to left. Doing so would require an everyday center fielder, and perhaps it would be unfair to ask Tommy Edman to take that on in the wake of offseason ankle surgery. Bellinger — a fourth-round pick by the Dodgers in 2013, a Rookie of the Year in 2017, an MVP in 2019 and a champion in 2020 before being non-tendered only two years later — would fit the bill, and perhaps even slide to first base after Freddie Freeman‘s contract expires.

But the Dodgers can also sign someone such as Harrison Bader, whom they targeted at midseason, for less money, or, given the dearth of free agent outfielders beyond him, pivot to a trade option. Two players who might fit are Cleveland Guardians outfielder Steven Kwan and St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan, both of whom have a knack for putting together good at-bats and making contact. Some high-ranking members of the organization believe there is a need for more of that in their lineup, given the swing and miss of guys like Pages and Hernández. Addressing that could help limit the lulls.

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Do they need to get younger?

Mookie Betts gathered his teammates for a post-parade podcast recently, and at one point the 18-inning World Series game came up. Betts argued that the second half of it was boring, to which Clayton Kershaw playfully responded that, for everyone’s sake, the offense should have ended it early.

“Our team’s so old,” Kershaw said. “We were tired the next two [games].”

What Kershaw said off the cuff was something felt by many who watched the Dodgers, both inside and outside the organization. Playing the equivalent of two full games in Game 3 of the World Series seemed to drain them more than it did their opponents, as evidenced by lethargic performances in Games 4 and 5, during which the Dodgers totaled three runs and suffered back-to-back losses.

The average age of the Dodgers’ position players was 30.7 this past season, making them the oldest group in the majors (slightly ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies at 30.3). Seven of their starting position players are now heading into their age-31 season or older, and all but one of them — Max Muncy, whose 2026 option was picked up earlier this month — are signed for multiple years.

Friedman’s longtime quest to balance the present with the future faces a difficult test with this current construction. Freeman, Betts, Ohtani and Will Smith will continue to be cornerstone players for years, but the Dodgers will spend some time this offseason wondering how they can plug in more youth around them.

They can do it the more conventional way, by slowly transitioning some of their upper-level prospects into everyday players (infielder Alex Freeland, outfielder Ryan Ward and catcher Dalton Rushing, who will return as Smith’s backup but could get time at first base and in left field in 2026). Or they can make impact moves via trade.

The Dodgers have a glut of highly regarded outfield prospects at the moment, namely Josue De Paula, Eduardo Quintero, Zhyir Hope and Mike Sirota. The Dodgers’ preference is to pluck from that group to address needs through a trade, according to sources. And though they can use them to access the closer they desire, they can also add young, controllable position players, ideally at second base, shortstop or center field. And if they need to dip into their starting pitching, River Ryan and Gavin Stone are returning from injury and don’t have a spot in a six-man rotation given the presence of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Sheehan and Roki Sasaki.

Ryan and Stone, though, have options. The Dodgers, coming off setting franchise records by deploying 40 pitchers in back-to-back seasons, can simply stash them in the minors and wait until they’re inevitably needed.

Once again, they can do everything and nothing.

Each year, I make a bold prediction for every team as part of our MLB season preview. These aren’t wacky, unthinkable predictions — like a catcher hitting 60 home runs or a hitter reaching base nine times in a World Series game or the World Series being decided by the length of the lead a runner gets off third base. No, who could predict any of that happening?

These were bold — but realistic — predictions for the 2025 season. Let’s go back and grade each one to see how I did — and then spin it forward to next year.

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The prediction: Paul Skenes doesn’t just win the Cy Young Award — he has the best season ever for a Pirates starter (in the live ball era, since 1920).

Cy Young Award? Check. Highest WAR for a Pirates starter since 1920? Check. Lowest ERA by a Pirates starter since 1920? Check. Well done, Mr. Skenes, well done.

Grade: A+

Looking ahead to 2026: It won’t be easy to top 7.7 WAR and a 1.97 ERA, but Skenes can do it. He can certainly improve upon his 187⅔ innings as the Pirates still held him back, letting him reach 100 pitches in just eight of his 31 starts. With a few more starts on four days of rest and additional innings, a 9- or 10-WAR season is possible.

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The prediction: Bryan Woo will be the best starter on the Mariners.

Nailed it. Woo went 15-7 with a 2.94 ERA and 4.2 WAR – double the 2.1 of fellow rotation members Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo. Woo, who finished fifth in the Cy Young voting, also set an MLB record when he pitched at least six innings in each of his first 25 starts of the season. Unfortunately, he injured his pectoral muscle in his final start of the regular season, missed the ALDS and was only able to pitch out of the bullpen in the team’s ALCS loss to Toronto.

Grade: A+

Looking ahead to 2026: The Mariners will have high hopes after finishing one win short of their first World Series appearance. With better health from Gilbert, George Kirby and Bryce Miller and another big season from Woo, the Mariners’ rotation can get back to its 2024 status as one of the best in the game.

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The prediction: Gavin Williams will lead the rotation in ERA and WAR.

Williams finished 12-5 with a 3.06 ERA and 3.8 WAR — easily leading the rotation in both categories.

Grade: A+

Looking ahead to 2026: Williams certainly delivered a breakout season, riding one of the best curveballs in the game (batters hit just .116 against it). He tweaked his slider, turning it into a sweeper, and that became another effective pitch. If he can cut down on his walks — he led the majors with 83 — he can take another step forward.

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The prediction: Riley Greene becomes just the 10th Tigers outfielder to hit 30 home runs and becomes the first Tigers outfielder to make consecutive All-Star appearances since Magglio Ordonez in 2006-07.

Greene hit 36 home runs and did make the All-Star team again, so I nailed both predictions. His WAR, however, fell from 5.4 to 2.2 as his defensive metrics on Baseball-Reference were much worse and his OBP dropped from .348 to .313. It was a weird mix, as he also set a Tigers record with 201 strikeouts and his walk rate fell from the 83rd percentile to the 34th.

Grade: A

Looking ahead to 2026: While Greene drove in 111 runs, he slumped to a .218 average and .694 OPS in the second half and hit just .185 overall in high-leverage situations. His speed metrics declined significantly as well. The power numbers were great, but Greene needs to get back to being a better all-around player.

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The prediction: Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran all win Gold Gloves.

Close! No outfield trio had ever done this, and while Rafaela won his first in center field and Abreu won his second in right field, Cleveland’s Steven Kwan won again in left field. Duran had led all outfielders in defensive runs saved in 2024 and had another good season in the field, but he fell off enough that Kwan won for the fourth year in a row.

Grade: B+

Looking ahead to 2026: Enter Roman Anthony. The outstanding rookie played 71 games in 2025 and will be playing every day in 2026. The Red Sox could rotate the four outfielders through the DH role, although they have Masataka Yoshida there as well. They could play Rafaela at second base, but that’s a waste of his defense in center field. It could lead to an offseason trade.

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The prediction: Juan Soto sets a club record for OPS, and Pete Alonso breaks his own club record in RBIs.

With a .921 OPS, Soto fell short of Mike Piazza’s mark of 1.012, although he was still a top-three MVP finalist after hitting a career-high 43 home runs and leading the National League in on-base percentage. Alonso finished with 126 RBIs, a big improvement from 2024 when he drove in 88, but he just missed his club record of 131 set in 2022.

Grade: B

Looking ahead to 2026: Alonso is a free agent and will seek — and certainly receive — a bigger deal than the two-year, $54 million contract he signed with the Mets last offseason (that included a player opt-out). While he still seems like the right fit for the Mets, the front office might look to put money toward the pitching staff instead.

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The prediction: Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte both finish in the top 10 of the MVP voting and the Diamondbacks lead the majors in runs for the second straight season.

What a frustrating year for the Diamondbacks. They did get two players in the top 10 of MVP voting and one was Carroll, but the other was shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (who led all NL position players with a 7.0 WAR). Marte had a solid 4.4-WAR season and made the All-Star team. Arizona finished sixth in runs scored (and were fourth before dealing Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez at the trade deadline).

Grade: B

Looking ahead to 2026: With holes to fill in the rotation and the bullpen, plus first base, Marte’s name has popped up in trade rumors. It could be related to reports in July that he lost support in the clubhouse after missing three games following the All-Star break when he flew home to the Dominican Republic. He was placed on the restricted list for two games while absent and benched for the third after returning — though did apologize for the absence.

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The prediction: Wyatt Langford has a 30/30 season and finishes in the top 10 of the MVP voting.

This one is interesting. Langford had a 22/22 season in home runs and stolen bases — so didn’t come all that close to 30/30 — and didn’t crack the top 10 in MVP voting, but he did finish with 5.6 WAR, which ranked tied for eighth among American League position players. Part of the high WAR was his outstanding defense, but also that, for whatever reason, Globe Life Field played as an extreme pitcher’s park in 2025, so Langford finished with an excellent 127 OPS+.

Grade: B-

Looking ahead to 2026: Langford played 134 games, so if he can get up to 150 and if Globe Life returns to more of a neutral park, 30/30 will be on the radar. If he can cut down on his strikeouts — 16th percentile — then we’ll see even bigger offensive numbers across the board.

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The prediction: The Angels will have six 20-homer hitters … but still lose 95 games.

The Angels did hit a lot of home runs, ranking fourth in the majors, although just four players reached 20 with a fifth at 19. And, hey, they didn’t lose 95 games! They only lost 90.

Grade: B-

Looking ahead to 2026: The trade-off for those home runs? The Angels led the majors in strikeouts. And their .225 team batting average was the worst as well. As a result, they finished 25th in runs scored, despite all the home runs. The Angels need to diversify their offense, but there isn’t much help on the way from the minors. Let’s see what happens in free agency.

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The prediction: Kyle Tucker hits 40 home runs, steals 30 bases and finishes second to Shohei Ohtani in the MVP voting.

At the end of June, Tucker was hitting .291/.395/.537 with 17 home runs and 20 stolen bases — on pace for 33 home runs and 39 stolen bases. At the time, he ranked third in the NL in WAR, just barely behind Ohtani and teammate Pete Crow-Armstrong. He was on track to finish second in the MVP voting, given PCA was likely to regress. But Tucker had suffered a hairline fracture in his hand, which, in turn, affected his production, and then he suffered a calf strain in September. He finished with 22 home runs and 23 steals.

Grade: C+

Looking ahead to 2026: Tucker is a free agent — he is No. 1 in our ranking of this offseason’s top free agents. He is projected to get a big contract from some team, but probably not the Cubs. They have young outfield options such as Owen Caissie and Kevin Alcantara, plus Seiya Suzuki, who can DH or play right field, and need to address their rotation.

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The prediction: Vinnie Pasquantino hits with .300 with 25 home runs and makes the All-Star team.

Pasquantino did break out his best season, hitting .264 with 32 home runs and 113 RBIs, although he did not make the All-Star team as his power surged with 17 home runs in 64 games after the All-Star break. While he had a fairly low BABIP of .271, he matched his “expected” average of .263.

Grade: C+

Looking ahead to 2026: Pasquantino has turned into a dead-pull hitter — he pulled all 32 of his home runs — and while he keeps the strikeouts down (83rd percentile), he probably won’t turn into a .300 hitter with his fly-ball-oriented approach. His defensive metrics are weak and he’s slow, but he has a case as the No. 2 first baseman in the AL.

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The prediction: All five starters throw at least 162 innings and finish with an ERA under 3.50.

The 2006 White Sox remain safe. The only pitcher to meet both criteria was Cristopher Sanchez; Ranger Suarez (3.20 ERA, 157 innings) and Zack Wheeler (2.71 ERA, 149 innings) just missed. Jesus Luzardo pitched enough innings, but his ERA was a little high (3.92), while Aaron Nola was awful with a 6.01 ERA. The Phillies’ rotation did lead the majors in FanGraphs WAR and ranked second in ERA.

Grade: C

Looking ahead to 2026: The rotation is in a bit of flux. Suarez is a free agent, Wheeler will attempt to return from thoracic outlet surgery, and Nola will have to bounce back.

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The prediction: Spencer Schwellenbach will finish in the top five of the Cy Young voting.

This looked pretty good through June 28, when Schwellenbach was 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA, 108 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 110⅔ innings. He ranked tied for seventh in the NL in FanGraphs WAR at the time, just one good start outside the top five. Unfortunately, he didn’t pitch again after being diagnosed with a small fracture in his elbow.

Grade: C

Looking ahead to 2026: Schwellenbach has already started a throwing program and is expected to be part of the rotation next season. With a healthy Schwellenbach, a healthy Chris Sale and an improved Spencer Strider, the rotation could be good enough to get the Braves back in the playoff picture.

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The prediction: Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez and Spencer Arrighetti will win 45 games and combine for 13 WAR.

Well, two out of three isn’t bad. Brown went 12-9 with a 2.43 ERA and was a Cy Young finalist. Valdez was solid again, going 13-11 with a 3.66 ERA. Arrighetti, who had finished strong in 2024, broke his thumb in early April — he was hit by a line drive in batting practice while playing catch in the outfield. He returned in August, struggled and finished the season on the injured list with elbow inflammation. The trio combined for 26 wins and 10.0 WAR.

Grade: C-

Looking ahead to 2026: Valdez is a free agent, so if the Astros don’t re-sign him — a likely scenario — they will be counting on Arrighetti, Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers Jr. to make more than the 28 combined starts they did in 2025. Ryan Gusto, Brandon Walter and AJ Blubaugh, all rookies in 2025, should also factor into the rotation mix.

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The prediction: Brent Rooker hits 53 home runs and edges out Aaron Judge for the home run title.

OK, OK … instead, can we call up the clip from the “Baseball Tonight” podcast when I predict Nick Kurtz will win Rookie of the Year? (Spoiler: He did.) No? The thinking here was Sacramento might play as a tremendous hitter’s park. Instead, it was close to neutral and the A’s homered slightly more often on the road. Rooker finished with 30 home runs.

Grade: C-

Looking ahead to 2026: Now, Kurtz … he might be a player who can win the home run title after mashing 36 in just 117 games. With Kurtz leading the way, the A’s are going to have one of the most exciting lineups in baseball in 2026.

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The prediction: CJ Abrams and Luis Garcia Jr. both reach 25 home runs.

Only six middle infield combos had done that since 2010. It’s still six. Abrams hit 19 home runs and Garcia 16 — one fewer from 2024 for Abrams and two for Garcia. Garcia saw his batting average drop 30 points, resulting in a 61-point drop in OPS.

Grade: D+

Looking ahead to 2026: The Nationals were supposed to be building around James Wood, Dylan Crews and the two infielders, but only Wood met expectations in 2025 — and even he slumped in the second half after a big first half. Maybe a new manager, coaching staff and front office can get more out of this group.

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The prediction: The Marlins quickly fall out of the race in April and trade Sandy Alcantara to the Athletics.

Well, part of that was right: The Marlins were 12-18 at the end of April and already 8.5 games out of first place. However, Alcantara, returning from Tommy John surgery, got off to a horrific start — 8.31 ERA at the end of April, 8.47 at the end of May — and was untradable, although his name did still pop up at the trade deadline.

Grade: D+

Looking ahead to 2026: With a much better second half — a 3.33 ERA over his final 13 starts — Alcantara’s name is near the top of the offseason “most likely to be traded” list. You know who could use a starter? The Athletics!

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The prediction: The White Sox lose 110 games, matching the 1962-63 Mets as the only team to lose at least 110 in consecutive seasons.

OK, fine … I also predicted the White Sox would trade Luis Robert Jr. No more trade predictions for me! Like Alcantara, Robert was so bad that his value tanked. The White Sox were also a little better than their preseason forecast, although they still finished with 102 losses.

Grade: D+

Looking ahead to 2026: The White Sox picked up Robert’s $20 million option for 2026 — hoping he can find his 2023 level of production. But after two bad years at the plate and an inability to remain healthy, that is growing increasingly less likely.

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The prediction: Jackson Chourio will finish with a .900 OPS.

This was an aggressive prediction, but Chourio had posted a .915 OPS in 63 second-half games in 2024. He finished 2025 with a slash line of .270/.308/.463 and a .770 OPS that was 21 points lower than his rookie season.

Grade: D

Looking ahead to 2026: Chourio’s high chase rate (eighth percentile) was a key reason he failed to improve upon his rookie season, as it led to too much soft contact, even with a league-average strikeout rate. He’s still just entering his age-22 season, so there’s time to improve, but the likelihood he turns into a big star has dimmed a little.

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The prediction: Elly De La Cruz will hit 30 home runs, steal 80 bases and finish in the top five of the MVP voting.

Well, that was a letdown. After hitting 25 home runs and stealing 67 bases in 2024 in his age-22 season, De La Cruz fell off to 22 home runs and 37 stolen bases, despite playing all 162 games. Most shockingly, he fell into a horrific power slump, homering just once in a 74-game span from late June through early September.

Grade: D

Looking ahead to 2026: What happened here? After his 5.2-WAR season in 2024, De La Cruz seemed ready for even bigger things. Instead, he regressed. Of interest: Perhaps looking to cut down on his strikeouts (which he did), De La Cruz’s bat speed declined from the left side and his swing length shortened. But it didn’t lead to better results.

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The prediction: Michael King becomes just the third Padres pitcher to win 20 games.

Ahh, pitcher predictions — often doomed to fail due to injury risk. King was great through the end of April (4-1 with a 2.09 ERA) but then got injured in the middle of May, made one start in early August and then didn’t pitch again until September. He finished 5-3 with a 3.44 ERA in 15 starts.

Grade: D

Looking ahead to 2026: King is a free agent. Dylan Cease is a free agent. Yu Darvish is already out for the season. The Padres’ rotation is going to need a big offseason makeover.

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The prediction: The Rockies will end up with two All-Stars: outfielder Brenton Doyle and reliever Victor Vodnik.

LOL. The Rockies had just one All-Star, although at least catcher Hunter Goodman was a deserving one (he hit 31 home runs and won a Silver Slugger award). Doyle hit .233 with 15 home runs, and Vodnik had a 3.02 ERA and 10 saves.

Grade: D

Looking ahead to 2026: The Rockies probably won’t have two All-Stars.

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The prediction: The Cardinals stay in the NL Central race until the final week of the season — with four rookies in the rotation.

Well, technically, the Cardinals were still alive in the wild-card race entering the final week, sitting four games behind the Reds and Mets. The four rookies I mentioned — Michael McGreevy, Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence and Cooper Hjerpe — made little impact, however, with only McGreevy (16 starts) even appearing in the majors in 2025.

Grade: D-

Looking ahead to 2026: The premise here was correct: The Cardinals didn’t have a good rotation. Mathews was the top prospect entering the season but struggled with his control in Triple-A. Hence had a couple of injuries and made just eight starts in the minors. Hjerpe had Tommy John surgery in April and didn’t pitch at all. The rotation will need some help.

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The prediction: Samuel Basallo becomes the regular DH in the second half and hits 15 home runs.

Basallo did eventually hit his way out of Triple-A, making his debut for the Orioles on Aug. 17, just a few days after turning 21. He struggled big time, however, hitting .165/.229/.330 with four home runs in 31 games.

Grade: D-

Looking ahead to 2026: Basallo remains one of the top prospects in the game and his rookie status is intact. While he scuffled in the majors, he hit .270/.377/.589 with 23 home runs in 76 games at Triple-A. Whether he’ll continue to catch remains a question, but he can hit.

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The prediction: The Yankees finish 80-82 for their first losing season since 1992.

Oops. The reasoning here was that without Gerrit Cole and with Luis Gil sidelined for several months, the Yankees might be in trouble. Well, of course, Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger combined for 63 home runs and 8.6 WAR, Aaron Judge had another dominant MVP season, the rotation was fine with Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and rookie Cam Schlittler, and the Yankees won 94 games.

Grade: F

Looking ahead to 2026: With Cole returning and Gil and Schlittler around for full seasons, this projects as an outstanding rotation. Grisham and Bellinger are free agents, however, so the Yankees will have to fill center field — perhaps with rookie Spencer Jones, if they don’t re-sign one of the two free agents.

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The prediction: The Twins will have the best bullpen in the majors, with Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax both posting sub-2.00 ERAs.

Duran just missed, with a 2.06 ERA. But Jax had a 4.23 ERA, although a 2.51 FIP. Of course, the bigger story here: Duran finished the season with the Phillies and Jax with the Rays (and Louis Varland, who had a 2.02 ERA with Minnesota, with the Blue Jays). In the end, the Twins finished 26th in bullpen ERA and 28th in win probability added — although tied for sixth in FanGraphs WAR. That’s an odd mix, basically suggesting Twins relievers had good peripheral stats but didn’t prevent runs or pitch well in high-leverage situations.

Grade: F

Looking ahead to 2026: After trading their top three relievers, the Twins will have to rebuild the back end of their bullpen. It’s unclear if those players are currently on the roster. Journeyman right-hander Justin Topa got four of the team’s eight saves after the deadline dump. Cole Sands would be another late-inning option.

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The prediction: Bryce Eldridge will be called up early in the season and lead the team in home runs.

Nope. Eldridge injured his wrist in spring training, missed the first month of the minor league season and finally made his major league debut in September (going 3-for-28 with 13 strikeouts and no home runs). He had surgery after the season to remove a bone spur from his wrist.

Grade: F

Looking ahead to 2026: Eldridge is still just 21 and mashed 25 home runs in 102 games in the minors, so the 6-foot-7 slugger remains a top prospect. With Rafael Devers in the mix as the possible full-time first baseman, the Giants can play it a little more conservatively with Eldridge, make sure the wrist is healthy and give him a couple of months in Triple-A. His future as a potential elite power bat remains in play.

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The prediction: Curtis Mead produces the first 4-WAR season by a player born in Australia.

Remember the old rule: Never buy into spring training hype or statistics. Mead had a hot spring and started at first base on Opening Day, but the bat never got going and the Rays ended up trading him to the White Sox at the trade deadline. He finished at .233/.291/.321, batting 264 times in a utility role. Value: minus-0.2 WAR.

Grade: F

Looking ahead to 2026: The hype Mead had as a prospect has faded. He’s still just 25 and the White Sox do have a hole at first base, so he’ll be in the mix to win that job.

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The prediction: The lowest team ERA+ of the live ball era (since 1920).

This seemed reasonable considering the three lowest marks in this category belonged to the 2020 Dodgers (146), the 2022 Dodgers (145) and 2021 Dodgers (140). With Shohei Ohtani returning to the mound, plus the free agent additions of Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, the Dodgers’ pitching appeared deeper than ever. Instead, it was mediocre — at least until the postseason — and the Dodgers finished just 10th in the majors with a 106 ERA+.

Grade: F

Looking ahead to 2026: All the key pitchers will be back, and assuming more volume from the likes of Ohtani, Snell and Tyler Glasnow, plus improvement from the bullpen, I just might make this prediction again.

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The prediction: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is traded … to Seattle or Milwaukee.

Well, this is about as wrong as you can get. The Blue Jays, of course, signed Guerrero to that $500 million extension about a week after the season started. They also were not out of the race at the trade deadline, as I also predicted. My attorney offers up this defense: (1) These extensions NEVER happen after the season has started for a player one year away free agency; (2) George Springer? Ernie Clement? Nathan Lukes? Nobody saw those seasons coming; (3) The Mariners (Josh Naylor) and Brewers (Andrew Vaughn) both traded for first basemen. Apparently, the jury has rejected this defense.

Grade: F-

Looking ahead to 2026: Guerrero was very good in the regular season, although his batting average dropped from .323 to .292 and his slugging percentage from .544 to .467. But he crushed it in the postseason, hitting .397/.494/.795 with eight home runs in 18 games as Toronto made it all the way to the World Series, losing in a crushing Game 7. Let’s see if he can parlay that into a more dominant regular season.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins took a small step toward rebuilding their bullpen Tuesday by acquiring reliever Eric Orze in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league pitcher Jacob Kisting.

Orze had a 3.02 ERA and three saves in 33 relief appearances last season for the Rays, with 19 walks, 40 strikeouts and a .244 opponents’ batting average in 41⅔ innings. The 28-year-old right-hander also made 24 appearances at Triple-A Durham, posting a 2.20 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 28⅔ innings.

A cancer survivor, Orze was a fifth-round draft pick in 2020 by the New York Mets and made his major league debut for them on July 8, 2024.

During the week leading up to the MLB trade deadline on July 31, the Twins dealt away their top four relievers: Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland and Brock Stewart.

Kisting, 22, was a 14th-round draft pick by the Twins in 2024. The right-hander had a 3.79 ERA with 23 walks and 77 strikeouts in 73 2/3 innings over 30 appearances this year between Low-A Fort Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids.

In other roster moves, outfielders Jake Fraley and Christopher Morel were designated for assignment by the Rays, who traded infielder Tanner Murray and outfielder Everson Pereira to the Chicago White Sox for right-handers Yoendrys Gómez and Steven Wilson.

Tampa Bay also released right-hander Forrest Whitley and traded infielder Tristan Gray to the Boston Red Sox for minor league right-hander Luis Guerrero.