MLB Power Rankings: Brewers end 2026 season at No. 1 as World Series champions

Major League Baseball has played its last game of 2026 and we're closing up shop with a final round of Power Rankings Nov 2, 2026 at 8:30 am ET • 1 min read Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports I'm done. No more. Enough is enough. I have doubted the Brewers far too many times and I decided in early August to never do it again. I started picking them to win the World Series every chance I got. I was finally right.Every time they traded away someone good (the latest being Freddy Peralta last offseason), I thought, "OK, now is when it finally catches up with them." Only it never does. I thought they needed Tarik Skubal, both to reinforce their rotation and also to keep him away from the Dodgers. It didn't matter. They beat him and swept the Dodgers in the NLCS. It's a juggernaut of an organization. They churn out talent and get the most out of every player they have. They seem to trade away talent at the exact right time. They develop young stars better than anyone. There's another one coming in Jesús Made, but there's no reason for Brewers fans to dream about the future when the present is World Series champions. Jackson Chourio is becoming a superstar, Jacob Misiorowski is going to win the National League Cy Young and Christian Yelich is a former MVP, but it isn't really about the big names with this group. It's everything. It's the entire team making this train run, working as a cohesive unit. It's Robert Gasser going out and dealing in Game 3 after starting the season in the minors. It's Jake Bauers winning NLCS MVP not too long after he was ready to retire from baseball. It's Aaron Ashby putting up one of the greatest reliever performances in playoff history. It's Sal Frelick hitting a game-tying bomb. It's Cooper Pratt's coming-out party in the World Series. And on and on and on we could go. Milwaukee is the best organization in baseball now, supplanting the former two-time defending champion Dodgers. The Brewers head to next season with plenty of question marks, but they'll answer them. They always do. They are the champions of Major League Baseball and they sit atop the final 2026 Power Rankings. Looking forward to next spring, my expectation is the Brewers will be No. 1. Some years, I write about why the defending champion is not No. 1. I've long since learned my lesson with this team, though. No more. The Brewers will be No. 1 heading into spring training. Biggest Movers RkTeams ChgRcrd 1 Brewers The next guy to keep an eye on here is Brice Turang. He's clearly leveled up into a star-caliber player the past two seasons and he's only under team control through 2028. They wouldn't get in front of trading him this offseason, would they? -- 103-59 2 Dodgers Will they re-sign Tarik Skubal? Will Shohei Ohtani return to full-time two-way playing? Those are the two biggest questions for this aging roster. -- 100-62 3 Rays What happens with Yandy Díaz? The franchise fixture heads to free agency. -- 98-64 4 Padres As it turns out, the Padres gave the Brewers the biggest scare in the playoffs. -- 91-71 5 Braves The best ability is availability, right? Matt Olson has played in 162 games each of his five seasons with the Braves. -- 94-68 6 Guardians I know the hallmark of "Guards ball" is not hitting home runs, but they should have a lot more power next season. José Ramírez in a full, healthy season, Chase DeLauter, Travis Bazzana, a full season of Jo Adell, etc. 5 85-77 7 Yankees The rotation will be stellar again next season, but man, that offense sure needs a fully functional Aaron Judge. 1 93-68 8 Red Sox Will Sonny Gray be back? Will Garrett Crochet provide a full season of dominance? 1 87-75 9 Cubs Both corner outfielders (Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki) hit free agency and nearly the entire rotation needs to be addressed. 1 89-73 10 White Sox Great season in 2026. Now go round out that rotation. 2 84-78 11 Phillies The Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber trade rumors (likely nonsense) are funny because have you seen the lineup without those two? Yikes. 2 88-74 12 Diamondbacks With the return of Corbin Burnes, that rotation for next year is interesting, to say the last. 2 86-76 13 Pirates A salary cap won't cure what ails this franchise. A new owner probably would. -- 82-80 14 Astros Prediction: The next time the Astros make the playoffs will be in the 2030s. -- 81-81 15 Marlins Big offseason for the front office. The Marlins feel like a fringe contender right now and have an opportunity to make a leap. -- 80-82 16 Rangers Corey Seager still has five years and over $150 million left on his deal. But hey, flags fly forever! -- 80-82 17 Orioles Something they need to solve internally is Gunnar Henderson. Over the last three years, he's fallen from 8.8 WAR to 5.4 to 3.2. -- 79-82 18 Blue Jays I still can't believe the down season that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had. It's one of the most puzzling things we've seen in years. -- 79-83 19 Tigers Reminder that the Tigers had a +71 run differential. Only seven teams were better. It's astounding to play so far below that mark. -- 76-86 20 Twins Will this finally be the winter we end the Joe Ryan trade rumors? -- 77-85 21 Nationals Please don't trade CJ Abrams. -- 77-85 22 Cardinals They have a strong foundation of youth on the position player side, but can the pitching round into shape? -- 77-85 23 Mariners Did Cal Raleigh fix himself down the stretch? In his last 36 games, he hit .250/.373/.573. -- 76-86 24 Mets Seeing the run that Freddy Peralta went on once he fixed himself with the Rays has to be concerning for this Mets organization. -- 74-88 25 Reds How much time did winning 83 games and being the Dodgers' sacrificial lamb in 2025 buy Nick Krall? The Reds haven't won more than 83 games since 2013. -- 75-87 26 Royals Remember when I picked the Royals to win the AL Central? That was brilliant. -- 69-93 27 Giants It's a big offseason for Buster Posey. Last year just wasn't acceptable for a team that wasn't trying to rebuild. -- 65-97 28 Athletics One more year, hopefully, of not having a real home ballpark. They were 32-49 at "home" last season. -- 64-98 29 Angels Is there any hope? They don't seem even remotely close to contention. -- 62-100 30 Rockies Only 16 of Hunter Goodman's 41 home runs came in Coors Field. -- 58-104