CLEVELAND, Ohio — It has been a long cold winter, but February is here and thoughts of sunshine and spring-training baseball are starting to force their way through the snow and ice.
After spring training comes the regular season, a 162-game test that almost always reveals the truth about every one of MLB’s 30 teams.
What will define this season? What will make it different than the ones that have come before? With most teams reporting to spring training in Arizona and Florida over the next several days, here are eight of the most impactful storylines to ponder before the first real pitch of the season is thrown.
1. Can Dodgers win three straight World Series
Who’s going to stop them? They’ve won two straight, beating the Yankees and Toronto. Almost all their position players are returning, and they added outfielder Kyle Tucker (four years, $240 million) and closer Edwin Diaz (three years, $69 million). Their opening day payroll is an estimated $308 million, and they happen to have the game’s best two-way threat in Shohei Ohtani. The Yankees (1998-2000) were the last team to win three straight World Series.
2. World Baseball Classic returns
The WBC is back. Play begins in Japan on March 5 with the championship game being played on March 16 in Miami. Japan beat Team USA for the title in the last WBC, and both teams are bringing loaded rosters into this edition. The WBC is a great tool for marketing the game, but it gives MLB general managers and owners nightmares because they’re loaning their players to national teams at a time of the year when they should be conditioning for the regular season.
Guardians’ closer Emmanuel Clase leaves Brooklyn federal court in November after he was indicated for throwing rigged pitches during games.AP3. What awaits Guardians’ pitchers Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz
Clase and Ortiz are scheduled to go to trial in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 4 for conspiring with gamblers by throwing crooked pitches during games, according to federal prosecutors. They each face a potential 65 years in prison, and a lifetime ban from MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. The last player banned for life by MLB was infielder Tucupita Marcano in 2025.
4. Just a bit outside
MLB will introduce the Automatic Ball Strike challenge system this season. It’s been tested in the minors and spring training. It allows the pitcher, catcher and batter to challenge a plate umpire’s call by tapping his own helmet or cap. Each team gets two challenges and will keep them if the umpire’s call is overturned. The drama will be played out on the scoreboard so fans can watch. The Guardians, along with other teams, are considering not allowing their pitchers to issue challenges.
5. Labor issues looming
The basic agreement between owners and players ends on Dec. 1, 2026. The owners may lockout the players in an attempt to get some kind of salary cap on team payrolls. Right now, the Guardians are on pace to open the season with a $74 million payroll, about $25 million less than last year, while the Dodgers are on pace to open the season at an estimated $308 million. The arbitration process, terms of free agency and getting more money to younger players are other issues that could be negotiated.
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has won two of the last three MVP awards in the American League.Getty Images6. MVP keep away
Can anyone break the stranglehold that Shohei and Aaron Judge have on the MVP award in the National and American League? Judge has won three of the last four AL MVPs for the Yankees. Ohtani has won four of the last five MVPs, including one for the Angels in 2021 and the last three (2023 thru 2025) for the Dodgers. In 2022, Ohtani finished second to Judge while playing for the Angels. No wonder Jose Ramirez keeps getting shut out.
7. White Sox are on the clock
For the second time in the last three years, an AL Central team owns the first overall pick in the draft. The White Sox, who have averaged 108 losses over the last three years, won MLB’s lottery at the winter meetings for the first pick in the 2026 draft. The Guardians were the upset winner in 2024, taking second baseman Travis Bazzana. UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky is considered top prospect in the country this year.
Craig Albernaz, former Guardians bench coach, is Baltimore’s new manager.Diamond Images/Getty Images8. New managers everywhere
Nine of MLB’s 30 teams named new managers for the 2026 season. The new hires included Warren Schaeffer, Rockies; Skip Schumaker, Rangers; Kurt Suzuki, Angels; Tony Vitello, Giants; Craig Albernaz, Orioles; Derek Shelton, Twins; Blake Butera, Nationals; Walt Weiss, Braves and Craig Stammen, Padres. Schaeffer, Suzuki, Vitello, Albernaz, Butera and Stammen are first-year managers.
Names to rememberRHP Bradley Hanner, who spent the last three years in the Guardians’ minor league system, was invited to big-league camp by the Yankees.C Luke Maile, who spent the 2022 season with the Guards, will be in big-league camp with the Royals on a minor league deal.RHP Scott Barlow, who made 63 appearances for the Guardians in 2024, has reportedly signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the A’s.LHP Anthony Banda, who pitched 12 games for Triple-A Columbus in 2024 before helping the Dodgers win consecutive World Series, was designated for assignment by Los Angeles.INF Owen Miller, who had 51 RBI for the Guardians in 2022, has signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.RHP Vince Velasquez, who made 18 starts for Triple-A Columbus last year and 11 more in Korea, has signed a minor league deal with the Cubs.RHP Riley Pint, who spent last year in the Guardians’ system, but did not pitch, has signed a minor league deal with the Padres.