Athletics first base Nick Kurtz (16) and Athletics outfielder Colby Thomas (32) high five after Kurtz’s home run during a game between the Athletics and the Kansas City Royals at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.
HANNAH RUHOFF
hruhoff@sacbee.com
As the Athletics open their 2026 season on the road Friday against the American League champion Toronto Blue Jays, two questions spring to mind as they do for any pro sports team: How many games can they win, and will it be enough to make the postseason?
The A’s begin this season with a six-game road trip in Toronto and Atlanta before hosting their home opener next Friday, April 3, against the Houston Astros. That game versus Houston will mark the start of the second Major League Baseball season ever played in West Sacramento — the A’s temporary home after the team departed Oakland following the 2024 season and before its planned move to a new ballpark on the Las Vegas strip in 2028.
The A’s finished 2025 with a win-loss record of 76-86. A May-to-June stretch, in which they lost 20 out of 21 games, torpedoed any chance of making the playoffs — which the A’s ultimately missed by 11 wins. They ended the year with baseball’s third-worst home record at 36-45, ahead of only the Chicago White Sox (33-48) and Colorado Rockies (25-56).
But the A’s played much better in the second half of last season, going 35-29 after July’s All-Star break. They also boasted a unanimous American League Rookie of the Year winner in Nick Kurtz, the power-hitting first baseman, who at 23 years old, headlines a crop of young talent at the plate.
Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz celebrates his walk-off home run for a 3-1 victory against the Houston Astros at Sutter Health Park on Monday, June 16. HECTOR AMEZCUA hamezcua@sacbee.com
So what are pundits, baseball followers and stat freaks saying about the A’s chances in 2026?
Here’s a roundup of how the Athletics figure into major news and sports outlets’ preseason power rankings, as well as baseball statistics websites’ projections of their expected win total and playoff probability.
A’s placement in power rankings
Most major sports outlets in the lead-up to the 2026 regular season ranked the A’s in the lower half of MLB’s 30 teams. The most optimistic forecast put them middle-of-the-pack at 15th while most others placed them somewhere in the 20s.
Many of the preseason rankings’ write-ups summed up the A’s strengths and weaknesses succinctly: They’ve got a powerful lineup full of young stars who are fun to watch, but a lackluster pitching staff will probably keep them out of the playoff hunt.
CBS Sports
Ranking: 15th out of 30
What they said: “One of the most fun offenses in baseball. Do they have enough in the rotation?” the full blurb from CBS Sports’ Matt Snyder said.
ESPN
Ranking: 23rd
What they said: “They’ll score plenty of runs at Sutter Health Park, a Triple-A hitter’s haven. But will they prevent enough?” wrote ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. “The front office made minor moves … but the pitching must improve to make noise.”
Sports Illustrated
Ranking: 24th out of 30
What they said: Sports Illustrated’s Nick Selbe wrote up the “Sneaky X-Factor” for each of the league’s 30 teams. For the A’s, Selbe bestowed that honor upon starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs, writing that he had a “healthy and relatively productive campaign” with a “respectable” 4.11 earned run average.
“They’ll need him to replicate that to give what should be a high-scoring offense enough support.”
Athletics pitcher Jeffrey Springs (59) pitches against the Atlanta Braves in the fifth inning on Tuesday, July 8, at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com USA Today
Ranking: 25th
What they said: “There’s a second Max Muncy starting at third base in the big leagues, and he’ll call Yolo County home,” wrote Gabe Lacques. The other Max Muncy plays for the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers.
(Kudos to Lacques are in order for correctly noting West Sacramento as being both a separate city and in a separate county from California’s capital.)
The Athletic / New York Times
Ranking: 21st
What they said: “The emergence of Nick Kurtz as one of the best hitters in baseball enhanced the excitement surrounding this team’s offense,” the Athletic’s Andy McCullough wrote of the Athletics, in part.
McCullough categorized the A’s pitching situation as “worrisome” before lauding A’s hitters again: “They might not be good enough to make the postseason, but their offense should be dangerous enough to wreck some folks.”
MLB.com
Ranking: 22nd
What they said: “The pitching is, well, not so hot just yet, but there legitimately may be no more exciting batch of young hitters on any team in the Majors,” wrote MLB.com’s Will Leitch. “Nick Kurtz leads a gaggle of bats that will become your favorite late-night MLB.TV tune-in.”
Odds and projectionsBaseball Reference
Playoff probability: 44.7%
Projected win-loss record: 84-78
Playoff probability: 9.9%
Projected win-loss record: 77-85
Playoff probability: 21.4%
Projected win-loss record: 78-84
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 3:41 PM.
Related Stories from Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
Michael McGough is a sports and local editor for The Sacramento Bee. He previously covered breaking news and COVID-19 for The Bee, which he joined in 2016. He is a Sacramento native and graduate of Sacramento State.