Key Additions: Walt Weiss (Manager), Robert Suarez, Mike Yastrzemski, Ha-Seong Kim<\/p>\n
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Key Departures: Marcell Ozuna, Alek Manoah<\/p>\n
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The Braves were as consistent as it gets in divisional dominance and playoff berths, so last year was a rough break from the norm.<\/p>\n
Coming into 2025, Atlanta was riding a seven-year postseason streak, winning the NL East in six of those seasons. Unfortunately, they were doomed by a challenging start that they couldn\u2019t quite shake. They lost their first seven games to begin the year and were plagued by injuries and absences throughout: Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr. started his year on the IL; Jurickson Profar was suspended for the first 80 games;\u00a0 and a bulk of the rotation (Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenback, and Spencer Strider) was limited throughout the season.<\/p>\n
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The team\u2019s focus for 2026 will be to get healthy and back on track. They\u2019ll also have a new skipper at the helm looking to right the ship as Brian Snitker, the team\u2019s manager for the last 10 seasons, was replaced<\/a> by long-time bench coach (and Rockies\u2019 legend) Walt Weiss. Weiss is hoping for fireworks from a \u201cgauntlet<\/a>\u201d of a lineup, banking on Acu\u00f1a Jr. and a slew of others to return to form offensively.<\/p>\n Unfortunately for Atlanta, breaking news this week forecasts another lineup hurdle. Profar will yet again be suspended<\/a> for violating the league\u2019s PED policy, this time for a full 162 games plus bans from the World Baseball Classic and the postseason.<\/p>\n The Braves will hope to avoid another avalanche of bad news. If they can weather the loss of Profar and ongoing injuries to the pitching core, they may have enough talent to make a run at the division.<\/p>\n 2025 Record: 79-83 | PECOTA 2026 Projection<\/a>: 73.9 wins<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Key Additions: Christopher Morel, Esteury Ruiz, Chris Paddack<\/p>\n Key Departures: Edward Cabrera, Eric Wagaman<\/p>\n Although Miami posted a losing season in 2025, it in many ways was a win. Last year was about carving out a path to the future holistically. The team lost GM Kim Ng at the end of the 2023 season and parted ways with manager Skip Schumaker after 2024. In all of the chaos, they went 62-100 in the 2024 campaign, so 2025\u2019s 79 wins were a marked improvement.<\/p>\n That being said, there is little optimism that the Marlins will make a similar jump or seriously compete this season.<\/p>\n The Fish didn\u2019t make a big splash in the offseason, sticking with a handful of lateral moves. With that, they retain a roster very similar to last year\u2019s and are one of just four teams with zero players on ESPN\u2019s Top 100<\/a> list. They were right around or under the league average in a number of key batting and pitching stats, so the lack of an influx of talent doesn\u2019t inspire confidence in a win increase. Rather, they will rely on youth and upside, building towards long-term stability.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n 2025 Record: 83-79 | PECOTA 2026 Projection<\/a>: 89.0 wins<\/p>\n Key Additions: Bo Bichette, Luis Robert Jr., Freddy Peralta, Marcus Semien, Jorge Polanco<\/p>\n Key Departures: Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Edwin Diaz, Starling Marte, Cedric Mullins<\/p>\n There\u2019s a new look in Queens as the Mets have retooled while still maintaining high expectations.<\/p>\n The Mets pushed all of their chips in (figuratively and financially) when signing Juan Soto for $765 million over 15 years heading into 2025. Soto is a top-5, MVP-caliber player, so pairing him with a core of Alonso, Nimmo, and Lindor should have been a recipe for success.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Things were going well in the Big Apple\u2026 until they weren\u2019t.<\/p>\n Despite rocketing out to 45 wins and a 5.5 game lead on the division, things fell apart as the season went on. New York would finish 13 games behind Philadelphia in the division, while losing out to the Cincinnati Reds for a Wild Card spot.<\/p>\n The Mets will look to find a path into the postseason with a brand new core. In addition to retooling their roster, they\u2019ve revamped their coaching staff<\/a> with a slew of changes in key positions. Fortunately, it\u2019s a talent-out, talent-in situation, and the team shouldn\u2019t lose much steam despite a sporting different look. The addition of a number of big names should allow the team to pick up where they left off and try their hand at competing for the NL pennant.<\/p>\n 2025 Record: 96-66 | PECOTA 2026 Projection<\/a>: 85.6 wins<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Key Additions: Adolis Garcia, Brad Keller<\/p>\n Key Departures: Nick Castellanos, Harrison Bader, Walker Buehler<\/p>\n As the reigning division champs, the Phillies\u2019 offseason was less defined by sweeping change and more by consistency. They feel they have what it takes to strike while their window of contention is firmly open.<\/p>\n Despite losing a good bat (and questionable clubhouse presence) in Castellanos, they re-signed both Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto to run things back with the same cast of characters that locked up the 2-seed in the last playoff field<\/p>\n Schwarber will lead the way in batting after leading the NL in homers and RBI. The Fighting Phils finished second in the league in hits, third in batting average, fourth in OPS. They weren\u2019t too shabby on the mound either, finishing top-10 in ERA, top-3 in saves, and first overall in FIP.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n A well-balanced attack on both sides of the ball with little roster turnover should position Philadelphia at the top of both the East and the league.<\/p>\n 2025 Record: 66-96 | PECOTA 2026 Projection<\/a>: 66.2 wins<\/p>\n Key Additions: Miles Mikolas, Harry Ford<\/p>\n Key Departures: MacKenzie Gore, Paul DeJong, Josh Bell<\/p>\n The Nats flirted with a 100-loss season in a year full of growing pains. But growing pains are to be expected with a youth movement and the Nats are fully leaning further into that this year, starting at the top. In the offseason, Washington hired 31-year-old Anirudh Kilambi as the new GM and 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n One of their primary roster acquisitions was 23-year-old catcher Harry Ford, adding a highly-touted prospect to the pipeline.<\/p>\n Continuing the trend throughout the roster, the team sent 2025 Opening Day starter MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers for prospects with the idea that young guns will get the bulk of starts in the year ahead, learning on the job. The pitching rotation is in desperate need of development, posting the league\u2019s second highest ERA last year. They have a handful of pitchers<\/a> climbing the ranks, but many of these prospects aren\u2019t expected to join the big leagues until 2027, at the earliest.<\/p>\n For now, Washington will embrace \u201cwait and see\u201d mode.<\/p>\n Who do you think will win the NL East this year? Do you think the NL East will send multiple teams to the postseason? 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