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2026 MLB predictions: Who will win World Series? Will Red Sox make playoffs, win big awards?
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- 2026 MLB predictions: Who will win World Series? Will Red Sox make playoffs, win big awards?
The 2026 MLB season is underway, with teams across baseball getting their 162-game schedules going over the past few days. That means it's prediction time for those of us at MassLive.
Just like in years past, we've assembled an All-Star cast of predictors (read: guessers) that includes Red Sox beat writers Chris Cotillo and Chris Smith , our Red Sox columnist Sean McAdam , sports columnist Matt Vautour , sports enterprise writer Chris Mason and deputy editor of content Jim Pignatiello .
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The roundtable also served as the latest episode of MassLive's Fenway Rundown podcast . You can listen here or check out the video version on YouTube .
Without further ado, here are our predictions for 2026, first for the league and then for the Red Sox:
AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFF PICTURE:
DIVISION WINNERS:
COTILLO: Blue Jays , Tigers , Mariners
MASON: Blue Jays, Tigers, Mariners
MCADAM: Blue Jays, Royals, Mariners
PIGNATIELLO: Red Sox, Royals, Mariners
SMITH: Blue Jays, Tigers, Mariners
VAUTOUR: Blue Jays, Tigers, Mariners
***
WILD-CARD TEAMS:
COTILLO: Red Sox, Orioles , Yankees
MASON: Red Sox, Yankees, Royals
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MCADAM: Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers
PIGNATIELLO: Blue Jays, Yankees, Astros
SMITH: Red Sox, Yankees, Orioles
VAUTOUR: Red Sox, Yankees, Astros
***
ALCS:
COTILLO: Mariners over Tigers in 6 games
MASON: Mariners over Blue Jays in 6 games
MCADAM: Mariners over Red Sox in 7 games
PIGNATIELLO: Red Sox over Mariners in 6 games
SMITH: Blue Jays over Red Sox in 7 games
VAUTOUR: Tigers over Blue Jays in 7 games
*** *** *** *** ***
AL EAST FINISHING ORDER:
COTILLO: Toronto , Boston , Baltimore , New York, Tampa Bay
MASON: Toronto, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay
MCADAM: Toronto, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay
PIGNATIELLO: Boston, Toronto, New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay
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SMITH: Toronto, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay
VAUTOUR: Toronto, Boston, New York, Baltimore, Tampa Bay
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAYOFF PICTURE:
DIVISION WINNERS:
COTILLO: Phillies , Cubs , Dodgers
MASON: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
MCADAM: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
PIGNATIELLO: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
SMITH: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
VAUTOUR: Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers
***
WILD-CARD TEAMS:
COTILLO: Diamondbacks , Padres, Pirates
MASON: Mets , Brewers , Braves
MCADAM: Mets, Braves, Diamondbacks
PIGNATIELLO: Braves, Mets, Padres
SMITH: Mets, Braves, Giants
VAUTOUR: Mets, Brewers, Padres
***
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NLCS:
COTILLO: Cubs over Dodgers in 7 games
MASON: Phillies over Dodgers in 7 games
MCADAM: Dodgers over Cubs in 6 games
PIGNATIELLO: Dodgers over Phillies in 5 games
SMITH: Dodgers over Cubs in 5 games
VAUTOUR: Phillies over Dodgers in 7 games
*** *** *** *** ***
WORLD SERIES:
COTILLO: Mariners over Cubs in 6 games
MASON: Mariners over Phillies in 6 games
MCADAM: Mariners over Dodgers in 6 games
PIGNATIELLO: Dodgers over Red Sox in 5 games
SMITH: Dodgers over Blue Jays in 6 games
VAUTOUR: Phillies over Tigers in 6 games
*** *** *** *** ***
AMERICAN LEAGUE AWARDS:
AL MVP:
COTILLO: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. , Blue Jays
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MASON: Bobby Witt Jr. , Royals
MCADAM: Roman Anthony , Red Sox
PIGNATIELLO: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
SMITH: Aaron Judge , Yankees
VAUTOUR: Bobby Witt Jr., Royals
***
AL CY YOUNG:
COTILLO: Bryan Woo , Mariners
MASON: Tarik Skubal , Tigers
MCADAM: Hunter Brown , Astros
PIGNATIELLO: Garrett Crochet , Red Sox
SMITH: Garrett Crochet, Red Sox
VAUTOUR: Hunter Brown, Astros
***
AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
COTILLO: Trey Yesavage , Blue Jays
MASON: Carter Jensen , Royals
MCADAM: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers
PIGNATIELLO: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers
SMITH: Trey Yesavage, Blue Jays
VAUTOUR: Kevin McGonigle, Tigers
*** *** *** *** ***
NATIONAL LEAGUE AWARDS:
NL MVP:
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COTILLO: Shohei Ohtani , Dodgers
MASON: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
MCADAM: Ronald Acuña Jr. , Braves
PIGNATIELLO: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
SMITH: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers
VAUTOUR: Juan Soto , Mets
***
NL CY YOUNG:
COTILLO: Paul Skenes , Pirates
MASON: Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies
MCADAM: Freddy Peralta , Mets
PIGNATIELLO: Paul Skenes, Pirates
SMITH: Paul Skenes, Pirates
VAUTOUR: Paul Skenes, Pirates
***
NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:
COTILLO: Konnor Griffin, Pirates
MASON: Konnor Griffin, Pirates
MCADAM: Nolan McLean , Mets
PIGNATIELLO: Konnor Griffin, Pirates
SMITH: Konnor Griffin, Pirates
VAUTOUR: Sal Stewart , Reds
*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
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RED SOX PREDICTIONS:
RED SOX RECORD / PLACE IN AL EAST:
COTILLO: 90-72, 2nd place
MASON: 88-74, 2nd place
MCADAM: 92-70, 2nd place
PIGNATIELLO: 97-65, 1st place
SMITH: 90-72, 2nd place
VAUTOUR: 91-71, 2nd place
***
RED SOX MVP:
COTILLO: Roman Anthony
MASON: Roman Anthony
MCADAM: Roman Anthony
PIGNATIELLO: Roman Anthony
SMITH: Roman Anthony
VAUTOUR: Roman Anthony
***
RED SOX PITCHER OF THE YEAR:
COTILLO: Garrett Crochet
MASON: Garrett Crochet
MCADAM: Garrett Crochet
PIGNATIELLO: Garrett Crochet
SMITH: Garrett Crochet
VAUTOUR: Garrett Crochet
***
ONE RED SOX BOLD PREDICTION:
COTILLO: The Red Sox have the most aggressive trade deadline in the league.
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MASON: Payton Tolle will make a playoff start for the Red Sox.
MCADAM: There will finally be a taker for Masataka Yoshida , who is traded in the first few months.
PIGNATIELLO: The Red Sox make the World Series.
SMITH: Connelly Early will be a top-three finisher for AL Rookie of the Year and Jarren Duran will hit 25 home runs.
VAUTOUR: Wilyer Abreu hits 25 home runs and Brayan Bello will be the surprise success of the rotation, approaching 15 wins.
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