Ranking MLB's 10 Biggest Fails of the 2026 Season

Jacob Misiorowski, Cristopher Sánchez and Shohei Ohtani are at the forefront of what could be one of the best NL Cy Young Award races ever. Kyle Schwarber and Yordan Alvarez already have over 50 combined home runs. Mason Miller is as dominant as any reliever we've ever seen.

There's a lot of greatness on display early in 2026.

But for all the players and teams having tremendous campaigns, there's as many others who are disappointing.

To that end, we've ranked MLB's 10 biggest fails of the 2026 season thus far.

10. Seattle Mariners' Veterans

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The Mariners are the only team in the AL West with a positive run differential, which is why they are in first place despite a slew of veterans underperforming relative to Spring Training expectations.

To have a chance to get over the hump and reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history, the M's are going to need some combination of the following veterans to get back on track:

• Cal Raleigh has definitely had a hangover after turning in arguably the greatest season a catcher has ever had in 2025. Last year's AL MVP runner-up did miss just over a month with a right oblique strain, but has hit just seven home runs in 179 at-bats, a year after launching 60.
• Josh Naylor was rewarded with a five-year, $92.5 million deal in free agency after hitting .299 with an .831 OPS following a mid-season trade from the Arizona Diamondbacks last year. He's disappointed in the first year of that lucrative deal, as he's batting .250 with a .678 OPS.
• Andrés Muñoz was one of the best relievers in baseball between 2022 and 2025, posting a 2.29 ERA and 77 saves. 2026 has been a mess, as the 27-year-old righty has a 5.27 ERA in 30 games, having converted just 13 of 18 save attempts.
• Rob Refsnyder isn't as important as some of the other names on this list, but he signed a one-year, $6.25 million deal in the offseason after hitting .302 with a .959 OPS against lefties last season with the Boston Red Sox. This year, Refsnyder is hitting .146 with a .480 OPS versus southpaws.

Because the Mariners are still in first place, they aren't nearly as much of a failure as the other clubs on this list. But if you view them through the lens of potential World Series contenders, there are definitely some red flags.

9. Arte Moreno's Los Angeles Angels

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At 32-47, Arte Moreno's Los Angeles Angels are barreling towards their 11th consecutive losing season, and 12th in a row without the playoffs.

General manager Perry Minasian and first-year manager Kurt Suzuki are both in contract years, so one or both might ultimately be casualties. But the biggest issue in Anaheim is at the top with Moreno.

Taylor Ward will likely be one of the most coveted players in advance of the Aug. 3 trade deadline if the Baltimore Orioles don't get back in the postseason race.

The Angels, of course, employed Ward for the first eight seasons of his career before trading him to the O's for Grayson Rodriguez this past winter. At the time, it seemed the Angels made a good move, getting a pitcher with multiple years of control for an outfielder on an expiring contract.

But the Halos were betting on Rodriguez's health after he missed the entire 2025 season with injuries to his right elbow and lat.

What they couldn't afford is what has happened so far: Rodriguez is on the injured list for the second time this year, and has an 8.06 ERA in six outings. Granted, he is still only 26, and is under team control through 2029.

This deal could still work out for the Angels in the long run. They would probably have been better off holding onto Ward until the trade deadline, though, because 10-plus teams likely would have been in on him.

Additionally, a report surfaced from USA Today's Bob Nightengale this past weekend that Moreno and company don't plan to trade outfielder Jo Adell or starters Reid Detmers and José Soriano.

In the case of Soriano, the Angels probably should hold onto the right-hander, who can't become a free agent until after 2028.

Detmers also can't become a free agent until after the 2028 season, but he has a 4.62 ERA in parts of six MLB campaigns. Maybe the 26-year-old has finally turned the corner with a 2.08 ERA over four starts in June. But this is someone who had a 4.63 ERA entering the month, so there's a relatively strong argument for selling high on Detmers at the trade deadline.

Adell is another guy where the Angels should probably just take advantage of the lack of quality right-handed hitters. Yes, the former first-round pick has tremendous potential, as evidenced by the 37 homers and 98 RBI he finished last season with. He's also got a .691 OPS over parts of seven MLB seasons.

If someone wants to give you an impact prospect thinking they can unlock Adell—who can become a free agent after 2027—on a more consistent basis, the Angels should take it. They haven't been able to do the trick.

In the end, the Angels aren't higher on this list because this isn't particularly surprising. Moreno may not catch the heat as some of the other most notorious owners in sports, but he's bungled having the entire career of Mike Trout, an inner-circle Hall of Famer. That says nothing of having had Shohei Ohtani for six years. That's indefensible.

8. Late-career legends

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Max Scherzer, 41, came off the injured list and recorded his 3,500th career strikeout on June 10. He also allowed five earned runs over 3.1 innings, spiking his ERA to 10.23 across six outings this season. He then returned to the IL with back spasms, and it's fair to wonder if he'll ever pitch for the Toronto Blue Jays or anyone else again.

Scherzer isn't the only player likely destined for Cooperstown who Father Time appears to have caught up with. His long-time frienemy Justin Verlander's return to Detroit sounded way cooler than it's turned out to be. The three-time AL Cy Young Award winner allowed five runs over 3.2 innings in his lone start of the season, and after his latest health setback, he acknowledged his baseball mortality.

"I've always said that I want to play until the wheels fall off," Verlander said, per Evan Petzold of The Detroit Free Press. "Maybe they are falling off. I hope not. … If I can't be healthy, and I continue to prove that I can't be healthy, that's something that I have to really evaluate."

Both Scherzer and the 43-year-old Verlander have had plenty of battles with Salvador Perez, the long-time catcher for the Kansas City Royals. Perez's season began in great fashion as he was part of Venezuela's World Baseball Classic win, but his minus-1.1 WAR is the worst mark among qualified hitters, per FanGraphs.

This feels like it could be it for both Scherzer and Verlander, which would set up an interesting scenario where they are co-headliners on the 2032 Hall of Fame ballot. Perez is under contract in 2027, but the 36-year-old might not be far behind Scherzer and Verlander.

7. Detroit Tigers

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Verlander is hardly the only issue on the Tigers, who entered the season with World Series aspirations but instead find themselves at 33-44, in danger of having to be sellers in advance of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

What the Tigers hoped would be one of baseball's most dominant starting pitching staffs hasn't been that:

• Verlander has made just one start.
• Framber Valdez has pitched to a 4.09 ERA over 15 starts, which is useful, but less than what you would expect from someone signed to a three-year, $115 million deal.
• Jack Flaherty has struggled in his second go-round with the Tigers. After posting a 4.64 ERA in 31 starts a year ago, the veteran righty is 1-8 with a 5.35 ERA in 15 starts this year. The 30-year-old is currently on the 15-day injured list with a left peroneal strain.
• Two-time defending AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal just returned after nanoscope surgery on his left elbow cost him five-plus weeks.
• Kenley Jansen is one of the best relievers in MLB history, but the 38-year-old might be at the end of the line, as he has a 4.00 ERA in 21 appearances in his first season with the Tigers.
• Will Vest has a 5.92 ERA in 26 games this year, a drastic dropoff from the 3.01 ERA he posted over 64 appearances last season.

Teams have been circling around the Tigers for some time right now, hoping they wind up dealing Skubal, who is an impending free agent.

That might pay dividends for them in the long run, because they could get a major piece(s) in return for him, rather than just letting arguably the top pitcher in the sport walk for nothing in the winter.

Given the high hopes the Tigers entered the season with, though, trading away the superstar lefty would burn in 2026.

6. The back end of the Philadelphia Phillies' rotation

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It's remarkable that the Phillies have dug themselves out of a nightmarish 9-19 start. Since firing manager Rob Thomson and giving the job to Don Mattingly on an interim basis, the Phillies are 33-16, and currently at the forefront of the NL wild-card race.

Still, the Phillies desperately need to get improved results at the back end of their rotation. Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler is as good of a one-two punch as there is in baseball, while Jesús Luzardo's 3.34 expected ERA and 3.33 FIP suggest his 4.20 ERA is going to drop significantly. But it's been rough after those three.

Andrew Painter—the organization's long-time top prospect—was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley last week after posting a 7.06 ERA across his first 14 MLB outings. The 23-year-old has a good head on his shoulders, so he's hardly a lost cause. But until he gets his fastball to have the life it did prior to his Tommy John surgery in July of 2023, Painter is going to have trouble coming anywhere near the ace potential he was believed to have prior to the procedure.

Meanwhile, Aaron Nola might just be what he is at this point. That isn't a comforting thought to Phillies fans since Nola is in the third season of a seven-year, $172 million contract. But one of the best pitchers in franchise history has a 5.88 ERA in 32 starts since the beginning of the 2025 season, and seems to be a particularly bad fit for the ABS era.

There are worse problems to have, as the Phillies still have a tremendous trio at the top of their rotation. But to make a deep playoff run, they're going to need a fourth starter to emerge, and that seems increasingly unlikely to come internally. So president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, who doesn't have a great farm system at his disposal, is going to have to get creative this summer.

5. Critics of Munetaka Murakami

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If you weren't sure of how Munetaka Murakami would translate to the majors this past offseason, you weren't alone.

Actually, a better way to look at it might be that you weren't alone in being wrong.

Murakami has been sidelined by a right hamstring strain since May 30, which brought an unfortunate halt to what had been a promising AL Rookie of the Year campaign.

Still, Murakami has 20 homers, 41 RBI, 44 walks and a .938 OPS. Forget rookies, he's been one of the best run producers in baseball period. It's entirely possible he'll still win AL Rookie of the Year, assuming there are no further setbacks to his hamstring.

The two-year, $34 million deal that the White Sox signed Murakami to when his market cratered is highway robbery. Rather than basking in how great this deal is playing out, the White Sox would be wise to try to extend the 26-year-old as soon as possible. If he makes it to the free agent market a second time, he'll fare much, much better.

4. San Diego Padres' Offense

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With the trio of Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill, the Padres should have one of the game's most-feared offenses. Instead, they are 29th in baseball with 296 runs scored, and none of their three stars has performed as expected.

• Machado—who is signed through the 2033 season—has hit just .179 with a .625 OPS. He will turn 34 in July, so perhaps Machado is hitting a bit of a wall. Still, you wouldn't expect the dropoff to be this drastic this quickly.
• Tatis didn't hit his first homer until June 10, and has just two in 288 at-bats this season. To be fair, he is hitting .285, and has gotten his OPS above .700. Nonetheless, he's been very disappointing so far.
• Merrill had a relatively disappointing sophomore season after he won a Silver Slugger and got down-ballot NL MVP support in his rookie campaign of 2024. He's been even more of a letdown in his third season, as he's hitting just .216 with a 76 OPS+.

By virtue of probably the best bullpen in baseball, the Padres are still above .500. Part of you feels like they have too much offensive talent—particularly with their top trio—to not bounce back in a major way at the plate. But there's no mincing words, the offense in San Diego has been abysmal so far.

3. San Francisco Giants

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Not only does Rafael Devers' contract look virtually untradable, but he tried to waive off a pinch runner from first-year manager Tony Vitello this past Sunday in Miami:

On top of the Giants likely being stuck with the $199.5 million that Devers is owed between 2026 and 2033, Willy Adames—who is in the second season of a seven-year, $182 million contract—probably also is unmovable at this stage as well. If the Giants ate some money and/or took a lesser return, they might be able to trade Matt Chapman, but he has a full no-trade clause, and they probably are better off holding onto him rather than dealing him under those circumstances.

Anyway, this was never supposed to be about moving perceived core players before the trade deadline. The Giants—under the direction of president of baseball operations Buster Posey—had playoff aspirations entering the season. Instead, they are 31-46 with a minus-54 run differential.

It's not good to be in a situation where you are an underachieving team, but it's even worse to be one with limited roster flexibility. Luis Arraez and Robbie Ray will draw trade interest, but both are rentals unlikely to bring back a franchise-altering return. The Giants could get a bounty for Logan Webb, but understandably don't plan to move their 29-year-old ace:

All of this leads to the question, how much longer can the Giants allow Posey to steer the ship? They have to tread carefully with a franchise icon, but he's signed a lot of big contracts since taking over as president of baseball operations in September of 2024, and most of them don't look very good.

2. Boston Red Sox

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Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has seemingly hit on his three biggest offseason additions of Ranger Suárez (2.93 ERA), Sonny Gray (3.12 ERA) and Willson Contreras (.903 OPS).

Yet, the Red Sox have had a disastrous campaign, as they are currently sitting at 31-44 and at the bottom of the AL East.

They unceremoniously fired manager Alex Cora and much of his staff after a 17-1 victory in Baltimore on April 25, with one of the lasting images of the season the "Coaches4Hire LLC" van that hauled them off following the dismissal:

Granted, the Red Sox did get off to a disappointing 10-17 record under Cora. However, they are 21-27 under interim manager Chad Tracy, so it's not as though there's been some massive turnaround following the firing of Cora.

What's more, even if the Red Sox waive the white flag in the coming weeks on 2026, their trade options might be limited.

• They would be selling low on long-time trade candidate Jarren Duran, who is hitting just .204 with a .639 OPS.
• The aforementioned Contreras and Gray each waived no-trade clauses to be dealt to the Red Sox this past offseason. Those NTCs travel with them, though, and who knows if they'll be willing to change teams again.
• Caleb Durbin—acquired to replace Alex Bregman after a strong rookie season for the Brewers—has a 77 OPS+, far below the league average of 100. Meanwhile, Boston traded Kyle Harrison to Milwaukee for Durbin, and he's likely to be an All-Star.

Sure, there will be interest in future Hall of Fame reliever Aroldis Chapman, who has a minuscule 1.08 ERA since joining the Red Sox in 2025. Exactly how much the Red Sox would get back for the 38-year-old is unclear. Alternatively, they could hold onto Chapman, who is pitching as well as he ever has and can be retained for $13 million in 2027 if he pitches 40 innings and passes a physical at the end of the season.

However the deadline goes, it's fair to wonder if Breslow should continue to run the show beyond the 2026 season.

1. New York Mets

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President of baseball operations David Stearns drastically remade the roster in New York this past offseason following a disastrous 28-37 finish to the 2025 campaign. The 34-43 record the Mets have in 2026 suggest they went too far.

• Sure, Edwin Díaz (arthroscopic elbow surgery) has missed most of the 2026 season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Devin Williams has a 4.81 ERA in 27 games in the first campaign of three-year, $51 million contract.
• Bo Bichette has been much better in June, but after the Mets signed him to a three-year, $126 million contract with player opt outs available after each season, he's got just a 84 OPS+ so far.
• The Mets let franchise Home Run King Pete Alonso leave for a five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles, instead choosing to replace him with Jorge Polanco on a two-year, $40 million. Predictably, Polanco has spent much of the season on the IL, after hitting just .179 in his first 56 at-bats with the Mets.
• Freddy Peralta was rocked by the Phillies this past weekend, and now has a 4.83 ERA across his first 16 starts with the Mets, after finishing fifth in NL Cy Young Award voting with the Brewers in 2025. He's almost certainly going to be traded this summer, although as a struggling rental, the Mets might be disappointed with what teams are willing to offer.
• While Brandon Nimmo has been productive during his first season with the Texas Rangers, Marcus Semien—whom the Mets acquired in return for their long-time outfielder—has a minus-0.6 WAR.
• Francisco Lindor has been sidelined since April with a left calf strain.

What's crazy is that since signing a record-shattering 15-year, $765 million contract to join the Mets in free agency, Juan Soto has a .935 OPS. He's held up his end of the bargain. Yet, the Mets are trending towards going 0-for-2 on playoff appearances with Soto.

Manager Carlos Mendoza is likely a dead man walking, and owner Steve Cohen will have to consider whether Stearns is the right person to lead baseball operations going forward.