MLB Power Rankings: Why disappointing teams seem to be the story of the year

Meanwhile, the Braves won't let go of No. 1 and the White Sox won't stop winning

Matt Snyder

May 18, 2026

8:51 am ET

•

3 min read

Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports

Over the weekend, I got into a conversation about which team was the most disappointing in baseball this season. The interesting thing is that there seem to be far too many candidates. We have seen an awful lot of disappointing teams that expected to be contenders this year, and it feels like a much larger number than usual. Perhaps it's recency bias, but maybe not. There is a litany of losers at this point in the 2026 season. Let's count 'em.

Blue Jays

The 2025 American League champs started 3-0 but have been pretty bad since. They crawled to within a game of .500 with a win on May 2, but immediately fell apart... again. They've looked bad far more often than they've looked good and at one point fell as far back as 10 ½ games out of first place.

Red Sox

The Sawks were a playoff team last year and made a few moves this offseason, notably improving the rotation. Yet the only time they've been above .500 this season was when they were 1-0. They've fallen as many as eight games under .500 and have already fired manager Alex Cora.

Orioles?

I have a question mark on this one because it would've been reasonable before the season to predict the Orioles would be bad again. They were 75-87 last season after two straight playoff appearances, and we're seeing a continuation of their subpar play. There were some who thought they'd bounce back this year. That hasn't come to fruition.

Tigers

Through July 8 last season, the Tigers had the best record in baseball at 59-34. They went 28-41 the rest of the way. After keeping Tarik Skubal and signing Framber Valdez, it looked like Detroit was poised for another playoff run. It might well happen. So far, though, the Tigers are lackluster. They've now lost 10 of their last 12 and Skubal is on the shelf.

Royals

Some people (I'll raise my hand here) predicted the Royals to win the AL Central this season. It's still possible, given how bad the division is. Thus far, though, the Royals have been awful. They started 8-17 before briefly getting hot and have cooled off again, now having lost six of seven.

Mariners

The brutal AL West (not to be confused with the brutal AL Central) means the Mariners' disappointment so far isn't really that huge of a deal. They are only two games out of first. This season can easily be salvaged. A hot week would put them in first. Still, following their closest chance at winning their first American League pennant ever, to be hovering below .500 basically all season has to be very disappointing for this tortured fan base.

Astros

Even if you, like me, predicted the Astros would not be very good this season, they count for this list. They haven't had a losing full season since 2014. Even in missing the playoffs last year, the Astros went 87-75. They aren't far removed from playing in the ALCS every single year (seven straight through 2023). To look like one of the worst teams in baseball isn't a feeling they've had in Houston for quite some time. Of course, we should note that in 2024, the Astros were 33-40 before they got hot. It could happen again.

Mets

We don't really need to rehash everything, do we? We'll just simply say this: The Mets have one of the highest payrolls in baseball.

Giants

They've been flirting with having the worst record in baseball for most of the season. This was a team with playoff aspirations. We're now hearing whispers that they want out of some of their big contracts (Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, etc.). What's worse, the normally reliable Logan Webb is hurt and has an ERA north of 5. It's been a disaster of a season, basically.

I just listed nine teams, or 30% of the league. Who has been the most disappointing? Again, there is no shortage of candidates. I think I'll go with the Blue Jays, but there are several strong contenders for the dubious distinction.

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White Sox

Royals

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Braves

I keep waiting on Bryce Elder to turn into a pumpkin, but he's now pitching to a 2.01 ERA and 0.99 WHIP through 10 starts. He might just be good.

32-15

Dodgers

That's five straight wins for the champs. Maybe they are back on track. It's hard to tell, given that they played the Angels -- outscoring them 31-3 in the three-game set.

29-18

Rays

This is now the third-best 45-game start in Rays history. They were 32-13 at this point in both 2010 and 2023. Both of those teams won at least 96 games.

30-15

Cubs

The Cubs were 7-9. They've won 22 of 31 since then, but 20 of those wins came in two different 10-game winning streaks. This is some of the weirdest sequencing we'll ever see.

29-18

Brewers

They've won 13 of 18 and now get a shot at the Cubs. That'll be a fun series.

26-18

Padres

In t