MLB Power Rankings: Dodgers and Yankees blah blah blah, let's talk about the Brewers and Pirates(?!)

Meanwhile, get your 'small sample size' and 'it's early yet' caveats out now, because we're done with them

Matt Snyder

Apr 6, 2026

8:51 am ET

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4 min read

Keytron Jordan, CBS Sports

Often, whenever we write about baseball early in the season, we have to make sure everyone realizes that it is early and we're well aware that things can change later... and quickly. I'm gonna start things off by acknowledging it right here and then not harp on it moving forward because it's just so boring. I will be reacting in the Power Rankings to what has happened thus far and assume we're all smart enough to realize things will change moving forward. Anyone who thinks that the first 10 games of the season determine the rest of the season isn't worth our time anyway. Oh, and whenever I do the "on pace" thing, I'm well aware that isn't really how it works. It's just fun to frame things this way for context.

Got it? Good.

One subject that I fear is going to linger over the rest of the 2026 season is the impending labor dispute this coming offseason and, more specifically, the discussion over a salary cap (for the record, I don't think it'll happen, as the fracture on the ownership side between revenue sharing and a salary floor will be the undoing). You see, at its basest level, the discussion centers around how much easier it is for the mega-market teams to win in baseball.

Sure enough, the titan Yankees and Dodgers have arguably been the two best teams in baseball so far this season and there are plenty of reasons to believe it can continue.

We know plenty about the Dodgers and we know what makes them great. They did lose a series, but are 7-2 overall and cruising along, not even playing their best baseball.

The Yankees have gotten mostly stellar work from the rotation -- one that is missing Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón -- and have actually been pretty well-rounded in their work. Though Aaron Judge isn't in fully functional Death Star mode (yet), Giancarlo Stanton and Ben Rice have taken care of that part. Strength of schedule is futile this early, but the 5-1 trip in San Francisco and Seattle to start the season felt pretty strong at the time (though there are plenty of concerns now with the Giants).

But what about further down the payroll list?

Let's not sleep on the Brewers. I've said many times over the last several years that they are actually what so many people profess the Rays to be. In the smallest market in baseball, the Brewers have made the playoffs seven of the last eight seasons and entered 2026 having won the NL Central three straight seasons. They had the best record and run differential in baseball last year. How do things look in 2026? More of the same, really. They won by a combined 20-3 in the first two games of the season before falling behind 7-2 in the third game, only to come back and win that one late (they scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth). It was a nice reminder that sometimes they can throttle you and other times they pull off a magical comeback. They finished their opening homestand with a 5-1 record and naysayers could argue they faced two likely last-place teams (I'll take that bet on the White Sox, by the way; they won't finish last). So the Brewers went into Kansas City and took two of three. That was an early statement, in my view, as I'm bullish on the Royals this season.

Through a week and a half, the Brewers are 7-2 with a +28 run differential. As I said, it's basically business as usual for the smallest market.

While we're here, how about those Pirates? They were 1-3 through four games, but there was fight there. One of the losses came in extra innings and the offense wouldn't go away on Opening Day after that awful, albeit fluky, Paul Skenes outing. I was in the clubhouse in Cincinnati after the ensuing series win over the Reds and Paul Skenes made sure to mention that he thought the team fought their butts off in all the losses, too. They haven't lost since. They've won five straight and have outscored their opponents 32-14 in those five games. There's more beef to the lineup with new acquisitions Ryan O'Hearn and Brandon Lowe doing their part, and the team as a whole just has a different feel. Those same strength-of-schedule caveats aside, consider the Pirates played right with the Mets, took two of three in Cincy and then swept the Orioles.

Simply, the Pirates have the look of a group that believes they are contenders for the long haul and has thus far played the part. And this market is probably the one most screaming for a salary cap -- or at least its attached floor.

The Dodgers and Yankees are, obviously, awesome, but that doesn't mean you have to be a mega-market team to win games and be fun to watch in this league. The Brewers continue to show that, while the upstart Pirates are looking to join the party.

One final note: I'm not ar