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FuzzyRussianHat · 03-02-2025, 05:05 AM

As the only organization with a true “minor league”, Major League Baseball was the only one with a secondary roster. That had been 36 players since getting lowered from 38 for the 1992 season. For 2026, MLB raised the secondary roster size back up to 38.

The National Association’s top two records by far battled for the Lower Midwest Division title. Cincinnati had won the division in six straight seasons, but was finally dethroned by Louisville at 105-57. The Lynx ended the NA’s longest active playoff drought at 39 years and took the top seed for the first time since their 1978 World Series win. Louisville did it by leading the National Association with 841 runs and allowing the second-fewest at 613. The Lynx also had 288 team doubles, the third-best in NA history and the most in nearly a century.

The Reds were 102-60, but that left them three back and stuck with the first wild card. Cincinnati allowed the fewest runs in MLB at 568 and grew their playoff streak to seven, the longest active one in MLB. There was a ten game drop from the Reds down to the next winningest playoff team. The remaining three division winners and two wild cards would be separated by a whopping two wins.

Montreal at 92-70 ended up as the #2 seed, wining their third straight Northeast Division title. Hartford and Ottawa were both five back at 87-75 and ultimately two away for the last wild card. In the East, Raleigh and Washington tied for first at 90-72 with Philadelphia just shy at 87-75. The Raptors won the tiebreaker game, giving the 2021 expansion squad their first-ever division title and back-to-back playoff berths. The Admirals still advanced to the playoffs for the fourth year running thanks to a wild card.

Chicago secured the Upper Midwest Division title at 90-72, one ahead of defending World Series champion Detroit at 89-73 and three better than 87-75 Omaha. The Cubs had just missed the playoffs last year, returning with their sixth berth in seven years.

The Tigers ended up tied for the final wild card at 89-73 with the Lower Midwest’s Indianapolis. Omaha, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Ottawa were each two away. Detroit downed the Racers in the tiebreaker game to narrowly keep the repeat hope alive. The Tigers earned their fourth straight playoff trip and their 15^th in 20 years. Toronto and Minneapolis notably both went from wild cards last year to below .500.

Cleveland improved to 78-84 after repeat 61-101 campaigns and had reason for optimism. They picked LF Hunter Morrissey #3 overall in the 2025 MLB Draft and he posted one of the greatest rookie seasons in baseball history. The 21-year old from Demarest, New Jersey won National Association MVP and Rookie of the Year with multiple records set along the way.

Morrissey set MLB single-season records for batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS with a .405/.457/.786 slash and 1.243 OPS. The OPS remains the MLB record as of 2037 and ranks 39^th in all of world history. Morrissey was only the second .400+ hitter in MLB history, passing Adam Lewis’s .402 from 1955. He also beat the former slugging best of R.J. Clinton from 1963 of .786. Morrissey’s slugging would be passed once and his average beaten twice in the next decade.

He played 139 games with 53 home runs, 127 RBI, 210 hits, 105 runs, 254 wRC+, and 11.0 WAR. Morrissey set the MLB record for WAR by a Rookie of the Year winner, although he was still shy of the all-time mark of 13.9 by Asian Baseball Federation legend Nizami Aghazade in 2012.

Pitcher of the Year was Raleigh righty Anderson Davenport, the first-ever draft pick by the Raptors. He was taken #2 overall in the 2020 MLB Draft and had been a full-time starter since. Davenport led in wins (22-7) and complete games (17) in 2026 while adding a 2.88 ERA over 262.1 innings, 224 strikeouts, and 7.5 WAR. Sadly, Davenport would miss all of 2027 to a damaged elbow ligament. He did return for two more decent years, but ended up with more injuries in 2030 and out of the game before turning 31.

Cincinnati was the lone wild card to advance out of the first round, edging Chicago 3-2. Raleigh outlasted Washington 3-2 and Montreal ousted defending champ Detroit 3-1. The Reds kept rolling by toppling top seed Louisville 3-1, earning their fifth trip to the National Association Championship Series of the 2020s. Montreal swept the Raptors on the other side, sending the Maples to their first NACS since 1997.

In six games, Cincinnati defeated Montreal to give the Reds their fourth pennant in seven years (2020, 2022, 2023, 2026) and their seventh overall. The only other time in National Association history that a team won at least four titles over a seven year stretch was Philadelphia’s seven-peat from 1941-47. The Reds had the most World Series trips in the 21^st Century at six after only getting one for the entire 20^th Century.

The American Association’s Southwest Division was loaded and became the first division since the 2021 playoff expansion to earn four teams into the field. San Francisco was the champ and #1 seed at 104-58, getting their fifth playoff trip in six years. It was notably the first division title since 2018 for the Gold Rush. The race for all three wild cards was concentrated almost exclusively in the Southwest.

Oakland (96-66), San Diego (94-68), and Los Angeles (92-70) took the spots while Sacramento (87-73), Las Vegas (87-75), and Phoenix (86-76) all fell short. The only team outside the Southwest in the hunt was Salt Lake City, who fell one short of the Angels at 91-71. The Owls and LA both earned repeat playoff trips and the Seals picked up their third berth in four years. Although the Vipers fell short of the playoffs, their run of winning seasons grew to 19.

Seattle took the Northwest Division for the fourth consecutive year at 101-61 and allowed the AA’s fewest runs at 636. The Loons finished ten back in the division. Charlotte (94-68) was the top scoring team at 881, winning the Southeast Division by eight games over Atlanta (86-76). The Canaries ended a nine-year playoff drought, while reigning American Association champ Nashville struggled to 76-86. Oklahoma City (90-72) ended a six-year playoff drought took the South Central Division by seven over Memphis and eight over both Dallas and El Paso. Houston, the division champs three of the prior four years, dropped to 75-87.

In its sixth season since the expansion, Sacramento had its best record yet at 89-73 in 2026. Leading the way was American Association MVP Steve Castro, who the Shamrocks selected with their first-ever draft pick with the #6 overall choice of the 2020 MLB Draft. The DeKalb, Illinois native had been a solid starter since the selection, but led in OPS (1.098), OBP (.423), and wRC+ (173) for 2026.

Castro had 7.5 WAR, 53 home runs, 147 RBI, and 116 runs. He also completed a 37-game hitting streak in mid-April that carried over from the prior season. That ranked as tied for the sixth-longest hitting streak in MLB history. In May, Sacramento locked Castro up for the long haul on an eight-year, $193,200,000 extension.

Veteran pitcher Clinton Edgar won Pitcher of the Year in his fourth season for San Diego. The Micronesian lefty had come to the Seals in a summer 2023 trade after spending nine years with New Orleans. The 32-year old Edgar won back-to-back ERA titles, this time at 2.62. He also led in wins (24-7), innings (285.1), complete games (22), and WAR (8.2). Edgar had 202 strikeouts and 167 ERA+. San Diego would give him a new four-year, $118,700,000 extension the following March.

The Seals were the lone wild card with a round one win, outlasting Charlotte 3-2. Oklahoma City defeated Oakland 3-1 and Seattle topped Los Angeles 3-1. San Diego then upset top seed San Francisco 3-1 in round two, giving the Seals a shot at their second American Association pennant in four years. The Grizzlies cruised to a sweep of the Outlaws, earning a fourth straight AACS trip.

Seattle had lost the 2023 American Association Championship Series to San Diego despite having home field advantage. The Seals yet again ruined the Grizzlies hopes, taking the series 4-2 for their fifth pennant of the 21^st Century and 11^th overall. Seattle had now lost four straight years in the AACS, extending their pennant drought to 21 seasons.

The 126^th World Series was the first one to feature two wild cards since 1990. Cincinnati of course wasn’t your standard issue wild card as they had posted the National Association’s second best record at 102-60. San Diego was the #6 seed, which last saw a winner with Houston in 2019. These had been the top two franchises of the new millennium so far and were meeting for the third time in the Fall Classic. Cincinnati had won 4-1 back in 2008 and prevailed 4-2 in 2023.

San Diego got one back in 2026, taking the series 4-2 over Cincinnati to become eight-time MLB champions (1936, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1966, 2007, 2010, 2026). The Seals were now tied with Philadelphia and Houston for the second-most titles with Denver first at nine. In his 12^th year with SD, LF Ben Conlee took World Series MVP. The two-time AA MVP in 20 playoff starts had 22 hits, 13 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 11 RBI.

Other notes: Mathis Vezina, Pat Eichelberger, and Austin Grace each hit 60 home runs. With that, 2026 joined 2007 as the only MLB seasons to have three guys at 60+ dingers. Vezina also joined Murad Doskaliev as the only MLB sluggers to reach 60+ homers twice; both also did it consecutively. 2026 also notably saw four players record a four home run game. The feat had only occurred 30 times total over MLB’s first 125 seasons.

Home run king Isaac Cox became the first MLB slugger to reach 800. Cox also became the 7^th to reach 2000 RBI. He had signed for 2026 with El Paso after a three-year run with Detroit. Cox was now at 2054 RBI, 217 away from Stan Provost’s record 2271.

Albert Gardiner, Gabe Gordin, Jason Perazzo, and Fred Hynes joined the 500 home run club, bringing that membership up to 104 sluggers. Americo Leal became the 66^th to reach 3000 hits. Fritz Louissi became the 114^th to 1500 runs scored, while Alberto Peron and Titan Gormley made it 120 batters with 1500 RBI. Louissi also won his 13^th Silver Slugger at shortstop. He joined WARlord Morgan Short (14 in CF) as the only MLB players with 13+ Sluggers. 1B Mike Rojas won his 8^th Silver Slugger.

MLB’s 33^rd Perfect Game came on July 14 by Anchorage’s Gibson Nieto, striking out 7 against Portland. The Pacifics’ Corbin Bargiel threw his second no-hitter, having previously done it in 2024. Darel Freeland, Gerrit Bos, and Otis Hope each got to 3000 career strikeouts, a mark met by 95 pitchers in MLB. Hope and Austin Bradley both crossed 200 wins, the 220^th and 221^st to do so. Both LF Max Baldwin and SS Ledell Pinnock won their 10^th Gold Gloves.

03-02-2025, 05:05 AM	#2116
FuzzyRussianHat Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2020 Posts: 2,814	2026 in MLB As the only organization with a true “minor league”, Major League Baseball was the only one with a secondary roster. That had been 36 players since getting lowered from 38 for the 1992 season. For 2026, MLB raised the secondary roster size back up to 38. The National Association’s top two records by far battled for the Lower Midwest Division title. Cincinnati had won the division in six straight seasons, but was finally dethroned by Louisville at 105-57. The Lynx ended the NA’s longest active playoff drought at 39 years and took the top seed for the first time since their 1978 World Series win. Louisville did it by leading the National Association with 841 runs and allowing the second-fewest at 613. The Lynx also had 288 team doubles, the third-best in NA history and the most in nearly a century. The Reds were 102-60, but that left them three back and stuck with the first wild card. Cincinnati allowed the fewest runs in MLB at 568 and grew their playoff streak to seven, the longest active one in MLB. There was a ten game drop from the Reds down to the next winningest playoff team. The remaining three division winners and two wild cards would be separated by a whopping two wins. Montreal at 92-70 ended up as the #2 seed, wining their third straight Northeast Division title. Hartford and Ottawa were both five back at 87-75 and ultimately two away for the last wild card. In the East, Raleigh and Washington tied for first at 90-72 with Philadelphia just shy at 87-75. The Raptors won the tiebreaker game, giving the 2021 expansion squad their first-ever division title and back-to-back playoff berths. The Admirals still advanced to the playoffs for the fourth year running thanks to a wild card. Chicago secured the Upper Midwest Division title at 90-72, one ahead of defending World Series champion Detroit at 89-73 and three better than 87-75 Omaha. The Cubs had just missed the playoffs last year, returning with their sixth berth in seven years. The Tigers ended up tied for the final wild card at 89-73 with the Lower Midwest’s Indianapolis. Omaha, Philadelphia, Hartford, and Ottawa were each two away. Detroit downed the Racers in the tiebreaker game to narrowly keep the repeat hope alive. The Tigers earned their fourth straight playoff trip and their 15^th in 20 years. Toronto and Minneapolis notably both went from wild cards last year to below .500. Cleveland improved to 78-84 after repeat 61-101 campaigns and had reason for optimism. They picked LF Hunter Morrissey #3 overall in the 2025 MLB Draft and he posted one of the greatest rookie seasons in baseball history. The 21-year old from Demarest, New Jersey won National Association MVP and Rookie of the Year with multiple records set along the way. Morrissey set MLB single-season records for batting average, slugging percentage, and OPS with a .405/.457/.786 slash and 1.243 OPS. The OPS remains the MLB record as of 2037 and ranks 39^th in all of world history. Morrissey was only the second .400+ hitter in MLB history, passing Adam Lewis’s .402 from 1955. He also beat the former slugging best of R.J. Clinton from 1963 of .786. Morrissey’s slugging would be passed once and his average beaten twice in the next decade. He played 139 games with 53 home runs, 127 RBI, 210 hits, 105 runs, 254 wRC+, and 11.0 WAR. Morrissey set the MLB record for WAR by a Rookie of the Year winner, although he was still shy of the all-time mark of 13.9 by Asian Baseball Federation legend Nizami Aghazade in 2012. Pitcher of the Year was Raleigh righty Anderson Davenport, the first-ever draft pick by the Raptors. He was taken #2 overall in the 2020 MLB Draft and had been a full-time starter since. Davenport led in wins (22-7) and complete games (17) in 2026 while adding a 2.88 ERA over 262.1 innings, 224 strikeouts, and 7.5 WAR. Sadly, Davenport would miss all of 2027 to a damaged elbow ligament. He did return for two more decent years, but ended up with more injuries in 2030 and out of the game before turning 31. Cincinnati was the lone wild card to advance out of the first round, edging Chicago 3-2. Raleigh outlasted Washington 3-2 and Montreal ousted defending champ Detroit 3-1. The Reds kept rolling by toppling top seed Louisville 3-1, earning their fifth trip to the National Association Championship Series of the 2020s. Montreal swept the Raptors on the other side, sending the Maples to their first NACS since 1997. In six games, Cincinnati defeated Montreal to give the Reds their fourth pennant in seven years (2020, 2022, 2023, 2026) and their seventh overall. The only other time in National Association history that a team won at least four titles over a seven year stretch was Philadelphia’s seven-peat from 1941-47. The Reds had the most World Series trips in the 21^st Century at six after only getting one for the entire 20^th Century. The American Association’s Southwest Division was loaded and became the first division since the 2021 playoff expansion to earn four teams into the field. San Francisco was the champ and #1 seed at 104-58, getting their fifth playoff trip in six years. It was notably the first division title since 2018 for the Gold Rush. The race for all three wild cards was concentrated almost exclusively in the Southwest. Oakland (96-66), San Diego (94-68), and Los Angeles (92-70) took the spots while Sacramento (87-73), Las Vegas (87-75), and Phoenix (86-76) all fell short. The only team outside the Southwest in the hunt was Salt Lake City, who fell one short of the Angels at 91-71. The Owls and LA both earned repeat playoff trips and the Seals picked up their third berth in four years. Although the Vipers fell short of the playoffs, their run of winning seasons grew to 19. Seattle took the Northwest Division for the fourth consecutive year at 101-61 and allowed the AA’s fewest runs at 636. The Loons finished ten back in the division. Charlotte (94-68) was the top scoring team at 881, winning the Southeast Division by eight games over Atlanta (86-76). The Canaries ended a nine-year playoff drought, while reigning American Association champ Nashville struggled to 76-86. Oklahoma City (90-72) ended a six-year playoff drought took the South Central Division by seven over Memphis and eight over both Dallas and El Paso. Houston, the division champs three of the prior four years, dropped to 75-87. In its sixth season since the expansion, Sacramento had its best record yet at 89-73 in 2026. Leading the way was American Association MVP Steve Castro, who the Shamrocks selected with their first-ever draft pick with the #6 overall choice of the 2020 MLB Draft. The DeKalb, Illinois native had been a solid starter since the selection, but led in OPS (1.098), OBP (.423), and wRC+ (173) for 2026. Castro had 7.5 WAR, 53 home runs, 147 RBI, and 116 runs. He also completed a 37-game hitting streak in mid-April that carried over from the prior season. That ranked as tied for the sixth-longest hitting streak in MLB history. In May, Sacramento locked Castro up for the long haul on an eight-year, $193,200,000 extension. Veteran pitcher Clinton Edgar won Pitcher of the Year in his fourth season for San Diego. The Micronesian lefty had come to the Seals in a summer 2023 trade after spending nine years with New Orleans. The 32-year old Edgar won back-to-back ERA titles, this time at 2.62. He also led in wins (24-7), innings (285.1), complete games (22), and WAR (8.2). Edgar had 202 strikeouts and 167 ERA+. San Diego would give him a new four-year, $118,700,000 extension the following March. The Seals were the lone wild card with a round one win, outlasting Charlotte 3-2. Oklahoma City defeated Oakland 3-1 and Seattle topped Los Angeles 3-1. San Diego then upset top seed San Francisco 3-1 in round two, giving the Seals a shot at their second American Association pennant in four years. The Grizzlies cruised to a sweep of the Outlaws, earning a fourth straight AACS trip. Seattle had lost the 2023 American Association Championship Series to San Diego despite having home field advantage. The Seals yet again ruined the Grizzlies hopes, taking the series 4-2 for their fifth pennant of the 21^st Century and 11^th overall. Seattle had now lost four straight years in the AACS, extending their pennant drought to 21 seasons. The 126^th World Series was the first one to feature two wild cards since 1990. Cincinnati of course wasn’t your standard issue wild card as they had posted the National Association’s second best record at 102-60. San Diego was the #6 seed, which last saw a winner with Houston in 2019. These had been the top two franchises of the new millennium so far and were meeting for the third time in the Fall Classic. Cincinnati had won 4-1 back in 2008 and prevailed 4-2 in 2023. San Diego got one back in 2026, taking the series 4-2 over Cincinnati to become eight-time MLB champions (1936, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1966, 2007, 2010, 2026). The Seals were now tied with Philadelphia and Houston for the second-most titles with Denver first at nine. In his 12^th year with SD, LF Ben Conlee took World Series MVP. The two-time AA MVP in 20 playoff starts had 22 hits, 13 runs, 4 doubles, 3 home runs, and 11 RBI. Other notes: Mathis Vezina, Pat Eichelberger, and Austin Grace each hit 60 home runs. With that, 2026 joined 2007 as the only MLB seasons to have three guys at 60+ dingers. Vezina also joined Murad Doskaliev as the only MLB sluggers to reach 60+ homers twice; both also did it consecutively. 2026 also notably saw four players record a four home run game. The feat had only occurred 30 times total over MLB’s first 125 seasons. Home run king Isaac Cox became the first MLB slugger to reach 800. Cox also became the 7^th to reach 2000 RBI. He had signed for 2026 with El Paso after a three-year run with Detroit. Cox was now at 2054 RBI, 217 away from Stan Provost’s record 2271. Albert Gardiner, Gabe Gordin, Jason Perazzo, and Fred Hynes joined the 500 home run club, bringing that membership up to 104 sluggers. Americo Leal became the 66^th to reach 3000 hits. Fritz Louissi became the 114^th to 1500 runs scored, while Alberto Peron and Titan Gormley made it 120 batters with 1500 RBI. Louissi also won his 13^th Silver Slugger at shortstop. He joined WARlord Morgan Short (14 in CF) as the only MLB players with 13+ Sluggers. 1B Mike Rojas won his 8^th Silver Slugger. MLB’s 33^rd Perfect Game came on July 14 by Anchorage’s Gibson Nieto, striking out 7 against Portland. The Pacifics’ Corbin Bargiel threw his second no-hitter, having previously done it in 2024. Darel Freeland, Gerrit Bos, and Otis Hope each got to 3000 career strikeouts, a mark met by 95 pitchers in MLB. Hope and Austin Bradley both crossed 200 wins, the 220^th and 221^st to do so. Both LF Max Baldwin and SS Ledell Pinnock won their 10^th Gold Gloves. __________________ Baseball: The World's Game fictional world reports Continental Baseball Federation world reports (8-tier promotion/relegation sim and college feeder)