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2026 NL WEST PREVIEW
Dodgers look to three-peat for first time in team history

By MLB.com staff
03/22/2026

Winners of the last two World Series, what can the Dodgers do for an encore? Win a third straight, of course. They didn't do anything in the offseason to make you think they weren't the heavy favorites to win it again, signing arguably two of the top four or five free agents on the market in Kyle Tucker and Edwin Diaz, and that's really about all they did.

No team has won three straight since the Yankees did it from 1998 to 2000. The only other team to do it were the A's from 1972 through 1974, with the Yankees also doing it twice more back in the 1930's, 40's, and 50's. They're also the only team to go four and five-in-a-row back thaen.

Of course, they brought back World Series heroes Kike Hernandez and Miguel Rojas, as they played big roles in winning the 2024 and 2025 Fall Classics, respectively. The only difference between this season and last at the start of the year was that they'll be a bit worse for wear heading into 2026, with five of their projected 13-man staff on the IL to begin the season, including last year's closer down the stretch, Brock Stewart. The guy who would have likely replaced him, Brusdar Graterol, is also down.

Does this leave the door open a crack for San Diego, or maybe even San Francisco, to take the division? Perhaps, but the depth that the Dodgers have built up over the years due to being able to really develop their pitching has paid off, as they go into the year still solidly deep in starting pitching. The bullpen will remain a sore spot in the early going, but they should have enough starting pitching that can go six-plus innings to negate the lack of depth.

The AL West will wrap up our six-part series of division-by-division previews later today.

1. LOS ANGELES DODGERS

ADDED: OF Kyle Tucker, RHP Edwin Diaz
LOST: LHP Anthony Banda, OF Esteury Ruiz, LHP Andrew Heaney, LHP Clayton Kershaw, RHP Kirby Yates, OF Michael Conforto

The Dodgers weren't terribly busy overall this offseason, but the few moves they did make could prove to be among the most impactful of any team in the league. They struck first with the signing of Diaz at the last minute over the originally-favored Mets, who ended up signing Devin Williams away from the Yankees. Their highest impact signing was Tucker, of course, as he'll slot into right field.

THey also extended Max Muncy on a reasonably-priced one-year pact; and even though he's going to miss the first 40-50% of the season, Evan Phillips was brought back to give them a boost in the bullpen later on in the season. They're also re-uniting with World Series heroes Kike Hernandez and Miguel Rojas, with the latter signing for $5 million in what he says is his final season before hanging up the cleats.

Now, they're going to head into the season a bit banged up, as five guys that were projected to be in the pitching staff (Blake Snell, Phillips, Jack Dreyer, Brusdar Graterol, Brock Stewart) are all out for at least the first month of the season, and Hernandez and Tommy Edman are going to miss the first few weeks. But if there's a team that can weather the injury bug, it's the Dodgers.

With Snell out, righty Gavin Stone is slated to serve as the team's number-five starter, while the top four of Tylor Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, and Roki Sasaki all set. River Ryan, who had a 3.49 ERA in 14 1/3 innings with the Dodgers in a relief role last year, is thought to be headed to Triple-A to stretch out as a starter.

2. SAN DIEGO PADRES

ADDED: OF/DH Miguel Andujar, OF/DH Nick Castellanos, RHP Griffin Canning, RHP German Marquez, OF/3B Sung-mun Song
LOST: RHP Dylan Cease, RHP Robert Suarez, 1B Ryan O'Hearn, INF Tyler Wade, INF Luis Arraez, LHP Nestor Cortes, C Elias Diaz

As has been the case for the 2020's, the Padres have been the main competitor to the Dodgers for NL West supremacy, although they haven't won the division since 2006. They figure to again be the Dodgers' main adversary in 2026, but aside from bringing back Michael King on a three-year deal, didn't appear to get much better on paper, although they do have some more depth on the pitching staff, especially in the rotation.

They brought in veterans German Marquez and Griffin Canning on short-term deals, perhaps as bridges until Jhony Brito and Yu Darvish return from injury. Darvish, however, has contemplated retirement as he is entering his age-40 season and facing another long recovery from elbow surgery.

This is still a capable rotation even without those two, but another spate of injuries could put them back behind the eight-ball as they don't have Dylan Cease this season, having signed with the Blue Jays over the winter.The bullpen also returns mostly intact, only losing Suarez to the Braves on a three-year deal worth $15 million per year, which would have been much more than the arbitration deal that incumbent closer Mason Miller received (about $4.7 million).

They signed Korean import Sung-mun Song to a three-year deal, presumably to play a utility role with his main position, third base, already filled with Manny Machado. He could also play first base, but they already have fellow lefty hitter Jake Cronenworth slated to take the lion's share of at-bats there already. That leaves the outfield, where his plus-arm could play in right, but he's spent the bulk of his pro outfield reps in left.

Also, Andujar was signed to split DH and outfield reps, further limiting where Song could end up playing. There's a chance he could also end up in the minors, as he will come in with a fresh set of options if they want to give him regular playing time without the pressure of producing for the Padres right off the bat.

3. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

ADDED: INF Luis Arraez, OF Harrison Bader, RHP Adrian Houser, RHP Tyler Mahle, LHP Sam Hentges, RHP Gregory Santos
LOST: 1B/OF Dominic Smith, INF Wilmer Flores, RHP Justin Verlander, RHP Mason Black, C Tom Murphy, C Andrew Knizner

Tony Vitello is set to become the first manager in MLB history to manage a game without any previous MLB coaching experience when the Giants and Yankees square off in a couple of days. It was not the most surprising hire, as team president Buster Posey does like to go in unorthodox directions, but other college head coaches like Pat Murphy (who previously coached in pro baseball before college) have come from the college ranks and have proven successful in the big leagues.

Former players under Vitello, like veteran pitcher Max Scherzer, also have praised him in the past. Vitello was Scherzer's pitching coach at the University of Missouri in the mid 2000's, and worked with other MLB pitchers like Kyle Gibson, Tanner Houck, and Aaron Crow.

Posey, GM Zack Minasian, and the rest of the front office made a few splashy-ish signings, getting free agent pitchers Adrian Houser and Tyler Mahle for $32 million total, with Houser also signing on for a second year in 2027. Additionally, they bought low on Hentges and Santos, both of whom either struggled with consistency (Santos) or missed the entire season (Hentges). In Santos' case, it was a bit of both, making just seven appearances due to injury. The Giants' outfield defense also received a boost with Bader in the fold, as he'll displace Jung-hoo Lee, who should still get plenty of run mainly due to his high price tag.

They're at less than 100% strength in the bullpen, as projected closer Randy Rodriguez and righty reliever Jason Foley, another buy-low candidate, will start the season on the IL. Ryan Walker, who has closed games in the past, should get the bulk of the save opportunities early on, with Hentges and righty Jose Butto in front of him. Hentges hasn't reported any setbacks from his elbow surgery prior to last season, so it's assumed he's a full-go.

4. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

ADDED: 3B Nolan Arenado, RHP Merrill Kelly, RHP Mike Soroka, 1B/DH Carlos Santana, RHP Paul Sewald, RHP Taylor Clarke, RHP Kade Strowd
LOST: INF Blaze Alexander, LHP Jalen Beeks, RHP Elvin Rodriguez

Arizona made future HOF third baseman Nolan Arenado their big, marquee acquisition, nabbing him from the Cardinals for pitcher Jack Martinez, who was a 2025 draftee. They're also only on the hook for about $10 million of the remaining $31 million he's owed through 2027, so he's playing on a relatively cheap, bargain-type of deal, even with the diminished production in recent years.

They also brought back Zac Gallen on a one-year, deferral-heavy pact along with Merrill Kelly and Mike Soroka to help fill out the rotation. He signed for what would have been the $22.025 million qualifying offer, so it kind of left people wondering why he didn't just take it in the first place.

With roughly a third of their Opening Day roster on the injured list to begin the season, including Corbin Carroll, Corbin Burnes, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and projected closer A.J. Puk, Arizona is in one of the toughest positions of any team in the league going into the 2026 campaign.

Their early-season schedule is also tough, with seventeen games against 2025 playoff teams through the end of April, so for a team that was already a rung or two behind the main contenders in the West with the Dodgers and Padres, they're also likely going to be behind the eight-ball when it comes to the Giants, as well.

5. COLORADO ROCKIES

ADDED: INF Edouard Julien, RHP Pierson Ohl, RHP Michael Lorenzen, RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, LHP Jose Quintana, LHP Brennan Bernardino, LHP Erik Sabrowski, OF Jake McCarthy
LOST: INF Orlando Arcia, INF Thairo Estrada, RHP German Marquez, LHP Ryan Rolison, 1B Michael Toglia

Following a franchise-low 119 losses in 2025, the Rockies' offseason was defined by a massive front-office and dugout overhaul, hiring former Cleveland executive Paul DePodesta as baseball ops chief and Josh Byrnes to run the day-to-day as GM. They also made interim manager Warren Schaeffer the full-time manager.

While they didn't do a total roster teardown, they did raise the floor of the 2026 squad with the signing of multiple veteran starting pitchers to one-year deals, and supplemented the lineup with veteran position players Jake McCarthy, Edouard Julien, and Willi Castro. They also jettisoned former first-round pick Michael Toglia, and let players like German Marquez, Thairo Estrada, and Orlando Arcia walk.

Given that eighty-one games a year are played in Coors Field, the lineup will always have some decent firepower, and this iteration of the Rox isn't any different. Catcher Hunter Goodman was one of the breakout players of the NL last season, and they have other standouts like Jordan Beck and Mickey Moniak. It's why the front office heavily pursued veteran pitching, as they have a good enough lineup to do some damage if they can get consistency from the staff.

Another key player is center fielder Brenton Doyle, a two-time Gold Glove winner who also appeared to be making strides at the plate before a personal tragedy struck during the 2025 season and slumped to a 61 OPS+, although he still managed to eke out being a positive WAR player (0.2 WAR), thanks to his still-strong defense, although he fell short of winning his third Gold Glove. A bounce-back year from him would also go a long way toward getting Colorado back to respectability.