2026 MLB offseason needs: What the Mariners, Mets and other disappointing teams must fix

The MLB postseason is in full swing, and while our attention is on the remaining clubs, we also have plenty of time to focus on teams that aren’t partaking in this year’s playoffs. 

For several notable teams on the outside looking in, the next few months will be about addressing their weaknesses and figuring out how they can quickly get back into the postseason mix.

How MLB’s biggest 2026 disappointments can rebound this offseason

The offseason is when teams get busy trying to better position themselves for contention the following year. With SeatGeek serving as the Official Ticket Marketplace of MLB, we’ve followed all 30 teams very closely this year, and we’ve highlighted five teams that missed this year’s postseason and broke down what they need to address this offseason. 

Seattle Mariners: New skipper, new direction

The Mariners were baseball’s biggest disappointment in 2026, no doubt. After being less than nine outs from a World Series berth in 2025, the team cratered to a 76-86 finish. The result was manager Dan Wilson being fired after two-plus seasons at the helm, but Seattle’s front office leadership will be back.

Basically, everything went wrong in Seattle. The lineup was 28th in runs, 29th in average, 28th in SLG and 22nd in strikeouts. The pitching, which had been a strength, was 19th in team ERA and had a particularly bad month of August, ranking 29th in ERA. Defensively, the Mariners were the worst fielding team in MLB by a number of different metrics.

Hiring Wilson’s replacement is step No. 1. It figures to be an intriguing job given the talent the next manager will take over – Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, Bryan Woo, Josh Naylor, Brendan Donovan and Andres Munoz are all former All-Stars under contract through 2027, but nearly everyone there had a down year and/or battled injuries. 

Given how weak the AL West was this year, this is a team that could certainly rebound for a division crown next season. A new skipper with new ideas could certainly help, and it’ll be interesting how the M’s opt to build out their coaching staff as Wilson essentially inherited Scott Servais’ staff when he took over late in 2024, and the team lost a number of high-ranking assistants last offseason. Could one of those departures return as manager? Or will the Mariners go fully out of house this time around?

The biggest task personnel-wise is replacing Randy Arozarena. The veteran outfielder had a career year with a .281/.381/.484 (.865 OPS) line, 26 home runs, 79 RBIs, 26 stolen bases and an AL-leading 113 runs scored. At 31 years old, Arozarena is likely the best bat on the market, and it seems unlikely the Mariners would win any sort of bidding war for him. 

Detroit Tigers: Restock rotation, add another bat or two

The Tigers were maybe baseball’s weirdest team. Detroit had the best run differential in the division at plus-71, which was the fourth-best in the AL and eighth-best in all of baseball. The Tigers were sixth in ERA and 14th in runs scored. But Detroit finished fourth in the AL Central at 76-86, nine games out of the division lead and eight games out of the final AL Wild Card spot.

So what happened? Look at May. 

The Tigers lost ace Tarik Skubal to injury early that month, and they finished 6-22 and minus-48 in run differential. They were over .500 in every full month besides May outside of an 11-16 August, which came on the heels of trading Skubal to Los Angeles and Casey Mize to San Diego. Both Skubal and Mize are pending free agents who were shipped to playoff teams. 

The good news for the Tigers is there are some intriguing pieces due back for 2027. Kevin McGonigle is the presumptive AL Rookie of the Year winner after a stellar campaign that saw him post an .806 OPS and 7.1 bWAR. Catcher Dillon Dingler had a breakout campaign with 27 homers, Spencer Torkelson added 26 bombs of his own and Riley Greene had 21 homers and an .844 OPS. All are due back for 2027, as is 2025 playoff hero Kerry Carpenter, who had a down year and battled numerous injuries. The biggest question as far as 2026 players go is whether Gleyber Torres will be back as he’s set to test free agency once again. 

The pitching staff has Framber Valdez back after he had a 4.03 ERA in 31 starts in his first year for Detroit. Keider Montero will also return after a breakout season, as will Troy Melton and Jackson Jobe. Jack Flaherty is a pending free agent after a good, not great season. The bullpen should be in good shape, but club options for Kenley Jansen and Drew Anderson remain.

I would not sleep on the Tigers in 2027. The team had some bad luck and underperformed as a result. Assuming they can add at least one notable starting pitcher, I’d make them the AL Central favorite next year. AJ Hinch is a great manager and should have this team right for the next few years, especially in a division that saw the winner take home the crown at just 85-77. 

New York Mets: Balancing a reset with huge stars

The Mets had a roster reshuffle for the ages last offseason, and it seemed like they’d be in contention all year long. Yeah, about that … 

The Mets instead crumbled to a 74-88 record, finishing last in the NL East. They sold at the deadline, trading starting pitchers Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes and David Peterson, and relievers Luke Weaver, AJ Minter, Brooks Raley among others to contenders. Manager Carlos Mendoza was fired early in the year. Letting Pete Alonso walk in free agency proved to be a killer as he slugged 43 homers with 113 RBIs for Baltimore while the Mets were 20th in runs scored. 

The good news for the Mets is they don’t have to do a managerial search this offseason. Andy Green, the team’s interim skipper, went 40-41 running the team and received the full-time job. He previously managed the Padres from 2016-19. 

But the rest of the roster will need some TLC this offseason, and it won’t be easy. 

The Mets have some great pieces in place. There are established stars Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, as well as key young pieces in Nolan McLean and Carson Benge. But Bo Bichette can opt out of his contract and enter free agency, though he may not given he had a down year overall.

There are some veteran pieces set to return, but they’re expensive and are coming off poor years. Jorge Polanco will be back, but he’s likely a DH-only option after an injury-plagued season. Devin Williams is entering Year 2 of a three-year deal, but he had a rough first campaign with the Mets. Marcus Semien had a .620 OPS and is signed through 2028.

Will the Mets opt to get creative to improve the roster? Will they rely on these veterans to have bounceback seasons? Or will the Mets decide to push their chips in and go after the likes of Skubal in free agency? 

Considering the Mets finished last in the NL East, going all-in this offseason would be strange, but owner Steve Cohen has not been shy about spending in the past. New York could very well be the busiest team this offseason once again.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Keeping the momentum at the plate, but rediscovering the pitching mojo

If you told me in March that the Pirates finished sixth in runs scored, I would have assumed they finished the season with 90+ wins and were a lock as a playoff team. Instead, the Pirates were 82-80 and missed the postseason by six games in the Wild Card race.

Now, there was progress made, certainly. After all, the Pirates haven’t made the playoffs since 2015, and this was their first winning season since 2018. 

But spoiling that offense was a pitching staff that was 14th in team ERA. That’s not the worst, by any means, but Pittsburgh was seventh in ERA in 2025.

Paul Skenes’ step back after his Cy Young season will be the most talked about discussion with this staff. He had a 3.82 ERA after a 1.97 mark in 2025. That’s certainly notable, but he should be fine. Skenes’ pedigree is great, and I’d bet on a bounceback season in 2027. The big question will be him rediscovering his velocity after a notable dip, and various reports have pointed to a mechanical shift that may be to blame. 

As far as the rest of the Pirates’ staff, Braxton Ashcraft had a very nice year with a 3.65 ERA, but Bubba Chandler (4.62 ERA) and Mitch Keller (5.29) notably underperformed. The bullpen was 14th in ERA, which is a good enough starting point.

I think the Pirates would be well served to add a notable starter this offseason. They won’t be in the Skubal sweepstakes, but what about the likes of Robbie Ray, Clay Holmes or a resurgent Tyler Mahle? The Pirates also have an above-average farm system, so perhaps a trade can be made. 

Offensively, the majority of the team’s key pieces are back, like Bryan Reynolds, Ryan O’Hearn and Oneil Cruz, but Brandon Lowe, who led the team with 35 homers and 96 RBIs, is a pending free agent. The Pirates desperately need him back, but Lowe will be highly sought after on the open market. 

St. Louis Cardinals: Complement young stars with established names

Things haven’t been the best in St. Louis the last few years. The team has just one winning season over the last four years – including 2026 – and finished fourth in the NL Central at 77-85.

The Cardinals were actually competitive for most of the year, but they finished 10-18 in July and 9-15 in September, both of which severely impacted their playoff chances. Still, there was some notable progress made.

If I’m a Cardinals fan, I’m frustrated by the second-half play, but I like that there’s a clear young core that can be built around. JJ Wetherholt posted 4.5 bWAR as a rookie and Alec Burleson drove in 116 runs. Most notably, Jordan Walker had 29 homers, 102 RBIs and a .793 OPS. The Cardinals’ pitching has long been a problem, but Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante and Kyle Leahy all had sub-4 ERAs. Closer Riley O’Brien made the All-Star Game. 

The time is right for the Cardinals to start making more strides toward contention. I’m not advocating for the Cards going all-in this offseason with crazy win-now moves, but this is a young core that needs veteran pieces around it. We’ve far too often seen young teams on the verge of breaking out who fall on their face because the team doesn’t add enough proven pieces around them to help pick up the young guys when they start to go through cold spells. 

The Cardinals aren’t going to win the NL Central next year, but some smart moves to add veteran pieces to multi-year deals would go a long way toward Wild Card contention in 2027 and 2028.