A year ago, we conducted an exercise to identify the Ultimate Bandwagon Team for 2025 – a team for those without a specific rooting interest to coalesce behind for the season. What does it take to be an Ultimate Bandwagon Team? As I put it then, you want a team that’s “almost like a growth stock for which you can get in on the ground floor.”
And you know what? Things turned out pretty well a year ago. My pick was the Mariners, who enjoyed a fantastic season that included the franchise’s first American League West title – and first AL Championship Series trip – since 2001. Between that team success and the historic exploits of Cal Raleigh, Seattle was truly one of the most enjoyable teams to watch, start to finish.
Now, let’s see if I can nail it again this year.
Step 1: Eliminate 2025 playoff teams
Sorry, but any team that reached October last year, by definition, can’t be the fun bandwagon team that comes out of nowhere in 2026. This does not mean you cannot root for these teams, of course: Jump on any bandwagon you want. You do you. But to be a true Ultimate Bandwagon Team, you have to surge into a place you weren’t last year. You’ve got to be new to the party.
So we wave goodbye to:
- Blue Jays
- Brewers (though they’re still underrated heading into 2026)
- Cubs
- Dodgers
- Guardians
- Mariners (We had a good run!)
- Padres
- Phillies
- Reds (though I thought about keeping the Reds, since their 2025 postseason was so short)
- Red Sox
- Tigers
- Yankees
Now, there are some pretty likable teams up there, from the always-plucky Brewers to the so-close Blue Jays to last year’s pick, the Mariners. But it is a foundational rule that if you made the playoffs one season, you can’t be the Ultimate Bandwagon pick the next year. Sorry. So we’re down to 18 teams. To the next elimination round!
Step 2: Are they a reasonable 2026 contender?
It’s one thing to bandwagon a team that has upside potential; it’s quite another to pick a team that lost 100-plus games the year before and doesn’t appear set up for significant improvement, or a team that is purposely reconstructing its entire roster to build for the future. Some of these teams could potentially be bandwagon teams next year, if they can continue to grow. But for now, well, we can only include teams that have a realistic path to contention.
Thus, goodbye to:
- Angels
- Cardinals (though they’re a potentially great pick in 2027)
- Nationals
- Rockies
- White Sox (perhaps an even better pick in 2027 than the Cardinals)
This gets us down to 13 teams. That was fast.
Step 3: Did they win a title too recently?
Your bandwagon team, even if it made the playoffs last year, can’t be a team with too great a history of success. It’s difficult to feel insurgent if it is almost always in the playoffs, or has won a World Series fairly recently. This is why Drake Maye’s Patriots couldn’t be your bandwagon team in the NFL; it’s why the Celtics can’t be yours in the NBA. If your team is still heavily associated with championships, the label can’t fit.
Where’s the cutoff here? Here’s a good quick-and-dirty one: Let’s eliminate teams who have won a World Series this century. Their fans just haven’t suffered nearly long enough for the bandwagon. If this makes any of their fans sad, well, they can stare at those championship rings for a while to make themselves feel better.
- Astros
- Braves
- Diamondbacks
- Giants
- Marlins
- Rangers
- Royals
That took out more teams than I was expecting. Here are your final six teams:
- Athletics
- Mets
- Orioles
- Pirates
- Rays
- Twins
Those are some pretty varied teams! Last year, we eliminated some teams in Step 4 by saying they’d been in the postseason too much, that they’d gotten too familiar. I don’t think that applies to any of these teams. But I do wonder if we should eliminate a couple for not being all that aggressive this offseason; if we’re going to hop on a team’s bandwagon, we want to feel like it’s a team that is really investing in winning this year. This eliminates two teams:
- Rays
- Twins
You could make an argument for keeping the Rays, considering they did make a high quantity of moves this offseason, but none of those were all that aggressive, and they gave away some talent, too. The Twins traded away just about their entire veteran roster at the Deadline last year and didn’t do much this offseason to overcome that.
Another move we made last year, when we got to this low number of teams, was to look to the stars: to only pick teams with legitimate stars on the roster. But all four of our teams left -- the A’s, Mets, Orioles and Pirates -- have huge stars. So that doesn’t work, either.
Instead, let’s run through the pros and cons for each team left.
ATHLETICS
Pros: Nick Kurtz. So many other young hitting stars. An unconventional home ballpark that they’re settling into. Those fantastic uniforms. Their status as an irresistible late-night MLB.TV team.
Cons: That unconventional home ballpark is also an unconventional situation, across the board. This is still a franchise in transition. And more immediate to 2026, there still isn’t much pitching here.
METS
Pros: They’ve got stratospheric stars in Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor, and Bo Bichette is an exciting newcomer. If they won the World Series, it’d be one of the best stories in sports. Plus, there’s always Mr. Met.
Cons: They’re a New York City team that spends like it.
ORIOLES
Pros: One of the longest-suffering fanbases in the sport deserves it, badly. Pete Alonso leading a group of kids to a title would be amazing. (If very cruel to Mets fans.) Camden Yards would look so fantastic in the Fall Classic. (It still has never seen one.) Cal Ripken Jr. nostalgia would be incredible. Joan Jett is an Orioles fan.
Cons: It still doesn’t feel like that front office has done quite as much as it could have, most notably in terms of acquiring a No. 1 starter. There are already some concerning injury issues here, too.
PIRATES
Pros: Who wouldn’t want to root for Paul Skenes in the playoffs? This is another one of the longest-suffering fanbases that could really use a win. Those uniforms are still fantastic, too.
Cons: Despite some significant moves to bolster the offense, it still feels like they’re leaving some meat on the bone here as far as improving the roster around Skenes. Also, it sure would be nice if Andrew McCutchen could be a part of this.
OK: Time to put up or shut up.
First team to drop? Probably the Mets: It’s hard to bandwagon a New York City team with a sky-high payroll.
Next? We’ll drop the A’s. Still too much uncertainty here. Ask again next year – or perhaps even when they get to Las Vegas.
Two left. Pirates or Orioles?
In the end, you want to pick a winner in the Ultimate Bandwagon contest, just like we did with the Mariners last year. And the Orioles look like they have a considerably better team than the Pirates do. Sorry, Pirates: You were very close.
Congratulations, Orioles: You’re our Second Annual Ultimate Bandwagon selection, here in 2026. Here’s hoping it goes as well for you as it did the Mariners in '25. Or perhaps even better.