The Detroit Tigers open up their 2026 campaign on Thursday in San Diego against the Padres, and the excitement for the team’s opening day can be felt from Lakeland all the way to the Motor City.
AJ Hinch’s roster looks like a beefed-up version of last year’s — one that started hot, bringing the best record in baseball into the All-Star break, only to go ice-cold in the second half. The Tigers still made it to the playoffs, but their epic collapse allowed the Cleveland Indians to snatch the American
League Central crown from them in embarrassing fashion.
Detroit fell in the wild-card round to the Seattle Mariners in a series that took all five games, ultimately succumbing in a 15-inning affair. That elimination game was the longest winner-take-all game in MLB history.
Now, it is a new season with a few new — and one notably old — faces, and as they say, hope springs eternal before the first pitch is thrown. As is our custom, the Bless You Boys staff came together in roundtable fashion to discuss our predictions for the boys of summer, using the following format.
- AL Division Winners
- NL Division Winners
- World Series
- League MVP
- League ROY
- League Cy Young
Many of our responses are pretty much what you would expect from this group, but as always, there were a few spicy submissions as well. Take a look at what we have to offer ahead of the first pitch on Thursday.
Patrick O’Kennedy:
- AL ROY- McGonigle
- AL Cy Young- Skubal
- AL MVP- Witt Jr
- AL MOY- Hinch
- NL ROY- Konor Griffin
- NL MVP- Ohtani
- NL Cy Young- Yamomoto
- NL MOY- Don Kelly
Playoffs
- NL East- Phillies
- NL Central- Cubs
- NL West- Dodgers
- NL Wild Card- Padres, Pirates (okay, just kidding, Padres and Mets)
- AL Pennant- Tigers over Jays
- NL Pennant- Dodgers over Phillies
- WS- Dodgers over Tigers
Ashley MacLennan:
AL Division Winners: Detroit Tigers. Why not? Let’s go optimistic. Otherwise, I’d have to pick the Blue Jays and people will think I’m doing it because I’m Canadian.
NL Division Winners: Sigh. The Dodgers.
World Series: I have to pick the Tigers because — historically speaking — when I say anything else I curse the team.
League MVP: Nothing is new or fun under the sun, so it’ll be Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, unless someone gets hurt or Bobby Witt Jr makes another wish on his monkey paw.
League ROY: Kevin McGonigle AL/Konnor Griffin NL
League Cy Young: Tarik Skubal threepete! and Paul Skenes. Nothing inventive here, friends.
Cannon at the Hot Corner: I’m pretty sure you get to pick a winner for each division (AL/NL West, Central, East), not just an AL/NL champion if you’d like.
MacLennan: No, I’m tired and lazy. (Tigers, Blue Jays, Mariners… Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies, I guess. Battle Royale for who wins what)
Cannon:
Division winners:
- AL: Tigers, Red Sox, Mariners
- NL: Brewers, Mets, Dodgers
- WS: Red Sox over Dodgers. Them some freaky good pitching staffs, folks
- MVPs: Bobby Witt Jr and Juan Soto
- Cy Youngs: Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes
- ROYs: Kevin McGonigle and Nolan McLean
Zane Harding:
- AL Division Winners —
- AL East: Red Sox
- AL Central: Tigers
- AL West: Mariners
- NL Division Winners —
- NL East: Phillies
- NL Central: Ohhh, I don’t know, the Brewers seem to know what they’re doing (I seriously considered the Pirates; this division feels weaker than usual!)
- NL West: Dodgers
- World Series: I imagine we hear a lot of Dodgers and a lot of Tigers. The last time the Tigers won, my 63-year-old father was younger than I am today… by a good margin. Dodgers
- League MVPs — gets easier every year
- AL: Judge
- NL: Ohtani
- League ROY —
- AL: Kevin McGonigle
- NL: Konnor Griffin
- League Cy Young —
- AL: TARIK SKUBAL (three trophy emojis) BOTTOM TEXT
- NL: Paul Skenes. Skenes is the best, Webb is about equal because he gets more IP, but we vote FLASHY
Peter Kwasniak:
I’m just throwing things at the wall:
AL Division Winners
- AL East: Skankees
- AL Central: Tigers
- AL West: Mariners
NL Division Winners
- NL East: Phillies
- NL Central: Reds
- NL West: Dodgers
- World Series: Dodgers
League MVPs (BORING)
- AL: Judge
- NL: Ohtani
League ROY
- AL: Kevin McGonigle
- NL: Konnor Griffin
League Cy Young (EXCITING BUT BORING)
- AL: Tarik Skubal
- NL: Paul Skenes
Cam Kaiser:
AL Division Winners
- AL East: Red Sox
- AL Central: Guardians
- AL West: Mariners
NL Division Winners
- NL East: Phillies
- NL Central: Cubs
- NL West: Dodgers
World Series: Dodgers
League MVPs
- AL: Julio Rodriguez
- NL: Shohei Ohtani
League ROY
- AL: Chase DeLauter
- NL: Sal Stewart
League Cy Young
- AL: Garrett Crochet
- NL: Paul Skenes
The Tigers are better than Cleveland on paper, but paper didn’t seem to matter at all last year, considering the Guardians, despite a paltry Pythagorean record, pulled off the largest comeback in AL division history to win the Central.
Until I see the Guardians falter, I’m going to continue to believe that the horseshoe the size of the moon stuck up their bum will propel them and any player they touch to success when it matters.
Jay Markle:
- AL East winner: New York Yankees
- AL Central winner: Detroit
- AL West winner: Seattle
- NL East winner: Philadelphia
- NL Central winner: Chicago Cubs
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- World Series: Philadelphia
- AL MVP: Aaron Judge
- NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani
- AL ROY: Kevin McGonigle
- NL ROY: JJ Wetherholt
- AL Cy: Tarik Skubal
- NL Cy: Paul Skenes
Brandon Day:
- AL East winner: Boston Red Sox
- AL Central winner: Detroit Tigers
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- NL East winner: New York Mets
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers
- AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
- NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani
- AL ROY: Kevin McGonigle
- NL ROY: Nolan McLean
- AL Cy: Garrett Crochet
- NL Cy: Paul Skenes
Mr. Sunshine: Uh, Tigers win World Series, MVP is Gleyber Torres, ROY is McG, CY is Skubal.
That’s right, I’m on the feel-good meds at the moment. NL stuff, who cares?
Fielder’s Choice:
- AL East: Blue Jays
- AL Central: Tigers
- AL West: Astros
- NL East: Marlins YEAH I SAID IT
- NL Central: Cubs
- NL West: Dodgers
- World Series: Not The Dodgers
- AL MVP: Nick Kurtz
- NL MVP: Corbin Carroll
- AL ROY: Carter Jensen
- NL ROY: Carson Benge
- AL CY: Hunter Brown
- NL CY: Eury Perez
David Rosenberg:
- AL East winner: New York Yankees
- AL Central winner: Detroit Tigers
- AL West winner: Seattle Mariners
- NL East winner: New York Mets
- NL Central winner: Milwaukee Brewers
- NL West winner: Los Angeles Dodgers
- World Series: Detroit Tigers (YOLO)
- AL MVP: Roman Anthony
- NL MVP: Shohei Ohtani
- AL ROY: Kevin McGonigle
- NL ROY: Nolan McLean
- AL Cy: Tarik Skubal
- NL Cy: Paul Skenes
Adam Dubbin:
- AL East: Rays
- AL Central: Kansas City
- AL West: Astros
- NL East: Mets
- NL Central: Cubs
- NL West: Dodgers
- World Series: Tigers
- AL MVP: Bobby Witt Jr.
- NL MVP: Juan Soto
- AL ROY: Tatsuya Imai
- NL ROY: Bubba Chandler
- AL CY: Garrett Crochet
- NL CY: Logan Webb
The Tigers once again fail to secure the AL Central title after some significant regular-season underperformances, but make a 2006-esque run to the World Series, where they finish the job that the previous teams since 1984 could not.
Now that you know where the Bless You Boys staff stands entering the 2026 campaign, give us your takes in the comments below!
