2026 Preview – Premier League Edition

While the entire offseason may not be finished, the majority of the key free agents have signed and we can assess the key moves that each team has made.


Premier League

Detroit Motors

Additions: Jose Guzman

Subtractions: None

Verdict: You won’t find a better pitcher in the CBA than Jose Guzman. Despite the fact that they might have overpaid a bit for him (and will suffer later on when needing to resign their original guys), he’ll provide a much needed second top pitcher for a team whose only weakness was their starting pitching.

Why to watch this team this season: They were the best team in the entire league in the prior season, and will only get better with the addition of Guzman and the health of Scott Golden.

Grade: A


 

Dallas Devils

Additions: 2026 2nd Round Pick

Subtractions: Ryan Bultena

Verdict: Dallas didn’t make any big moves this offseason, but they also didn’t necessarily need to make a move – they finished second and are still in the running to win the PL this season. However, with their starting staff aging (We’re looking at you, Keith Bush and Chris House), we would have suggested a trade for a starter.

Why to watch this team this season: They’re the champions.

Grade: B-


Florida Giants

Additions: Phil Page, Christian Vasquez, Gilberto Beltran, 2027 1st Round Pick, 2027 2nd Round Pick

Subtractions: Neil Kack, Tony Lovato, Tony Martinez, 2026 2nd Round Pick, 2027 1st Round Pick

Verdict: Florida traded a huge sum to Austin for their future center fielder, while also capitalizing off of a strength on their team. Trading Neil Kack didn’t hurt their bullpen depth, while at the same time netting them valuable pieces to trade for later. There were no earth shattering moves for Florida – they did that last year – but they still provided themselves depth pieces for the upcoming season.

Why to watch this team this season: Florida has been the team that’s been the third wheel to the the PL – they’ve been in a tier of their own, but always behind Dallas and Detroit. Let’s see if this year they finally can catch up to those two.

Grade: B+


Portland Axemen

Additions: Brad Limbach, Antonio Ramirez, Neil Kack, Travis Dennis

Subtractions: Dennis Jones, Aniceto Navas, Bill Alcala, Gilberto Beltran, Antonio Cruzrivera, John Chamblee, Ken Kovac, 2027 1st Round Pick, 2028 1st Round Pick, 2027 2nd Round Pick

Verdict: Their team hashtag this year is #AllIn.

For good reason, as they went all in during the offseason on their trades.

Their big acquisitions leave them with one of the best starters in the league, a good bullpen piece, and a good second baseman to add to their team. However, the cost was the best reliever (sorry Alberto Fernandez, but did you see what Dennis Jones did?) in the entire league last season, and the entire farm system. If you’re selling the entire farm, you’d better get back a good return – and while Portland got a great haul, one can only help but think they could have stretched those resources farther.

Why to watch this team this season: Isn’t it fun to watch a team that goes all in? Let’s see if the team can gel and get up in the upper echelons of the league.

Grade: C+


Sacramento Golden Bears

Additions: Bill Alcala, Paul Piatt, Alex Valdivia, Alexander Martin, Manny Gonzalez, Matt Haley, Juan Parreno, Jose Maldonado, Dave Hernandez, 2028 4th Round Pick

Subtractions: Chris Bergey, Travis Dennis, Leo Lopez, Jesus Escalera, Eddie Rodriguez, Ryan Brisbin, Antonio Mendoza, Ryan Mercer, 2027 2nd Round Pick, 2027 3rd Round Pick, 2026 5th Round Pick

Verdict: For a team that didn’t sell the farm (in fact, they signed the top amateur free agent in Dave Hernandez), they sure made their fair share of moves. Their best move in the offseason was the addition of Valdivia and Martin for pennies, giving up almost nothing and getting two players with the potential to be stars in the league.

Why to watch this team this season: A revitalized Sacramento team should light up the PL, and their new players should give the team a gigantic boost.

Grade: A


Cincinnati Royals

Additions: Dennis Jones, Aniceto Navas, Brent Savage, Alex Guzman, Andrew Brooks, Ryan Brisbin, Antonio Mendoza, Antonio Cruzrivera, Camillo Rossano, Rafael Ortega, 2028 1st Round Pick

Subtractions: Brad Limbach, Manny Gonzalez, Austin Owens, Qi-chao Kuang, Tim Engle, Victor Companioni, 2026 1st Round Pick, 2028 2nd Round Pick, 2028 3rd Round Pick, 2028 4th Round Pick

Verdict: A great offseason for the Royals, as they pick up a haul of prospects and young players who will help the team makes moves in the long run. They also pick up Dennis Jones and Brent Savage, two players who should immediately impact the team. Giving up Brad Limbach will hurt for any team, but they gave up a relatively small amount compared to what they got back in the long run.

Why to watch this team this season: They finished in the upper half of runs scored and starters’ ERA last season, but finished last in defensive efficiency and bullpen ERA. With the pick ups of Navas and Jones, they fix two spots that plagued them last season, and should put it together this year.

Grade: A-


Arizona Thunderbirds

Additions: Juan Hernandez, Jurickson Profar, Manny Rodriguez

Subtractions: None

Verdict: Arizona traded away their picks and the majority of their trade chip pieces last season, so it was hard for them to make any trades. However, they made a few small moves, particularly with the signings of Hernandez and Rodriguez. Both will solidify a bullpen that finished 6th in the PL last season, but did nothing to help their 8th place offence or 9th place starting pitching.

Why to watch this team this season: All of a sudden there’s a nice bullpen, and throwing in Chris Abbott and Abel Kennedy should be enough to watch the team. 

Grade: B


Chicago Gale

Additions: Chris Bergey, Travis Hunter, Orlando Chavez, 2028 1st Round Pick, 2026 2nd Round Pick, 2028 2nd Round Pick

Subtractions: Paul Piatt, Victor Castillo, 2026 2nd Round Pick

Verdict: Chicago is entering rebuild stage, and they traded away two of their top players to get a handful of picks and prospects back. They had a great trade with Castillo, but what were the thinking with Travis Hunter?

Why to watch this team this season: This might be the last season of the inaugural champs in the top league.

Grade: B-


Miami Warriors

Additions: Angel Cruz, Justin Marchi, Tim Engle, 2028 2nd Round Pick

Subtractions: Chris Garza, Andrew Brooks, Paul Folk, Santiago Villareal,  2027 2nd Round Pick

Verdict: Miami gave up a small number of players, yet somehow vastly improved their team.

Their subtractions aren’t prospects, nor are they picks – they are major league players, and that is where Miami got most of their trading pieces from. However, what they got back was a haul for those few major league players.

They got a great trade for Angel Cruz.

They committed a highway robbery when they got Justin Marchi.

For a little bit of depth, they got back stars that will help them this season.

Why to watch this team this season: By far the best offense in the SL takes on the improved pitching in the PL. Add in the fact that the park got a whole lot more pitcher friendly and we’ll see if that offense that led Miami to the SL championship stays up at the top.

Grade: A


DC Eagles

Additions: Jared DeMartino, Juan Cruz, Yoshiji Okuno, Bobby Lopez, Dave Bailey, 2027 1st Round Pick, 2028 3rd Round Pick

Subtractions: Jose Sanchez, Luis Hernandez, Dave Salazar, Robby Gonzalez, 2026 5th Round Pick, 2027 5th Round Pick

Verdict: Their big move of the offseason was trading for Jared DeMartino, and it gives them one of the best back end bullpens in the PL (second only to Florida). Adding back Billy Kearns helps them as well, but the health of their pitchers remains a major concern for DC, as most of the pitchers they have are injury prone. Offensively they traded away one of the top hitters in the league in Jose Sanchez, but still have a young, dynamic lineup to fill in the gap. The Sanchez trade was a good trade for DC, as they got a good return in a slow market for corner outfielders.

Why to watch this team this season: They’ll be the youngest team in the PL, and despite being in the top tier have they’ll still have the youngest lineup out of all 30 teams, with an average age of 23.55(!) years old.

Grade: B


Predictions

After the predictions from last year…

 Predicted Finish Position Actual Finish
 Dallas  1 Detroit
 Detroit  2 Dallas
 Florida  3 Florida
 Denver 4 Portland
Chicago 5 Sacramento
Cincinnati 6 Cincinnati
Midwest 7 Arizona
 Sacramento 8 Chicago
 Portland 9 Denver
 Arizona 10  Midwest

The projected finish for teams this season is:

Standings: Dallas Florida Detroit Miami Chicago DC Arizona Cincinnati Sacramento Portland
1 6 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 4 0 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 0
4 0 6 0 4 0 0 0 1 0 0
5 0 1 0 4 0 0 1 3 0 2
6 0 1 0 2 1 5 0 0 1 1
7 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 5 4
8 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 5 1
9 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 0 0 3
10 0 0 0 0 9 0 2 0 0 0
Points 104 77 104 71 16 42 28 81 40 42

In the standings, that would look like:

1. (Tie) Detroit and Dallas

3. Cincinnati

4. Florida

5. Miami

6. (Tie) DC and Portland

7. Sacramento

9. Arizona

10. Chicago

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