bdj610’s 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams…The Final Rosters

Apparently, this post didn't hit as scheduled last week. That's on me, and I apologize.

After going over stats and arguing with myself as to who deserves to be on the team, I have finally finished completing my 36-man teams. I think I can say with confidence that the players who made my All-Star Teams were worthy of inclusion, not just because many of them are major superstars, but because their statistics were high enough above their peers that made them stand out from the rest. And believe me, it was tough to choose. Certain players were left off (I'll list them at the bottom for honorable mentions).

So, without further ado, here are the players who made my 2026 MLB End of Year All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

American League First Basemen Pete Alonso, Orioles Jake Burger, Rangers Willson Contreras, Red Sox Second Basemen Travis Bazzana, Guardians Jazz Chisolm, Yankees Chase Meidroth, White Sox Third Basemen Junior Caminerio, Rays Brooks Lee, Twins Miguel Vargas, White Sox Shortstops Kevin McGonigle, Tigers Zach Neto, Angels Bobby Witt, Jr., Royals Outfielders Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox Randy Arozarena, Mariners Jac Caglianone, Royals Chase DeLauter, Guardians Riley Greene, Tigers Brandon Nimmo, Rangers Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox Chandler Simpson, Rays Mike Trout, Angels Catchers Dillon Dingler, Tigers Carter Jensen, Royals Shea Langeliers, Athletics Designated Hitter Yordan Alvarez, Astros Pitchers Bryan Baker, Rays Dylan Cease, Blue Jays Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox Sonny Gray, Red Sox Nick Martinez, Rays Drew Rasmussen, Rays Tyler Rogers, Blue Jays Cam Schlittler, Yankees Cade Smith, Guardians Louis Varland, Blue Jays Gavin Williams, Guardians

National League First Basemen Alex Burleson, Cardinals Rafael Devers, Giants Matt Olson, Braves Second Basemen Ozzie Albies, Braves Brandon Lowe, Pirates Brice Turang, Brewers Third Basemen Nolan Arenado, Diamondbacks Alex Bregman, Cubs Max Muncy, Dodgers Shortstops CJ Abrams, Nationals Elly De La Cruz, Reds Otto Lopez, Marlins Outfielders Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks Jackson Chourio, Brewers Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs Michael Harris II, Braves Juan Soto, Mets Seiya Suzuki, Cubs Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres Jordan Walker, Cardinals James Woods, Nationals Catchers Drake Baldwin, Braves Hunter Goodman, Rockies Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks Designated Hitter Kyle Schwarber, Phillies Pitchers Chase Burns, Reds Jhoan Duran, Phillies Raisel Iglesias, Braves Trevor Megill, Brewers Mason Miller, Padres Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers Adrian Morejon, Padres Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks Chris Sale, Braves Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers

Most of the position players were chosen based on statistics comparing the top eight position players in each league (hits, runs, home runs, rbi's, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, caught stealing, and batting average). In most cases, the players I had chosen earlier due to the one person per team rule made the top three.

In previous years, I tended to show a little more bias to Chicago players (on both sides) in cases where if I thought I could choose them over another person, I would (hey, I'm from Chicago, what can I say). But since I'm now announcing these publicly (compared to doing this privately in my mind), I thought I'd try to be as open minded as I can and pick the proper deserving players. And I was really trying to stretch, because so many more players on both the Cubs and White Sox could have easily made it on here. 

Sole player reps on teams this year include the Astros (Alvarez), Athletics (Langeliers), Orioles (Alonso), Mariners (Arozarena), Twins (Lee), Giants (Devers), Marlins (Lopez), Mets (Soto), Pirates (Lowe), and Rockies (Goodman). The Braves send a league-high six players to the NL squad. The Rays and Red Sox each have five players to the AL side. The Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Guardians each send four players onto their respective All-Star Teams.

Are there snubs? You bet. 

Notice one extremely big name absent here??! Someone who won three MVP's in a row? A guy that is a unicorn in the sport? Anyone??!

Yes. Shohei Ohtani is not listed above. It's not because of hate of the Dodgers, or the fact that he would have become a consecutive four-time MVP. But Schwarber had a great year and I only have one DH spot on each side. Yes, even MLB allows for one DH starter and a reserve to both rosters. There are 36 players on each team as it stands now. I understand the game evolves and roster priorities have changed over time. But I figure there are already 24 other hitters on this roster that could easily play the role of DH. When I was doing the SBS game simulations, the game 7 was a free for all and any "hitter" could be the DH for that game. So I believe just one actual DH is enough for each side. When I go back through 11 years of missed seasons, don't worry. Shohei will definitely be on multiple teams...Just not this one.

There are so many other players that could have been added. On the AL side, where was our guy Munetaka Murakami??! The AL outfield could have also included Julio Rodriguez, Chandler Simpson, Cam Smith, Cody Bellinger. Second base could have included either Kody Clemens or Luke Keaschall (or whichever Twin could be considered the primary second baseman).

At NL shortstop, Trea Turner and Mookie Betts were considered. The NL first baseman pool included Freddie Freeman and (Chicago bias) Michael Busch. The NL outfield could also have seen Jackson Merrill, Daylen Lile, Ian Happ (Chicago bias...I did promise to be a bit more fair otherwise, EVERY Cub and White Sox player would have made this team), Andy Pages...I could keep going.

Back in 2014, I added a "Final Man" poll to this humble, little blog at the end of the final roster announcement post. This was still at the time that MLB allowed fans to vote for one more player who was snubbed during the announcements to be added to the team. MLB no longer does this now, and I was debating whether or not I do one here. While I feel that if I had not stopped blogging, a poll would have enough people voting to make it a worthy exercise. But as it stands now, as I am just returning, I don't think I have the readership to get enough responses to warrant making one.

So ends the presentation for my 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams. Please feel free to comment, debate, tell me that I did a good job, or that I don't know what I'm talking about and should have put in this person for another.

I promise I will get to running the simulations (thanks to SBS baseball) once the stats are uploaded onto the website (there are people who still make the effort to do this even if it's not on any official channels). This way, we can see which of the above squads would win if they faced each other. I will also make sure images of all the cards of the players (if I have to, I'll try and make some) once the Cyber Museum uploads images of the 2026 Update Series cards on their site.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama