MLB Roster Turnover: Which Teams Glance Most Different in 2026?
Another offseason has reach and gone and another marathon of an MLB season is staring us in the face. To close the book on the winter and set the stage for the season ahead, it’s time to evaluate all 30 rosters based on how much they changed since last year. This isn’t about determining whether a squad is better or worse, simply whether they are different.
The methodology is simple. Tally every plate appearance taken and inning pitched for each team in the 2025 season. If the players behind those plate appearances and innings are still in the organization, they qualify as “returning.”
For example, Francisco Lindor recorded an MLB-leading 732 plate appearances in 2025, roughly 11.8% of his team’s trips to the batter’s box. He is still on the Mets, so his plate appearances are returning. However, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, and Jeff McNeil are no longer with the team. By subtracting their playing time from the Mets’ returning total and comparing the results to teams across the league, we can arrive at an objective measure of how different the fresh-look Mets are from the 2025 squad, rather than merely marveling at the roster shuffling that took place in Queens this winter.
This exercise helps assess roster turnover, answering the popular offseason question: Which teams ran it back, and which teams shook things up? It also highlights which fan bases will be adjusting to a larger portion of fresh faces and which will be watching largely unchanged rosters.
A crucial caveat: Returning totals do not account for injuries. Pitchers who delivered a sizable workload last year but are currently injured — such as Pablo López in Minnesota or Spencer Schwellenbach, Hurston Waldrep, and Spencer Strider in Atlanta — are still considered part of the team’s “returning” total, even if they won’t be available for most or all of the coming season. This is especially relevant for the Braves, who technically have retained the second-highest percentage of 2025 innings, but absences could open the door for new arms to cover innings in 2026.
New York Mets
The New York Mets epitomize this exercise, having overhauled their roster after a disappointing 2025 season. This included letting mainstays Alonso and Edwin Díaz walk in free agency and trading Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil. The Mets restocked their offense with Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette, and Luis Robert Jr., plus Marcus Semien, who arrived from Texas in the Nimmo swap. Franchise anchors Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto remain in place, but the lineup around them looks different entering 2026.
There’s more continuity on the mound, with New York’s top three pitchers by innings last season — David Peterson, Clay Holmes, and Kodai Senga — still in the fold. However, the departures of Díaz, Griffin Canning, and Ryne Stanek necessitated additions to the pitching staff. New York traded for Freddy Peralta and signed Devin Williams and Luke Weaver.
All together, it was a wild winter of roster reconstruction, closing the book on several lengthy Mets tenures and starting new chapters for some high-profile fresh faces.
New York Yankees
In contrast to the Mets, the New York Yankees spent the bulk of the offseason trying to keep their roster intact. This is a sharp contrast to their own roster construction a year ago. Entering 2025, the Yankees had the fourth-lowest percentage of plate appearances plus innings returning in MLB due to the departures of Juan Soto, Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo, and Anthony Rizzo, plus Nestor Cortes Jr. And Marcus Stroman.
The additions of Max Fried and Cody Bellinger, plus the emergence of homegrown impact players Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler, kept New York near the top of the American League in 2025. General manager Brian Cashman spent the winter retaining six free agents, from starting outfielders Bellinger and Trent Grisham to bench bats Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario to depth arms Ryan Yarbrough and Paul Blackburn. The most significant external addition was pitcher Ryan Weathers. The Yanks rank second in returning bats behind only the Tigers, with their top 11 hitters by 2025 plate appearances still in the organization.
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates also reshaped their roster over the past few months. Pittsburgh acquired second-base slugger Brandon Lowe, signed veteran mashers Ryan O’Hearn and Marcell Ozuna, and added Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia to the outfield mix. This mix of hitters will backfill the at-bats vacated by Andrew McCutchen, Tommy Pham, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Ke’Bryan Hayes, who combined for more than 1,800 plate appearances last season.
On the mound, homegrown Pirates hurlers, headlined by top prospect Bubba Chandler, are expected to cover the frames handled last year by Andrew Heaney and Bailey Falter before he was traded. Those lefties ranked third and fourth in 2025 innings for Pittsburgh, while Mike Burrows and Johan Oviedo were also sent elsewhere.
Detroit Tigers
The only team with a higher rate of return than the Yankees, the Tigers sit atop the leaderboard due to the nature of their roster. The tone of the offseason was set early when Detroit’s two most prominent potential free agents chose to stay place: Jack Flaherty by exercising his player option and Gleyber Torres by accepting the qualifying offer. Reliever Kyle Finnegan, acquired at last year’s trade deadline, followed by re-upping with the Tigers. Beyond that, the Tigers didn’t have many key contributors hit the open market and opted to keep quiet on the trade market.
The Tigers added frontline lefty Framber Valdez, Justin Verlander, and closer Kenley Jansen. That Verlander—a legend in Detroit—counts as a “fresh face” underscores how few new names Tigers fans will require to learn as the season begins.
Cleveland Guardians
The defending AL Central champions deployed the offseason strategy of changing particularly little. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been transacting up a storm since taking over in Boston, and this offseason was no different. The Guardians did nothing of the sort while remaining stingy on the trade market. That result is a total nothing-burger of an offseason outside of a few bullpen additions (Shawn Armstrong, Colin Holderman, Connor Brogdon) and a minor-league deal for veteran first baseman Rhys Hoskins.
The biggest move of Cleveland’s winter was an extension for José Ramírez. However, that did nothing to change the fortunes of the team in the short term. Cleveland sure looked like it could use some more substantial upgrades on offense but instead stood largely pat, trusting that its deep group of young but unproven bats can grow together to form a more competent offense in 2026.