This was the season in which Pete Crow-Armstong broke out. The year in which Cam Schlittler chiseled himself as an ace. A 2026 when the White Sox rose from the depths.

But what we will remember most is this being the year of the disappointing teams — emphasis on the plural.

This is the year in which the Mets didn’t learn their lesson from last season — and were actually far worse. This was the season in which being in the final four of the ALCS in 2025 was a near curse for all but the Yankees — we see you Blue Jays, Mariners, Tigers. This is the year, in fact, when the American League was so rotten-on-steroids bad that some of the most galling teams in the majors still had a chance at the playoffs with three weeks left.

This was the year when Pittsburgh put a better team around Paul Skenes and then Skenes went the wrong way — and took the Pirates with him. Terry Francona could not sprinkle his managerial pixie dust on the Reds for a second straight year, nor could Tony Vitello bring collegiate mojo to the Giants.