Overview
- The 2026 regular season ended on September 27, finalizing a 12-team postseason field and the seeding for both leagues.
- The Milwaukee Brewers finished with the best record in baseball at 103-59 and earned the National League No. 1 seed while the Los Angeles Dodgers won 100 games and are NL No. 2; the Tampa Bay Rays (98-64) and Cleveland Guardians are the top two American League seeds.
- Wild Card pairings are set for Sept. 29–Oct. 1 with the Yankees facing the Red Sox and the Astros facing the White Sox in the AL, and the Braves facing the Phillies and the Padres facing the Cubs in the NL.
- All Wild Card series are best-of-three and hosted entirely by the higher seed, winners advance to Division Series starting Oct. 3, Championship Series follow in mid-October, and the World Series window is Oct. 23–31.
- The Dodgers enter the postseason as two-time defending champions chasing a three-peat while analysts are again criticizing the current seeding rules for rewarding division winners with byes despite sometimes having worse records, a point that could influence collective-bargaining talks over playoff format.