The Most Fun Teams in Baseball

A totally subjective guide to the teams you will want to watch in 2026 — and your chance to help build the Baseball Fun Hall of Fame.

Baseball season is starting! There are season previews everywhere you turn — my favorite is Joe Sheehan’s, so much fun, sign up today! — so there really isn’t much I can add to that space.

But a couple of weeks ago, I got a text from my friend Justin Halpen listing off some teams that he’s most excited to watch this year — the FUN teams.

And I thought: Oh, that could be cool — what if I just ranked the teams not in the order of how they’ll do (which I don’t know) but based on how FUN they are (which I also don’t know but have opinions).

So here we go. I’m going to borrow a system from another friend — Tom Haberstroh’s five-star system. Sign up for his newsletter too!

Here is the star system:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Appointment watching; so fun, super fun.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lots of fun players make them a daily watch

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fun enough. If you're searching for a game to watch, check ‘em out

⭐️⭐️ Sort of fun? Maybe one of two players you have to see.

⭐️ Meh. Not a lot of fun.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Teams

Appointment watching, so fun, super fun

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Los Angeles Dodgers

Yeah, sorry, I didn’t want to start with the Dodgers … but the Dodgers have Shohei, so they’re the most fun team in baseball by default. Plus, you add Mookie … Freddie … Yoshi … Kyle(y) — well, you already know, the Dodgers have the best and most fun players because, um, the Dodgers bought the best and most fun players.

Does that cut into the fun? Maybe yes. I don’t know — can a team be the most fun AND most disliked at the same time? I think it’s possible. Jordan’s late-era Bulls pulled it off, I think. Steph’s Golden State Warriors pulled it off, I think. The Kansas City Chiefs were, for a while, incredibly fun and wildly disliked. And, hey, the Dodgers will be fun to root against: That’s a thing, too.

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Sacramento Athletics

Whoa, you didn’t see this one coming, did you? But this is true: The A’s will be an absolute blast in 2026, I think. My Springsteen pal David Forst somehow finds a way, inside all that craziness, to make his teams a blast.

The A’s lineup, led by the absolutely incredible Nick Kurtz, will score a bajillion runs. I mean — Kurtz, Jacob Wilson, Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, et al. They’re going to swat. Kurtz could be an MVP candidate RIGHT NOW. Centerfielder Denzel Clarke is one of the most exciting defensive players in memory; every night, that guy seems to perform some new David Copperfield illusion. Their pitching is not there yet, but that only adds to the fun — we should get nightly slugfests, especially in that Sacramento ballpark.

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Kansas City Royals

I don’t know that any general manager really thinks about making a team “fun.” Unfortunately, that’s not the job … the job is to win and then insist to everybody that winning — and only winning — is fun.

But if any GM thinks about a higher ideal of fun, it’s got to be Kansas City’s J.J. Picollo. J.J. is a sports fan. We’ve had some great fan conversations through the years. And I think that helps. No, the Royals didn’t get Bobby Witt Jr. because he’s kettle-corn-in-an-amusement-park fun, but he is all that — he’s as fun as anybody in baseball. Great plays. Blazing speed, Long home runs.

And he’s surrounded by a merry band of men like Vinnie Pasquantino, Maikel Garcia, Cole Ragans, and Jac Caglianone (even his NAME is fun to say — especially if you pronounce it Cag-lee-ah-NO-nay, which is wrong technically but right audibly). They also have baseball’s senior citizen of fun, Salvy Perez, who just inspires happiness. I don’t have any idea if this team can compete in 2026, but it will be fun to find out.

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Arizona Diamondbacks

Yeah, I said it. The Diamondbacks are right up there with the most fun teams in baseball. First of all, Corbin Carroll is a whole barrel of monkeys all by himself. He does everything. He’s my darkhorse MVP candidate this year — though, to be honest, with Shohei in the league, EVERYONE ELSE is a darkhorse MVP candidate.

Then you add Ketel Marte, who is awesome, and Geraldo Perdomo, who is awesome, and Nolan Arenado, who was awesome and might find some of that old juice.

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Toronto Blue Jays

I have probably had more fun in my life watching Vladimir Guerrero hit baseball than anybody else. So it’s REALLY something that his son, Vladdy Jr., is just about as much fun to watch hit. This guy’s a whole bag of peanut M&Ms every time he comes to the plate. He alone would make the Blue Jays a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ team.

But then they have Alejandro Kirk. I mean, if there was a 24-hour Alejandro Kirk Truman Show channel where you just watched that guy live his daily life, I’d watch.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Teams

Lots of fun players make them a worthwhile daily watch

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Boston Red Sox

Sure, I’m all caught up in the Roman Anthony hype. He gives off all these wonderful Joey Votto vibes — never swings at a bad pitch, always hits the ball hard, there’s a beautiful purity to the way he hits. We’ll see how the power comes in, but for now, he’s 21 years old and every at-bat feels like a fresh adventure.

I haven’t loved many things the Red Sox have done over the last decade, but I’ve got to say that now, even beyond Roman Anthony, they’ve got a lot of fun players. Cedanne Rafaela is a wonder in center field. Garrett Crochet is exciting every time out. Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras are cheery veteran pickups. Some of the kids, like Marcelo Mayer, still have potential. I don’t know if they will come together as a team, but hey, set a course for adventure, your mind on a new romance.

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Atlanta Braves

I’m not entirely sure what to make of the Braves as a contender in 2026. Last year was dismal and unquestionably NOT a lot of fun. But Ronald Acuña seems to be healthy — I sure hope he’s healthy — and he automatically puts them at the head of the class. Add in Chris Sale and Spencer Strider, both thrill rides on the mound. Strider just struck out 11 in five innings in a spring training game, all of them on curveballs.

Am I wrong in thinking that Matt Olson is fun? I couldn’t exactly describe WHY he’s fun … but I think he is.

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New York Mets

Here’s your fun-related question of the day: Is Juan Soto a fun player?

On the plus side, you know, he’s a master craftsman at work — in our book BIG FAN (coming May 19 — preorder now!), I make the case that watching ANY master craftsman at work is endlessly fun. I would watch the best bus driver in the world parallel park an 18-wheeler all day long.

And … isn’t that kind of what Juan Soto does? He parallel parks 18-wheelers. He never swings at a bad pitch, he rarely misses a mistake, and he does that super fun little shuffle dance after holding back on a pitch that just missed. Heck, last year he led the league in stolen bases.

But on the other hand, he does walk a bajillion times, and walking is not fun. The numbers tell you he’s a well-below-average outfielder. I lean toward him being fun, but it’s not an easy call.

Fortunately, the Mets have Francisco Lindor, a first-ballot Fun Hall of Famer.*

The Mets also now have Bo Bichette, who is pretty fun himself and has a name that sounds almost exactly like Boba Fett. Can’t get more fun than that.

*I know what you’re saying: “Hey, is this JoeBlogs or isn’t it? Where is my list of who is in the Baseball Fun Hall of Fame?” Well, for you Clubhouse members … it’s coming Friday!

In fact, I’ve put together a survey — takes only a couple of minutes — where you can nominate your Baseball Fun Hall of Fame team. I’ll take all your picks, throw them into the blender, mix in my own thoughts, and unveil the Baseball Fun Hall of Fame in Friday’s Clubhouse.

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Cincinnati Reds

Elly de la Cruz … Elly de la Cruz … Elly de la Cruz.

I’m not 100% sure that Elly de la Cruz is the most fun player in baseball — I mean, this is a league with Shohei and Bobby Witt Jr., and Paul Skenes and Kyle Schwarber and a bunch of others. We’re in a Baseball Fun Renaissance.

But I think Elly de la Cruz MIGHT be the fun of them all, simply because he — more than anyone else, including Shohei — might at any moment do something so absurd, so wonderful, glorious that you will remember it for the rest of your life.

If you are just sitting around thinking, “Hmm, I’ve got an hour to kill here, what team should I watch,” you simply cannot go wrong turning on the Reds and waiting for Elly de la Cruz to do something that will get you to jump out of your recliner.

It stinks that Hunter Greene, who is a joy to watch pitch, won’t be back until probably July after he had bone chips removed from his elbow, but when he does come back, the Reds will have two of the most fun players in baseball.

Oh yeah, I forgot, the Reds got Eugenio Suarez back. And Tito manages them. The Reds have ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ fun potential.

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Phils are getting older, so maybe some of the fun is beginning to fade. Bryce Harper, for example, used to be a lot more fun, I think. Maybe that’s just the after-effects of the World Baseball Classic, where Harper — even after he hit the awesome homer against Venezuela in the championship game — came across like a wet mop.

Where was the Bryce Harper who did the soccer slide when the Phillies played that game in London? I want him back! I want the “That’s a clown question, bro,” Bryce again.

But even if Bryce is not as joyful and fun-loving as he used to be, this is still a wonderful band of slugging goofballs led by First Ballot Fun Hall of Famer Kyle Schwarber.

Let’s also give it up to another First Ballot Fun Hall of Famer, Trea Turner, who still slides the way Gregory Hines danced.

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Seattle Mariners

OK, not to bring up the whole WBC bummer thing yet again, but here’s hoping Cal Raleigh ditches that persona and returns to being the Big Dumper we all fell in love with in 2025. You know — that 8-year-old kid on the video who was laughing and singing “I’m the home run derby champ!”

Julio Rodríguez is, of course, a Super Fun All-Star. Randy Arozarena is a blast, Josh Naylor offers some underrated fun.

And you know who is truly enjoyable to watch? Bryan Woo. Check him out when you get a chance.

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Chicago Cubs

Look, the Cubs will always be at least a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ fun team because a day game at Wrigley Field, no matter how good or bad the Cubs are, is always going to be one of your most fun days of the year.

Does Pete Crow Armstrong make them a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ fun team? Not quite, I don’t think. He’s definitely fun, but he’s also prone to going into slumps that make you wonder if he’s all right.

As for the rest of the Cubs, they’re fun enough. Dansby Swanson is fun to watch at shortstop. Alex Bregman, Ian Happ, and Michael Busch are fine. If this team has a fun secret weapon, I’d say it’s Nico Hoerner. That guy, on a nightly basis, will do something in the field or something on the bases or something at the plate that gets the heart pumping.

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Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers are always underrated in every way, and I’d say they’re an underrated fun team too — they’re worth watching on your MLB app now and again. Brice Turang is really fun. Sal Frelick is really fun. Jackson Chourio is really fun. I don’t know if Christian Yelich can ever be the ultra-mega-superstar he was before the injuries, but he’s come back a long way, and that’s fun.

Now they’ve also got Jacob Misorowski pouring in 100 mph fastballs.

Oh, and one more thing: The Brewers announcer Brian Anderson is one of the very best in the business.

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Baltimore Orioles

OK, listen, I’m going out on a limb for you, Baltimore. For the last two years, there was no team in baseball LESS fun than the Orioles. It’s no fun watching big prospects fall apart. It’s no fun watching a front office fritter away its golden opportunity.

But — and maybe this is just wishful thinking — I have this weird feeling that it’s going to be a fun year around Camden Yards. I have this weird feeling that Adley Rutschman will find himself again, that Pete Alonso will hit many, many bombs, and that Gunnar Henderson will compete for league MVP.

It obviously doesn’t have to go that way. And even if it DOES go that way, the pitching staff could ruin the fun even if it DOES go that way. But it’s March, dammit, and weird feelings are to be respected in March. Anyway, Gunnar alone is worth the watch.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️ Teams

Fun enough. If you’re searching for a game to watch, check ‘em out

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Pittsburgh Pirates (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ when Skenes pitches)

Konnor Griffin starts the year in the minor leagues, so they will move up to at least a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ team when he arrives.

So why watch the Pirates on days when Skenes is not pitching? I guess the best answer is Oneil Cruz. He’s kind of a lottery ticket version of Elly de la Cruz. That is to say, most of the time you watch him, he will strike out on some terrible pitch or commit some ghastly error in center field. But when the numbers come in, the jackpot is enormous — he’ll launch some 7,000-foot home run, or he’ll throw a 120-mph laser from center, or do something else you’ve never seen before and will probably never see again.

When Paul Skenes does pitch, the Pirates are the best watch in all of baseball.

Oh, and if you live in Pittsburgh or are visiting? PNC Park is my favorite ballpark in the game. You’ll have fun there no matter who is playing.

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Detroit Tigers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ when Skubal pitches)

The Tigers don’t have an all-or-nothing Oneil Cruz type who might pay off in a big way, but they do have a bunch of guys who are kind of fun to watch — you know, guys like Riley Green, Kerry Carpenter, Dillon Dingler, Framber Valdez. The Tigers — sans Skubal — are like a reliable sitcom that will never have you rolling on the floor in laughter but will generally offer a pleasant diversion to pass the time.

Then, when Skubal pitches, BLAMMO, they’re Arrested Development, Curb, Parks and Rec, and Community all rolled into one.

Also, Jason Bennetti calls the action, which is just a joy.

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Texas Rangers (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ when deGrom pitches)

Yeah, I think Jacob deGrom is still a showstopper.

The Rangers have two players who I think can make them a great watch. The first is Corey Seager, assuming he’s healthy, which, I readily admit, is a big assumption. If Seager can just get healthy for a few more seasons, he will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He’s that great. He also hasn’t played 125 games in a season since 2022, so you’ll need to check the injury list before tuning in.

The other is Wyatt Langford. I’m SO bullish on Wyatt Langford. I think he’s about ready to break out into an MVP candidate. I mean, that’s not an especially risky prediction when you consider that he was a 6 bWAR player in 2025. But I think the ceiling is a lot higher than that. The ceiling is a 30-30 Gold Glove outfielder who walks 100 times and makes like nine fence-busting catches because that guy is utterly fearless. They don’t call him “Evel Knievel” for nothing.

By the way, is Evel Knievel the most fun daredevil ever? I think it depends if you consider Harry Houdini more a daredevil and less a magician. There’s an argument to be made that way. I’d rank them like so:

1. Harry Houdini

2. Evel Knievel

3. Philippe Petit

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San Diego Padres

On the PosCast this week, we had special guest Mike Vaccaro — his new book Bosses of the Bronx just launched to much acclaim — and we talked at some length about the old Electric Football game. To me, no game ever had as big a game between how much fun it LOOKED to play and how little fun it actually WAS to play.

The Padres are the Electric Football of teams. They certainly SHOULD be fun. I mean, they’ve got plenty of exciting players — Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill — and then they’ve got Mason Miller throwing laser beams to close things out. It should be a blast. But for some reason, at least for me, it doesn’t quite take off.

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Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays seem to go out of their way to NOT be fun. That’s their whole thing. They figured out, years ago, that the only way for a team that spends like 13 bucks on payroll to actually win is to drain all the fun out of the game and beat teams out of sheer spite.

You like starting pitching? TOO BAD! We’re going to start this relief pitcher you’ve never heard of and let him go one inning.

You like hits? TOO BAD! We’re going to shift our defense around so that there’s definitely a defender EXACTLY where the ball will be hit.

And so on. I can’t blame them. In fact, I kind of admire them for it.

Every now and again, though, a super fun player sneaks through their defenses. Randy Arozarena was like that. Now, it’s Junior Caminero. He has the fastest bat in all of baseball, so every at-bat with him is a Great Gatsby party. He might hit one 600 feet! He might swing at a pitch 10 feet outside! You just never know!

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⭐️⭐️ Teams

Sort of fun? Maybe one of two players you have to see.

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New York Yankees

We never hide our anti-Yankees bias here at JoeBlogs … but this is an honest rating. The Yankees are not fun. Aaron Judge is fun, sure, he’s the greatest hitter we’ve ever seen, seriously, the absolute best. He performs nightly miracles.

Judge is the only reason this is not a ⭐️ team.

These Yankees minus Judge are melba toast. They are a dentist’s waiting room. These Yankees are beige carpet, airplane peanuts, a line at the DMV, a movie trailer that seems to show the entire movie, and those first 10 minutes of any Zoom call when the host says, “We’ll wait for others to join.”

I’m completely serious about this. The Yankees are one-dimensional, play meh defense, and they have NO speed at all. Do you know who the fastest player on the Yankees is by sprint speed? I’ll give you a bunch of guesses; it won’t matter. It’s Jasson Dominguez (95th in baseball). After that, it’s Anthony Volpe (145th).

Let me be clear: I am not saying here that the Yankees will not win; I suspect they will win. I think they could absolutely take this division. But only a true Yankees fan will appreciate them. And I don’t think even true Yankees fans are excited about watching them play … except when Judge steps to the plate.

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San Francisco Giants

Great, we’re kicking off the 2026 baseball season with two ⭐️⭐️ teams on Netflix. That’s the MLB fun machine at work.

The Giants do have some fun-adjacent players. Logan Webb absolutely could win the Cy Young this year; he’s baseball’s greatest workhorse, and he led the league in strikeouts in 2025. Matt Chapman plays terrific defense at third base and puts up 5 or 7 WAR pretty much every year. Rafael Devers can flat-out rake. Luis Arraez might win another batting title.

But you know it just won’t be fun — you know they’ll finish a bland 81-81 or thereabouts because they always do. Maybe it’s this: The Giants are Asia. No, not the continent. The superband. Remember Asia? They put together four superstars from different prog rock bands and looked to take over the music world. It didn’t quite work out that way (all apologies to you “Heat of the Moment” fans).

At least the Giants still have Kuip in the booth.

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Cleveland Guardians

Oh, what to do with the Guardians? I mean, look, José Ramirez is a Super Fun All-Star, absolutely. And watching him carry this team on his back is great.

But it’s a sequel. It’s not just a sequel, it’s a sequel to a sequel to a sequel. I guess they made ten Saw movies, and Saw XI has been in the works for some time, so I guess there’s an audience for the same story, if the story’s good enough. For me, though, I’d like to see a fresh take on Cleveland baseball.

One bit of bonus fun for Cleveland: You can check in on them any time this year and find yourself asking this question: “Wait, when did the Guardians get Rhys Hoskins?”

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Minnesota Twins

Byron Buxton didn’t just have a chance to be a great player … he had a chance to be on the all-time Baseball Fun Team. I mean, it would have been tough for him to displace Willie Mays in center field, but when Buxton was right, when he was at his athletic peak, my gosh, there was nobody like him. He was like a faster Eric Davis (who is in the Fun Hall of Fame, by the way).

All the injuries robbed us of that version of Byron Buxton, but he can still be fun.

As for the rest? Royce Lewis might stay healthy, maybe. Twenty-three-year-old Luke Keaschall showed some promise. No, it’s not a lot, but they’ve got a beautiful ballpark, and Minnesota summers are absolutely perfect, and for those of you young enough to not yet worry about heart attacks, the Juicy Lucy is there for your eating pleasure.

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Houston Astros

Watching the Astros now is, I imagine, what it must have been like going to see Dead & Company play because you were a big Grateful Dead fan. Like, Dead & Company wasn’t the Grateful Dead, but it still had one original member — the late Bob Weir — and it played the same music, and it probably felt pretty much like seeing the original.*

*I don’t know this firsthand because I’m not a Grateful Dead fan, but I will tell you that for our book BIG FAN — yes, another plug, coming out May 19! Preorder now! — Mike Schur DID go to a Dead & Company show, and it’s one of my favorite chapters.

So, the Astros still have Jose Altuve, and they still have Carlos Correa, and they still have Yordan Alvarez, so the old Astros experience is still here, if you’re into that. For everybody else, this is still a good team to boo for past transgressions, I suppose.

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St. Louis Cardinals

The Cards are probably more of a ⭐️ team than a ⭐️⭐️ team … but I’m going to give them the extra star because for all those Cardinals fans who have had to endure the maybe-we’re-trying-to-win-maybe-we’re-not blahness of the last couple of years, this team will likely be a lot more fun.

They’re going young, building for tomorrow. Masyn Winn is a joy to watch play shortstop, and J.J. Wetherholt looks like the sort of hitter St. Louis will fall in love with.

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⭐️ Teams

Meh. Not a lot of fun.

California Angels

It used to be you could say, “Well, hey, at least they have Mike Trout.”

And, sure, they still do have Mike Trout, one of the best who ever lived, but I fear watching him play now is like watching a once-great Hollywood star perform “The King and I” at your local theater while you gnaw on a very tough chicken breast. The Angels insist he will play daily center field, which seems to me a very, very bad idea. And even if, dare to dream, he somehow stays healthy out there and somehow finds a little bit of his old magic, well, this team is obviously going nowhere, so it will still offer a constant reminder that Mike Trout has never won a single playoff game.

For shame, Arte Moreno. For shame.

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Colorado Rockies (⭐️⭐️⭐️ team in person)

Um, you know, Ezequiel Tovar is, um, and Brenton Doyle in center is, um, no, I can’t do this, I can’t think of a single reason to watch the Rockies on television unless you just watch to see if they can break the record for most losses in a season. I’ll tune in now and again because, as I have mentioned a couple of times here, my friend Maddy went to prom with Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer.

But that’s television. If you’re in the Denver area, I can’t more highly recommend that you go see them in person. A Coors Field experience is all sorts of awesome, and even with the humidor, you’re certainly going to see a lot of runs (most of them by the opposing team, but those count, too).

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Chicago White Sox

Yeah, it’s pretty bleak on the South Side. But I do enjoy watching Colson Montgomery play, and I think we’re all modestly interested to find out of Munetaka Murakami can bring some of his Japanese super-slugger energy over to the U.S.

Maybe the White Sox could bring back those old uniforms with short pants. That would be fun. Or Disco Demolition night?

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Miami Marlins

I almost left the Marlins off because (A) I totally forgot they existed and (B) I didn’t think you would notice. But then I thought: No, there is something to say about this franchise!

I’ll let you know when I think of that something.

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Washington Nationals

There are some individual players worth watching. James Wood strikes out more than anyone else, but he also hits bombs. Jacob Young is a defensive dynamo in center. C.J. Abrams has the makings of a good player.

But when you put it all together, I think the Nationals are the most miserable watch in baseball, thanks to an ownership group that just doesn’t seem to care at all. I mean, in the last decade, this team had Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Trea Turner, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Kyle Schwarber … now they are about to go into another rebuild to make up for the last rebuild. It’s all pretty dreary.

But there must be something fun going on in Washington, right?

Wait. Found it. May 7 will be “Weather Day at Nationals Park.”

What is Weather Day? Glad you asked — in addition to a thrilling game between the Twins and Nationals, students will get an interactive pregame weather presentation led by local meteorologists. This is a very real thing that I am not making up.

So see you all at the park on May 7!

If you haven’t yet, jump in and make your picks for the Baseball Fun Hall of Fame — I’ll unveil it Friday in the Clubhouse.