After some notable moves during an exciting Winter Meetings, are the Atlanta Braves once again the team to beat in the NL East? The Braves won the division every year from 2018-2023, but for the last two seasons the Philadelphia Phillies have reigned supreme. Are the additions of Mike Yastrzemski, Robert Suarez, and Mauricio Dubon enough to leapfrog the Braves back in front of the Phillies?
We won't know the answer to this until all of these NL East rivals take the field in 2026, but for now, we can at least take our best guess at power ranking these five teams based on their roster today. The key distinction there is "based on their roster today," because plenty of impact free agents remain on the market, and any of these NL East teams could boost their standing with one signing.
Between Robert Suarez and Raisel Iglesias, Atlanta now has two of the five relievers with the most saves over the last two seasons. With a healthy Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider, plus a full season of Hurston Waldrep, their pitching could take a huge leap.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2025
NL East Power Rankings after a busy Winter Meetings
5. Washington Nationals
The bottom two teams in the NL East feel pretty interchangeable, but the Nationals seem to be ready to subtract even more from their lacking roster. Rumors are swirling around trading Mackenzie Gore and C.J. Abrams, two of the best players on Washington's roster.
With a new front office, and new manager Blake Butera (the youngest manager in MLB in over 50 years) in place the Nationals feel prime for an alteration. Their rebuild post 2019 hasn't come together as quickly as they hoped it would, and now they may be looking at entering yet another reshaping of the Major League roster. James Wood is a cornerstone player they will keep around, but outside of him not many Nats look to be off the table for this new regime.
4. Miami Marlins
The fish are trying to get back to a semi-competitive place in the NL East. They actually finished with a better record (79-83) than the Braves last season, and got notable improvements from plenty of young players. In particular, Kyle Stowers broke out, earning his first All-Star selection and posting a 149 wRC+ in 2025. Edward Cabrera entrenched himself as a force in the front of their rotation, with more prospects on the way.
Per usual, Miami hasn't done much this winter outside of signing Christopher Morel to a prove it one-year deal. However, a couple of savvy moves could make this team a real threat for a NL Wild Card spot. Time will tell if Gabe Kapler and company are finally the front office to turn Miami into a serious threat.
3. New York Mets
Many Braves fans enjoy sulking in the misery of Mets fans when things go awry in Queens. If you are ranking biggest losers of the offseason thus far, the Mets feel like they would rank right near the top. Over the course of the Winter Meetings, the Mets lost their stud closer Edwin Diaz, and their all-time home run king in Pete Alonso.
Diaz signed a mega deal with the Dodgers (because of course), and the polar bear took a plunge into Baltimore after landing a five-year $155 million deal with the Orioles. Losing this much production will set back any team, and for a Mets team who missed the postseason last year this has to feel like a dud of an offseason. However, plenty of impact players remain on the market, and we know Steve Cohen will spend with the best of them. New York already brought in Devin Williams this winter, and a big bat feels to be on the way.
2. Atlanta Braves
Braves Country is plenty excited about the signings of Mike Yastrzemski and impact reliever Robert Suarez, as they should be. Additonally, the core of this roster has an upside rivaling any team not named the Dodgers. However, the core is also why we can't in good faith rank them ahead of the Phillies at this time.
Simply put, the Braves haven't gotten the production out of Acuña Jr., Riley, Albies, Harris II, and others that they expected over the last two seasons. Whether that be because of injury (as the case of Acuña) or underperformance (as the case with Harris) the Braves need more from their stars. Hopefully, 2026 is the time for things to finally start to go the Braves way, and they can reclaim the top spot in the NL East.
1. Philadelphia Phillies
To be the man you have to beat the man, and the Philadelphia Phillies have been the man for the last two seasons. The Phillies aren't without flaw, but retaining slugger Kyle Schwarber during the Winter Meetings makes this team a potent contender once again. The Phillies boast two of the best left-handed hitters in the National League between Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Trea Turner is still a menace at the top of the lineup, and they are expected to be pursuing more bats that can lengthen this lineup.
However, the Phillies bread and butter last season was the incredible starting pitching they got. Zack Wheeler is a dominant force (although he is coming off a scary injury), and Cristopher Sánchez led all MLB pitchers with a 8.0 bWAR and was runner-up in NL Cy Young voting. The bullpen has it's question marks, but it has the makings of a solid group. The big questions remaining with Philadelphia is will they be able to bring back Ranger Suarez or J.T. Realmuto? If the Phillies retain either of these free agents, or upgrade either position, the Braves will have a much tougher task reclaiming their NL East throne.