“Heat” is not a concept I’m very familiar with after a truly enjoyable winter in the East Coast tundra. But you know who is familiar with the concept of “heat”? Oh, only everyone in baseball.
So in the final installment of our spring preview survey, we asked 36 executives, former executives, managers, coaches and scouts to tell us which front offices, managers and players are feeling the most heat heading into this season. Now let’s look at which teams they singled out. You’ve heard of them!
Bryce Harper and the Phillies’ core group (18 votes)
The Phillies won 96 games last season, but again endured an early exit in the postseason. They re-signed veterans Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto in the offseason. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
Their regular-season win totals keep going up every year, but their October exits keep happening earlier. So at some point, Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and this core of way too familiar Phillies faces is going to need to make a deep postseason run. Right?
Well, judging by the 18 votes they piled up in this category, that point has arrived in 2026.
“They’re getting older,” said one rival executive. “They’ve run these guys out there. They’ve spent the money. And now it’s showtime.”
Another exec pointed at the ages of this group: Harper, Schwarber, Turner and Aaron Nola will all play this season at age 33. Realmuto is about to turn 35. Their ace, Zack Wheeler, turns 36 in May. It reminded this exec of the end of Dave Dombrowski’s time in Detroit, when it felt like his whole roster slammed into the aging wall at once.
“You hate to say they’re trending like the Tigers in Dave’s last year there,” he said. “But it feels more and more like it.”
David Stearns, Carlos Mendoza and the Mets (13 votes)
“The fact that they imploded his entire (coaching) staff says that 100 percent, he’s on the manager hot seat,” one voter said of Carlos Mendoza. (Rich Storry / Getty Images)
Either $340 million doesn’t buy what it used to, or the Mets were baseball’s most massive underachiever last year.
Judging by the roster sanitation project they underwent this winter, they’ve already checked the box that said: IT MUST BE THE PLAYERS’ FAULT. So you don’t need to be a descendant of Frank Cashen to guess who gets the blame if this season goes anything like last season.
It’s hard to imagine Steve Cohen firing Stearns after two years, but it’s not hard to imagine this owner firing literally anyone else.
“You cannot afford to have back-to-back seasons without a postseason appearance, with one of the highest payrolls,” said one voter, “and not have ramifications.”
Another voter specifically mentioned Mendoza as a manager who has been put on watch.
“The fact that they imploded his entire (coaching) staff says that 100 percent, he’s on the manager hot seat,” this exec said, “because his whole staff got blown up. So he’s No. 1 on that (manager hot seat) list, and there’s no one even close to next.”
A.J. Preller and the Padres’ front office (12 votes)
Manny Machado and the Padres’ players (8 votes)
A.J. Preller’s extension turns down the heat on him, but San Diego is still under pressure, voters said. (Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)
Naturally, in between when these votes were cast and when this column was published, the Padres handed Preller a multiyear extension as president of baseball operations. So that turns down some of this heat.
But with the franchise for sale, that doesn’t mean 2026 isn’t going to be a pressure-cooker season for a team that last won an NLCS as recently as 28 years ago.
• From an AL exec: “Big future commitments, top-heavy roster and lesser depth make the future now.”
• From another longtime exec: “The window is closing, with an aging group and a ton of payroll on the books.”
• From an NL exec (before Preller’s extension): “Because of the sale and everything, he’s … definitely at risk. I know they’ve made the postseason two years in a row. But you’ve got new ownership coming in at some point, and that’s something to watch.”
Aaron Judge and the Yankees’ players (10 votes)
Aaron Judge and the Yankees are no strangers to pressure, but a 16-year title drought doesn’t help matters. (Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
Just to amuse WFAN callers everywhere, here’s just a partial list of teams that have won a World Series since the last time the Yankees won one, in 2009:
Royals
Nationals
Rangers
Astros
The cursed Cubs
And should we mention that the hated Red Sox have won two of them in that span? Yeah, sure. Let’s mention that, because one of our voters did.
“I’m saying the Yankees, just because they’re on this list every year,” that rival exec said. “They’re pretty much always the answer to this question, and they bring it on themselves. Those 27 (championship) flags will bring it out on you every time. It’s been so long since they won, that pretty soon, those Red Sox fans are going to start chanting, ‘2009,’ the way the Yankees fans used to chant, ‘1918,’ at them.”
Dana Brown, Joe Espada and the Astros (nine votes)
Can Astros GM Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada get the club back to the playoffs? If not, they could be in trouble. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)
Does anyone remember the first installment of this spring preview survey? Since most people can barely remember their cellphone number, I’m guessing no. So let me remind you of one voter’s favorite 2026 storyline to watch:
“End of the Astros dynasty?”
Hmmm, so after a nine-year run in which Houston won more games than any team not named the Dodgers, is that where we are?
Our voters seem to think so. But they could also think of a guy who doesn’t: the owner of the Astros, Jim Crane. So some of those voters think that’s big potential trouble for general manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada.
• From one voter: “Both (Brown and Espada) are in the last year of their deal and have an owner who is impatient and expects to win.”
• From another rival exec: “Dana is in the last year of his deal, and when you’re working for Jim Crane, you don’t know what can happen. I mean, the last GM he fired (James Click), he fired him a few days after he won the World Series.”
Who else is feeling the heat?
Since all our precincts have now been counted, let’s recap the voting in all the Feeling the Heat categories.
Teams/front offices/managers under pressure
Mets — 13
Padres — 12
Astros — 9
Orioles — 8
Angels — 8
Pirates — 7
Yankees — 6
Phillies — 5
Twins — 4
Giants — 2
Red Sox — 1
Rockies — 1
Cardinals — 1
Royals — 1
Managers who were specifically mentioned
Kurt Suzuki (Angels) — 5
Tony Vitello (Giants) — 2
Carlos Mendoza (Mets) — 2
Rob Thomson (Phillies) — 1
Aaron Boone (Yankees) — 1
Oliver Marmol (Cardinals) — 1
Rosters/core groups under pressure
Phillies — 18
Yankees — 10
Padres — 8
Braves — 4
Orioles — 3
Mets — 3
Astros — 1
Red Sox — 1
Tigers — 1
Blue Jays — 1
Angels — 1
Twins — 1
Rangers — 1
SURVEY SAID: Not many managers got the attention of this panel, but the new manager of the Angels, Kurt Suzuki, got five votes — even though he’s still undefeated (at 0-0). “The Angels’ manager is a lame duck before he manages a game,” quipped one NL exec. … And like Suzuki, the GM who hired him, Perry Minasian, is also in the last year of his deal. Let’s just say our voters noticed. “Working for Arte Moreno, with his impossible expectations, would have me sleeping with one eye open,” said one voter. … So you want to work in baseball, huh? Counting front offices, managers and players, 19 different teams got a vote for somebody feeling the heat. What a fun way to make a living.