The 2026 MLB Playoffs Collector's Guide
Header photo: Shohei Ohtani taking his lead, April 23, 2024, by All-Pro Reels (Joe Glorioso), licensed CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped, darkened and combined with text; the adapted header is shared under the same license.
October is when baseball memories get made, and it is when the memorabilia around them starts to matter. The field for the 2026 postseason is set, the Wild Card Series start Tuesday, and this MLB playoff memorabilia guide covers who is in, the stories worth collecting, and the signed pieces we carry for the teams still playing.
At the center of it all is the same player who has been at the center of the sport for five years: Shohei Ohtani.
The 2026 MLB Playoff Field
Twelve teams made it. The top two seeds in each league skip the Wild Card round: the Rays and Guardians in the American League, and the Brewers and Dodgers in the National League. Everyone else plays a best of three series starting September 29:
- Red Sox at Yankees, the rivalry everyone wanted
- White Sox at Astros
- Phillies at Braves, a division rematch
- Cubs at Padres
The Division Series begin October 3, and the World Series runs October 23 to 31.
Why October Makes Memorabilia Stories
Regular season numbers get remembered. October moments get retold. Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam in Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, the first in World Series history, is the kind of swing a fan base talks about for decades, and it is why signed pieces tied to those players carry a different kind of meaning for the people who watched it happen.
Pennant races do it too. Ohtani's 50/50 season came together in the final weeks of September 2024, when every at bat felt like an event. That is what the postseason does: it turns great players into chapters of a team's history.
Shohei Ohtani: The Centerpiece
There is no bigger name in this bracket. Ohtani has won four MVP awards, all of them unanimous (2021 and 2023 in the American League, 2024 and 2025 in the National League). In 2024 he became the first player ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in one season, finishing at 54 and 59. He has won the World Series in both of his seasons in Los Angeles, and in the 2025 NLCS he was named MVP after a Game 4 in which he hit three home runs and threw six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts.
The Dodgers enter this October as the NL's second seed and the two time defending champions, which means Ohtani will be on the biggest stage again.
We carry two signed Ohtani pieces, and together they tell the whole two way story. The signed 16x20 Angels pitching photo shows him on the mound, and the signed 16x20 Angels photo shows him at the plate. Both are MLB and Fanatics authenticated, framed to order, at $4,088 each. For everything else on collecting him, from formats to where fakes cluster, read our Shohei Ohtani memorabilia buying guide.
The Rest of the Dodgers Core
Ohtani is not doing it alone, and the players around him have their own October résumés.
Mookie Betts has four World Series rings, one with Boston and three with the Dodgers, and remains the only player to win the World Series, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, a batting title and the MVP in the same season (2018). His signed #50 home jersey in a custom frame is JSA authenticated, $888.
Clayton Kershaw will not pitch this October. He retired after winning his third title in 2025, closing an 18 season career spent entirely in Los Angeles with three Cy Young Awards and an MVP. For Dodgers fans, his signed #22 framed jersey, Beckett Witnessed at $988, is the piece that connects this era to the one before it.
This Week's Wild Card Matchups
Yankees vs Red Sox
The Bronx opens October with its captain. Aaron Judge has three AL MVP awards (2022, 2024 and 2025), set the American League record with 62 home runs in 2022, and added his first batting title last season. Our Aaron Judge signed #99 pinstriped framed jersey is MLB and Fanatics authenticated, $1,488.
Phillies at Braves
Bryce Harper is a two time MVP and the 2022 NLCS MVP, when his go-ahead homer in the eighth inning of Game 5 sent Philadelphia to the World Series. His signed #3 pinstriped framed jersey is MLB and Fanatics authenticated, $1,288.
On the Atlanta side, our Freddie Freeman signed Braves framed jersey honors the first baseman who won the 2020 NL MVP and the 2021 World Series in Atlanta before his three titles in Los Angeles. It is Beckett Witnessed, $988, and it belongs to fans of both teams he helped win.
Cubs at Padres
Pete Crow-Armstrong is the rising star of this bracket: a 2025 All-Star starter, a Gold Glove center fielder, and the first player in Cubs history with two 30-30 seasons. His signed 2025 National League All-Star Game jersey is Beckett authenticated, $688, the most accessible signed piece in our playoff lineup.
Buying MLB Playoff Memorabilia Without Getting Burned
Every October, the players in the headlines become the players forgers target. When a name trends, marketplaces fill with signed jerseys and photos that look right and are not. The fix is the same every time: know who authenticated the piece, and check it yourself.
Every piece we sell comes with a numbered certificate from an independent third party authenticator (MLB and Fanatics, Beckett, or JSA in this guide), and we check that number against the authenticator's own database before anything ships. You can repeat that check on the authenticator's site, and we encourage it. Many of our pieces also carry a Custom Authentics hologram serial as a second record. Our authentication guide walks through each lookup.
One practical note for October buyers: our framed and prepared pieces ship in 2 to 3 weeks, because the signature is certified first and the framing happens after your order.
Follow the Bracket With Us
We will be back when the World Series matchup is set. Until then, browse our signed sports memorabilia, and join our early access list to see new playoff pieces before anyone else.