MLB Power Rankings: Opening Day

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: 30-26

Mar 11, 2014; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Chicago White Sox second baseman

(15) is congratulated by first baseman

(79) after hitting a solo home run in third inning against the Texas Rangers at Camelback Ranch. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

30. Houston Astros

Lastros, am I right?

There’s going to come a day when Houston’s prospects have all arrived and they have tons of money to spend. They’re going to be a dominating team then, but now they’re headed for another lousy last-place finish.

29. Miami Marlins

Jose Fernandez and Giancarlo Stanton are a treat to watch, but the rest of the Marlins comprise a roster that’s a near joke for an MLB club. They do have some other young talent that could make things interesting (Christian Yelich, mainly), but ownership still has a long way to go to convince the fans that they’re interested in building a sustainable squad.

28. Minnesota Twins

The Twins were going to be interesting this year — seeing if/when Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton would come to the big leagues, but Sano is now out for the year with Tommy John surgery (unusual for a position player) and Buxton was always more of a longshot anyway. The big league roster isn’t much to look at, outside of Joe Mauer, there may not be another 2.0+ WAR player on the team (maybe Ricky Nolasco, but maybe not).

27. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have a lot of minor league talent getting ready to burst into the Major Leagues over the next couple of years, but they’re not here yet. For now, we’re probably looking at the franchise’s fifth-straight sub-.500 season.

26. Chicago White Sox

The Southside Sox are definitely heading in the right direction. Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton, and Avisail Garcia make up a solid young core, but they just don’t have the fill-in pieces to make this a competitive roster this season. You really have to like many of the moves they’ve made in the last 8-9 months, however.

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: 25-21

September 29, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies shortstop

(2) throws to first to complete an out in the eighth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

25. New York Mets

Curtis Granderson, the Mets’ big offseason addition, should make the team better, but they’re really going to miss Matt Harvey and probably will struggle with starting pitching all year. It could be a really exciting rotation in a year or two, but for now we can only count down the weeks/months until Noah Syndergaard arrives.

24. Philadelphia Phillies

The thing for the Phillies will be to see how many 34+ year olds they can keep healthy for the season. If they stay healthy, they have a chance to be .500. If not, it’s going to be a long season in the City of Brotherly Love.

23. Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore stood pat for most of the offseason before quickly adding both Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz. Unfortunately Jimenez’s addition pushes Kevin Gausman to AAA to start the year even though he (i.e. Gausman) looks like he might be the second-best starting pitcher in the organization.

22. Kansas City Royals

The Royals have become something of a sexy pick in the AL Central, but the K.C. rotation looks questionable at best. James Shields is very good and Yordano Ventura is promising (albeit inexperienced at the MLB level), but the back three currently are Jason Vargas, Jeremy Guthrie, and Bruce Chen. It’s going to be tough to seriously compete with three solidly below average starters.

21. Colorado Rockies

The Rockies have some very interesting pieces — Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Wilin Rosario, etc. — but they don’t look to have enough starts to make their seeming starts-an-scrubs model work.

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: 20-16

Mar 23, 2014; Sarasota, FL, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder

(22) before the spring training exhibition game against Baltimore Orioles at

Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

20. Arizona Diamondbacks

Mark Trumbo is going to hit a ton of home runs in the desert, but is he going to provide enough overall value to actually make the D-backs better (especially while playing the outfield)? Arizona hasn’t finished below .500 in the last three seasons, but I don’t sense that they’ve made themselves better with the moves they’ve made this offseason.

19. Cleveland Indians

The Indians surprised everyone by winning 92 games last year and reaching the AL Wild Card game. Could they repeat that? Sure, but they’ll have to do it without Ubaldo Jimemez and Scott Kazmir — two of the biggest pieces of their rotation.

18. Milwaukee Brewers

Want to know how to get a lot better, really quickly, for not a lot of money? Stop playing Yuniesky Betancourt at first base so often. Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay don’t look like anyone’s ideal first base situation, but they might be a three-win upgrade over Yuni. Add in the return of Aramis Ramirez and Ryan Braun, and we could be looking at a much improved Milwaukee squad. The race for second place in NL Central could be surprisingly tight between the Brewers, Reds, and Pirates.

17. Cincinnati Reds

Billy Hamilton could take the league by storm with his speed on the bases, but he’s going to have to do a lot of running to duplicate the value that Shin-Soo Choo provided the club last season. Losing Aroldis Chapman for the start of the season after his scary Spring Training incident with the line drive leaves a massive hole at the back of the bullpen. Cincinnati’s chances at  third-straight postseason appearance appear thin.

16. Pittsburgh Pirates

Pirates fans would be disappointed with a .500 finish after making the postseason last year, but they could be heading that direction. They mostly stood pat this offseason and lost A.J. Burnett via free agency. They have some young players who could progress and make up some of the difference, but they have a fair bit of ground to make up to match last year’s 88-win pythagorean record. More if Andrew McCutchen can’t repeat with an 8+ WAR season.

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: 15-11

Mar 6, 2014; Clearwater, FL, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher

(19) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Bright House Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

15. San Diego Padres

Pitching could be a question mark for the Padres this season (especially with bounce-back candidate Josh Johnson on the shelf to start the season), but the quality of the lineup could surprise those that don’t closely follow the team. Yasmani Grandal, Jedd Gyorko, Everth Cabrera, and Chase Headley have developed into a solid core. They’re not going to challenge the Dodgers in the division, but climbing back above .500 for the first time in four years is a possibility.

14. Atlanta Braves

The Braves were perhaps poised to once again steal the AL East crown that has already been bestowed upon the Nationals, but they were decimated by injuries this spring, losing both Kris Medlan and Brandon Beachy to Tommy John Surgery. They’ll also start the season with Mike Minor and Gavin Floyd on the disabled list. Signing Ervin Santana to patch some of the holes will help, but they’ll have a lot of work to do to catch the Nationals (probably).

13. Seattle Mariners

Signing a superstar like Robinson Cano will always make a club better, but for the Mariners the question remains: are they better by a big enough margin to stay in the hunt late into the season? It’s possible they get to the 86 (or so) wins that will be required to win a Wild Card spot, but most projections call for them to come up short. Beginning the season with Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijuan Walker on the DL won’t help any.

12. Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays have a glaring hole at second base and a few question marks in the back half of the starting rotation, but the totality of the team is one that could be sneaky-tough in what is perennially baseball’s toughest division. In the end they’re probably not a division winner or a Wild Card winner (though there’s a chance for that), but an above-.500 finish could be in the cards.

11. New York Yankees

The Yankees have a lot of talent, but they’re surrounded by so many questions. How will Masahiro Tanaka perform in his first year in the United States? Can CC Sabathia bounce back after a down year last season? How will Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira perform after both missing last year due to injury? They could find their way into the division hunt, but their more likely route into the playoffs looks like via the Wild Card race.

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: 10-6

Mar 26, 2014; Clearwater, FL, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher

(35) warms up for the first inning against the Philadelphia Phillies in a spring training exhibition game at Bright House Field. Mandatory Credit:

-USA TODAY Sports

10. Oakland Athletics

I think many were set to pick the A’s to win the AL West, but losing Jarrod Parker to Tommy John Surgery is a huge blow for that rotation. Rotation injury issues aside, their bullpen looks like one of the best in baseball, and their offense is going to platoon their way to success. Oakland remains a strong playoff contender and could still end up winning the division.

9. Texas Rangers

The AL West really looks too close to call at the moment (I guess that’s why they’re going to go ahead and play the season). Adding Shin-Soo Choo and swapping out Ian Kinsler for Prince Fielder should kick the offense up a notch, but there exists nothing but unknowns behind Yu Darvish in the starting rotation.

8. Los Angeles Angels

The Angels already have the best player in all of baseball in Mike Trout, but bounce-back seasons from Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton could propel them all the way to the top of the league in offense and to the top of the (injury-riddled) American League West in the standings. They have questions in that rotation, but so does everyone else in that division.

7. San Francisco Giants

Even after a disappointing sub-.500 season in 2013, the Giants still appear to be a solidly built club. They return many of the parts that won the World Series two seasons ago and should be strong competitors for an NL Wild Card spot, if not the division crown.

6. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers have been hurt by injuries this offseason — losing Andy Dirks for a few months to back surgery and Jose Iglesias and Bruce Rondon for the season due to leg fractures and Tommy John surgery respectively — but they still have what looks like the best starting rotation in baseball and also the best hitter in the game (Miguel Cabrera, that is). Detroit has never won four-straight division titles, but they have a chance to do that this season.

MCB’s MLB Power Rankings: The Top 5

Mar 11, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder

(66) against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

5. St. Louis Cardinals

I found the 5-4-3 spots difficult to rank, you can pretty much consider it a tie. The Cardinals, who have been to four World Series in the last ten years, are quite probably the best-run organization in baseball. With a great mix of youngsters, veterans, and prospects on the way, St. Louis looks to be a heavy favorite in the NL Central.

4. Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays, despite how consistent they’ve been, always seem to be an afterthought from a national perspective. They don’t tend to make big splashes in the offseason (unless that splash is trading away an established veteran for a haul of prospects), yet they’ve been in the mix (and in the playoffs) more often than not over the last six years.

3. Boston Red Sox

Can the Red Sox repeat the level of success they enjoyed in 2013 without The Beards? Probably yes. Or close to it. Losing Jacoby Ellsbury to free agency will hurt — and they’re surprisingly light on stars in the lineup (David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia excepting) — but they have the pitching and depth all around to be perhaps again be the best team in the American League. It’s always tough to win the AL East, however.

2. Washington Nationals

The Nationals were one of baseball’s biggest disappointments last season, but they still look like one of the better teams on paper and their young core has plenty of window open to win a championship. After thieving Doug Fister away from the Tigers this offseason, Washington looks set with an elite-level starting rotation, and plenty of rising starts around the diamond to fuel the offense (maybe you’ve heard of Bryce Harper?).

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Perhaps the only team with slam-dunk odds to win more than 90 games, the Trolley Dodgers just look better than everyone else on paper (and now they have a 2-0 head start). With a stacked lineup lead by Hanley Ramirez, Yasiel Puig, and Adrian Gonzalez, and a rotation that’s solidly among the game’s best (Clayton Kershaw et al.), they’re going to be tough to beat in a division that wasn’t very good last year (though looking better this year).