MLB Power Rankings: Opening Day

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.