MLB Power Rankings: Braves lead recent champs at the top
Who has the best team on paper as spring training nears a close?
Atlanta Braves
The roster is loaded with impact and depth, and the return of Ozzie Albies completes the lineup. What the Braves may lack in the rotation in big-name recognition they make up for in numbers, including a loaded bullpen with power arms from top to bottom. Can Ronald Acuna Jr. get back to MVP caliber?Los Angeles Dodgers
They didn’t make a splash over the winter despite losing the likes of the Turners — Trea and Justin — on the left side of the infield and Cody Bellinger from the outfield, but Trayce Thompson may be a budding all-star, J.D. Martinez can still hit, and there’s plenty of pitching depth. Dustin May’s return and the arrival of Bobby Miller should help fill the void left by Walker Buehler, who is likely out for the year (UCL).Houston Astros
The club lost Justin Verlander to free agency and didn’t replace him, and now GM Dana Brown is staring down a rotation problem from a depth standpoint with Lance McCullers Jr.’s status. But their healthy arms still make up a top pitching staff and the lineup remains stacked.San Diego Padres
The Padres’ roster is among the best in baseball, but there are some question marks with health and age. While the rotation is deep it lacks the impact of the top few rotations in the game. But they’re going to score runs. A lot of runs.New York Mets
The Mets may have been No. 1 here if everyone was healthy. But Edwin Diaz’s season-ender in the WBC will hurt, and if Brandon Nimmo also has to miss significant time the Met$ might be the third best team in their own division.Philadelphia Phillies
It’s an improved roster from a year ago with the additions of Turner, Craig KImbrel, Gregory Soto, and Taijuan Walker, but they will miss Bryce Harper for a good portion of the season.Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays remain the unicorn in the league. On paper, they never have one of the more established rosters in baseball, yet consistently compete with the way they deploy their talent. But if they stay healthy this may be the best Rays roster of all time.New York Yankees
This is a shaky ranking. On paper, the Yankees are a top 5ish team, but the status of Frankie Montas and Carlos Rodon looms huge, and it appears the former will miss most or all of the season while the fate of the latter awaits the club down in Florida. Without either arm the Yankees are still a playoff contender, but wouldn’t be the favorites in the division and could find themselves on the outside looking in come October.Seattle Mariners
Seattle upgraded the club with health, rotation depth, and a wager on younger players continuing to get better. But comparing this year’s club to the one the Mariners started with a year ago must include the Luis Castillo-over-Chris Flexen move from last July, and the chance the club has made a marked improvement in the lineup simply by sticking with a struggling young player in Jarred Kelenic.Toronto Blue Jays
The Jays’ rotation should be outstanding but their biggest bullpen addition (Chad Green) isn’t likely to help them until 2024. They’ll score runs with anyone, though, and if their key names stay healthy this is probably the best team in the east.Minnesota Twins
Many are sleeping on this team. They go deep into the rotation with No. 3-type arms and have depth at the back end, the bullpen looks solid with some upside, and they shored up the catcher spot with Christian Vazquez. The return of Carlos Correa is big, but the depth moves make me believe in this club, including Kyle Farmer, Donovan Solano, Joey Gallo, and Michael A. Taylor.Cleveland Guardians
We know not to underestimate this organization when it comes to pitching, and that remains the case in 2023, but the lineup could actually be good this year. Jose Ramirez is back, Josh Bell has signed on, and Oscar Gonzalez is just getting started.St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards would rank higher if we knew Jack Flaherty was going to make 25-plus starts. Since we don’t, the rotation is more of a depth play with some back-end questions. But St. Louis has a lot of offense to lean on, led by two MVP candidates at the infield corners, expected growth from Nolan Gorman, and perhaps an early-season arrival of top prospect Jordan Walker.Chicago White Sox
This roster should be better, but injury has killed the lineup, there’s some age to consider with a key player or two, and they’ll start the season without closer Liam Hendriks. Still, the Sox could win the division with some health luck they haven’t had in recent years.Chicago Cubs
I like the effort of the front office, but still don’t like the product. Jameson Taillon is a good addition to the rotation, Drew Smyly is a shot worth taking, and Justin Steele may be ready to break out, but it’s probably the third best rotation in the division at best, and the bullpen doesn’t exactly inspire.Texas Rangers
The Rangers enter 2023 one of the most volatile roster in baseball, thanks to injury (Jacob deGrom, Brett Martin), age, and pair of budding all-stars (Jonah Heim, Nathaniel Lowe. But it might be up to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien to push this club over the top. Semien recovered some after a terrible start last year, and Seager had his worth season since 2019 and posted his worst average (.245) and OBP (.317) in 11 years as a pro.San Francisco Giants
The Giants actually weird me out a bit, because little of what they do jives with anything else they do. The rotation, however, has a chance to be very good with the additions of Ross Stripling and Sean Manaea. I’m just not sure how they score enough runs to make it count in a division with the Dodgers and Padres.Milwaukee Brewers
Despite nary a single impact splash this past winter, somehow I like the Brewers better than I did a year ago. Jesse Winker will hit in 2023, William Contreras is a nice addition to the lineup, and there are fewer holes on the 26-man than last season. If the rotation holds up, they could surprise, but they are still a bat away from anything meaningful.Los Angeles Angels
Another volatile roster; if they stay healthy, the offense will be very good and the Angels owned the most underrated starting staff in baseball last year. It lacks impact after Shohei Ohtani, but Patrick Sandoval is unheralded but good, and I still think Reid Detmers is a No. 3. The bullpen may be the crack in the armor, but this team is going to be a pain, and has postseason upside.Boston Red Sox
I don’t hate this roster. No, wait, I do, because that starting rotation is full of nothing but question marks and hope, and the lineup is more of the same outside Rafael Devers. Boston has so many replacement level names on their projected 26-man they look like the most likely team to trade half their roster come July.Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles surprised a lot of folks a year ago, and in terms of raw talent could be better this season if they allow Grayson Rodriguez to fly north with them from Florida.Arizona Diamondbacks
I like the upside here, but it may not be ready to win a lot just yet, and they lack rotation impact after the top two. I’m thinking 2025 for this group, provided they turn over about 70% of their pitching staff over the next 36-48 months.Oakland Athletics
I don’t think the A’s are going to be good, but I do they think are going to win at least 65 games, maybe 70-72. I don’t like the chances the rotation does anything but collapse, and the bullpen is looking for, oh, about eight arms to do something they never really have before, but the lineup might be fun and… decent? We’ll see.Miami Marlins
The upside of the rotation is pretty huge, and the bullpen has some interesting potential, but I’m not buying Jean Segura and Luis Arraez as lineup saviors for a club that scored the 7th-fewest runs in baseball last season. I’d bet on another arm-for-bat swap by Kim Ng in 2023.Cincinnati Reds
The young talent in the Cincy org is pretty good, led by Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and top prospect Elly De La Cruz, and I think the roster is good enough to avoid the cellar in the Central.Kansas City Royals
I’m lukewarm on the arms, really like Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino, and that’s pretty much it. Any significant injury issues and the Royals could be staring at a last-place finish.Pittsburgh Pirates
I hate the Pirates. Sorry Blake, I just do. The talent in this org right now is exciting, however, including Oneil Cruz, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and prospects Termarr Johnson, Henry Davis, Endy Rodriguez, and Nick Gonzalez. But the same exact sentence was written about this club last year, and the year before, and the year before.Detroit Tigers
The Royals’ best friends are the Tigers, who have more raw talent on the projected 26-man, but less of it is established and reliable, including some injuries. Do the Tigers trade Tarik Skubal this summer?Colorado Rockies
The Rockies make less sense than any team in baseball. The rotation… meh. The bullpen… *shrugs*. The lineup is hoping Kris Bryant stays healthy and hits, Ryan McMahon finally breaks out big, and Nolan Jones cracks the lineup and wins Rookie of the Year. If all that happens they’ll be able to blame the pitching for a terrible season.Washington Nationals
The Nationals have been rebuilding for two years now and don’t appear ready to start crawling out of said state. Stephen Strasburg is hurt again, Patrick Corbin is still being paid as a No. 2 starter and appears no longer capable of pitching that well, and top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli will miss the season due to pending UCL surgery. But some of the pieces of the future have arrived. Keibert Ruiz, CJ Abrams, Josiah Gray, and MacKenzie Gore all have a shot to be above-average to plus contributors, and that’s a good start.