Power Ranking All 30 MLB Teams A Week Before Spring Training

17. The Braves are in full rebuild mode right now. Nothing is going their way aside from trying to bring up more youth to become a strong competitor once again. They are coming off a year in which they finished a rough 67-95. The one thing they did right over the offseason was picking up the young and talented prospect in Dansby Swanson.<p>They did, however, have to give up their only strong pitcher from 2015 in Shelby Miller. They are weak from the core and do not have a lot to back it up. Do not expect much from this year’s Atlanta Braves.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Atlanta Braves. 30. team

team. 6. The Phillies are like the Braves, as they are in a rebuild. They are trying to transition from Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard, and Chase Utley’s dominance, including a 2008 World Series title and back-to-back appearances in the World Series in 2008 and 2009.<p>The bright spot of this team is their young talent and their new general manger Matt Klentak, who finally brings a statistical focus to a team that has been so against it for years.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Philadelphia Phillies. 29

76. The Brewers do not have that much going for them right now. They have an unpredictable Ryan Braun and a very shaky team no matter where you look at them. They do have some talent here and there, such as Jonathan Lucroy behind the plate.<p>Lucroy had a very down 2015 and looks to bounce back in a strong way. However, the Brewers do not have much of any pitching to help ease them out of the slump they have found themselves in recently.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Milwaukee Brewers. 28. team

27. team. 127. Remember last offseason when the Padres were supposed to be the best team in baseball because they went out and acquired so many big names out of free agency? And remember how they ended their 2015 campaign with a 74-88 record? The Padres have done nothing more than trade away some of their big names that they acquired for not a whole lot of immediate help in return.<p>Craig Kimbrel is the most notable trade, as he was sent packing to Boston in exchange for four prospects. The Padres will be lucky if they stay above .500 this year.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . San Diego Padres

108. The Rockies really did not make any huge splashes over the offseason. But, they do have a good amount of talent already in Colorado. The Rockies signed Gerardo Parra to take over in left field so that Carlos Gonzalez could move to right.<p>They have the insanely talented Nolan Arenado manning third base and D.J. LeMahieu at second. Everything else for this team is a question mark, especially including the status of their starting shortstop Jose Reyes, who is currently on leave pending the outcome of his domestic violence case.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Colorado Rockies. 26. team

(0-0). Previous: . Cincinnati Reds. 25. team. 61. The Reds might be a strong team again in 2016. However, there are too many what-ifs on this team that it is hard to rank them much higher than here. They have the speedy playmaker Billy Hamilton who can steal any base you want him to on any given catcher.<p>They have the strong Jay Bryce out in right and the talented Joey Votto at first. Defensively, they have one of the best middle infields in Brandon Phillips and Zack Cozart. They will definitely have to fill the large hole that is left after trading away Todd Frazier. However, Homer Bailey’s return from injury could be a big positive for a team with a lot of what-ifs.</p>

Oakland Athletics. 24. team. 96. Make no mistake, the Athletics have a very loaded ball club if they can play the right way. The only big difference between their 2014 dominance and their 2015 slump was the loss of Josh Donaldson. Although it seems like a lot, the pieces are definitely still there for the Athletics.<p>But they first have to really clean up their defensive play. They led the league in errors with 126 of them, with most of them coming from the left side of their infield. When you watched them last year, you could see the 2014 team come rushing out every so often. The Athletics are ready to play, as long as they play clean defensively.</p>. (0-0). Previous:

11. Baltimore’s biggest move was simply re-signing Chris Davis. They need that power bat to keep them going despite his large volume of strikeouts.<p>We can obviously expect the likes of Adam Jones and Manny Machado to have great years, but the rest of the team is simply looking to bounce back and stay hot the way they finished 2015. Wieters will be the Orioles’ biggest x-factor this year, since it will be his first full year back since having Tommy John surgery.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Baltimore Orioles. 23. team

2. What the Twins lack in starting pitching, they make up for with their power bats, strong back end of the bullpen, and very hitter friendly ballpark. Led by the likes of Miguel Sano, Joe Mauer, and Trevor Plouffe, the Twins have a great offense for both power and average.<p>The back end of the bullpen is led by one of the league’s best closers in Glen Perkins. The pitching staff is not awful either. They are decent enough the keep the Twins in ballgames over the course of the year, but expect a season of a only a few games above .500 again.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Minnesota Twins. 22. team

82. Despite a third place finish in the division last season, the Marlins ended the year with a record 20 games under .500. The Marlins have big pieces in Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez, and they even have the small ball guys, like Dee Gordon, that are capable of swiping them extra bases and speed on defense. The Marlins have a rather strong starting five, but it is not very consistent outside of Jose Fernandez.. (0-0). Previous: . Miami Marlins. 21. team

102. Two words: Mike Trout. He is the heart and soul of this team and there is no question about it. Any team that has the greatest player in baseball will be able to at least put something together. The Angels will be without their other slugger Albert Pujols for a while as he is still recovering from a foot surgery.<p>The starting rotation and the bullpen are fairly unreliable and inconsistent, yet they will find a way to put a few things together led by Trout. Expect the Angels to make a few moves near the trade deadline that will help them contend down the stretch.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Los Angeles Angels. 20. team

The Diamondbacks made one of the biggest signings of the 2015 offseason by luring Zack Greinke with a six-year, $206.5 million deal. This will give the Diamondbacks a huge boost to their previously stagnant rotation.<p>Along with Greinke, the Diamondbacks will have Paul Goldschmidt’s MVP caliber play, Yasmany Thomas’ power bat in right, and A.J. Pollock’s top-of-the-order skill set. Expect the D’Backs to contend down the stretch.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Arizona Diamondbacks. 19. team. 8

Previous: . Tampa Bay Rays. 18. team. 21. The Rays made a few trades this offseason to bulk up their offense. They picked up Logan Morrison and Brad Miller form Seattle early in the offseason. These players will complement the likes of Evan Longoria and Steven Souza Jr.<p>Additionally, the Rays recently picked up Corey Dickerson from the Rockies to add another strong bat to their lineup. The Rays already have a fairly stacked defensive outfield with Kevin Kiermaier leading the way in center field. He is coming off a season where he obtained a defensive WAR value of 5.0 and an overall WAR value of 7.3. To go along with this, the Rays have the young stud in Chris Archer who is sure to dominate the league like he has the past few years.</p>. (0-0)

(0-0). Previous: . Detroit Tigers. 17. team. 63. To be short, sweet, and to the point about the Tigers, they have probably the most power out of any team in baseball. But they do not have the pitching to back it up. Behind bats like Miguel Cabrera or the newly acquired Justin Upton, they can launch extra base hits for days.<p>But, with an aging and inconsistent Justin Verlander as the team’s ace and Jordan Zimmerman needing to adjust to life in the American League, the pitching can only carry this team so far.Watch out for their pitching staff to be the true X-factor for the Tigers this year.</p>

15. team. 128. The White Sox are an early favorite to take the AL Central. They acquired Todd Frazier over the offseason to add even more tenacity to the scary lineup they already have. With the ace in Chris Sale always firing away, the White Sox have a good shot of launching themselves straight into October baseball.<p>The biggest thing holding back the White Sox is their offense. They can definitely hit the ball and drive it a long way, but they also tend to swing and miss a lot, especially on off-speed pitches. 2016 will either be a strong hit or a large miss for the Sox.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Chicago White Sox

90. When a team has a player that may be sold short at a $400 million contract, you know there is something special about this player. Bryce Harper will be a huge impact player for the Nationals again this year, as they look to bounce back after a rough 2015 campaign in which they barely finished above .500.<p>Max Scherzer and Gio Gonzalez will lead the rotation while Stephen Strasburg tries to get back on track. The loss of Ian Desmond will be a hard blow on the Nationals as well, especially if Anthony Rendon does not step back up to where he was before injury.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Washington Nationals. 14. team

33. The Cardinals always find a way to compete, but this year may be their first year in which they are not able to be a true World Series threat anymore. They did not do too much over the offseason and are relying on players to perform at a high level after coming off of injury, such as Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright. They will also be without Lance Lynn all year after he underwent Tommy John surgery.. (0-0). Previous: . St. Louis Cardinals. 13. team

43. The Yankees made a splash on the trade market over the offseason, landing Starlin Castro and Aroldis Chapman. The addition of Castro gives the Yankees that primary second baseman they have needed since letting Cano walk.<p>The addition of Chapman gives the Yankees the scariest bullpen in the league with Betances, Miller, and Chapman. With that said, the Yankees are an old team that has a lot of potential if they can stay healthy.</p><p>There are a lot of ifs for this potentially talented team.  Will A-Rod produce like he did last year? Will Teixeira and Ellsbury stay healthy? How will Castro play in his first year in the Bronx? The answers to these questions will determine how the Yanks fare in 2016.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . New York Yankees. 12. team

62. When your pitching staff is led by Felix Hernandez, you know that you are guaranteed to due well. The Mariners have a very strong pitching staff to support an even stronger offense, led by all-stars Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.<p>Cano had a down year in 2015 and will definitely be trying to return to form. Cruz, on the other hand, will be trying to replicate is high home run total from 2015. The rest of the supporting cast for Seattle should have no problems helping the team compete for the AL West title.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Seattle Mariners. 11. team

The Blue Jays are loaded on offense. From Josh Donaldson to Jose Bautista to Edwin Encarnacion to Troy Tulowitski, there are no holes in this lineup. The pitching, however, will be a major problem. The Jays’ biggest pitching support last year came from the acquisition of David Price at the trade deadline. This year, they will have to rely on Marcus Stroman to anchor a near nonexistent pitching staff. But the offense definitely makes up for the lack of pitching.. (0-0). Previous: . Toronto Blue Jays. 10. team. 39

7. Despite winning the World Series in 2015, the Royals did not make enough changes to compete with the teams ahead of them. They remained relatively the same team whereas the teams ranked higher made dramatic changes to fill the needed gaps to improve.<p>Just because you win once does not mean it will work all the time. Last year involved a lot of luck, and some of their big pieces did not return, such as Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto. Still, expect the Royals to keep doing what they do and compete yet again.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Kansas City Royals. 9. team

14. The Red Sox picked up a big piece in David Price and that will make them the favorite in the AL East. But the rest of their pitching staff, from the rotation to the the bullpen if mediocre at best.<p>The Red Sox have a strong offense, but have a huge question mark in Hanley Ramirez’s performance at first base and Pablo Sandoval’s performance as a whole. Aside from that, who knows what the pithing will be able to do after Price pitches in every fifth game.</p>. (0-0). Previous: . Boston Red Sox. 8. team

Texas Rangers. 7. team. 126. The biggest reason the Rangers did not rank higher is simply the status of Josh Hamilton. With his knee becoming a problem again, you do not know what production, if any at all, will come out of left field for the Rangers.<p>Their backup is Joey Gallo, who is a home run-or-strikeout type of hitter with next to no in between. That does not flow well with the style of play the Rangers like and could prove costly down the stretch. Nevertheless, the Rangers have a lot of strength all across the board, making them the easy favorite for an AL wildcard spot.</p>. (0-0). Previous:

(0-0). Previous: . Pittsburgh Pirates. 6. team. 4. The Jolly Roger shall be raised high in 2016 as the Pirates, led by Andrew McCutchen and Starlin Marte, cruise into the playoffs by way of the NL wildcard. Gerrit Cole looks poised to have another big season to follow up his 2015 and there do not look like there are many teams that are on the Pirates’ level.

San Francisco Giants. 5. team. 40. It is an even year. We all know how that goes for the Giants. On top of this, they went out and got some big names for their rotation, like Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija.<p>The Giants are ready to fight, especially behind the power and leadership of Buster Posey. That even-year magic could take them where they have been in 2010, 2012, and 2014. If we have learned anything about the Giants, it is that you never should count them out.</p>. (0-0). Previous:

(0-0). Previous: . Los Angeles Dodgers. 4. team. 71. The Dodgers seem to have the best of everything on their team. They have the league’s best pitcher in Clayton Kershaw. They have the league’s best young prospect in Corey Seager. They even have one of the league’s best young outfielders in Joc Pederson.<p>This team has a lot of work to do, but they definitely have plenty of talent to do it. Expect a down-to-the-wire showdown between the Giants and Dodgers, if Yasiel Puig can bounce back from his horrendous 2015.</p>

Houston Astros. 3. team. 135. With the emergence of Carlos Correa, the Astros now have a lot to look forward to in 2016. In the short amount of time he was in the majors last year, he looked like the best shortstop in the majors. He brought the Astros to the playoffs and almost helped them reach the ALCS. With Correa now firmly entrenched at short and Keuchel ready to repeat his 2015 performance, this Astros team is ready for business.. (0-0). Previous:

Previous: . New York Mets. 2. team. 3. The Mets have a dominating pitching staff that can shut down any given team on any given night. And they are only getting better as they get Zack Wheeler back from injury in July. They retained every notable player except Daniel Murphy, but replaced him with Neil Walker from the Pirates. The Mets have a lot to look forward to this year and could even see themselves right back where they were to end 2015.. (0-0)

1. team. 9. There is no doubt the Cubs are the best team in baseball to start the year. They have 4-1 odds to win it all and are the sure favorite to win the tough NL Central. Count on the Cubs to be a strong competitor this year and expect all of their new additions over the offseason to pay huge dividends throughout the year.. (0-0). Previous: . Chicago Cubs