MLB Offseason Power Rankings: The Stove Warms

21.3. . Pittsburgh Pirates. 25. team. 4. The Pittsburgh Pirates had a surprisingly down season in 2016, winning just 78 games and failing to make their annual wild card game appearance. The health of the pitching staff, particularly that of ace Gerrit Cole, didn’t do the club any favors this season, while a down year from face of the franchise Andrew McCutchen downgraded an otherwise decent offense. McCutchen finished with a WAR of 0.7, more than a five win drop-off from the previous year and just one-tenth higher than the tragically dreadlocked John Jaso.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Ivan Nova and Sean Rodriguez both tallied a 1.9 WAR for the Pirates. Nova’s mark is made even more impressive by the fact that he accumulated his total after being acquired at the trade deadline.<br /> How They Can Improve: Health in the starting rotation would be a big boost, as will the development of a number of young arms in their rotation.

21.3. . Kansas City Royals. 24. team. 7. This is where our MLB power rankings have some fun. Both the Pirates and Royals came in with the same WAR total entering free agency, and with no definitive tiebreaker in place I simply went back another year and put the Royals ahead of the Bucs since they won the World Series in 2015. The Royals could become very active on the market this winter and 2017 could mark the end of the team as we know it with Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Wade Davis and Eric Hosmer all set to hit the market after the season.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Edinson Volquez (1.5).<br /> How They Can Improve: Again, health could play a key factor. They’ll also need some help in the starting rotation if they hope to make another run. Their bullpen tallied a 4.9 WAR, which was just behind the starter’s 5.6 mark. That tied them with the Angels at 27th in baseball while their bullpen was tied with Cleveland for 7th.

23. team. 76. The Brewers are in the middle of rebuilding everything, and while they received nice contributions from Houston castoffs Jonathan Villar and Chris Carter, whether they can continue to improve, or even hold at their levels of production from 2016, remains to be seen. Milwaukee will see an influx of youth in the coming year or two. Orlando Arcia made his big league debut this season but posted a negative WAR. Brett Phillips should be on his way before long, and the deadline addition of Phil Bickford could prove to be huge in a couple of years.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Carlos Torres (0.7). Torres made 72 appearances out of the bullpen and posted a 2.73 ERA. At 34, he could be a cheap add on the market for any team.<br /> How They Can Improve: Stay the course. The Cubs (spoiler alert) are going to continue to run the division, and the Cardinals always seem to have a competitive team on their hands. If the Brewers can continually make savvy adds during the winter and via the trade market, this team should be back in the playoff mix before long.. 22.0. . Milwaukee Brewers

22. team. 6. The Philllies offense ranked 28th in WAR production in all of MLB, and the breakout season that we were expecting from Maikel Franco never came. We did see surprising performances from Tommy Joseph, Cameron Rupp, Freddy Galvis and Odubel Herrera at the dish, while Cesar Hernandez led the team in WAR (4.4) thanks to some stellar play in the field. The offense will be a focal point this winter. Whether or not they are willing to trade one of the arms in their rotation (read: Vince Velasquez) to get some help at the plate is another topic up for debate.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Jeremy Hellickson (3.2). There is a chance that Hellickson returns to the rotation for at least one more season, but for that to happen he’ll get paid a little above market value either due to the weak free agent class, or his acceptance of a qualifying offer. <p>How They Can Improve: Well the offense can’t get much worse, so some buy-low candidates could be in order, much like what the Brewers did last offseason. The development of their youngsters could determine whether or not the Phillies have enough to make a run at a wild card spot in 2017. The health of Velasquez and Aaron Nola would also go a long way.</p>. 22.0. . Philadelphia Phillies

23.2. . Arizona Diamondbacks. 21. team. 8. The fact that the D-Backs are this far from the bottom after their abysmal season speaks to the amount of talent that the club has. They have some bats that are defensive liabilities like Yasmany Tomas and Peter O’Brien, and moving one of the two (Tomas has a longer track record) could be another instance of addition by subtraction. The A’s need some pop to go along with Khris Davis, and with the DH available to the American League, there could be talks between the two clubs this season.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Daniel Hudson (0.6). Most of the team will be returning, which is both the good and the bad for Arizona. If A.J. Pollock is healthy for the entire season, his defense in the outfield should provide a solid boost to the club all around.<br /> How They Can Improve: Adding some arms to the bullpen and hoping for bounce back seasons from Greinke and Miller seems to be the best bet for the D-Backs, who have a potent offense. Oddly enough, Jean Segura ranked first on the team in WAR with a 5.0 while Paul Goldschmidt was right behind him at 4.8.

126. I told you this would get weird. The Rangers rode their superb win-loss record in one-run games to the AL West title, but their ranking right here shows two things: They are losing some talent and they overachieved (but we already knew that). One fun tidbit about the Rangers’ late season additions: Carlos Gomez, who was exiled from Houston and claimed off waivers by Texas, put up a 1.2 WAR in the final two months of the season while Carlos Beltran, whom the team traded top prospect Dillon Tate (and two others) to acquire, put up a 0.1 over that same span. Trading from a deep farm system has been working for the Rangers, but they may be running low on top talent if they keep doing so. With an aging roster and a weaker system than they had just a year or two ago, Texas’ time in the sun may be drawing to a close in the coming seasons.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Ian Desmond (3.3). He’ll be sought after by just about every club, presumably.<br /> How They Can Contend: They’ll need to add some pitchers to their starting rotation unless they plan on using Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish every other day. Their bullpen was solid in 2016 once they figured out who should be there, so winning more close games than they lose is still within reason, but certainly not at the rate they did this season.. 23.5. . Texas Rangers. 20. team

62. The Mariners were tantalizingly close to ending their MLB playoff drought this season, but ultimately fell just a bit short. On the bright side, they look to have found their future closer in Edwin Diaz, who struck out 15.33 per nine innings. Dan Altavilla got a brief look at the end of the season, but the hard throwing righty could become a depth piece for the bullpen moving forward.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Hisashi Iwakuma (2.4). Kuma’s 2.4 WAR ranked second on the staff behind James Paxton (3.5), even with his 4+ ERA.<br /> How They Can Improve: The two big pieces to ending their postseason drought will be Felix Hernandez returning to form (3.83 ERA, 1.0 WAR) and Taijuan Walker finally putting it all together. The offense should continue to roll, especially with the Rangers, A’s and Angels current lack of pitching.. 27.1. . Seattle Mariners. 19. team

. Miami Marlins. 18. team. 82. The Miami Marlins made a late run at the MLB playoffs that ultimately fell short, but outside of the Washington Nationals nothing seems to be a sure thing in the NL East. The Mets had nearly their entire starting rotation miss time due to injury, and they may be without Yoenis Cespedes if he elects to go elsewhere this winter. The door is open for the Marlins to compete in 2017.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Losss: Mike Dunn (0.3). A number of Miami’s pending free agents put up negative WAR totals in 2016, so free agency has netted them almost a full extra win off their end-of-season total with the deadline acquisition of Fernando Rodney (-0.5) not quite working out.<br /> How They Can Compete: The tragic loss of Jose Fernandez will be a tough gap to fill, both on the field and in the clubhouse, but if Adam Conley continues to develop, the Marlins have some solid upside in their rotation and some pretty darn good arms in their bullpen like Kyle Barraclough and A.J. Ramos. The Marlins will have opportunity in 2017.. 27.9

28.4. . Colorado Rockies. 17. team. 108. The Rockies should be a very interesting team to follow this offseason. They fell apart at the end of the season, ending on a 2-8 slide, ultimately leaving them 12 games behind the pace in the wild card race, but they have a young core that could develop in front of our eyes and carry the Rockies into the postseason in 2017.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Boone Logan (0.8). Logan was a huge piece of their bullpen this season, and getting him under contract could provide a big boost to the Rockies 2017 hopes.<br /> How They Can Improve: The Rockies are banking on their young talent to carry them to the postseason, and in order for that to happen, they’ll need to progress. Jon Gray could have a break out campaign while David Dahl could become the third head of the Colorado outfield monster for opposing pitchers. Tyler Anderson, Tyler Chatwood and Chad Bettis all offer solid if unspectacular rotation options for the Rox in 2017.

Tampa Bay Rays. 16. team. 21. Even on this whacky list the Tampa Bay Rays finish last in the AL East. If they keep the band together for another season, the Rays could have an outside chance of making a playoff push, but stacking them up against the Red Sox, Indians and Cubs seems unfair. Evan Longoria had a nice rebound season and this winter the Rays will have to decide between trading the face of the franchise while he may be at his peak value, or keeping him in a Rays uniform for the rest of his career. His team friendly contract isn’t too bad right now, but as the years go by and his production likely slips with age, that deal could become cumbersome to the small market Rays.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Logan Morrison (0.5).<br /> How They Can Improve: Competing in the AL East is tough. The Rays may have to make some moves and plan for the future.. 28.7.

Los Angeles Angels. 15. team. 102. The Angels are this high? Ah, surprises. The offense did the heavy lifting here, and with Mike Trout nearly outproducing the A’s all by himself, they’ll always have a little bit of a chance. The problem for the Angels for years now has been their pitching staff. Luckily for them, two big contracts are doing off the books.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Jhoulys Chacin (1.2), who was the second-best pitcher on the staff in 2016 behind Matt Shoemaker. Jered Weaver and C.J. Wilson will be in the free agent pool, and the -0.8 WAR that Tim Lincecum provided will also hit the road.<br /> How They Can Improve: The Royals and Orioles have shown us that a team doesn’t need great starting pitching to make the postseason. They just need a great bullpen and a pretty good offense. The Angels already have a top 10 offense, so they should hit the free agent market hard. Why free agents? Because they love spending absurd amounts of money and don’t necessarily have a farm system.. 29.3.

29.3. . Baltimore Orioles. 14. team. 11. In my opinion, this is one of those instances where the Orioles are being vaulted up the rankings by surpassing expectations in 2016. An all time year from Zach Britton made this all possible, so if he has anything but duplicate that performance, then the Orioles may be in trouble after just making it into the wild card game.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Mark Trumbo (2.2). They’ll also be losing Pedro Alvarez (1.1) and Matt Wieters (1.7), so the offense could take a big hit this winter.<br /> How They Can Improve: Find a way to replace the production of that trio and perhaps add a starting pitcher.

43. The Yankees are turning things over to the Baby Bombers moving forward, with Gary Sanchez already being named the team’s starting catcher. In less than 1/3 of a season, Sanchez ended up second on the team’s WAR list with a 3.2, behind only Masahiro Tanaka. While he is unlikely to continue at that torrid pace, he has provided optimism for the Yankees moving forward.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Billy Butler (0.1). Seriously. Both Butler and Solano provided a WAR of 0.1, while removing Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira accounted for a loss of 2.3. Trading away Miller, Chapman and Beltran certainly made a dent in future prospects for this piece, but the return they got for each made it all worth it.<br /> How They Can Improve: The Yankees have some intriguing options in the rotation, but in the Bronx intriguing is no bueno. The Yankees need to add four $100M starters pronto. I hope Rich Hill, Jeremy Hellickson, Jorge De La Rosa and Jason Hammel like pinstripes.. 30.2. . New York Yankees. 13. team

Chicago White Sox. 12. team. 128. The White Sox? How did they sneak this far up the list? See, it’s posts like this that give the White Sox front office hope, and then they make small upgrades and hope that’s enough to improve the club for the following season. I need to talk to whoever commissioned this post. All jokes aside, this shows that the White Sox have some talent on the field, and in a weak division, the White Sox could theoretically make some moves and actually compete in 2017. The problem with that thought process is that the Sox are led in essence by three players: Chris Sale, Jose Quintana and Adam Eaton, leaving a gap between those three and the other 22 players on the roster. Those three accounted for 16 of the team’s 31.4 WAR total.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Alex Avila (1.1).<br /> How They Can Compete: Hope for the best from James Shields, which would give them a fourth solid option in the rotation. A bounce-back season from Jose Abreu would also be nice.. 31.4.

Toronto Blue Jays. 11. team. 39. The Jays have the most to lose this offseason with one player hitting 42 home runs this season, and the other literally having “Bats” in his honest to goodness name. The Jays have made the ALCS in each of the past two seasons, so they’re definitely within striking distance of the World Series. With some tweaks, they have a legit shot at making it in 2017.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Edwin Encarnacion (3.9). They’re also currently without Jose Bautista (1.4), Michael Saunders (1.4) and the man that out-WAR’d them both–Darwin Barney (1.5).<br /> How They Can Improve: The Jays have a lot of power coming off the books this winter, and while the gut reaction is to just bring everyone back and try again, the front office should consider taking another approach. Their team base running ranked 25th in baseball, and that could be another way for the FO to attack this free agent class without signing aging veterans to big deals in order to maintain the status quo. This offseason is an opportunity, and if re-signing their big bats, or bringing new ones in is the best option, so be it.. 32.8.

You know who was worth a win and a half more than Cespedes this season and is also on the free agent market? Dexter Fowler. While Cespedes would be welcome back to Queens with open arms, Fowler could be the better option–especially for an outfield that is already not so good defensively. He’s not going to mash nearly as many home runs, but he’ll play center field, which helps out the overall scheme out there, and he’ll be way cheaper.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Neil Walker (3.7). The Mets are losing 11.7 wins above replacement this offseason, largely due to the impending statuses of Walker, Cespedes and Batrolo Colon.<br /> How They Can Improve: Add a big bat or seven and work on building up the depth behind their rotation, just in case.. 33.5. . New York Mets. 10. team. 3

33.8. . Houston Astros. 9. team. 135. The Astros underperformed in 2016 and missed the MLB playoffs after a rough first month of the season. Their fixes are relatively simple and should be enough to help propel them to their first AL West title since joining the division.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Luis Valbuena (2.0). That production should be offset by either a full season of Alex Bregman or Yulieski Gurriel at third base.<br /> How They Can Improve: Their bullpen is solid, even without Pat Neshek, as Chris Devenski and Michael Feliz could be set up for bigger roles. The rotation is a bit of a question mark, however. Dallas Keuchel won the AL Cy Young award in 2015 and dropped off dramatically this season. Collin McHugh was decent, but not ace-worthy. Mike Fiers is a good back-end option. The key to all of this will be the health of Lance McCullers. If he stays healthy, the Astros keep racking up the wins. Look for Joe Musgrove to make his mark in the rotation with David Paulino and potentially even Francis Martes providing backup in the minors.

. Detroit Tigers. 8. team. 63. This right here is the case for the Detroit Tigers to keep the team together. They have the talent, are in a weak division, and their window is small. The front office seems to want to part ways with some of the team’s bigger contracts, so if one of them goes, expect all of them to go. The team ranked 12th in both pitching and at the plate in terms of WAR, and a productive year out of Justin Upton (instead of a productive couple of months) would have been the difference between a wild card berth and where they ended up.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Take your pick between Eric Aybar and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, both of whom had a 0.1 WAR in 2016.<br /> How They Can Improve: Adding to the Tigers’ bullpen is never a bad idea, and they could use another starting pitcher. Perhaps using J.D. Martinez as trade bait in his final year of team control to help one of those needs could be on the table without giving up on 2017 entirely.. 34.8

Los Angeles Dodgers. 7. team. 71. Let’s face it: The Dodgers aren’t going to be ranked this far down the list for very long. They grow their own money and will replace the WAR they are losing. Consider this a blip on the offseason radar.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Justin Turner (5.6), but he’ll be back. He has to be, unless the Dodgers want to trade some of their top prospects in order to land Evan Longoria. They’ll spend the cash. Kenley Jansen came in second here with a 3.2 WAR. He should be back as well.<br /> How They Can Improve: While everyone expects the Dodgers to bring back both Turner and Jansen, there is a seemingly endless hole in their starting rotation. Julio Urias and Kenta Maeda will be alongside Clayton Kershaw in 2017, but beyond that is anyone’s guess. Los Angeles could trade a significant part of their farm to add Chris Archer, Jose Quintana or Chris Sale to make a big upgrade, while spending more cash on the bullpen to patch that right back up. Even with all of their injuries, if the team’s rotation had been lined up in the NLCS against the Cubs, I think the Dodgers would have at least taken them the distance. Small upgrades could be enough, but a big one could make the Cubs and Dodgers one and one-a.. 35.0.

team. 33. As long as the Cardinals are in the same division as the Cubs, they may be relegated to MLB wild card aspirations for the next couple of seasons.<br /> Best Free Agent Loss: Brandon Moss (1.4), with Matt Holliday also joining him in free agency.<br /> How They Can Improve: A full season out of Alex Reyes should help quite a bit, actually. They could go after Colby Rasmus this winter, who will at the very least improve their outfield defense, but could also provide a potent bat for the lineup to help compensate for the losses of Moss and Holliday. Rasmus could play any of the three outfield positions and even be thought of as a fourth outfielder if need be.. 37.3. . St. Louis Cardinals. 6

. San Francisco Giants. 5. team. 40. The Giants have set themselves up nicely for the next couple of years through the moves they made last winter and in trades at the deadline (the Matt Moore addition in particular). With Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, Jeff Samardzija and Moore all in the rotation and impressive left-hander Ty Blach looking like an upgrade over both Jake Peavy and Matt Cain (who started 2016 in the rotation), the team is built on starting pitching. Their offense is aging and doesn’t have a ton of pop, but the team appears to be ok with that.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Angel Pagan (2.1). Overall the Giants are losing a total of 2.3 wins above replacement via free agency with Javier Lopez and Gregor Blanco accounting for a -1.3. Former closers Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo will also hit the market, so the bullpen will definitely see some work this winter.<br /> How They Can Improve: Mark Melancon signing with the Giants would be the most Giants thing the Giants could do. After that, an upgrade to the outfield (again, a defender would be an upgrade for one of the worst defensive outfields in MLB this season), which narrows the market a bit. Cespedes will be a target, but it’s unlikely that he’ll end up back in the Bay Area. Another former A, Josh Reddick, is more likely. Colby Rasmus could be a solid buy-low candidate as well. See, there are options. If the Giants don’t sign an outfielder, Mac Williamson will be in line to get some real playing time and he has been exciting to watch in the short stints that he’s received.. 41.3

team. 90. If they hadn’t extended Stephen Strasburg in the middle of the season, their ranking would have dropped by a couple of spots, but the Nats are the team to beat in the NL East without question. Taking a little bit of a risk on Daniel Murphy paid off, as he led the offense in WAR (5.5) and was second only to Max Scherzer (5.6) on the club. The starting rotation will carry this club, as they are currently six deep with Scherzer, Strasburg, Tanner Roark, Gio Gonzalez, Joe Ross and top prospect Lucas Giolito.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Oddly enough, it’s midseason acquisition and future San Francisco Giant Mark Melancon (0.9).<br /> How They Can Improve: With the depth that the team has in the rotation, trading one of them away (if it’s Gio Gonzalez) for some bullpen help could be a play for the Nats. Shawn Kelley was pretty solid last year, but is he ready to be the team’s closer? They’ll need some upgrades in the ‘pen this winter.. 44.3. . Washington Nationals. 3

2. team. 14. Let’s play two truths and a lie. Ready? Here we go. The Boston Red Sox are built to win right now. They have a young core and money to spend. If Pablo Sandoval was hitting the free agent market again this offseason, they’d pay him double what he got last time around. Can you pick out which one is a lie? (Hint: They rank second on this list). The rotation has been a focal point in the hot stove rumblings, but with David Price, Rick Porcello, and I’m going to say Eduardo Rodriguez as the number three, the Sox have a solid group. Drew Pomeranz is still around, as is knuckleballer Steven Wright. That makes five, yet Boston picked up the option on Clay Buchholtz. If it were me, I’d try and flip Clay to a team willing to take on his salary (not that that matters in Beantown) for a prospect that still has some upside or just needs a change of scenery. Jon Singleton of the Astros has not panned out in the big leagues, but some new voices could do him a world of good. Singleton and a lower level prospect could get a deal done. Or Boston could see if the Phillies are willing to double-down on acquiring starters coming off of a down season with one year left on their contract. There are teams that would be interested, for sure.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Well, technically he’s retiring but it’s obviously David Ortiz who had a 4.4 WAR in 2016, which is impressive since he doesn’t take the field.<br /> How They Can Improve: Solidifying the bullpen ahead of Craig Kimbrel should be the focal point of any offseason plan this winter, with adding some depth to the rotation as a close second.. 47.1. . Boston Red Sox

9. The Cubs just won their first World Series in a bunch of years and were easily the best team in baseball all season. They have a potent offense. They have a solid starting rotation. They run the bases well. They play superb defense. What could they possibly need?<br /> How They Can Improve: SIGN DEXTER FOWLER. That, and improve the bullpen.<br /> Biggest Free Agent Loss: Dexter Fowler (4.7) accounts for more than half of the wins above replacement the team is set to lose all by himself. Grandpa Rossie (1.7) and Chapman (1.3) also join the party.. 48.4. . Chicago Cubs. 1. team