10 Major League Baseball teams that are looking ahead to next year or beyond
Cincinnati Reds
Let’s be real: this team isn’t going anywhere under their current ownership regime.
The Castellinis tore down their team when they should’ve been building. They had star players in Jesse Winker, Nick Castellanos, Joey Votto, and Luis Castillo and good complementary pieces in Eugenio Suarez, Amir Garrett, Mike Moustakas, and Tyler Naquin.
They also knew that their farm system was really good. Jonathan India made his debut last season and played really well, earning NL Rookie of the Year honors. Unfortunately he hasn’t played much this year due to injury. They also have Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Graham Ashcraft who have made debuts this year.
They were in most teams’ dream scenario: talented stars on the MLB roster, talented, controllable young pitchers nearing their call up. And man, did they blow it.
Chicago Cubs
The Cubs have a decent little team, but they’re not contending this year.
Guys like Kyle Hendricks, Marcus Stroman, Willson Contreras, Frank Schwindel, Patrick Wisdom, Ian Happ, and Seiya Suzuki are solid players, but not the kind of guys who lead a team to October. They don’t really have much in the bullpen either, and while that is usually the easiest thing to acquire at the trade deadline, there’s no reason for a 4th place team to do that.
They have some good prospects in their system, but most won’t be ready until 2024. Only two of their top ten prospects are supposed to be ready this year: Brennen Davis, who is a potential super star, and Caleb Killian, who looks like a middle-of-the-rotation starter. Those guys coming up aren’t enough to get this team to the playoffs.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals are on the rise, but 2022 is not the year.
They’ve had some talented young players come up over the last few seasons. Daniel Lynch, Brady Singer, and Josh Staumont are the core pitches they’re building around. On the offensive side, Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez have gotten their careers off to nice starts.
They’ve still got more guys waiting in the wings. Asa Lacy and Nick Pratto are the two big ones who could be up later this year or early next year. Vinnie Pasquantino is another good one, but his path to the everyday first base job is blocked by Pratto. He’ll likely be the DH in the long run. They have the 7th ranked farm system in Major League Baseball according to MLB Pipeline.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers have some of the best young talent in the Major League Baseball. They just need more MLB experience.
Tarik Skubal has been incredible so far this season with a 2.15 ERA. He leads a rotation that will eventually include Matt Manning and Casey Mize, who have both struggled early on, and have some adjustments they need to make. Similarly, on the offensive side, Spencer Torkelson has struggled early in his career, but the potential for stardom is there.
The Tigers don’t have a deep farm system since all of the young guys mentioned above lost prospect eligibility, but they still have the #2 prospect in the game in outfielder Riley Greene. He should be up sooner than later, but he’s another guy who will likely need time to make adjustments. Dillon Dingler is also a nice catcher who could be up next year. They have two more young stud pitchers I really like in Ty Madden and Jackson Jobe, but they won’t be ready until 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Oakland A’s
The Reds of the west haven’t given their fans much to cheer for this year, and the few guys who have received cheers will likely be on the move at the trade deadline.
Frankie Montas has been as advertised with a 3.20 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning, but I’d be shocked if he is still an A come August 3rd. Ramon Laureano could also be on the move, even coming off a PED suspension. There’s really not much else to talk about on this team.
They do have a deep farm system. Guys like Shea Langeliers and Nick Allen could be ready this year. J.T. Ginn could be up next year, but most other guys in their system won’t be ready until 2024. Tyler Soderstrom, Zack Gelof, Max Muncy, and Gunnar Hoglund are the big names there.
The bigger story with the A’s is their hunt for a new stadium. Will they move to a new city? Or will Oakland cave into their new stadium request to keep the team there? Part of this is will their owner finally spend money, since he’s one of the richest owners in the game but refuses to spend like it.
Colorado Rockies
The Rockies got off to a hot start, but they’ve tailed off and I don’t see them picking it up again.
C.J. Cron has been awesome, putting up MVP numbers so far. Ryan McMahon, Randal Grichuk, and Brendan Rogers have been decent offensively, while Chad Kuhl has led the pitching staff. They just don’t have much on their roster, and unfortunately, there’s not much on the farm either.
Zac Veen is the crown jewel of the Rockies minor league system, but he won’t debut until next season. There’s a few ok prospects that could come up this year or next, like Michael Toglia or Elehuris Montero, but they are another team that would benefit from a front-office revamp and ownership change.
Baltimore Orioles
The Orioles are Orioles-ing yet again, but they’ve got a stable of prospects on the way that can turn this franchise around very quickly.
Cedric Mullins was the guy they were hoping to build around after his breakout last year, but he hasn’t repeated that level of production. Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, Trey Mancini and Rougned Odor have played to their usual level of production, but they’ve all been victimized by the new dimensions in left field.
Now let’s get to the fun part: their future. Adley Rutschman and Kyle Bradish have come up and shown flashes of brilliance already. Grayson Rodriguez and D.L. Hall will come up at some point this year. Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, and Jordan Westburg should all be up next year. And as if all that wasn’t enough, they have the #1 overall pick this year, which will probably be young phenom Druw Jones. This team could be very competitive not only in the AL East, but in Major League Baseball in a couple of years.
Boston Red Sox
Most major league baseball teams on this list are looking ahead because of poor roster moves, incompetent ownership, or lack of experience with their young talent. The Red Sox are looking ahead because the AL East is too deep.
They currently sit in 4th place in their division. They are 11 games back from the first-place Yankees, six games back from the second place Blue Jays, and 5.5 games back from the third place Rays. In the wild card standings, they’re 3.5 games back from the Angels in the third wild card spot, and they’d have to overcome the Rangers, White Sox, and Guardians to get there.
Their offense isn’t the problem, at least at the top of their lineup. Devers and Martinez are raking, and Bogaerts and Story are contributing as well. They’ve had injuries in their rotation and their bullpen has been unreliable. While their outfield defense has been pretty good, their infield defense has been pretty bad, which isn’t surprising when Bogaerts is starting at short over Trevor Story.
Next. 1 little-known potential All-Star from each team. dark
These are 10 Major League Baseball teams looking ahead to next year and beyond. Who else should be on this list?