MLB Power Rankings: Offseason evaluations for eliminated teams, ranking MLB playoff teams

The Chicago White Sox are one of the worst teams in baseball history. What’s remarkable is the fact that Chicago will likely dump more of its talent this offseason. A Garrett Crochet trade feels inevitable and Chicago’s front office might still try and flip Luis Robert even after a miserable season (.666 OPS). There will be some White Sox top prospects coming in 2025, but Chicago should be just as awful next season as it was this year.

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The Miami Marlins made their offseason plans quite clear at the MLB trade deadline. This team is entering a full teardown, though, the Marlins front office will wait to trade ace Sandy Alcantara until during the regular season. Jesus Luzardo will likely pop up in MLB trade rumors this winter and it will be interesting to see if Jake Burger gets flipped for prospects. One reason for hope in Miami, this team is taking on reclamation projects with Burger and Xavier Edwards among the success stories in 2024.

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The Los Angeles Angels will move Mike Trout to another position in 2025 to try and preserve his health, but recent history for the future Hall of Famer suggests that won’t work. Los Angeles is already on the hook to pay Trout and Anthony Rendon more than $75 million next season, money anchored down to two players who have struggled to stay on the field. Considering all the holes in the rotation and lineup, Los Angeles might have to consider a full rebuild seriously. Unfortunately, Tyler Anderson hurt his trade value with a rough second half of the season (5.43 ERA in 61.1 innings).

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The Colorado Rockies refused to trade Ryan McMahon this summer despite strong interest around the league. In the second half of the season, the All-Star third baseman rewarded the team for its decision with a .208/.287/.316 slash line and .603 OPS. Colorado doesn’t have the pitching to be relevant in 2025 and Rockies top prospects Adael Amador (.171/.194/.200) and Hunter Goodman (.191/.230/.421) have been awful at the plate this season. It’s hard to have much confidence in Colorado’s future.

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The Oakland Athletics had a $59.15 million payroll in 2004, per Baseball Prospectus, before John Fisher bought the team. In 2024, the Athletics payroll is at $63 million. That, along with Fisher never speaking publicly outside of highly flawed statements, sums up the A’s owner. Oakland deserved better than this and its fans showed out in the final games to show the love they had for this team. The Athletics will be the same bad team in Sacramento and Las Vegas as they were in 2024 because of Fisher, it’s unavoidable given how poorly he runs things. Here’s to hoping Oakland eventually gets an expansion team because the fan base and even prospective owners are already there.

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The C.J. Abrams demotion for off-the-diamond issues certainly wasn’t a storyline the Washington Nationals needed before the offseason. However, there is still plenty of hope for a future Nationals lineup with a core of Abrams, James Wood and Dylan Crews. Things could look even better if Brady House comes up in 2025. There is still a massive void on the pitching side, though. The Nationals are likely two years away from contention, but next season could be a significant step forward.

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From ending the 2023 season atop the MLB power rankings as World Series champions to finishing 2024 as one of the worst MLB teams, it’s been a dramatic fall for the Texas Rangers. After such a letdown of a year, it becomes even more intriguing to see how the Rangers front office will handle all the expiring contracts. Nathan Eovaldi, Max Scherzer, Andrew Heaney, David Robertson and Kirby Yates can all hit the open market this winter. Meanwhile, decisions must be made about how to repair a Rangers lineup that finished outside the top 20 in runs scored, batting average and slugging.

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We’ll start with the good news for the Pittsburgh Pirates heading into the offseason. The front of the Pirates rotation in 2025 – Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller – should be locked in. It could be even better next season if Keller recaptures the form we saw in 2023. However, Pittsburgh’s lineup is a massive issue. This was one of the worst MLB teams after the trade deadline in part because the Pirates lineup slashed .241/.303/369 after July 31. There will be plenty of quality hitters available in MLB free agency, but trades might be the more realistic option for a front office that isn’t given much leeway financially.

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We’ve twice had hope for the Cincinnati Reds to make improvements during an offseason and been disappointed each time. Jonathan India said it best regarding his frustrations with the team and maybe the firing of manager David Bell is a sign bigger moves are coming. If the Reds could add another bat and stabilize their pitching, the right manager could get this team in Wild Card contention. Sadly, the organization’s history suggests only one of those things might happen.

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If the Toronto Blue Jays weren’t going to make the playoffs in 2024, the best thing that could’ve happened to this team is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. recapturing his MVP-caliber form. He also expressed a strong commitment to stay in Toronto, opening the door to an offseason contract extension. With that said, Bo Bichette will likely get traded this winter. There will also be Juan Soto rumors, but we’d prefer to see money spread around to improve the Blue Jays bullpen and lineup.

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It’s very possible fans have seen Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz put on a Tampa Bay Rays uniform for the last time. Diaz played like an All-Star in the second half of the season, proving his 2023 campaign was no fluke, and teams have always liked Lowe’s power. That leaves a production void in the Rays lineup, which is our only big concern with this team in 2025. If Tampa Bay can return to the playoffs, it will be thanks to a pitching staff that will have Shane McClanahan, Taj Bradley, Shane Baz, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Pepiot.

The Boston Red Sox have now missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons and in five of the last six years. Not only that, Boston has come dangerously close to finishing with a losing record for the fourth time in the last five years. Unfortunately, this seems to be the new normal under the Fenway Sports Group. Ticket prices and revenue go up, while on-field investments and wins go down. We could list top Red Sox free-agent targets, but history has shown Boston isn’t that interested in spending more money to win.

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Even with Blake Snell pitching in Cy Young form and Matt Chapman locking in for the second half of the season, the San Francisco Giants were still just a .500 team after the trade deadline. San Francisco has made the playoffs just once since hiring Farhan Zaidi in 2018 and they’ve been a .500 team in the last three years. With Snell potentially leaving for a bigger payday and San Francisco is known for striking out on top MLB free agents in the winter, it’s difficult to see how this team makes significant improvements, especially with a below-average farm system.

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Byron Buxton played in 100 games for the first time since the 2017 season and the Minnesota Twins missed the playoffs. It’s not Buxton’s fault by any means, as he posted his highest OPS since 2021 and helped push a Twins lineup to finish the regular season top-10 in run production. Unfortunately, Carlos Correa is now proving the concerns the San Francisco Giants and New York Mets had about him were justified. Even if he miraculously stayed healthy in 2025, along with Buxton, that still leaves a Twins pitching staff that really fell apart. Plus, this club also will be haunted all winter by its second-half collapse and that will linger into spring training.

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The first big question for the St. Louis Cardinals is whether or not to fire Oli Marmol, who has now missed the playoffs in consecutive years as the Cardinals skipper. St. Louis also has to determine whether or not it wants to re-sign Paul Goldschmidt, who just turned 37 years old and posted a sub-.750 OPS for the first time in his major-league career. We’d probably let both walk, trying to replace them with Skip Schumaker as Cardinals manager and signing Christian Walker to play first base. For now, though, it seems both Goldschmidt and Marmol could be back in 2025.

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The Chicago Cubs were one of the 10 winningest teams in baseball after July. It wasn’t good enough to make the playoffs, making this year feel like a copy of the 2023 campaign. What’s a bit impressive about the Cubs’ second-half turnaround is that they did it despite trade acquisition Isaac Paredes (.227/.328/.314) providing virtually nothing at the plate. It’s clear this team needs a big move and packaging some of the Cubs top prospects for an All-Star bat would certainly be it.

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The Seattle Mariners woke up in September, but the damage was already done and they’ll miss the playoffs. It could theoretically provide something to build on for next season, especially for Julio Rodriguez, who will finish with a .900-plus OPS for the second time in three months. Just keep in mind that there are no signs of the Mariners payroll increasing much next year and Rodriguez ended the 2023 season hot then didn’t see it carryover into this year.

The Kansas City Royals were one of the best MLB teams early in the season, entering June with a 35-24 mark that rivaled the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers. June (12-15 record) showed the first signs of trouble and the Royals have been a .500 team since July 1. This is still a very successful season for Kansas City, especially with Bobby Witt Jr. becoming a superstar. Still, how the regular season ended feels like a bit of a disappointment. The hope is that the improvements lead to more spending in free agency and Kansas City has already shown it can find gems (Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha).

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No Spencer Strider, no Austin Riley, no Ronald Acuña Jr and a myriad other injuries tore apart the top of the Atlanta Braves roster this season. Yet, Atlanta still found a way to put itself in this position. the Braves rotation – fourth-most quality starts in MLB – was truly phenomenal this season, especially with the added weight of carrying this team. We also have to give the Braves lineup (sixth-highest OPS since August) credit for this turnaround.

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We are still holding out some hope for the Baltimore Orioles. In just a few short days, the club has welcomed back Zach Eflin, Ryan Mountcastle, Jordan Westburg, Ramon Urias and Heston Kjerstad. That offers a glimmer of light. Unfortunately, we also still see a team without much momentum to speak of. The Orioles lineup ranked 22nd in OPS and the pitching staff had a 4.42 ERA since the trade deadline, resulting in a sub-.500 record. If momentum is real, the O’s don’t have it right now.

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Getting hot at the right time matters for the MLB playoffs. The Detroit Tigers are the hottest team in baseball. Detroit finished the regular season with the best record in MLB after July 31, leading the league in wins and winning percentage. AL Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal is the obvious catalyst, but Detroit is also receiving outstanding production as of late from Kerry Carpenter (.962 OPS), Parker Meadows (.855 OPS) and Riley Greene (.808 OPS). Don’t sleep on a Tigers team that posted a 2.81 ERA (1st in MLB) in the last two months. Although, that Tigers lineup still likely isn’t deep enough to make a prolonged run.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks were one of the best MLB teams this summer, seemingly setting themselves up for another October run. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks have played .500 ball in September with awful pitching (5.56 ERA) dragging this team down. Pitching is critical to success in October and without that or momentum, repeating last season’s playoff success seems doubtful.

Ordinarily, we would buy stock in the Houston Astros before the playoffs just based on this team’s history of making deep runs. Things don’t look promising in 2024. Yordan Alvarez is dealing with a lingering knee issue will likely carry over into the playoffs and Justin Verlander has been especially inconsistent since his return from the injured list. Houston just isn’t a safe bet right now.

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One of the best teams in baseball throughout the 2024 season, the Milwaukee Brewers saved their worst month for September. Pitching (3.81 ERA) was fine, the woes were caused by a Brewers lineup that didn’t even crack a .290 OBP this month. We had hopes for Milwaukee making a multi-round playoff round in October, but this Brewers lineup is not performing enough right now to maintain that belief.

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Since July 1, the New York Mets have posted one of the best records in baseball. It’s been a remarkable second-half turnaround for a team that entered the year perceived as a fringe playoff contender. New York still doesn’t really have the pitching staff that you want from a championship contender, but a healthy Francisco Lindor can be a playoff X-factor for this Mets lineup.

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The Cleveland Guardians will go as far as this bullpen can take them. We certainly don’t trust a Guardians lineup that finished 20th in OPS over the final two months of the regular season. It’s also reasonable not to expect Cleveland’s rotation – 28th in quality starts and 23rd in ERA – to elevate its game. So, it all comes down to how long this dominant Guardians bullpen can keep carrying the team. We think that might be for a few playoff series, but Cleveland isn’t reaching the World Series.

At this point in our MLB power rankings, the four best teams in baseball are basically interchangeable. The Philadelphia Phillies looked outright dominant in the first half of the season then had a massive fall-off coming back from the London Series. Our concern with the Phillies stems from a rotation that ranks 23rd in ERA over the last two months and it was even worse in September (27th). We don’t question the talent in the Phillies playoff rotation, but two months of struggling are a red flag.

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A lineup with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto can take over a playoff series and win it single-handedly. The New York Yankees have also been getting better work out of their rotation and bullpen to close out the regular season. However, New York is also wildly inconsistent and it is prone to make mistakes in some big situations. The Yankees still look like the best team in the American League on paper, but we’ve seen the reasons why this could go sideways.

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The San Diego Padres finished the regular season with a rotation (seventh in ERA), bullpen (seventh in ERA) and lineup (fourth in OPS) all coming together at once. Thanks to some shrewd moves to upgrade the bullpen, injured stars (Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove and Fernando Tatís Jr.) returning and a breakout year from Jackson Merrill, the Padres are World Series contenders. The roster is talented, they have the right manager and this team can win anywhere. Don’t be shocked if the Padres find their way to the World Series.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers finish the regular season as World Series favorites and sit atop the MLB power rankings. We finally get to see Shohei Ohtani in October and he’ll be joined by fellow MVP candidate Mookie Betts in one of the best lineups in baseball. However, Freddie Freeman (ankle) is now on crutches and the Dodgers rotation depth is already decimated by injuries. The Dodgers are still probably the best team in baseball right now, but we wouldn’t even rule out a Division Series exit.

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