MLB Power Rankings Week 24: Yankees, Phillies and Mets rise, evaluating all 30 MLB teams

The Chicago White Sox at least have a chance of making this a historically bad season. Entering play on Friday, the White Sox already had 114 losses, tied for the sixth-most in a season in MLB history (MLB.com). Chicago’s winning percentage (.224) is also bottom 5 in MLB history, too. If you’re going to be bad, go all the way with it, which is exactly what the White Sox have done.

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Many of the players the Miami Marlins acquired as part of their total teardown this summer won’t be seen in the majors in several years and in some cases will never make it. However, Connor Norby has been everything the team could’ve asked for since adding him to the Marlins lineup. Once one of the Baltimore Orioles top prospects, Norby entered Friday with a .942 OPS with 6 home runs and a .337 OBP since being traded to Miami in the Trevor Rogers trade. The Marlins looked like the immediate winners of that deal and that case looks even stronger right now. It is a small sample size and things can change quickly, but this has been a rare positive for the Marlins this season.

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We’ve been critical of the Colorado Rockies this year and remain skeptical about their chances of nearing contention in the next 3 years, but outfielder Brenton Doyle is truly one of MLB’s breakout stars this season. The 26-year-old center fielder is already a member of the 202-20 club for the first time in his career and could finish with 25-plus home runs and 30-plus steals with a .780 OPS. What elevates his value even further is the defense, as he entered the weekend with a 98th percentile Fielding Run Value (Baseball Savant), making a phenomenal case for a Gold Glove Award. Under contract through 2029, the Rockies truly have a special talent here.

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Many of the worst MLB teams don’t have much going for them right now, but the Los Angeles Angels are giving 20-year-old pitcher Caden Dana an early shot in the majors. It’s part of the Angels’ youth movement, which has certainly worked out with the breakout of 23-year-old shortstop Zach Neto) (.778 OPS). Neto has emerged as an excellent all-around player this season. Now, Los Angeles has to hope that someone like Dana, Bryce Teodosio or Nolan Schanuel closes out September strong and carries it over into the 2025 season.

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The final MLB game in Oakland is approaching and as much as fans might hate putting more money into John Fisher’s pockets, it’s nice to see that the final game is already sold out. The other positive from this woeful season is the emergence of Lawrence Butler. The 23-year-old already has career-highs in home runs (21) and OPS and he’s been great as of late, posting a .900 OPS with 9 home runs and 19 RBI from Aug. 2 – Sept. 12 (Baseball Reference).

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Washington Nationals rookie James Wood has really settled in against major-league pitching, posting a .294/.389/.449 slash line since August 1 with 10 steals, 18 RBI and a stellar 12.7 percent walk rate. As he accelerates towards becoming a future perennial All-Star, fellow rookie Dylan Crews (.241/.308/.448) is making his own early adjustments to the highest level. Nationals fans have put up with some bad baseball in recent years, but the future is bright.

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The Cincinnati Reds were just never really able to put sufficient help around Elly De La Cruz. Tyler Stephenson has been phenomenal in the last month-plus – 7 home runs and .29/.366/.523 line – but the likes of Spencer Steer, Jonathan India and Noelvi Marte have been massive letdowns. With glaring holes throughout the roster and a lack of development from some young bats, the Reds are not well-position for a turnaround in 2025 and we don’t expect ownership to spend to improve the roster.

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We’ve previously highlighted in our MLB power rankings why the Toronto Blue Jays need to reward Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for his MVP-caliber production since the start of the summer. He’s not the only Blue Jays hitter shining right now. Will Wagner, who the Blue Jays acquired at the MLB trade deadline from the Houston Astros, has slashed .312/.346/.468 in 23 games since making his MLB debut. Toronto is also receiving some quality production from Spencer Horwitz, who has 12 home runs with a .277/.363/.471 line in 320 plate appearances this season. So, while this was a letdown year for the Blue Jays, their young hitters are providing some hope for 2025.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates desperately need to find some quality hitting this offseason. The Ke’Bryan Hayes breakout just never happened and with a .573 OPS in his age-27 season, it feels safe to say it’s never coming. Bryan De La Cruz, who Pittsburgh acquired at the MLB trade deadline, has an alarming .484 OPS in 33 games since joining the Pirates lineup. If Pittsburgh is going to maximize its excellent and young front-line starters moving forward, the time to invest in this roster is this winter.

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For all his postseason heroics last season, 31-year-old outfielder Adolis Garcia has returned to the player (.670 OPS) that we saw prior to 2023. The Texas Rangers are still receiving All-Star production from Corey Seager and recent improvements from Wyatt Langford have led to the rookie slashing .258/.331/.403 with 4 home runs and 5 steals since August 1. With that said, our concerns with Texas heading into the winter are possible payroll reductions and the likelihood of Garcia never being a hitter with a .800-plus OPS again.

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Yandy Diaz owns a .323/.385/.494 slash line in 143 plate appearances since August 1, recapturing the form the made him an All-Star selection and the AL batting champion in 2023. Already 33 years old, it’s probably in the Rays’ best interests to trade him this winter. With youngsters like Junior Caminero starting to settle in against major-league pitching, Tampa Bay has an opportunity to keep building its farm system while some of its top prospects start to come together at the major-league level.

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The word coming out of the Bay Area seems to indicate that the San Francisco Giants will retain president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi for the 2025 season. That’s probably not the wisest move for a franchise that has just 1 playoff appearance since Zaidi joined in 2018. The Giants also have a bottom 10 farm system in MLB, raising significant questions about exactly when Zaidi will have this club back in playoff contention.

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It just never came together this season with the Seattle Mariners lineup and there are plenty of people to blame. The emergence of Victor Robles – .300/376/.427 since August 1 – is promising, but theMariners’ organization should be worried about Julio Rodriguez. Once the top prospect in MLB and a Rookie of the Year winner viewed as a future MVP candidate, Rodriguez entered play on Friday with a .685 OPS this season with his batting average and OBP dropping 10 points for the second consecutive year. If the Mariners can’t maximize Rodriguez’s talent, it’s hard to see why they’d be successful with their other young players.

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The Boston Red Sox are going to miss the playoffs for te third consecutive year and the fifth time since 2019. Despite being on the brink of a three-year playoff drought, changes aren’t coming this winter. What has to be worrying for Red Sox nation is that finishing near the bottom of the AL East and not even making it to October seems to be accepted by the Fenway Sports Group and team owner John Henry. Investing in the rotation and bullpen this offseason could change that, but baseball fans in Boston know better than to expect the FSG to seriously invest in this team.

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There remains uncertainty regarding the future of St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. While a decision hasn’t been made, it’s hard to see the franchise justifying a second consecutive year without making the playoffs. If Marmol is fired, the logical replacement would be Skip Schumaker, who will be available this winter and who is very well-liked within the Cardinals organization. With that said, there are still plenty of holes on the roster that need to be addressed and St. Louis hasn’t done the best job of doing that in recent years.

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The Minnesota Twins are probably going to make the playoffs over some of the teams ahead of them in our MLB power rankings. With that said, we have to acknowledge recent performance. Minnesota is 19-20 since August 1 and its last series victory over a team with a winning record happened in the second week of August. Maybe Byron Buxton’s return sparks a turnaround, but Carlos Correa still isn’t returning anytime soon.

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The Detroit Tigers decided to keep Tarik Skubal past the MLB trade deadline and they’ve been rewarded for that decision so far. Since August 1, the Tigers boast the third-most wins (23) in baseball, with Skubal leading an excellent pitching staff that is responsible for a 2.83 ERA in its last 346.1 innings pitched (FanGraphs). It’s also worth highlighting how well Parker Meadows (.868 OPS) has played since August 1, with his success really helping this young Tigers lineup. Detroit likely won’t close the distance on the Minnesota Twins lead for the final AL wild-card spot, but this is a great fight to end the year.

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It’s too little too late, but the Chicago Cubs have been one of the better teams in baseball as of late. On July 30, the Cubs had just lost a series to the Cincinnati Reds and dropped to 51-58. Since July 31, Chicago is tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the second-most wins (24) in baseball. Despite the on-field success offering hope for 2025 contention, the reports coming out regarding the Cubs front office and ownership are worrying.

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The Kansas City Royals were fine in August (15-13 record), but they need to be better in September. Things got off to a rough start this month with the dropped series against the Cleveland Guardians, though, Kansas City responded with a sweep of the Minnesota Twins. There’s one big positive for the team’s playoff hopes, a Royals schedule to close out the regular season against the worst MLB teams (Pirates, Giants and Nationals). If all goes well, the Royals will have their playoff ticket punched before the final series against the Atlanta Braves.

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The Houston Astros avoided a major Jose Altuve injury. What the Astros can’t afford to happen is series losses against teams like the Oakland Athletics, especially not with dates against the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Guardians still looming in September. There is plenty of talent on the Astros roster and they are a pretty safe bet to win the AL Central, but that No. 3 seed in the American League means a much tougher road once the playoffs arrive.

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The Atlanta Braves injured list includes Ozzie Albies, Reynaldo Lopez, Austin Riley, Spencer Strider and Ronald Acuna Jr. Take away the best layers from many top teams and they are out of the playoff hunt. Atlanta has survived it all. The Braves were bad from May through July, posting a 39-40 record (19th in MLB), but Atlanta is 21-18 since August 1. If the Braves narrowly miss out on a trip to October, injuries and a red-hot New York Mets team are justified excuses.

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We tried to be very patient with the Baltimore Orioles in our MLB power rankings, holding off on the dramatic drop until it was absolutely necessary. Now, the results are all that matter. The Orioles record is 25-26 since the All-Star Break, 15th in MLB, and that mark sits at 18-20 since the MLB trade deadline. As for more recently, the Orioles are a .500 team in September. Many of the youngsters in the Orioles lineup – Adley Rutschman (.597 OPS), Jackson Holliday (.606 OPS) and Colton Cowser (.706 OPS) – have been disappointments since August 1, playing an influential role in the decline of one of the best MLB teams in 2024.

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Even after dropping three consecutive games this week, for the second time since August 29, the Arizona Diamondbacks lead MLB in wins (41) since July 1. Arizona’s pitching (4.47 ERA) hasn’t even been good during this 41-game span. Instead, it’s a Diamondbacks lineup producing an MLB-leading .854 OPS – the second-best team has a .769 OPS – that is carrying Arizona right now. At the very least, Arizona is a playoff team and last season proved this team can get hot in October.

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The New York Mets have consistently been one of the best MLB teams for months now. Led by Francisco Lindor, the Mets recorded the second-best record in June (16-8), tied for the most wins in July (17) and posted a solid 15-13 record in August. New York is currently the hottest MLB team in September and that bodes well for the Mets potentially pulling off a playoff surprise. While New York doesn’t have as many big-name players this year, the results speak for themselves.

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The Cleveland Guardians finished August with a 12-17 record, corresponding with their weekly descent in our MLB power rankings. Cleveland’s hope now is that starting September off with a series victory over the Royals followed by a light schedule creates enough of a gap to win the AL Central. If the Guardians can handle their business in the next week-plus against the Rays and Twins, Cleveland will likely host a playoff series.

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The San Diego Padres have hit a bit of a rough patch in September, dropping a series last week against the San Francisco Giants. It’s a rare blip for one of the best MLB teams in the second half of the season, but what matters for San Diego is a healthy roster. A playoff spot is almost guaranteed, now the Padres can close out September against some playoff teams – Houston Astros (Sept. 16-18), Los Angeles Dodgers (Sept. 24-26) and Arizona Diamondbacks (Sept. 27-29). If they perform well, there will be a few picking the Padres as a dark-horse World Series team.

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The Milwaukee Brewers are the NL Central champions, but they’ll need to close out September with some momentum heading into the playoffs. Milwaukee has largely fallen under the radar as one of the best MLB teams right now, though, they do have a losing record against the NL East (11-13) and NL West (12-1). One other thing to keep an eye on for October, Milwaukee is 66-39 versus right-handed pitchers and 18-23 against left-handed pitchers this year (MLB.com).

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The New York Yankees are the best team in the American League and have started getting back on track. New York is playing around .500 ball since August 18 (12-11), even with Yankees pitchers posting an excellent 3.63 EA in their last 208.1 innings pitched. One big factor is the recent ‘woes’ of Aaron Judge, who slashed .207/.351./259 in his last 16 games with 0 home runs. If he and Juan Soto can get hot quickly, the Yankees are as dangerous as ever.

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It’s that type of season for the Los Angeles Dodgers where they get Yoshinobu Yamamoto back from the injured list then immediately lose another arm. Injuries continue to rock this Dodgers pitching staff and that is a troubling sign on the verge of entering the playoffs. With that said, there are multiple MVP-caliber bats in this Dodgers lineup and Los Angeles is tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks with the best record in baseball (24-13) since August 1.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in MLB. It wasn’t that long ago that things started looking bleak for Philadelphia. From June 10 to Aug. 23, the Phillies went 29-34 with a 4.55 ERA and a .743 OPS. Since August 24, the Phillies have the best record in baseball (14-4) led by a 3.64 ERA with an .833 OPS. The National League is more wide open than ever, but this could be the Phillies’ best chance at winning the World Series in several years.

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