Who is the best team in MLB? We’re at the quarter point of the 2024 MLB season and that’s more than enough to evaluate all 30 clubs. While the MLB power rankings Week 8 doesn’t necessarily reflect who the best MLB teams will be in October, we do capture where things stand in baseball right now.
Let’s dive into our MLB power rankings for Week 8.
MLB power rankings Week 8: Worst MLB teams right now
30. Miami Marlins (28)
The Miami Marlins are the worst team in MLB. Skip Schumaker knows he only has to work for the Marlins’ organization for a few more months, hanging around a bit longer than a majority of Miami’s clubhouse that is on the trade block this summer. Get ready Miami, a massive firesale is on the way.
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29. Chicago White Sox (28)
At this point, every game is just a means of passing the time until trade season for the Chicago White Sox. Nearly 20 games below the .500 mark, Chicago can at least hang its hat on players like Tommy Pham raising their trade value before the summer arrives.
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28. Colorado Rockies (30)
Out of nowhere, the Colorado Rockies ripped off a seven-game winning streak with sweeps of the Texas Rangers at Coors Field and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. We’ll consider it a bright spot in an otherwise long, grueling season for the Rockies. It’ll probably get worse in late May, with a nine-game stretch against some of the best MLB teams.
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27. Los Angeles Angels (27)
The Los Angeles Angels are 6-8 in May, which is actually an improvement in terms of wining percentage compared to their record in April. Unfortunately, the lack of talent on the roster and one of the weaker farm systems in MLB means there isn’t much hope on the horizon for the summer or the club’s future.
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26. Oakland Athletics (22)
Just a few weeks ago, the Oakland Athletics were a stunning 17-17 heading into the first weekend in May. Fast forward to May 18 and the A’s are now approaching 10 games below .500. That aligns a lot more with everyone’s expectations for Oakland in 2024 and it’s probably the territory they’ll be in this summer.
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25. St. Louis Cardinals (26)
The good news for the St. Louis Cardinals is that they performed pretty well this week, led by the Cardinals lineup. Unfortunately for St. Louis, the upcoming slate against the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago Cubs will likely push this team right back down the standings. Meanwhile, the Oliver Marmol replacement rumors have already started.
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24. Cincinnati Reds (20)
From 16-13 to 19-26, it’s been a dramatic fall for the Cincinnati Reds. Facing clubs like the Arizona Diamondbacks, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Dodgers is tough, but the upcoming slate doesn’t get any easier for Cincinnati. Any hope we had for the young Reds being a positive surprise in 2024 is gone.
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23. Toronto Blue Jays (21)
It’s time for the Toronto Blue Jays to start thinking about what players they want to sell at the MLB trade deadline. There are some obvious ones, like Yusei Kikuchi and Jordan Romano, but names like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Kevin Gausman require more thought. For now, it feels like Toronto will operate as cautious sellers this summer.
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22. Pittsburgh Pirates (25)
Paul Skenes is just as good as everyone hoped for. With the sensational rookie now settled in, the young Pirates rotation is going to be one of the joys to watch in MLB this summer. While it might not translate into consistent wins, a stable rotation long-term can make this a very good ball club for years to come.
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21. San Francisco Giants (24)
Signs of life from the San Francisco Giants lineup. Since May 1, Giants hitters sport a .241 batting average with a 99 wRC+. It’s not exactly great production, but average is better than where things have been for this club earlier in the season. Still, it’s just enough to get this club fighting back toward the .500 mark.
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20. Washington Nationals (19)
Well, it was enjoyable while it lasted. A .500 record from the Washington Nationals entering May wasn’t something anyone expected, but a sub-.500 mark in June with woeful production from the Nationals lineup in the last week lines up a lot more with predictions from spring training. Considering Washington couldn’t beat the Boston Red Sox or Chicago White Sox in a series, we’ll pretty confidently project losing records against the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves (May 17-30).
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19. New York Mets (16)
The proverbial ship seems to be sinking. A fun run that pushed the New York Mets to 12-8 in late April ended weeks ago, demonstrated by the fact this club is now stacking up its games below the .500 mark. Hope was fun for a little while, but the Mets didn’t project to be a contender in 2024. Now, the focus can be on the future and the MLB trade deadline.
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18. Houston Astros (23)
For now, the Houston Astros move into the tier in our MLB power rankings week 8 with underperformers and clubs collapsing after a hot start. Houston handled its business against the Athletics and Detroit Tigers, but we don’t know if that’s more of a sign of the Astros’ turnaround or an indictment on those teams. It will be the sets against the Brewers, Seattle Mariners (May 27-30) and Minnesota Twins (May 31-June 2) that give an answer.
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17. Detroit Tigers (15)
The fun surrounding the 2024 Detroit Tigers season is draining quickly. Entering May 2, Detroit boasted an impressive 18-13 record. Now, they are below .500 entering a stretch against either competitive or winning ballclub. It might help if Detroit would bench Javier Baez, but evidently, that’s not even being considered. The Tigers’ decision-makers are the ones ultimately responsible for the freefall.
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16. Boston Red Sox (14)
Pitching certainly isn’t the problem for the Boston Red Sox. Even in a month with an 8-9 record, the Red Sox pitching staff still sports one of the best ERA marks (3.24) in the majors. Unfortunately for the loyal fan base, it’s all been wasted by the Red Sox lineup (.225/.290/.364). The schedule only gets harder from here for Baltimore, so we’re not entirely convinced they’ll be buying bats this summer.
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15. San Diego Padres (13)
The momentum of taking out the Los Angeles Dodgers was immediately wiped out by an awful showing against the Rockies. It doesn’t get easier for the San Diego Padres, what with the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees on the schedule, but the Padres have also shown at times they can compete with top competition. Maybe we should be more worried about the late-May sets against the Reds and Marlins?
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14. Arizona Diamondbacks (18)
The Arizona Diamondbacks have a pulse. The reigning National League champions needed a spark, the return of multiple key players seemed to provide it. Arizona does have a winning record in May and two of those losses were close defeats on the road to one of the best MLB teams in 2024 (Baltimore Orioles). The recent turnaround warrants a bump in the MLB power rankings, but we also recognize Arizona did this largely all against the Cincinnati Reds.
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13. Tampa Bay Rays (17)
We can certainly look past the Tampa Bay Rays dropping the series to the New York Yankees, those two clubs are on very different levels right now. What matters for the Rays, coming out of the four-game series win at Fenway Park, is turning a 14-18 record into 23-22. We’re still not total believers that there’s enough talent on paper to do anything more than snag a Wild Card spot, but at least the Rays are showing a lot more life.
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12. Texas Rangers (9)
With all of the injuries to the starting rotation, the Texas Rangers lineup needed to carry this team in the first half of the year. Granted, a 4.13 ERA in the last 40 games isn’t bad for Texas, especially given the talent in the batting order. Unfortunately for the Rangers, the lineup has been just slightly above average (101 wRC+ in May, even worse in the last week. It might get even worse for Texas considering the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins are looming on the schedule.
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11. Seattle Mariners (12)
All we’re asking Jerry Dipoto to do is make trades to improve the Seattle Mariners lineup. Just look at the pitching – 26 quality starts (1st), 1.05 WHIP (1st) and .210 batting average allowed (.210) – you see a World Series contender. Unfortunately, the Mariners lineup is wasting a lot of these gems. There are going to be plenty of bats available at the MLB trade deadline, it’s just a question of whether or not Mariners ownership will sign off on the necessary moves.
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10. Chicago Cubs (10)
It’s gotten pretty bad for the Chicago Cubs in recent weeks. Rewind to the start of May when this club was 21-14 after a series victory over the Milwaukee Brewers and everything looked great. Now, Chicago has fallen to 25-20 entering the weekend. Cody Bellinger is doing all he can, with Cristopher Morel and Seiya Suzuki providing support, but a .232/.319/.387 slash line in May isn’t good enough for the Cubs to be a legit threat in the National League.
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9. Kansas City Royals (11)
The Kansas City Royals finally cracked the top 10 in our MLB power rankings. No, the results of the series against the Seattle Mariners weren’t great, but we’re approaching the 50-game mark of the 2024 season and the Royals lineup (202 runs scored, 11th in MLB) and pitching (3.46 ERA, 10th in MLB) have proven enough to believe Kansas City can take a Wild Card spot in the American League.
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8. Minnesota Twins (8)
In an instant, a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees wiped out the buzz surrounding the Minnesota Twins. Let’s not forget, however, that this club turned a 6-12 record on April 19 into a 24-16 record entering May 14. We’re not suggesting Minnesota belongs in the elite tier of the best MLB teams right now, but the Twins are certainly in the mix with a lot of competitive clubs delivering mixed results as of late.
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7. Cleveland Guardians (5)
The Cleveland Guardians might finally be experiencing that regression many feared was coming. Cleveland is 8-9 over its last 17 contests and while the pitching (3.64 ERA) has fared pretty well the Guardians lineup has been woeful (.210/.288/.366) since May 1. It’s been especially bad since Steven Kwan’s injury, but he won’t see the field until June.
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6. Milwaukee Brewers (7)
Christian Yelich is back, William Contreras is playing at an All-Star level and Rhys Hoskins is providing the added pop the Milwaukee Brewers previously lacked down the batting order. Milwaukee is playing so well in fact that Willy Adames seems to be off the trade block, which makes sense because he’s a crucial element in a Brewers lineup that ranks third in runs scored (223), batting average (.259) and SLG (.429). If Milwaukee is going to take that next step forward, though, pitching must be added at the MLB trade deadline.
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5. Atlanta Braves (6)
There’s the Atlanta Braves getting back on track. Atlanta is still 7-5 in May, entering the weekend, but the Braves pitching (2.87) is deserving of a much better record than that. Atlanta can blame its lineup – .220/.297/.361 – for that. There’s way too much talent in the Braves lineup for the woes to last and all it takes is a great showing against the Cubs and Padres to get momentum back before June.
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4. Los Angeles Dodgers (2)
It hasn’t been the smoothest past week for the Los Angeles Dodgers. From May 10-16, Los Angeles posted a 3-4 record with some wildly inconsistent performances from the Dodgers lineup. The good news is, even with the hitting woes, Los Angeles remains over 20 games above the .500 mark and the Dodgers lineup still ranks first in runs scored (239) and OBP (.342), while placing second in SLG (.436) and batting average (.260). This team will get out of its version of a slump, meaning it should only be a matter of time until they’re moving back up the MLB power rankings.
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3. Baltimore Orioles (3)
The Baltimore Orioles top prospects who are getting called up keep struggling, but that’s no reason to worry for the future. In fact, it should be expected given what Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote about hitting prospects struggling to transition to the majors. Ordinarily, scuffling at the plate from Orioles prospects would be the story in Baltimore. Instead, the Orioles are one of the best MLB teams in 2024, boasting a top-10 lineup and a pitching staff with the fifth-lowest ERA (3.26) and second-highest WHIP (1.11) in baseball. This is all to say, say the Orioles are good enough to let their future stars take time to develop.
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2. Mew York Yankees (4)
The New York Yankees have the second-best record in MLB (26-15) since April 1 and it’s thanks to well-rounded production. New York’s pitching staff is responsible for a strong 3.00 ERA, even with Gerrit Coles still sidelined. Plus, the Juan Soto and Aaron Judge duo is yielding MVP-caliber production. Business as usual for one of the best MLB teams right now.
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1. Philadelphia Phillies (1)
The Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in MLB. Sitting atop the MLB power rankings for the third consecutive week, Philadelphia is 30-12 in the last 42 games with a spectacular 2.85 ERA and much-improved run production from the Phillies lineup. The upcoming slate against the Nationals, Rangers and Rockies should give Philadelphia a chance to move 20 games above .500.