It seems somewhat lazy to me, but nothing gets people talking like a good sports list! So now that we have reached and passed the last major deadline of the offseason (the non-tender deadline), the following is my ranking of all thirty teams as their rosters sit today (Dec 15).
By the way, I would invite any of our readers to squabble with my rankings in the "comments" section below this post. I'll be happy to jump into the fray!
- Boston Red Sox
- Texas Rangers
- New York Yankees
- Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim)
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Detroit Tigers
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Toronto Blue Jays
- Atlanta Braves
- Cincinnati Reds
- Cleveland Indians
- Colorado Rockies
- San Francisco Giants
- Miami Marlins
- Washington Nationals
- Chicago White Sox
- Minnesota Twins
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Kansas City Royals
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Seattle Mariners
- Chicago Cubs
- San Diego Padres
- New York Mets
- Baltimore Orioles
- Houston Astros
- Oakland Athletics
This is really tough since some teams aren't done Christmas shopping. I personally would have the Dodgers even lower and the Pirates up at around 16 or 17. I also expect Cleveland to take a step backward, but they are in a division that looks really weak, so I guess that's a pretty good spot for them.
ReplyDeleteI might drop the Cardinals a few spots until we see if they add another bat. Once they do, I think that's about right for them.
I did have the Pirates ranked higher, but then I looked at their starting rotation... It's pretty gross.
ReplyDeleteI had the Dodgers pretty low, but they still have some premier players in Kemp/Kershaw along with a few nice stars around them in Billingsly/Ethier. But I could definitely see them dropping to the bottom of the list.
I'm the opposite this year on the Indians. I think their young guys will mature, Ubaldo will regain form, Sizemore will be healthy/looking for a contract.
Frankly, I have the Cardinals ranked where they are with the roster as presently constructed. I think the addition of Wainwright and a full season of at-bats from Craig will even out the wins value lost by Pujols. And with they won the World Series last year. If they add a bat like, say, Beltran, I might actually bump them up a spot or two.
The Indians should be much higher! They have a young kid coming up that is dynamite on the bases and Cerano in the middle of the lineup will dominate AL Central fastball pitchers. I'm looking for big things from Cleveland this year!!! Wait, Lou Brown is still managing right? That's good for 93 wins right there! Forget about the curveball, Ricky. Give 'em the heater!
ReplyDeleteDynamite drop-in ET. Sadly, I think Rick Vaughn has seen better days....
ReplyDelete