Pre-Season Power Rankings

Every year just before spring training starts, MLB.TV comes out with its power rankings for the year. Naturally, the rankings will change during the season depending on how the teams are playing at any given time. For our purposes, I will just stick with the top 10, Everyone else has no shot.

The Dodgers over the last several years have usually started off at either number one or close to it, but not so this year. In the first ranking of the season, they are listed at number six. There are a lot of reasons for this, mainly because of the number of key players who have departed via free agency or just being non-tendered. They lost two starting pitchers, their closer, starting centerfielder, starting shortstop, and their clubhouse leader and main third baseman in, Justin Turner. Other than signing Kershaw back into the fold, they really did not make a splash in free agency. Thus, the sixth-place standing,

The World Champion Astros are number one. They lost little and signed a very good replacement for their starting first baseman, who left via free agency, Jose Abreu of the White Sox. Their chances are still pretty good, even though they lost Jose Altuve for a couple of months with a broken hand.

A surprise to me, the Braves are listed in the two spot. They will have new players at shortstop, Arcia most likely, and catcher Sean Murphy. The rest of their lineup returns from the 2022 East Division champs. Riley at 3rd, Albies at 2nd, and Olson at 1st. The outfield is solid with Rosario, Harris II and Acuna. Looks like Ozuna will handle a lot of the DH duties. Solid first four in their rotation, Morton, Freid, Wright and Strider. Their 5th starter is yet to be named. Good arms in the pen; Iglesias should be their closer.

Number Three is the Yankees. I find this one a little interesting. First off, their starting pitching beyond Cole is very iffy. They have already lost Severino again. Montas is probably done for the year, and Carlos Rondon, their big free agent signing, has been hurting too… although he is now throwing again. Just how close he is to being ready remains to be seen. As of right now, their rotation is Cole, German, Schmidt, and who knows. Cortes is out too. The offense should not be a problem for the Yankees. Catcher and shortstop are probably their two weakest positions. Solid players everywhere else.

Four is the Mets. No surprise there. Cohen spent money like it was water. He brought in Verlander to team with Max Scherzer, then signed Japanese free agent Kodai Senga. Also, they have Carrasco, Jose Quintana, and they just signed Dylan Bundy. The offense is tough with Alonso, Lindor, McNeil, Canha, Marte, and Nimmo. They did suffer a blow when closer Edwin Diaz went down for the year with a torn ACL. But they have some solid bullpen arms.

With as much as they have spent the last year or so and the players they have acquired, I would expect the Padres to be a little higher on this list, but they come in at number five. They will not have Tatis for the first 20 games; then when he does come back, he will be playing a new position, RF, with Bogaerts taking over at shortstop. Soto will be in left, and Trent Grisham will patrol center, as long as he hits. Cronenworth moves to first, with Matt Carpenter backing him up. Kim and Cronenworth will share second, and Machado will be back at third. Nola is the primary catcher with Campusano backing him up. Slugger Nelson Cruz and Carpenter will handle the DH duties.

The Padres lost Suarez to the IL, but they have Hader and some other arms, Garcia, Hill, and Crismatt, at the backend of the pen. The Padres are going to go with a 6-man rotation. Darvish, Snell, Wacha, Martinez, and Lugo are already penciled in. They have Musgrove out with a broken toe, and Morejon is out too.

Number six is our beloved Dodgers. Some may think this is too high a ranking for a team that lost so many prime pieces of their lineup and pitching staff. But if there is one thing the Dodgers do better than any other team, it is bringing in players to fill holes. They go for low-risk, high-reward players. They lost Gavin Lux to a torn ACL but had the foresight to trade for a solid defender in Miguel Rojas. He isn’t Trea Turner with a bat, but his glovework is better. He is a contact hitter who does not strike out much. They will have two rookie offensive players, Outman and Vargas, a couple of retread outfielders, Heyward and Peralta, and a pitcher trying to rediscover his mojo, Syndergaard. A rookie in the rotation to start the year, Grove Muncy has moved across the diamond to third. Vargas takes over second, which was Lux’s home last year.

They still have some potent offensive pieces in Freeman, Betts, Smith, the new DH, JD Martinez, and from what I have seen the last week, Muncy looks like he is going to rebound nicely. Big question marks right now are Taylor and Trayce Thompson, who have both struggled this spring. The rotation looks pretty good and could get better when Gonsolin returns. The bullpen, despite not having a set closer, looks to be as good or better than last years. But it is the feeling of many that the Padres will win the division, with the Dodgers battling it out for the NL wild card.

Sliding into the seventh spot we see the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays rotation consists of Jose Berrios, Alek Manoah, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi and, when he gets healthy, Hyun Jīn Ryu. They are not a bad staff. Their pen has Jordan Romano as the closer, 36 saves last year. Chad Green and Tim Mayza are the lefties; Zack Pop, Anthony Bass, Yimi Garcia, and Adam Cimber round out the pen.

One area the Jays addressed this winter was getting some left-handed bats to complement their RH power guys. Springer, Guererro, Chapman, and Bissette. They picked up Daulton Varsho, Brandon Belt, and Kevin Kiermaier. They have a decent bench with Whit Merrifield and Cavin Biggio. Danny Jansen will handle the bulk of the catching duties. Playing in the tough AL East, the Jays will be tested a lot.

The NL defending champion Phillies are in the 8 slot. But right off the bat, the Phils are going to be challenged. Bryce Harper is coming back from surgery and won’t be ready on opening day. The other day, Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL and will most likely miss the season. But the Phillies made some moves this winter; the biggest one was signing top-tier SS, Trea Turner, to a long-term deal. With Hoskins down, Darrick Hall will be handed the first base job. At least to start with. He will be backed up by Bohm and Castellanos. 2nd belongs to Bryson Scott, with Josh Harrison as his backup. Turner is the SS and over at 3rd they have Bohm backed up by Sosa. The three starters in the outfield until Harper is healthy will be Schwarber in left, Marsh in center and Castellanos in right. Harper will DH when he returns, Cave is the backup to all the outfield positions.

The Phillies have a solid 1-2 punch in starters, Wheeler and Nola. After that it gets a little thin. Suarez and Walker are the 3-4 pitchers with Bailey Faller and Christian Sanchez vying for the 5th spot. Dominguez is he closer, but Kimbrel is there if he falters. Alvarado and Soto are the lefty arms in the pen. Strahm, Brogdon, and Bellatti round it out.

The Rays check in at number 9. The Rays always have a lot of roster turnover but still manage to contend. The Rays rotation will consist of, Rasmussen, McClanahan, Fleming, Elfin and Jeff Springs. Not household names, but some good arms there. Clevinger, Poche and Beeks are their lefty relievers, and other than Pete Fairbanks, a bunch of guys in the pen I have never heard of.

They lost Kiermaier to free agency, so the outfield will be Arozarena, Siri and Margot. Harold Ramirez will be the primary DH. Yandy Diaz is at first, Lowe at second, Franco, as soon as he gets over his strained quad at short and Paredes is the third baseman. I still do not think they have enough to overtake Toronto or New York.

Finally, the 10th rated team is the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have a strong starting five, beginning with Luis Castillo, who they pried away from the Reds last year. Robbie Ray is a solid lefty arm; when he keeps the HR’s to a minimum, he usually wins. Gilbert, Kirby and Gonzalez round out the rotation. Again a team with a bullpen that does not have a lot of star power, but they have been effective.

Where Seattle needed help was offensively. They traded for Teoscar Hernandez, signed AJ Pollock to platoon in left field, they also traded for second baseman Kolten Wong. Raliegh is the catcher backed up by Tom Murphy. 1st base will be manned by Ty France. Wong at second, J Crawford is the SS, and Eugenio Suarez. Tommy La Stella is the backup infielder. With Hernandez in right, Rodriguez in center, and Kelenic and Pollock platooning in left field. Right now, I would consider them the second-best team in the AL West with the Rangers and Angels just behind.

So there you have the pre-season top ten. They will no doubt change from month to month.

Mark Timmons on “Two Dodger Losses”

The Dodgers lost two games yesterday. The OKC Dodgers lost 14-8 as Gavin Stone was beaten like a rented mule. In 2.2 IP he gave up five hits, and 6 ER, including a three-run HR by Colin Moran. Hunter Feduccioa and Luke Williams (playing SS) both hit 3-run HR, and Mike Busch was 3-5, but the pitching was non-existent.

Back at the Ravine, Dustin May looked like an Ace as he went 7 innings, and allowed just 3 hits. He looks to be fully recovered and ready to take the next step. He left with a 1-0 lead on Mookie Betts HR, but Alex Vesia soon coughed it up. Vesia had a slow start last year… having an ERA over 4.00 until he was nails. Max Muncy is snakebit, as he hit a couple on the screws, but did manage a hit. Mamma said there would be days like this. The Rookies are both hitting .333 and not looking like rookies. I am really liking David Peralta.