La Velle E. Neal III's MLB Power Rankings
Yankees, Dodgers look like the best in class in their respective leagues.
March 30, 2021 at 5:05PM
1. New York Yankees: The lineup is loaded, and they should have enough pitching to win.
2. Minnesota Twins: They will hit and defend, but the bullpen could use one more quality arm.
3. Chicago White Sox: They are talented with upside and will breathe down the Twins' backs.
4. Houston Astros: Should be able to absorb the loss of George Springer.
5. Tampa Bay Rays: Blake Snell trade leaves a hole bigger than the returning Chris Archer can fill.
6. Oakland Athletics: A solid team built on defense, a solid rotation with some live arms in the bullpen.
7. Toronto Blue Jays: A team on the rise offensively, but their rotation falls off after Hyun-Jin Ryu.
8. Cleveland Indians: Over-under on Eddie Rosario home runs against Twins is five.
9. Boston Red Sox: Starting rotation will take its lumps in a tough AL East.
10. Los Angeles Angels: The best years of Mike Trout's career are being wasted.
11. Seattle Mariners: Lineup is fine, but the rotation will hold them back.
12. Kansas City Royals: Will try to compete while waiting for pitching prospects to develop.
13. Detroit Tigers: There are some good young arms here worth tracking.
14. Texas Rangers: Globe Life Park will be open to 100% of capacity to witness a rebuild.
15. Baltimore Orioles: Birds will take their lumps, and do it as cheaply as possible.
National League
1. Los Angeles Dodgers: They are so deep their B team could finish third in the NL Central.
2. San Diego Padres: Hoping Fernando Tatis' shoulder injury is not serious.
3. Atlanta Braves: A good team with loads of 20-something talent.
4. New York Mets: They added everyone from Francisco Lindor to Trevor May to become relevant.
5. Washington Nationals: Lots of talent, and added Jon Lester and Brad Hand. But Juan Soto is just 21 years old!
6. St. Louis Cardinals: Dealing for Nolan Arenado raises the stakes in weakened NL Central.
7. Philadelphia Phillies: They apparently have addressed their bullpen issues. But is it enough?
8. Milwaukee Brewers: There's no way Milwaukee's offense underperforms another season.
9. San Francisco Giants: It will sink in that this roster needs to be flushed.
10. Chicago Cubs: Joc Pederson should get a chance to prove he's not a platoon player.
11. Arizona Diamondbacks: Eduardo Escobar went from .831 OPS in 2019 to .605 in 2020.
12. Cincinnati Reds: The Trevor Bauer era has come and gone. What's left is not very exciting.
13. Colorado Rockies: Nolan Arenado? Gone. DJ LeMahieu? Been gone. Trevor Story? Next.
14. Florida Marlins: Overmatched in the deep division but have young starters worth watching.
15. Pittsburgh Pirates: Ke'Bryan Hayes has star potential, but Pittsburgh will definitely struggle.
The Tampa Bay Rays will play their 2025 home games at the New York Yankees’ nearby spring training ballpark amid uncertainty about the future of hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field, Rays executives told The Associated Press.
