MLB Power Rankings: Why Dodgers aren't quite No. 1 yet with Shohei Ohtani, Yankees look strong with Juan Soto
Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani are on the move, so let's release a fresh batch of MLB Power Rankings
by Matt Snyder · CBS SportsThe offseason is far from over and the 2024 Major League Baseball season is much further from starting up. There have been a decent number of signings, some trades and a few of those moves are filed in the "seismic shift" category. That means it's acceptable to fire up the ol' Power Rankings machine.
Shohei Ohtani signing with the Dodgers is the move of the offseason, obviously. It's incredible the star power the Dodgers have now with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Ohtani in their lineup. I'm sure many people will be expecting to see them atop the rankings now and we'll get to that in a second.
The list of players who could upstage the trade of a 25-year-old slugger on a Hall of Fame track is incredibly low. In fact, it might only be one, but Ohtani is the top name in the sport. Still, don't get too distracted to notice Juan Soto switching coasts and heading back East to one of baseball's marquee franchises in the Yankees (it's probably the marquee franchise, but I don't feel like having that argument right now).
Those will be the two biggest splashes made this offseason.
As for the rankings, we can only rank the teams as currently constructed. To illustrate how tough this is, I'll use my favorite team: I fully expect the Cubs to grab at least one bat and probably two in addition to trying for a frontline starting pitcher. They haven't added any of that, though, so I'm only ranking where the roster is right now, not where I think (hope?) it'll end up.
And that brings us back to the Dodgers. They won 100 games and added Ohtani, so they obviously have to be the No. 1 team, right? Eh, let's settle down a bit. Ohtani can't pitch in 2024 and these are power rankings for 2024. Further, last season's Dodgers DH was J.D. Martinez and he had a damn fine season. Ohtani is better, no question. In fact, if we just took WAR (and you really shouldn't project things out this way, I'm only doing it to make a point), Ohtani was worth 4.1 wins more than Martinez last season. That would, in theory, push the Dodgers to 104 wins.
But.
Yeah, there is a but and it's an incredibly reasonable one: Look at the Dodgers' rotation right now.
Walker Buehler (coming off Tommy John surgery) and Bobby Miller are the written-in-pen guys. Ryan Pepiot at age 26 could stick, but he only has 78 1/3 career MLB innings. That still would only get the Dodgers to 60% of their rotation. Emmet Sheehan has flashed some promise. Past him, would they turn to Gavin Stone? Or veteran lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who has a career 4.74 ERA as a starter.
I have no doubt the Dodgers are not going to stop with Ohtani and will grab at least two starting pitchers. They just haven't yet and I'm ranking the current rosters. As constructed, the Dodgers do not have the best team in baseball.
Biggest Movers
🔼 11 Yankees
🔽 8 Diamondbacks
| Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Braves | Surely they can't have worse luck with their rotation in 2024 and they won 104 games in 2023. | 3 | 104-58 |
| 2 | Astros | Perhaps the biggest task this offsason for general manager Dana Brown is figuring out why his team couldn't win at home last year. They were 39-42 in the regular season and 1-5 in the playoffs in Minute Maid Park. | 5 | 90-72 |
| 3 | Dodgers | I do think they'll bring back Clayton Kershaw on another one-year deal, but remember he's coming off surgery and won't be back until late in the season. | 3 | 100-62 |
| 4 | Yankees | The offense was pitiful last season and simply adding Juan Soto can't single-handedly solve the issues. It isn't just him, though. Aaron Judge only played in 106 games. Anthony Rizzo only played in 99 and was compromised due to a head injury for a large portion of those. Anthony Volpe was a 22-year-old rookie. Giancarlo Stanton hit .191 in his 101 games. Alex Verdugo isn't a star, but he's better than the .220/.299/.368 line Yankees left fielders posted last season. It's a good-to-great offense already. | 11 | 82-80 |
| 5 | Phillies | Even if they mostly run it back, there are already reasons to believe they'd be better in 2024 than 2023 (Bryce Harper full season, Trea Turner hitting all year instead of the last two months, a full season of Ranger Suárez, etc.). | 2 | 90-72 |
| 6 | Orioles | I'm holding out hope that Craig Kimbrel isn't their big offseason acquisition, but I'm also not confident. That rotation needs a veteran, frontline arm and Mike Elias might have to ease up on the prospect hugging in order to make it happen. | 1 | 101-61 |
| 7 | Rays | Is this the Golden Era is Rays baseball? The Maddon-Crawford-Longoria-Zobrist-Price run yielded four playoff berths in six seasons. They've now made the playoffs five years in a row and won 90 games the last time they missed the postseason. | 1 | 99-63 |
| 8 | Rangers | I'm excited for a full season of Evan Carter. The pitching staff could get dicey. | 7 | 90-72 |
| 9 | Blue Jays | Well, that was a rough few days. There's no way to spin it otherwise. They can still have a successful offseason, though, and it has to start with a big bat (Cody Bellinger?). | 2 | 89-73 |
| 10 | Diamondbacks | I really like the Eduardo Rodríguez signing to join Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt in the rotation, but the offense still needs some work. Remember, this was an 84-win team. | 8 | 84-78 |
| 11 | Twins | I'm sure it's depressing for Twins fans to see the team more worried about lowering the payroll than capitalizing on last season, but here's a positive spin: They can't possibly get less, offensively, from Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton than they did in 2023. Royce Lewis only played in 58 games, too. | 1 | 87-75 |
| 12 | Mariners | Did everyone see that the Mariners are sending a nine-minute survey to their fans about the team and, in return, they are giving away one (1!) autographed baseball? They didn't even say who signed this ball. They have been abysmal at PR since finally snapping their playoff drought. | -- | 88-74 |
| 13 | Brewers | I generally wouldn't be for punting a season by trading Corbin Burnes, but everything about the situation says they'd be crazy to not deal him. We'll see what happens when the major free agent starters are signed. Burnes has more value than Tyler Glasnow, Shane Bieber and Dylan Cease, so the Brewers would be wise to dive right in. | 4 | 92-70 |
| 14 | Padres | I hate trading Juan Soto, though I understand A.J. Preller feeling the need to deal him with one year left before free agency in order to build out his pitching staff. We can trace the roots of this mistake back to the incredibly unnecessary signing of Xander Bogaerts to a roster that already had Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and, most importantly, Ha-Seong Kim. | -- | 82-80 |
| 15 | Cubs | I definitely think Craig Counsell is a better manager than David Ross and maybe that adds a few wins, but the roster right now has major holes that, as mentioned in the intro, I expect to be filled. They just aren't filled yet. | 1 | 83-79 |
| 16 | Reds | They still need more arms, but it's been a modestly-productive offseason for the Reds in adding Jeimer Candelario, Nick Martinez and Emilio Pagán. There's a lot to like this with roster right now. | 1 | 82-80 |
| 17 | Mets | It'll be interesting to see David Stearns' long-term plan unfold. For now, it doesn't seem like it includes huge signings this offseason. That could all change quickly, of course. | 6 | 75-87 |
| 18 | Cardinals | I like the Sonny Gray signing a lot. The others, not so much. The youngest member of the rotation is Steven Matz at age 32. Next youngest is Gray and there's already been retirement talk with him. | 6 | 71-91 |
| 19 | Red Sox | The Red Sox haven't finished in last place three straight seasons since they were last in the AL six straight times (and eight of nine!) through 1930. The way things look right now, they are headed for the AL East cellar for a third straight season in 2024. | -- | 78-84 |
| 20 | Guardians | I was always expecting Shane Bieber to be traded this offseason (well, last offseason, too), but I'm pretty shocked to see Emmanuel Clase's name in trade talks. | 1 | 76-86 |
| 21 | Marlins | It's going to be incredibly popular to discuss the Marlins as a major regression candidate this coming spring after they went 33-14 in one-run games, getting to 84 wins despite a negative-57 run differential. It's obvious. It's also true. | 8 | 84-78 |
| 22 | Giants | I fell asleep while trying to come up with a comment here. | 4 | 79-83 |
| 23 | Tigers | Kenta Maeda is a nice addition to that young-ish rotation. | 3 | 78-84 |
| 24 | Pirates | There's a really good, young foundation here and ownership needs to support it with a higher payroll. Their highest-paid player right now is Marco Gonzales and the Braves are footing a portion of that bill. | 2 | 76-86 |
| 25 | Angels | Yawn. | 1 | 73-89 |
| 26 | Royals | Hey, the Royals have been connected in rumors to a few free agent starting pitchers, even some reasonably big names. That's good to see. | 3 | 56-106 |
| 27 | Nationals | Can they avoid a fifth-straight last-place finish? | 2 | 71-91 |
| 28 | White Sox | They'll be in competition for the worst record in baseball in 2024. | 1 | 61-101 |
| 29 | Rockies | I still have no Earthly idea what the plan is here. I'm not even sure the front office knows. | 1 | 59-103 |
| 30 | Athletics | They are saddled with a laughingstock for an owner, unfortunately. | -- | 50-112 |