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
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Mookie Betts celebrated during Game 6 as the Dodgers wrapped up the World Series last year, and there’s good reason to believe L.A. could do it again in 2021. (Eric Gay • Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

American League

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.

about the writer

about the writer

La Velle E. Neal III

Columnist

La Velle E. Neal III is a sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune who previously covered the Twins for more than 20 years.

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