La Velle E. Neal III's MLB Power Rankings
Yankees, Dodgers look like the best in class in their respective leagues.
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 Chicago Cubs have added Matthew Boyd to their rotation in their first big offseason move, agreeing to a $29 million, two-year contract with the veteran left-hander, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.