2015 Spring Training Power Rankings
Posted: Tue Mar 03, 2015 1:54 pm
The IBC Power Rankings Committee (Nationals, Orioles, Astros, Tigers) have compiled rankings in advance of Spring Training. A full season preview will follow closer to April.
Below is a short blurb on each team along with their overall rank and average rank by the committee, in parenthesis. Ties listed alphabetically by mascot:
1. Pirates (1.75): Reining champion with Trout, King, Yadi, Waino and Wright. That's all.
2. Phillies (2.25): Impressive rotation bolstered by the power of Freeman, McCutchen, Donaldson, Utley and others.
3. Tigers (3.25): League-best power 3/4 with Stanton/Goldschmidt and a strong rotation with offensive depth.
4a Marlins (5.0): Price/Verlander plays in a playoff series and Longoria, Tulowitzki, Myers, Belt will stick close to Philadelphia.
4b Rangers (5.0): Solid squad with Hughes, Fielder, Wieters added to last year's team, plus a healthy Darvish and Cabrera. Always Cabrera.
4c Red Sox (5.0): Scherzer tops a capable rotation and the offense comes from Springer, Ortiz, Napoli and Walker, flanked by key defenders.
7. Dodgers (8.25): Killer Bs and S (Braun, Bautista, Seager) carry this team with a rotation of oft-injured pitchers. Hasn't stopped L.A. from being a perennial playoff contender.
8. Twins (9.25): Youth movement nearly complete; Bumgarner leads a stout young rotation with Richards, Teheran and Thor. Offense lags behind, but Pence addition, Soler and Dozier emergence are key.
9. Orioles (10.5): Wild Card team last year in the AL with a Kemp/Heyward/Gomez outfield, Davis back and Jose Fernandez back at midseason with Greinke/Cashner.
10. Blue Jays (11.25): Another ALE playoff team from 2014, should have a quasi-healthy Cliff Lee and Koji Uehara combined with whatever mystery formula gets Toronto to 90+ wins annually.
11. Giants (11.5): Move across the Bay doesn't drastically change park dimensions, but change in opponents. Additions of Sanchez, Cespedes, Desmond and emergence of Kluber provide needed depth and firepower.
12. Royals (12.25): Injury to Victor Martinez sets the team back, but Iwakuma/Gray/Kazmir top of the rotation plays well with mix of vets and young stars (Rizzo, Frazier, Wong, Swihart, Montero)
13a. Brewers (13.25): Moving Strasburg changes the rotation strength, but needed additions of Zimmerman at 1B and Rendon at 3B gives Milwaukee the bats it never had.
13b. Dbacks (13.25): Injuries have plagued Arizona, but Latos/Moore/Holland/Liriano remains a good group, along with Upton, Santana, Cargo. Health a big factor.
15. Reds (15): Rotation has holes, but bats will hit: Encarnacion, Cruz, Martinez
16. Yankees (15.5): Strasburg/Tanaka will give opponents headaches, but outside Harper, Harrison and Hosmer, lots of unproven young talent.
17. Cubs (18.25): Never count out Kershaw/Gonzalez with Adrian Gonzalez and a few other bats, but no activity to improve a 77-win team in 2014.
18. Astros (19.75): Near-miss into the playoffs in 2014, the Rockies became the Astros. The moves to get Hamels, Puig, Kinsler provide needed depth, but rotation lags outside of Hamels.
19. Rockies (20.25): Lots of nice pieces here and the rotation has promise, but it's a rotation in Colorado. Switch to NL might be helpful, though.
20. Mariners (20.5): Big rankings leap for the winners of the Moncada sweepstakes. Very young still and at least a year away. It's coming, though.
21. Cardinals (21.5): Development of Yelich and Betts gives this team strong tools, along with Lucroy, Lynn, Cain and Gyorko. Will win some games, but not there yet.
22. Mets (21.75): Like St. Louis, has some nice pieces, though likely not enough to make a strong run without trades. Will win some games with crew of vets.
23. Rays (22.25): Juan Lagares to the rescue! Rays will be helped by the return of Corbin and a Hutchison, Weaver, Gallardo rotation. Votto/Bruce/Choo/McCann are still the cornerstones.
24a. Athletics (23): A-rod and Teixeira couldn't be more misplaced than on a team full of prospects and young MLBers.
24b. Padres (23): ZIPS' prospect bias pays off with Bryant and Sano. Solid MLB talent with Machado, Archer, Odorizzi, Kipnis, Hamilton and others.
26. Angels (25): Has some pitching, but the bats still aren't there. Plenty of 1-0, 2-1 games in Anaheim's future.
27. Braves (26.25): Little improvement from 2014 and now Sale is hurt.
28. (White Sox (27.25): There is some MLB talent here (Butler, Medlen, Cosart, Duke), but just not enough.
29a. Indians (29): The stories are the same at this end. Prospects coming (Gallo, Liriano, Webster, Lorenzo, Frazier, Jackson), but not yet.
29b. Nationals (29): Had a relatively talented MLB team a couple months ago, but couldn't stand it. Should barely have a legal roster. *EDIT: Power Rankings Committee member Nationals believes he will have more than enough players to field a legal roster.
Below is a short blurb on each team along with their overall rank and average rank by the committee, in parenthesis. Ties listed alphabetically by mascot:
1. Pirates (1.75): Reining champion with Trout, King, Yadi, Waino and Wright. That's all.
2. Phillies (2.25): Impressive rotation bolstered by the power of Freeman, McCutchen, Donaldson, Utley and others.
3. Tigers (3.25): League-best power 3/4 with Stanton/Goldschmidt and a strong rotation with offensive depth.
4a Marlins (5.0): Price/Verlander plays in a playoff series and Longoria, Tulowitzki, Myers, Belt will stick close to Philadelphia.
4b Rangers (5.0): Solid squad with Hughes, Fielder, Wieters added to last year's team, plus a healthy Darvish and Cabrera. Always Cabrera.
4c Red Sox (5.0): Scherzer tops a capable rotation and the offense comes from Springer, Ortiz, Napoli and Walker, flanked by key defenders.
7. Dodgers (8.25): Killer Bs and S (Braun, Bautista, Seager) carry this team with a rotation of oft-injured pitchers. Hasn't stopped L.A. from being a perennial playoff contender.
8. Twins (9.25): Youth movement nearly complete; Bumgarner leads a stout young rotation with Richards, Teheran and Thor. Offense lags behind, but Pence addition, Soler and Dozier emergence are key.
9. Orioles (10.5): Wild Card team last year in the AL with a Kemp/Heyward/Gomez outfield, Davis back and Jose Fernandez back at midseason with Greinke/Cashner.
10. Blue Jays (11.25): Another ALE playoff team from 2014, should have a quasi-healthy Cliff Lee and Koji Uehara combined with whatever mystery formula gets Toronto to 90+ wins annually.
11. Giants (11.5): Move across the Bay doesn't drastically change park dimensions, but change in opponents. Additions of Sanchez, Cespedes, Desmond and emergence of Kluber provide needed depth and firepower.
12. Royals (12.25): Injury to Victor Martinez sets the team back, but Iwakuma/Gray/Kazmir top of the rotation plays well with mix of vets and young stars (Rizzo, Frazier, Wong, Swihart, Montero)
13a. Brewers (13.25): Moving Strasburg changes the rotation strength, but needed additions of Zimmerman at 1B and Rendon at 3B gives Milwaukee the bats it never had.
13b. Dbacks (13.25): Injuries have plagued Arizona, but Latos/Moore/Holland/Liriano remains a good group, along with Upton, Santana, Cargo. Health a big factor.
15. Reds (15): Rotation has holes, but bats will hit: Encarnacion, Cruz, Martinez
16. Yankees (15.5): Strasburg/Tanaka will give opponents headaches, but outside Harper, Harrison and Hosmer, lots of unproven young talent.
17. Cubs (18.25): Never count out Kershaw/Gonzalez with Adrian Gonzalez and a few other bats, but no activity to improve a 77-win team in 2014.
18. Astros (19.75): Near-miss into the playoffs in 2014, the Rockies became the Astros. The moves to get Hamels, Puig, Kinsler provide needed depth, but rotation lags outside of Hamels.
19. Rockies (20.25): Lots of nice pieces here and the rotation has promise, but it's a rotation in Colorado. Switch to NL might be helpful, though.
20. Mariners (20.5): Big rankings leap for the winners of the Moncada sweepstakes. Very young still and at least a year away. It's coming, though.
21. Cardinals (21.5): Development of Yelich and Betts gives this team strong tools, along with Lucroy, Lynn, Cain and Gyorko. Will win some games, but not there yet.
22. Mets (21.75): Like St. Louis, has some nice pieces, though likely not enough to make a strong run without trades. Will win some games with crew of vets.
23. Rays (22.25): Juan Lagares to the rescue! Rays will be helped by the return of Corbin and a Hutchison, Weaver, Gallardo rotation. Votto/Bruce/Choo/McCann are still the cornerstones.
24a. Athletics (23): A-rod and Teixeira couldn't be more misplaced than on a team full of prospects and young MLBers.
24b. Padres (23): ZIPS' prospect bias pays off with Bryant and Sano. Solid MLB talent with Machado, Archer, Odorizzi, Kipnis, Hamilton and others.
26. Angels (25): Has some pitching, but the bats still aren't there. Plenty of 1-0, 2-1 games in Anaheim's future.
27. Braves (26.25): Little improvement from 2014 and now Sale is hurt.
28. (White Sox (27.25): There is some MLB talent here (Butler, Medlen, Cosart, Duke), but just not enough.
29a. Indians (29): The stories are the same at this end. Prospects coming (Gallo, Liriano, Webster, Lorenzo, Frazier, Jackson), but not yet.
29b. Nationals (29): Had a relatively talented MLB team a couple months ago, but couldn't stand it. Should barely have a legal roster. *EDIT: Power Rankings Committee member Nationals believes he will have more than enough players to field a legal roster.
