Rankings: MLB teams 1-30 and team profile

Here we have it. With Spring Training game getting under way, here are my rankings for the 2012 season. A lot could happen over the next month before Opening Day, but as of right now this is how I see them stacking up. I think the World Series champion will come from teams 1-14. There is a strong top six in the American League, and then after the Phillies in the National League it’s a wide open race. 

1. New York Yankees

          - They already had a dynamic offense and people kept saying the only thing they need to fix is their pitching staff. They robbed the Mariners blind by giving them a decent designated hitter in return for a top of the rotation starter in Michael Pineda. C.C. Sabathia and Ivan Nova, along with Pineda, will give the Yankees a solid top three. Hiroki Kuroda is a solid four and then they have depth with Phil Hughes and Freddy Garcia. There are absolutely no questions in the field. Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez are an absolutely ridiculous 1-5. This team is complete and will win at least 95 games and more than likely the toughest division in baseball. 

2. Detroit Tigers

          - This is a great team but it helps that they are in one of the weaker divisions in baseball. They’re going to rack up wins against the Twins, White Sox and maybe even Royals and Indians. They will probably have the second or third best offense in the league behind the Yankees and Rangers. You can’t argue that Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder are the best three-four tandem in baseball. They have nice pieces around them with a still developing Austin Jackson, Jhonny Peralta, Delmon Young and up-and-coming Brennan Boesch. They also have a deep rotation starting with ace Justin Verlander. The addition of Doug Fister helped them down the stretch last season and in the playoffs. Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and rookie Jacob Turner will complete a great staff. This team will easily win the Central division and 95-plus games. 

3. Philadelphia Phillies

          - Even though I believe this team has lost a lot of its luster and is in a decline mode, you can’t argue that a team with three aces doesn’t belong at the top. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels alone will be enough to help them win 60 games. I’m worried about the rest of the rotation. I don’t have confidence in Joe Blanton and we’ll see how well Vance Worley does his second time through the league. I think they end up finding a way to make a move to deepen this rotation in case of an injury to the top three. Their offense doesn’t scare me near the way it used to. Chase Utley still has the prettiest swing in baseball but his knees are failing him. Jimmy Rollins is holding on to his glory days and getting paid for them, but is not the MVP he once was. That image of Ryan Howard going down in the final out of Game 5 is still vivid in my memory. I don’t see how he could come back from that any time soon and be productive. Hunter Pence will be a solid addition to the team for an entire season and this is still an above average offense that really only needs to be average for their pitching staff to win. As usual I think they let the Braves hang around for a while and IF their top three pitchers stay healthy they’ll win 95 games and the NL East. 

4. Tampa Bay Rays

          - I’m not sure how the Rays keep on doing it, but they are finding ways to get it done and building a strong team for the future every season. They have one of the best and deepest pitching staffs in the game led by James Shields and David Price. Behind them you have 2011 AL Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson and 2012 Rookie of the Year candidate Matt Moore. I watched Moore pitch Game 1 of the ALDS so I believe all the hype. This kid is going to be good. As usual this offense isn’t going to jump out at you. With Even Longoria healthy for a full season and Desmond Jennings up with the team all season, they’ll be able to score some runs for their pitchers. Carlos Pena back in Tampa will give them some pop in the middle of the order. B.J. Upton might wake up and put up a big year in his walk year. They have other nice pieces like Ben Zobrist that fit the mold of this team. They play in a difficult division so wins will be hard to come by. I think they easily take the wild card and win at least 93 games. 

5. Los Angeles Angels

          - This team by far had the best off season and many may not remember but they were knocking on the door of the Texas Rangers late last year before falling off. Mike Sciosia is one of the best managers in the game and he’ll find ways to put up runs around Albert Pujols. Players like Peter Bourjos, Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar will be responsible for getting on base and setting up Pujols, Tori Hunter and Vernon Wells for RBI opportunities. This team won’t be built on offense though, it will rely on their pitching staff to win the division. Dan Haren and Jered Weaver will lead the rotation, while C.J. Wilson and Ervin Santana are nice two-three type pitchers. After that their depth isn’t great, but it’s better than Texas, to me. They’ll finish with 93 wins and just edge out the Rangers for the division. It will be a good battle all summer long and for years to come. 

6. Atlanta Braves

          - Go ahead and call me a homer. This team was the fourth best team in baseball for three quarters of 2011. Everybody healthy, there is no doubt this is the second best team in the National League. But there is a long list of questions surrounding the Braves. Jason Heyward has to be an MVP candidate and solidify his spot in the three hole for this team to win. Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens have to stay healthy and be the aces of this staff. Really, even if just those things happen this team will be great. But if Brian McCann and Martin Prado rebound offensively and Dan Uggla doesn’t start off slow, this team could easily compete for the NL East. They’re pitching depth is unbelievable and now most of the youngsters have had experience in the majors. A full year of Bourn will only help improve an offense that is atrocious on the base paths. Mix all that with the best bullpen in baseball and there is no reason why this team can’t win 94 games this season and compete for the division title. 

7. St. Louis Cardinals

          - This team made one of the boldest moves in all of baseball by letting the greatest player in the game walk away. And I believe they made the right choice for the future of the franchise. There are a lot of question marks with this club, but I think they play in a very winnable division and I don’t get the sense any team made major improvements to pass them. I think Adam Wainwright coming back is more important than Albert Pujols coming back. I’d rather have a Cy Young candidate than an MVP candidate. Chris Carpenter will pair along with Wainwright for a solid 1-2 punch. Jamie Garcia, Kyle Lohse and Jake Westbrook are solid number three starters. This rotation is deep and has Kyle McClellan and Lance Lynn to call on if anything goes wrong. IF this offense is healthy it’s a very good offense that will score enough runs for these pitchers. I think they win the NL Central with 93 wins. 

8. Boston Red Sox

          - I’m not a big fan of the Red Sox this season. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been a huge fan of Bobby Valentine from when he was a Met, but I just don’t like what happened last year and I have no reason to feel like that situation will be improved this season. Carl Crawford may not start the season with the team and when he does come back he’ll just be pressing even harder to get rid of last season’s below average totals. Their lineup is still solid with Adrian Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. They have a HUGE hole at shortstop. You’re not going to win a championship or the AL East with Nick Punto as your shortstop. Expect that to change soon. Their rotation is the reason I don’t see them being a contender this season. They only have one true ace in Jon Leseter. It’s an even numbered year so I don’t expect much out of Becket. The rest of the rotation is just an embarrassment. This team is good, but they play in a tough division against teams that have far superior pitching staffs. An 88-92 win season looks likely. And I think they miss the playoffs. 

9. Texas Rangers

          - I’m not happy with what happened in the Rangers’ offseason. This team has made it to the World Series two years in a row and it will be nearly impossible for that to happen again. They let their ace go, who wasn’t much of an ace in the first place, to a division rival. They put all their eggs into one basket by going after an unproven Japanese pitcher and they couldn’t find the money to go out and get Prince Fielder. That being said, they still have the best offense in the American League with Ian Kinsler, Elvis Andrus, Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli and Michael Young. Wow, almost named their entire lineup. I think Yu Darvish will do fine in his first year as most Japanese pitchers do, but I don’t believe he’ll been an ace and I’m fairly positive he can’t carry a team through the playoffs. The rest of their pitching staff is made up of threes and fours. That is not going to get it done in the playoffs or against the Angels who are much improved on offense and in their pitching staff, if that was even possible. Their offense will get them to 90 wins this year, but they just won’t have enough pitching to compete with the Angels. 

10. Arizona Diamondback

          - This team came out of nowhere last season to take the NL West crown, but came up just short against the Brewers in the NLDS. They play in a tough division and it will be very difficult to repeat this season. They’ve made some nice moves to improve the pitching staff. I’m not sold on their offense outside of Justin Upton. Everyone else in that lineup is an average or little better offensive player. But you win in the West with your pitching and Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson and Trevor Cahill give you a nice 1-3 punch. Joe Saunders and Josh Collmenter are nice threes and fours. This team will be scrappy and find ways to win as they did last year. As long as their pitching holds up I think they’ll have a chance to win the division. They won it last year with 94 win, I say they get it done this year with 92. 

11. Milwaukee Brewers

          - The uncertainty of this team scares me. With Ryan Braun out for 50 games I’m not sure there is a player on this offense that can carry them and keep them in it until he returns. Aramis Ramirez was a nice pickup but he got off to a horribly slow start last year and that can’t happen again if the Brewers hope to compete. They probably have the best pitching staff in the division as Yovani Gallardo is a true ace and should get Cy Young consideration. Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum are great number two starters. Randy Wolf and Chris Narveson are solid four and five starters. They took their shot at it all last year and failed. I’m not sure how many opportunities this group is going to have, but they need to make it happen. This division has a solid three, but it’s still winnable. Even with Braun being down, look for this team to win close to 90 games. 

12. Los Angeles Dodgers

          - Many people forget this team was an above .500 ball club last year. They featured the Cy Young and (Should have been) MVP. They still remain young and have filled in some positions with stop gap type players. They are waiting for an owner to take over the beloved franchise and whoever it is will have some deep pockets to make this team become relevant sooner rather than later. Matt Kemp will lead the charge again along with Andre Either and an offense that won’t put up huge numbers but will score enough to win. Clayton Kershaw looks like he could be a stud for the next 10 years or until that little arm falls off. Chad Billingsley is a solid number two starter. Ted Lilly, Aaron Harang and Chris Capuano all add depth and are very good three and four starters. Dee Gordon will add some explosiveness to the top of the lineup and set up Kemp and Either with easy RBI opportunities. They might not have enough to take over the Arizona Diamondbacks this year, but look for them to be a major player this coming offseason and be back at the top in 2013. I think they manage to win close to 90 games this season and fall just short of the playoffs. 

13. Cincinnati Reds

          - After the St. Louis Cardinals lost Albert Pujols and the Milwaukee Brewers couldn’t resign Prince Fielder I thought this automatically opened up the door for the Reds. But that doesn’t exactly seem to be the case. They picked up Matt Latos, which was a great move, but do you really think he can transfer his great numbers from pitcher friendly Petco Park to hitter friendly Great American Ballpark? I don’t think so. Their pitching staff still isn’t better than the Cardinals or the Brewers and their offense might not be much better either. Joey Votto is an MVP candidate, Jay Bruce is on the verge of a breakout season and Brandon Phillips is one of the best second baseman in the league. They don’t have a true leadoff hitter and they are going to have to develop young kids at shortstop and catcher during the season. I don’t think they’ve made enough progress to pass the other two teams ahead of them in the division. Anywhere from 83-88 wins seems logical. 

14. San Francisco Giants

          - Call me crazy, but this team isn’t getting any younger, or better. They made the move to get Pagan, which is a SLIGHT upgrade in center field. They traded away their strength in pitching, giving up Jonathan Sanchez for Melky Cabrera. They’re saving their money hoping to bring back Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, but who’s going to score runs for these guys? When you’re best offensive player is a catcher coming off a season-ending injury your expectations can’t be that high. If one of their big pitchers goes down this is a mediocre ball club. That being said, if healthy and the addition of a big bat come midseason, Carlos Quentin, this team could become a serious contender. Once in the playoffs you know how effective great pitching can be. I say they finish about the same as last year with around 86 wins.  

15. Washington Nationals

          - Had they gotten Prince Fielder they would have definitely been a team with a chance to win it all, but now they’ll have to settle at looking to the future. It doesn’t sound like Bryce Harper will begin the season with the club, which means they’re OK with not winning this season. Their pitching staff has gotten tremendously better with Stephan Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmerman atop the rotation. They failed to make any moves to generate more offense and are left with a big hole in center field. If they make the move for Denard Span they become even more of a contender. They finished 80-81 last season and I expect them to make a jump further this year winning 85 games or more. 

16. Toronto Blue Jays

          - I love this team and they are always my favorite to uproot the Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East. For some reason they haven’t been able to put it all together but they are definitely moving in the right direction. They are solid on offense with only left field being a question. Brett Lawrie is about to have a monster rookie season and will be the future number three hitter in this lineup. Scoring runs will not be a problem for this team. They have a solid ace in Rickey Romero, but they don’t have that number two to make them a serious contender. Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil are threes and fours. If Kyle Drabek can live up to his potential he could become that number two starter. The fact is they are still the fourth best team in this very tough division. In almost any other division they would have a chance to win it, but because of unfortunate circumstances they’ll be lucky to finish with more than 82 wins. 

17. Kansas City Royals

          - Everybody has been waiting for this team to breakout and they will continue to wait another year. They are being very cautious with their top prospects and they are not going to detriment their future by going for it now. They started out hot last year before falling off. I think they continue that growth this year will full seasons from Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. There are still questions at shortstop and second base, but their offense will be much improved. The pitching staff is still in question. Mike Montgomery hasn’t progressed as they would have liked so they are still struggling to find an ace from their top prospects. Johnathan Sanchez was a great pickup but I think he’s at best a number two and possibly a number three on some teams. As soon as their young pitchers develop they’ll be ready to contend. Hopefully they’ll get a chance to do that in the big leagues at some point this year to set them up for success in 2013. 80-plus wins would be a great improvement. 

18. Colorado Rockies

          - I really like what the Rockies have done this offseason. Offense is not a problem for them and they know that, so they went out and built depth in the pitching staff. While they haven’t acquired a true ace, Jeremy Guthrie is not that ace, they have a solid group of twos and threes and some potential prospects in Drew Pomeranz and Alex White that could be ones and twos for years to come. Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Cuddyer and Todd Helton are a nice 2-5 in the order. If Dexter Fowler figures it out this year they’ll have one of the best lineups in the National League. While I like their pitching staff, they don’t have an elite pitcher that can carry them and they play in a division filled with teams that have a true ace, or aces. We all know what they can do if they’re close in October, but their division is just too difficult. A .500 season would be great for this team. 

19. Miami Marlins

          - Who really knows what is going to happen with this team in 2011? They could potentially be a 90 win team or a 75 win team. I don’t like what happened with Hanley Ramirez and I do not believe his ego will be able to put up with Jose Reyes outperforming him at his former position. Heath Bell doesn’t scare me at the back end any more than Leo Nunez or whatever his real name is. And Mark Buehrle is a nice number three, but he can’t be the ace of this staff until Josh Johnson is ready or if he goes down again. Their offense is going to be amazing and put up huge numbers. But I don’t believe this pitching staff will hold up and they will ultimately fall apart. Look for the Marlins to be in the spotlight this season, but for all the wrong reasons. They’re the fourth best team in this division. 

20. Cleveland Indians

          - This team surprised a lot of people last year getting out to a hot start. They were winning games late and players were overachieving. Over 162 games, these types of teams usually show their true colors. While 80 wins is nothing to go home crying about, they’ll need to find a way to win 15 more to be atop the division this year and I don’t think they’ve done enough to make that happen. They’re hoping Shin-Soo Choo has a bounce-back year, Grady Siezmore stays on the field and is the great player he used to be and that Ubaldo Jimenez is the Cy Young candidate he was at the beginning of 2010. I don’t believe any of those will happen. This team is good and will compete in a weak division, but another 80 win season is likely. 

21. White Sox

          - While one team in Chicago is moving in a positive direction, the other one is going in the opposite direction. Who knows what the White Sox were up to in the offseason? At first you think they’re rebuilding, then they lock up John Danks instead of trading him and now you have no idea what’s going on. There are too many question marks on this team to make them a contender. Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham need to improve. I think we know what Alexi Rameriez and Paul Konerko are going to do and that’s nice production. Some of the young kids will have to grow up quick if this team is going to fight for the division or wild card. They have a nice group of pitchers, but Danks is not an ace to me and Peavy is another huge question mark. Gavin Floyd and Phillip Humber are nice threes and fours and I guess we’ll see how Chris Sale transitions to the starting pitching role. I’m not high on pitchers making that move, but it has been known to work recently, most notably with Texas Rangers’ pitchers. This team has the potential to be a .500 or better ball club but I also see them having a chance to collapse and end up with less than 80 wins.

22. Chicago Cubs

          - I’m also not as down on the Cubs as everybody else is. The offense is lacking a power hitter, but have some decent hitters with Castro, Byrd and Barney. But their pitching rotation is deep. Garza and Dempster are true number twos, with Garza having the ability to be a number one. Volstad, Maholm, Wood and Wells are all potential number threes. This team is definitely rebuilding under Theo Epstein, but they’ll improve upon their 71 wins last season and bump it up closer to 78. 

23. Pittsburgh Pirates

          - The magical run they had at the beginning of last year will all be forgotten after this season. There has been nothing done to improve this team. They are just hoping their talent will develop into what it should be and that Clint Hurdle will sneak a few wins. There are three teams easily better than them in this division so I don’t see them competing. McCutchen and Walker are stars, Pedro Alvarez is looking more-and-more like a bust and their rotation doesn’t scare anybody. I don’t believe in Morton, and Lincoln and McDonald aren’t as good as hyped. McDonald could easily be there number one but is a decent number two on most teams. Hurdle will have the troops fired up come day one, but they’ll fall of at the end and experience another losing season with about the same season as last year. 

24. Minnesota Twins

          Let’s just go ahead and take Morneau and Maur out of the picture because we have no idea what they’re capable of at this point. Obviously if healthy they are some of the best at their position, but you can’t count on that anymore. Their outfield is nice with Revere, Span and the addition of Willingham to add some pop. The infield is suspect and nothing that will impress you. Their rotation is a mess. Liranio is off and on, Pavano is mostly off and the rest are 12 to 13 game winners. Their youngest starting pitcher is 28. This team is heading in the wrong direction in a division that’s winnable, or at least was until the Tigers signed Prince. Ron Gardenhire will find a way to win 70 games, but he’ll struggle in doing so. 

25. Seattle Mariners

          - Another AL West team that will just get pounded by the two-headed monster in Texas and LA Angels. The Mariners do have a true number one and a formidable middle of the lineup with Ichiro, Dustin Ackley, Justin Smoak and Jesus Montero. And that’s if you believe in Montero, I don’t. After that there is a big drop off in offensive production. Almost as big as the drop off between King Felix and Justin Varges in their rotation. Why they traded Michael Pineda I have no idea. It was a very dumb trade in my opinion. The middle of their lineup is set for years to come, they just need their young pitching talent, like Pineda was, to start becoming one’s and two’s and this team will compete. But they are still far away from that. A 70 to 75 win season seems doable. 

26. San Diego Padres         

          - I’m not sure what the Padres’ front office is trying to do. They’re trying to rebuild but yet they bring in a guy like Carlos Quentin to play left field. I’m guessing they’ll use him as trade bait at the deadline when they’re out of it. I think Cameron Maybin is set to have a breakout year in center. Jason Bartlett, Nick Hundley, The O-Dawg and Chase Headly are exactly the types of players that fit this low scoring offense. Their starting pitching and bullpen will keep them in games, but they don’t have the fire power to win the close ones. They’ll putter along and finish with close to 75 wins. 

27. New York Mets

          - The Mets aren’t as bad as people are making them out to be, but they’re not very good either. They have a formidable rotation with Mike Pelfrey, Jonathan Niese, R.A. Dickey and Dillon Gee. But those are all number three starters on a normal team. David Wight, Ike Davis and Jason Bay are their best hitters … not exactly a potent offense. But they have decent pieces that will help them win some games. If they break 70 wins again this year Terry Collins should get the Manager of the Year award. 

28. Baltimore Orioles

          - I’m actually like the O’s, but with the division they play in it’s going to be hard to win more than 80 games. I like Markakis, Jones, Hardy, Wieters and Reynolds. I think they’ll put up some runs. The rotation can’t compete with the other NL East teams though. If Matusz, Britton and/or Arrieta become a top of the rotation starter they’ll be good in a couple of years. 73 wins would be an accomplishment for the O’s this year. 

29. Oakland Athletics

          - I look at the A’s lineup and it exemplifies exactly what “Moneyball” means. They’ve maneuvered their way into putting decent talent at every position in a cost effective way. But in today’s world, you get what you pay for. If you by mediocre talent you’ll get mediocre results. I like their outfield with Coco Crisp, Seth Smith and Josh Reddick. Jemile Weeks is an up-and-coming second baseman and Kurt Suzuki is a nice catcher. They have young arms as always, but they aren’t ready yet. They will struggle to get 70 wins this year. 

30. Houston Astros

          - You look at the Astros lineup and you say, “Who are these people?” Normally any casual baseball fan can look at a lineup and recognize several players, but I even find myself struggling to even say some of these names. Jed Lowrie, Jordan Schafer and Carlos Lee are the only names you’ll recognize offensively. Their young players will need to improve quickly and luckily they did get a lot of opportunities last year while the Astros were putting up the worst record in the league. Their pitching staff is deep, but unless Jordan Lyles becomes a top of the rotation pitcher, they are mostly a bunch of three’s and four’s. They’ll win more than 56 games, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they stayed around that number. 

Hope you guys enjoyed the rankings. I plan on posting my predictions for the season closer to Opening Day. 

You can follow Jake on Twitter at: @j8a1k0e or on his MLB Braves blog at: http://bravesandmore.mlblogs.com