1. Kansas City Royals – Well they won the World Series, so they deserve to be here because no offseason moves have been made yet. They need a second baseman with Ben Zobrist becoming a free agent, and Alex Gordon is looking for a new contract. An upgrade in the rotation would make them a 100-win team.
2. St. Louis Cardinals – They have one of baseball’s deepest teams, and if in 2016 they stay healthy, they could be even better.
3. Chicago Cubs – One of the best and deepest lineups in baseball, but will need to find a centerfielder with Dexter Fowler becoming a free agent. Adding a starting pitcher would help, so a David Price reunion with Maddon could be in the works.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates – Once again they lost to a dominant pitcher in the wild card game. Seems like they became a very good team at the wrong time with the Cubs and Cardinals playing just a bit better.
5. New York Mets – With Yoenis Cespedes leaving for free agency, they will need to add a bat to make it back to the World Series.
6. Houston Astros – Houston had one of the best AL rotations, but how will it fare next year with Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers throwing their most innings in a season by a pretty large margin?
7. Los Angeles Dodgers – An upgrade in the bullpen will be a necessity, but the roster should deliver another division title, this time with a new manager.
8. Toronto Blue Jays – The Blue Jays will return with one of the game’s best lineups, but the rotation will be a big question mark with David Price unlikely to return.
9. Texas Rangers – With the returns of Yu Darvish and Jurickson Profar, and the emergence of Roughned Odor, they should be a good team this season once again.
10. Washington Nationals – With Dusty Baker taking over as manager, the Nationals will be under pressure once again to get back to the playoffs. Look for Bryce Harper to have a huge contract year.
11. Cleveland Indians – With a full season of Francisco Lindor in 2016 and a strong pitching staff, they could and should be wild card contenders next season.
12. San Francisco Giants – It’s an even year, so I may be putting them too low.
13. Boston Red Sox – They had a strong ending to their 2015 season making a run towards .500. They will be in the market for an ace and another solid pitcher and that will make Boston a contender in my opinion with young stars Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Mookie Betts.
14. New York Yankees – The Yankees will be active per usual, but can their aging bats keep hitting?
15. Seattle Mariners – They have a great core in Felix Hernandez, Kyle Seager, Robinson Cano, and Nelson Cruz. With a new manager and GM, I would expect them to fill some of their holes on offense and in the bullpen.
16. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – They will definitely need some help on offense to help Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, and their pitching staff needs to geth ealthy.
17. Tampa Bay Rays – If they can get their rotation healthy next season, they can be a real threat in the American League East.
18. Arizona Diamondbacks – They have one of the better offenses in baseball, led by two stars in A.J. Pollock and Paul Goldschmidt, but they have got to get some better pitching.
19. Minnesota Twins – A lot of advanced metrics have said they over-performed due to hit sequencing, and I see some regression next season for the Twins.
20. Detroit Tigers – A team with Miguel Cabrera and both J.D. and Victor Martinez will be tough to pitch to, but their pitching is going to be their downfall unless they make some moves this offseason.
21. Miami Marlins- Predicted by some to win the World Series in 2015, they can be a decent team asthey have one of the best young outfields in baseball and one of the best pitchers in the game in Jose Fernandez.
22. Chicago White Sox – They have a decent rotation, but there are several holes in the lineup that will need to be filled in order to compete.
23. San Diego Padres – All the moves they made last season have put them in a worse position to compete in the future. They will be mediocre as their farm system is not great and neither is the big league team.
24. Baltimore Orioles – Several players heading to free agency, which include Chris Davis and Matt Wieters, so the offense will take a hit unless they can retain one of those guys. They will also need to address the rotation as it’s very average.
25. Oakland Athletics – I will not ever count the A’s out, but right now no one knows who they are going to bring up to help them win 90 games in another surprising season. If that doesn’t happen, it will be 2015 all over again.
26. Milwaukee Brewers- Future is getting brighter for the Brewers because of the prospects they have acquired. New GM David Stearns was hired at the end of the season and should lead the Brewers well, but they aren’t ready to compete quite yet.
27. Colorado Rockies – They have a good offense, but once again their downfall is the lack of quality arms in the rotation.
28. Philadelphia Phillies – They played nearly .500 in the second half of the season and they are in a much better position than they were going into last year.
29. Cincinnati Reds – Being in a division with the Cubs, Pirates, and Cardinals is not easy especially for a team without a great farm system. Expect another bad season in the Queen City.
30. Atlanta Braves – This will be the last season at Turner Field and it will surely not be a memorable one.