Fantasy Baseball MLB Team Power Rankings: Who's on top ahead of Opening Day?
Periodically during the baseball season, I'm going to provide fantasy power rankings of the 30 teams. This is not necessarily how they would rank from a non-fantasy standpoint, though I suppose it's pretty close. I'm looking for fantasy juice here, and I'm also including a nebulous but significant fun quotient. Which teams hold the coveted spot on my main television more often than not? Let's try to figure it out.
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Spring training feels like it gets longer every year. I still have a few drafts left, but I'm jacked for the season. Bring on the games.
1. Atlanta Braves
The deepest lineup in baseball, bar none. If you don't have some Braves on your roster, it's going to be a frustrating year. Michael Harris II in the third round has been a regular target of mine.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
Everyone knows they'll score runs by the truckload, and the starting rotation is filled with a bunch of fun, familiar names. But with the Dodgers focused on October, how many innings will those pitchers throw? Will this team be hyper-sensitive to any pitcher hiccup? Only four Dodgers made it past 100 innings last year and Clayton Kershaw led the staff in workload — with a modest 24 starts and 131.2 innings. Maybe this is the new normal for contending clubs.
3. Philadelphia Phillies
Loaded lineup. Good pitching staff. Fun park, passionate fans. Bryce Harper and Trea Turner were back to star level at the end of the year; this year, they're ready to crush the league. The Phillies will always be on one of my primary sets.
4. Texas Rangers
They had the American League's best offense last year, and now they're probably better, perhaps a lot better if Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford are as good as they look. Marcus Semien remains MLB's most underrated star, Corey Seager is impossible to pitch to and the bottom of the order is also above average. I have no idea what the pitching staff is likely to do, but even 65 innings from Jacob deGrom in the second half of the year could tilt the AL West race.
5. Houston Astros
The lineup still goes eight deep, but the starting pitching has all the question marks. I see Framber Valdez as a safer ace than most do, but I don't know what's sturdy behind him. Houston is still seen as the market favorite to win the AL West, but I'd give that nod to Texas. Nonetheless, both teams are going to be a fantasy blast. Kyle Tucker is locked into the first round, Yordan Álvarez is a star in the second round and Alex Bregman should enjoy his boring-vet-value days.
6. Baltimore Orioles
We're getting close to a day where this is the bully of the American League, it's just a matter of assembling a better pitching staff. The young talent in the everyday offense is astounding, and it gets immediately better when they accept the inevitability of Jackson Holliday. I wish they'd go back to the old dimensions at Camden Yards, but these guys are going to pile up runs either way.
7. Chicago Cubs
They're appointment viewing for me this year. I believe Cody Bellinger fixed his career, Seiya Suzuki is at least a floor player with perhaps another level to climb, Dansby Swanson is good at pretty much everything (and should be more relaxed in his second Cubs season) and the starting rotation and bullpen are both very deep. Yes, please.
8. Seattle Mariners
A sleeping giant. The starting rotation is the AL's best and the offense has one superstar (Julio Rodríguez) and a bunch of under-appreciated assets. J.P. Crawford caught up to his pedigree and is a nice OBP man parked at leadoff. Mitch Garver is one of those fantasy cheat codes, a catcher-eligible who isn't burdened by actual catching. And please, give me any of those starting pitchers — better yet, give me all of them. The Mariners are worth staying up late for.
9. Toronto Blue Jays
A few years ago they were the up-and-coming legacy team and the most fun roster in the AL. Now, they're boring 20-somethings. What happened to MVP contention every year, Vlad Guerrero and Bo Bichette? The Ibañez All-Stars are saving a seat for George Springer and Chris Bassitt. Watch the early games closely as we try to figure out what the save plan is without Jordan Romano.
10. Cincinnati Reds
They started camp with too many good hitters for not enough slots, but injuries crept in and now things are tidier. I'd love to see what Jonathan India could do with a full and healthy season. Spencer Steer is a position-grabber and someone I've been trying to draft, but my pesky opponents love him just as much as I do. The range of outcomes with Elly De La Cruz is Grand Canyon-wide.
11. Arizona Diamondbacks
We know Corbin Carroll is an overlord, but I wish the rest of the offense were a little bit deeper — though Christian Walker always seems to be under-drafted by a round or two. After a heavy workload season and playoffs, I'm afraid to draft Zac Gallen this year. I hope I'm wrong, but you follow your instincts.
12. San Diego Padres
I like Xander Bogaerts shifting into the boring vet days, and he'll also cover two positions. Joe Musgrove has been underpriced all spring. Jake Cronenworth might be a sneaky target for the late rounds; he's not as bad as he looked last year, and he still holds a good lineup spot. San Diego was comically unlucky in one-run games last year (9-23), and that sort of thing usually regresses to the mean. Catcher Luis Campusano was a short-sample star last year, and so far so good for 2024.
13. Detroit Tigers
They have a legitimate chance to steal a weak AL Central; the Twins are filled with injury risk, and no one else has a deep roster. Seriously, 86 wins might do it. Spencer Torkelson seemed to figure it out in the second half of last year and only health is standing in the way of Riley Greene becoming a star. It's a little pesky to hear some outlets describe Tarik Skubal as an underrated breakout player; his late kick to 2023 was impossible to miss. He's already terrific, and fantasy drafters have treated him as such all spring.
14. San Francisco Giants
These guys are a little like Tampa Bay; the good defense, the solid pitching. Logan Webb checks so many boxes for me — velocity that shouldn't overly tax his arm, ground balls, friendly home park, works deep in games. I'll draft him as often as I can.
15. St. Louis Cardinals
Is Jordan Walker ready for a Year Two leap? Grind their lineup every day, they have a bunch of moving parts. I was surprised to realize how much the once-elite defense has fallen apart over two years.
16. Tampa Bay Rays
So often they do it with defense and platoons and the depth of a bullpen, and most of those things don't mean much for fantasy. Your best mileage here will be to draft into the underrated starting rotation but don't get mad when Kevin Cash opts for a quick hook on some of these guys.
17. New York Yankees
This could be a roster in trouble. Gerrit Cole isn't guaranteed to throw an inning this year. Aaron Judge is asked to lug the mail in centerfield, despite a host of nagging physical problems that are likely here to stay. Giancarlo Stanton is always a hope-for-100-games type of guy. New York doesn't look like a playoff team, and it could even finish last in the division. One bright spot: Anthony Volpe's rookie year was better than the baseball card stats show, and he has a ton of room to grow into an impact player, perhaps a superstar. Try to land at least one share.
18. Cleveland Guardians
The rotation should be a blast, deep and talented and mostly guys on the escalator. But the lineup is so barren, it's chased me away from drafting José Ramírez at ADP.
19. Minnesota Twins
Half the lineup is one of those, "Well, if he stays healthy" stories. That's a bad way to bet. The rotation is plus and it will look even better with all the soft landings in the AL Central. The Twins didn't run last year and they didn't run this spring; they'll sit back and wait for the three-run homers. Carlos Correa might be the most overrated player in baseball.
20. Boston Red Sox
There's probably more floor to this team than many realize, especially if Trevor Story stays healthy. The defense should be a lot better, and the pitching staff has a bunch of solid No. 3-5 types. Unfortunately, there's no real ace here, giving Boston a capped upside. A closer is an unnecessary luxury on a non-contending club, which means Kenley Jansen will be shopped all summer.
21. Miami Marlins
Imagine how much fun this rotation would be if everyone were healthy. Unfortunately, that's not going to be 2024. Jazz Chisholm enters a fork in the road — is he going to mature into a superstar, or did the early seasons just tease us?
22. New York Mets
The lineup should be decent and might be really good. But the rotation is overloaded with No. 4-5 starters. Starling Marte still wants to run, which is why you ignore his age at the draft table. It's more about the will with that stat, not the skill.
23. Washington Nationals
CJ Abrams is going to be a star, Lane Thomas can keep most of his 2023 stats, Joey Meneses is a value you can get for pennies and McKenzie Gore has breakout written all over him. At least the cupboard isn't completely bare.
24. Kansas City Royals
The top four of the lineup is very good, mostly because Bobby Witt Jr. is a god. But the bottom half of the lineup is a slew of OBP-laggers, some of whom don't offer power, either. You can take Witt as early as you want, but otherwise, this is not a destination offense. Cole Ragans might be the most polarizing pitcher call of the spring.
25. Pittsburgh Pirates
A better day is coming, it might just take another season or two. Is Ke'Bryan Hayes a potential star or just a good player? At least we have a healthy Oneil Cruz back in our lives. Nobody on the starting staff is projected to be a plus fantasy asset.
26. Milwaukee Brewers
It's sad to see this organization get gutted — the manager gone, the ace architect gone, the best pitcher gone. Christian Yelich isn't a star any longer, but he's still a five-category contributor and a likely profit player. Jackson Chourio should be fun from the jump.
[2024 Fantasy Baseball Draft Rankings: C | 1B | 2B | SS | 3B | OF | SP | RP]
27. Los Angeles Angels
Put Mike Trout out of his misery. He's surrounded by teammates outside the top 500 in ADP, and no one on this pitching staff is projected to have an ERA over 4. The Angels should do Trout a solid and shop him in the middle of the summer. Maybe this team could flip its karma if it went back to being the California Angels; everyone knows Anaheim is 45 minutes outside of LA, but half a world away in lifestyle and relevance. Keep an eye on Zach Neto, though, especially if he percolates to the top of the order.
28. Colorado Rockies
Even with Coors Field, this team has almost zero fantasy relevance. It depresses me to type that. Nolan Jones will give back most of last year's fortunate hit rate but he's still a good player. There are 3-4 offensive guys you can quasi-consider from this roster, but Kris Bryant shouldn't be one of them.
29. Chicago White Sox
What happens when you collect a bunch of impressive young talent and almost all of it hits the low end of the range? You wind up with the Chicago White Sox. Now it's time to tear it all down and start over; that might include the ballpark, too. At least they finally accepted that Michael Kopech belongs in the bullpen.
30. Oakland Athletics
The poor fans of Oakland don't deserve this mess. Unfortunately, there's not much fantasy value to have. I suspect Zack Gelof can keep most of his surprising rookie year, and Estuary Ruiz will run as much as he can. I didn't bother trying to decipher the closing situation here, figuring the A's will easily lose 100-plus games and they probably won't work with one dedicated stopper.
