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Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
After a long, cold offseason that included a 99-day lockout, the 2022 MLB season will officially get underway on Thursday.
That means it’s time to finalize our MLB power rankings for the start of the new season, setting a baseline for our weekly Tuesday morning updates to come throughout the year.
These rankings have been shuffled throughout the offseason as notable free agents have signed and teams have completed blockbuster trades. Now, it’s time for one final tweak with spring training wrapped up and Opening Day rosters set.
Along with a writeup for all 30 teams, you’ll also find picks for each major award in the American League and National League, as well as a breakout hitter and pitcher prediction for each league.
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Juan SotoThe Washington Post/Getty Images
30. Oakland Athletics
The Athletics have traded Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Chris Bassitt and Sean Manaea just in the few weeks since the lockout was lifted. How does the clubhouse interpret that as anything but the front office waving the white flag on the 2022 season? Oakland is often good at doing more with less, but the message of non-contention is loud and clear this year.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates will open the season with a starting rotation of JT Brubaker, Jose Quintana, Mitch Keller, Bryse Wilson and Zach Thompson. That’s…not good. At least Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes and eventually Oneil Cruz will be fun to watch on the position-player side of things, assuming they don’t deal Reynolds to the highest bidder this summer.
28. Baltimore Orioles
The outfield of Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander is quietly one of the best in baseball, and John Means is a legitimate staff ace, but the rest of the Orioles roster remains a work in progress. The impending arrival of top prospects Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall should give fans plenty of hope for the future, even if the present is still bleak.
27. Washington Nationals
There’s a lot to like about Cesar Hernandez-Juan Soto-Nelson Cruz-Josh Bell at the top of the Nationals lineup and plenty of upside in the bats of up-and-comers Keibert Ruiz and Lane Thomas, but the pitching staff is an absolute mess. Don’t be surprised if they sell aggressively at the deadline once again while mired in the NL East cellar.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
Locking up Ketel Marte on a five-year, $76 million extension was a great move by the Arizona front office. Now, it just needs to build a contender around him. The roster does have some nice young pieces in Zac Gallen, Daulton Varsho, Josh Rojas and Pavin Smith, and we’ll likely see top prospect Alek Thomas at some point in 2022. But there’s a lot more work to be done.
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Bobby Witt Jr.Diamond Images/Getty Images
25. Texas Rangers
A few months after trading Joey Gallo, the Rangers did a shocking 180 and spent $500 million to sign Corey Seager and Marcus Semien in free agency. They also added Mitch Garver, Brad Miller and Kole Calhoun to the lineup, while signing Jon Gray and Martin Perez to anchor a starting rotation that’s not quite there yet. The development of their young pitchers will determine how relevant they can be this year.
24. Colorado Rockies
Why exactly did the Rockies sign Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million deal? This still feels like a franchise without any real plan just sort of flailing in the breeze making random moves, and extending C.J. Cron, Elias Diaz and Antonio Senzatela fits that approach. Kyle Freeland, German Marquez, Senzatela, Austin Gomber and Chad Kuhl might be their best five-man staff in years, but fourth place in the NL West still looks like their ceiling.
23. Cincinnati Reds
The Reds stopped short of a full-blown fire sale this offseason but significantly weakened their short-term outlook by trading Jesse Winker, Sonny Gray, Eugenio Suarez, Tucker Barnhart and Amir Garrett while also losing Nick Castellanos and Wade Miley. There is still talent on the roster, but it’s clear they’re not focused on contending in 2022.
22. Kansas City Royals
The arrival of top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. signals a new era for the Royals, and he could be joined by fellow minor league standouts Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez in short order. Bringing back Zack Greinke to anchor the young starting rotation was a great move, and the development of their young arms will be the key to climbing the standings.
21. Chicago Cubs
The Cubs spent the offseason rebuilding a pitching staff that finished 27th in the majors with a 4.87 ERA last year. Marcus Stroman, Drew Smyly and Wade Miley were added to the starting rotation, while David Robertson, Mychal Givens, Chris Martin and Daniel Norris bolster the relief corps. They’re in a transitional period, but they are capable of exceeding low expectations.
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Robbie RayIcon Sportswire/Getty Images
20. Cleveland Guardians
The Guardians went 80-82 last year and didn’t add a single newcomer to the projected Opening Day roster, so it’s difficult to view them as anything beyond a middle-of-the-road team. A full season of 2020 AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber will help after he made just 16 starts a year ago, but this front office seems content with mediocrity.
19. Detroit Tigers
The Tigers made their plans to make a push up the standings abundantly clear when they signed Javier Baez (six years, $140 million) and Eduardo Rodriguez (five years, $77 million) in free agency, and the arrival of top prospects Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene will be equally impactful in-house additions. A lot will have to break right pitching-wise for them to contend, but a winning record is within reach.
18. Minnesota Twins
It looked like the Twins might be headed for a rebuild after they traded Jose Berrios at the trade deadline last summer, but instead they retooled the roster by unloading Josh Donaldson’s salary in a trade with the New York Yankees and redirecting that money into signing Carlos Correa in free agency. It’s tough to get overly excited about a starting rotation led by Sonny Gray, Dylan Bundy, Chris Archer and rookie Joe Ryan, but the offense should score plenty of runs.
17. Miami Marlins
The Marlins posted a 3.96 ERA as a team last year but finished 29th in runs scored and 29th in team OPS. Will offseason additions Avisail Garcia, Jorge Soler, Jacob Stallings and Joey Wendle provide enough of a boost offensively for them to be legitimate contenders? A step forward from Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jesus Sanchez would also be a significant step toward offensive respectability.
16. Seattle Mariners
After adding Robbie Ray, Adam Frazier, Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suarez and Sergio Romo to a young roster on the rise, the Mariners look poised to make a serious run at snapping baseball’s longest postseason drought. If the young core of Jarred Kelenic, Julio Rodriguez, Logan Gilbert, Matt Brash and Cal Raleigh can do its part, wild-card contention might be their floor.
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Mike TroutNorm Hall/Getty Images
15. Los Angeles Angels
The starting rotation of Shohei Ohtani, Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Reid Detmers and free-agent additions Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen looks like the best staff the Angels have had in years. Couple that with a return to health for Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon after they played a combined 94 games last year, and this Angels squad looks like a legitimate threat in the AL West.
14. San Francisco Giants
With Buster Posey retired, Kevin Gausman gone in free agency and both Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt unlikely to duplicate career years, the Giants have an uphill battle ahead of them to match last year’s 107-win season. That doesn’t mean they won’t contend, though, especially if Logan Webb can continue his upward trajectory and free-agent signing Carlos Rodon can stay healthy. Baseball’s best relief corps returns intact—with a full season of September standout Camilo Doval.
13. St. Louis Cardinals
With Miles Mikolas and Dakota Hudson back to full strength and Steven Matz added in free agency, the Cardinals rotation appears to be on better footing after they used 13 different starters and only had two pitchers exceed 100 innings last year. The offense is going to be one of the best in baseball if the young outfield of Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader and Dylan Carlson picks up where it left off in 2021.
12. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies added Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber to a lineup that was extremely top-heavy last year, and rising prospect Bryson Stott looks poised to provide a significant in-house impact. The starting rotation of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez, Kyle Gibson and Zach Eflin should be a strength, and the bullpen leak has been plugged with the additions of Corey Knebel, Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia.
11. Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox are going to score a ton of runs, even with the downgrade from Hunter Renfroe to Jackie Bradley Jr. offensively. The question is whether they did enough to address a shaky bullpen that will again be relying on Matt Barnes to close games and whether newcomers Rich Hill and Michael Wacha can help offset the loss of Chris Sale, who was placed on the 60-day injured list earlier this week. Guys like Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock and Connor Seabold are going to be the X-factors.
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Wander FrancoBrace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images
10. Milwaukee Brewers
The Brewers have baseball’s best pitching staff, led by Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff and Freddy Peralta in the rotation and Josh Hader at the back of the bullpen. However, their offense proved to be their undoing last season when they were shut out twice in the NLDS. Is adding Andrew McCutchen and Hunter Renfroe while subtracting Avisail Garcia enough to move the needle?
9. San Diego Padres
It’s incredibly rare for a team to make it through a full 162-game season without going six, seven, eight starters deep in the rotation. The Padres have more quality starting pitching depth than any team in baseball with Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Sean Manaea, Nick Martinez, Blake Snell, Chris Paddack, Reiss Knehr, MacKenzie Gore and eventually Mike Clevinger. What was a glaring weakness a year ago is now their biggest strength.
8. Tampa Bay Rays
The Rays do more with less than any team in baseball, so talking about their on-paper talent doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. A full season of Wander Franco will have a bigger impact than any move they made this offseason, and they’ll no doubt once again find a way to field a top-10 pitching staff with rookies and veteran castoffs. Would anyone be surprised if they turn Corey Kluber back into a Cy Young candidate?
7. New York Mets
There’s no sugarcoating it: The Jacob deGrom injury is a major blow. That said, the Mets still improved significantly this offseason, adding Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar to the lineup and Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt to the starting rotation. There is more than enough talent on this roster for them to contend for the NL East title; it’s just a matter of how the pieces jell.
6. New York Yankees
The return of Luis Severino to the starting rotation and the additions of Josh Donaldson and Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the left side of the infield give the Yankees a chance to build on last year’s 92-win showing. The AL East race is going to be neck and neck, and if they can stay healthy and the starting rotation can pull its weight, they’ll be right in the thick of it.
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Freddie FreemanDiamond Images/Getty Images
5. Chicago White Sox
Adding veterans Josh Harrison and AJ Pollock plugged the two biggest holes in the White Sox roster, and while it hurts to be without Lance Lynn to start the year, they have quality rotation depth in Vince Velasquez and Reynaldo Lopez to bridge the gap until he returns. Healthy seasons from Yasmani Grandal (93 games), Luis Robert (68 games) and Eloy Jimenez (55 games) will also provide a huge in-house boost.
4. Atlanta Braves
The defending champs have a new-look bullpen with Kenley Jansen, Collin McHugh, Darren O’Day and Tyler Thornburg joining the relief corps. They also have a new superstar first baseman in Matt Olson, and he’ll have some big shoes to fill. Even with Ronald Acuna Jr. sidelined for at least the first month of the season, this is still the team to beat in the NL East and one of the NL front-runners.
3. Houston Astros
The Astros starting rotation of Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Jose Urquidy, Jake Odorizzi and a healthy Justin Verlander is what earns them a spot ahead of the team that beat them in the World Series last year. That group has a chance to be one of the best in baseball, and even with Carlos Correa playing elsewhere, the Astros offense is going to pile up runs once again with Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez emerging as superstars.
2. Toronto Blue Jays
Much of the focus is on the foursome of George Springer, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Bo Bichette at the top of the Toronto lineup, and with good reason. However, they also now boast one of the deepest starting rotations in baseball with Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Hyun Jin Ryu, Alek Manoah and Yusei Kikuchi, and adding Matt Chapman at the hot corner will only help the pitching staff. This team is a no-doubt title contender.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers are once again the team to beat on paper after adding Freddie Freeman to an already-stacked lineup. Beyond their elite offense, they also have a dynamic top three in the rotation in Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw, a deep bullpen and terrific depth with Andrew Heaney, Tony Gonsolin, David Price, Tyler Anderson and prospects Ryan Pepiot and Bobby Miller all capable of seeing time at the back of the rotation. They check all the boxes to be the World Series favorites on Opening Day.
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Brace Hemmelgarn/Getty Images
Complete Rankings
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
2. Toronto Blue Jays
3. Houston Astros
4. Atlanta Braves
5. Chicago White Sox
6. New York Yankees
7. New York Mets
8. Tampa Bay Rays
9. San Diego Padres
10. Milwaukee Brewers
11. Boston Red Sox
12. Philadelphia Phillies
13. St. Louis Cardinals
14. San Francisco Giants
15. Los Angeles Angels
16. Seattle Mariners
17. Miami Marlins
18. Minnesota Twins
19. Detroit Tigers
20. Cleveland Guardians
21. Chicago Cubs
22. Kansas City Royals
23. Cincinnati Reds
24. Colorado Rockies
25. Texas Rangers
26. Arizona Diamondbacks
27. Washington Nationals
28. Baltimore Orioles
29. Pittsburgh Pirates
30. Oakland Athletics
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Luis RobertJonathan Daniel/Getty Images
AL MVP: Luis Robert, Chicago White Sox
Robert posted a 155 OPS+ with 36 extra-base hits and 3.6 WAR in only 68 games last season. Those are absurd numbers extrapolated over a fully healthy season, and as long as he stays on the field, he’ll be one of the most dynamic players in the sport playing for a team that is the heavy favorite to win its division.
AL Cy Young: Alek Manoah, Toronto Blue Jays
Recent history tells us there’s a good chance someone unexpected is going to win the AL Cy Young, from Rick Porcello (2016) to Blake Snell (2018) to Shane Bieber (2020) to Robbie Ray (2021). The Blue Jays have a handful of intriguing candidates, but we’ll go with Manoah, who posted a 3.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 111.2 innings in 20 starts as a rookie. The big 6’6″, 260-pound right-hander has the build and the stuff to handle a bigger workload and take a big step forward in Year 2.
AL Rookie of the Year: Julio Rodriguez, Seattle Mariners
Spring training stats are pretty much meaningless, but it’s tough to ignore the .424/.487/.818 line that Rodriguez posted to play his way onto the Opening Day roster. Fellow top prospects Bobby Witt Jr. (KC) and Spencer Torkelson (DET) will also break camp with the big league club, and the AL race is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory, but I’m picking the 21-year-old outfielder in Seattle to take home the hardware.
AL Comeback Player of the Year: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros
Verlander hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors since July 24, 2020. The Astros gave him a one-year, $25 million deal in hopes he still has something left in his age-39 season, and he has looked sharp this spring with a 1.32 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13.2 innings. Even if he returns at 75 percent of what he was pre-injury, he’s a lock for this award.
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Trea TurnerRob Leiter/Getty Images
NL MVP: Trea Turner, Los Angeles Dodgers
Turner won the NL batting title (.328) and also led the league in hits (195) and steals (32) last year while finding another gear in his power production with a career-high 28 home runs. The 28-year-old will be back at his natural position of shortstop and playing for a massive payday in a career year. After finishing fifth in the balloting in 2021, he has to be viewed as one of the favorites this year.
NL Cy Young: Max Fried, Atlanta Braves
Fried led all qualified starters with a 1.74 ERA in 14 starts after the All-Star break last year, and he tallied three quality starts during Atlanta’s run to a World Series title. The 28-year-old has a 2.84 ERA in 39 starts over the last two seasons, and the development of his slider as a third go-to pitch has taken his game to another level.
NL Rookie of the Year: Seiya Suzuki, Chicago Cubs
The Cubs saw enough potential in Suzuki to sign him to a five-year, $85 million contract, and he’ll start the season as the team’s everyday right fielder. He hit .317/.433/.636 with 38 home runs and almost as many walks (88) as strikeouts (89) in Japan last year, and he posted a .938 OPS with two home runs in seven games this spring.
NL Comeback Player of the Year: Jeff McNeil, New York Mets
McNeil hit .319/.383/.501 over his first three seasons in the majors but slumped to a .251/.319/.360 line and 88 OPS+ last year while nursing a strained hamstring off and on. His hard-hit rate and average exit velocity last season were right in line with his previous production, and a return to form would be another boon to a new-look Mets lineup.
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Tanner HouckBoston Globe/Getty Images
AL Hitter: Jarred Kelenic, Seattle Mariners
After struggling early last year, Kelenic posted an .854 OPS with six doubles, seven home runs and 20 RBI in 29 games over the final month of the season. That could serve as a springboard for a breakout second season, and another step toward delivering on his huge upside would be a major shot in the arm for a Mariners team with playoff aspirations.
AL Pitcher: Tanner Houck, Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox will be even more reliant on the continued progression of Houck after it was announced that Chris Sale will open the year on the 60-day injured list. The 25-year-old had a 3.52 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 87 strikeouts in 69 innings last year, and his electric stuff gives him the potential to emerge as a top-of-the-rotation option.
NL Hitter: Dylan Carlson, St. Louis Cardinals
Carlson posted a 117 OPS+ with 31 doubles, 18 home runs, 65 RBI and 3.2 WAR as a rookie last season, but he’s just scratching the surface of his potential. The 23-year-old hit .301/.364/.503 over the final two months last season, and he’ll open the 2022 season hitting in the leadoff spot in a stacked Cardinals lineup.
NL Pitcher: Jesus Luzardo, Miami Marlins
Once ranked among the top pitching prospects in baseball, Luzardo has seen his stock dip in recent years, and he was traded from Oakland to Miami last year in the Starling Marte deal. The left-hander has put together an extremely promising spring training to win the No. 5 starter job, and the stuff is still there for him to be an elite starter in the big leagues.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference.
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