2024 MLB Power Rankings – Preseason 2024 MLB Betting Outlook

By Kreighton Rahn
Updated: January 31, 2024

The Los Angeles Dodgers are having their pitchers and catchers report on Friday, February 9. That will officially make the 2024 MLB season underway. The Dodgers and Padres are opening the regular season in South Korea this year and have their players heading to camp a bit earlier than the rest. Most MLB teams are having their pitchers and catchers show up on or around Valentine's Day.

Cactus League play begins from the Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona on Thursday, February 22 when the Padres host the Dodgers in the MLB's first Spring Training game of 2024. Yes, Dodgers-Padres is the matchup to kick off both the preseason and 2024 regular season. Hope you don't mind watching a little West Coast baseball.

Grapefruit League play begins that weekend on Saturday, the 24th, when 9 different games will go down in Florida. Wondering how this many games can coincide when there are only 15 teams in the Grapefruit League? Split-squad games, that's how. They are a common occurrence early in Spring Training.

Internally, each MLB team believes they are capable of a deep run. Each coaching staff seeks to inspire greatness. Each general manager dreams of pulling off the perfect deadline move to propel his team's playoff run. In reality, we know that some teams are going nowhere fast in 2024. Here are the over/under season win totals on FanDuel Sportsbook for some of the MLB's most notable teams entering 2024.

FanDuel's Preseason 2024 MLB Over/Under Season Win Totals

Here are the MLB teams with the highest FanDuel projected season win totals entering Spring Training in February, 2024. Of these, only the New York Yankees missed the postseason last year. New York did secure a winning record, though, meaning the Bronx Bombers haven't suffered through a losing season since 1992.

 

Here are the MLB teams with the lowest FanDuel projected season win totals. Both the A's (who are about to move) and White Sox had some success in the COVID era, but the Rockies, Nats, and Angels have been stuck in pretty bad slumps that have now lasted for 5 years, or longer.

 

FanDuel's Spring Training 2024 MLB Power Rankings

Welcome to the ultimate authority on MLB Power Rankings—FanDuel Sportsbook. Our rankings are the most accurate and thorough analyses of MLB teams available. We dive deep into each team's performance—dissecting their stats, roster changes, coaching styles, and schedule strength to arrive at our predictions.

Our team of experts has years of experience in the sports-betting field and provides an unparalleled, in-depth look into each MLB team's form, enabling you to make informed MLB bets with confidence. Stay ahead of the game with FanDuel Sportsbook's MLB Power Rankings.

#1 - Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers made the biggest offseason splash with the Shohei Ohtani addition. It's their championship to lose in 2024. LA has also beefed up their existing roster with Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Cy Young candidate (when he's healthy) Tyler Glasnow. Oh yeah, and Gavin Lux is back and healthy after sitting out 2023 with an ACL tear. He'll slide in seamlessly at shortstop.

Don't forget that the Dodgers already had 3 All-Star starters last year (Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, and JD Martinez) and 5 players named to the Mid-Summer Classic. How can they afford all this? Well, Shohei Ohtani is deferring most of his contract until 10 years from now when he plans to be back in his native Japan and able to cash that check tax-free. So they're getting one future Hall of Famer for the low, low price of $2 million per year while some role players are taking a pay cut just to be part of the show.

LA is rocking the league's 7th-highest payroll this year, doling out "only" $219 million for this current roster. 4 of the 6 teams with larger payrolls than the Dodgers this year were in the postseason last year (Yankees and Mets are the exception).

A 104.5-win Vegas total on FanDuel Sportsbook for the Dodgers is the highest in the Major Leagues this spring (by a 4-game margin). Amazingly, this would actually be about par for the course in SoCal, as Dem Bums have averaged 105.6 wins over the past 3 seasons. The public isn't buying that LA will be 104-win good, though, with a bit more money coming in on the under 104.5 wins than the over, driving the under price to (-114) odds.

(-400) odds for the Dodgers to win the NL West division is the shortest in the league to win any division this year—again, by a large margin. This seems to be a pretty safe bet as the Los Angeles Dodgers have won the NL West in 10 of the past 11 seasons, falling just 1 game short in 2021 and finishing 2nd to San Francisco despite 106 wins.

(+350) odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to win the 2024 World Series are the shortest in the Major Leagues—right ahead of Atlanta, Houston, and the New York Yankees. The Dodgers have appeared in 3 of the past 7 World Series, winning in the bubble in 2020 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Dem Bums have appeared in the NLCS in 5 of the past 8 seasons and are getting a ridiculously short price of (+180) odds to win the NLCS in October of this season. (+180) are, of course, the shortest odds in Majors of any team to win their league and reach the World Series.

Last year, the Dodgers' offense ranked 2nd in the MLB in runs scored, 2nd in homers, and 2nd in team wOBA. The Braves led all 3 of those categories. We were concerned that this team might not be as potent as in previous years, given the losses of Trea Turner, Cody Bellinger, Justin Turner, Andrew Heaney, and Craig Kimbrel. Turns out we were wrong to worry.

The 2023 Dodgers team dominated out in Chavez Ravine, although they did get cut down early in the postseason by the Diamondbacks. The outlook for the Dodgers in 2024 is as good as ever. A+ potential here.

#2 - Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves led baseball in nearly every offensive category last year en route to a 6th-straight National League East title. The Mets were pegged to contend early in the 2023 season, but Atlanta quickly proved they were far superior to any team in the NL East. Until October, that is.

Another disappointing early exit from the 2023 MLB Playoffs defined the year for Braves fans, but it doesn't change the fact that Atlanta has posted the 2nd-best regular season win percentage since COVID (behind the Dodgers).

The emergence of star 25-year-old pitcher Spencer Strider was a major lift for this Braves team in 2023. In his age-24 season, Strider won 20 games with a 3.86 ERA and 281 Ks in 186.2 innings. Both the strikeouts and wins led the Majors. Despite these awesome numbers, Strider finished 4th in the NL Cy Young voting (Blake Snell won).

This immaculate season was on the heels of a 2022 campaign that got Strider 2nd place in the NL Rookie of the Year voting (behind his teammate Michael Harris). That year, the flamethrower was 11-5 with a 2.67 ERA and over 200 punchouts in just 131.2 innings.

Speaking of Harris, the Braves have to be elated that their 2022 NL Rookie of the Year winner put together another solid line last season, hitting .293 with 18 HR, 20 SB, and 76 runs scored in 138 games. These numbers mirror his 2022 numbers also exactly. Take a look:

 

That's great consistency. Harris adds so much depth to the Braves' lineup. They usually bat him toward the bottom to act as a second leadoff guy to MVP Ronald Acuna.

Speaking of Acuna, this dude is the truth. He's obviously fully recovered from his ACL injury now, as he raked at a .337 clip last year with 41 homers. 73 steals, 106 RBIs, and 149 runs. Nobody in MLB history has ever hit that many home runs while stealing 70+ bags before.

Even if we totally ignore the 73 steals, Acuna is the last player to hit .336 with 41 bombs while scoring 149 times since Ted Williams in the 40s. Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, and Babe Ruth are the only players to ever put together this type of season. The most steals any of these players had in such a season was 17. So yeah, swiping 73 bags on top of the other numbers makes Acuna's 2023 arguably the best offensive season ever. Oh yeah, and Acuna is only 26.

The Braves have a long history of success, including winning the 2021 World Series and their unforgettable 11-season division title run from 1995 to 2005. Atlanta is receiving the 2nd-shortest odds in all of baseball to win the 2024 World Series at (+550).

#3 - Houston Astros

How can we not put the Houston Astros toward the top of our 2024 MLB Power Rankings? This dynasty has reached the ALCS in 7 consecutive seasons, reaching the World Series 4 times in that span, winning the 'ship twice, and losing in Game 7 of the ALCS an additional 2 times. Translation: the Astros have either reached the World Series or been 1 game away from it in 6 of the past 7 years. Is that good?

FanDuel Sportsbook has the Astros' 2024 season win total at 92.5 games—the 2nd-highest mark in the American League (behind New York). This is a few games lower than the preseason win total Houston was getting last year (97.5), but is still a great mark worthy of only the best baseball teams.

The Astros are right up there as favorites to win the 2024 World Series with (+800) odds—the shortest in the American League. Only the Dodgers and Braves are getting shorter odds overall.

We predicted a bit of a Super Bowl hangover for this Astros team last April after they won it all in 2022. We were right. Houston was mediocre to open the season and didn't wind up capturing the AL West division title until the last day of the regular season. Despite being heavily favored by oddsmakers, reigning MLB champions have only won 52.7% of their April games over the last 10 seasons, and we figured Houston wouldn't be immune to this trend.

Excluding that short 2020 COVID year, the Astros have won the AL West in 6 consecutive seasons, finishing 2nd to the A's in 2020 (but still reaching the empty-stadium ALCS in the bubble).

The Astros are still stacked with a strong lineup and tremendous pitching depth, but they are weaker across the board in 2024 compared to their 2022 World Series team. For example, Justin Verlander is back but he's about to be 41. At what point will he begin to decline?

Verlander was in prime form in 2022, winning his 3rd Cy Young Award with an 18-4 record in 28 starts and a league-best WHIP (0.83) and ERA (1.75). Last season (between the Mets and Astros), JV was 13-8 with a 3.22 ERA and a 3.2 K/BB ratio. These are still exceptional numbers, but no one pitches into their 40s without losing a little bit of their magic.

Forget Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, and Yordan Alvarez. Much of the Astros' success in 2024 will depend on their young shortstop, Jeremy Pena, who needs to have a strong season up the middle if this team is to go anywhere.

In his rookie year, Pena hit 22 home runs and drove in 63, becoming the first rookie shortstop in the MLB to accumulate such stats since Paul DeJong for the Cardinals in 2017.

Pena turned it up a notch in the 2022 playoffs, leading the Astros in on-base plus slugging (1.005) and home runs (with 4). Pena also hit .345 in the 2022 playoffs with an on-base percentage of .367. Pena won a Gold Glove at shortstop, plus MVP honors in both the ALCS and World Series.

Interestingly, Pena inherited the shortstop position from Carlos Correa, who signed a 3-year deal with the Minnesota Twins before the 2022 season. Correa's stats last year? 22 home runs and 64 RBIs. Identical. And the Astros are paying Pena $33 million less.

Pena wasn't quite as good last season, and a team must be strong up the middle to have sustained success.

#4 - Baltimore Orioles

Who thought the Baltimore Orioles would be playing their way into a top-5 spot in our MLB Power Rankings? The O's improved by leaps and bounds in 2022, winning 83 games after finishing dead last in the American League with 52 wins the season prior. Last year, 2023, Baltimore kept their foot on the gas by winning 101 games and taking the AL East crown—arguably the toughest division to win in all of baseball.

The O's 2024 season win total has been set at 88.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook—a sharp increase of 12 games over their preseason line from last year. With so much young talent, it's easy to see the Orioles continuing to build off their success from last year … but you could also see a decline.

Obviously, we're very bullish on this team as we're putting them 4th on this list. Young talent is desirable, and the O's were featuring a lot of it in 2023 in the form of Adley Rutschman, Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays, and Gunnar Henderson.

Henderson deserves some press as one of the league's top prospects. Gunnar is a 23-year-old infielder who plays third base, second base, and even a little shortstop. Henderson hit at a .255 clip with 28 homers and 82 RBIs last year, earning himself American League Rookie of the Year honors. He's given relatively short (+2000) odds to win the AL MVP on FanDuel Sportsbook right now—the best odds of any Orioles player and 3rd-shortest odds of anyone in his division (behind Aaron Judge and Juan Soto).

The Orioles' pitching was said to be their weakness in 2023, but they were actually good, fueling this team's playoff run. Baltimore finished with a team ERA of 3.91—the 7th-best in the Majors. They were a middle-of-the-road team in racking up strikeouts (8.9 per 9 innings), but did an excellent job at limiting walks (2.9 per 9 innings). That ranked top-10 in baseball.

Their closer, Felix Bautista, was on a Cy Young-type path before injuring himself in the 2nd half of 2023. He nailed down 33 saves and won 8 games in 61 innings, striking out 110 batters. That's 16.2 strikeouts per 9 innings, a crazy mark!

While Orioles fans are still riding the high from their winning 2023 season, the oddsmakers deal them (+1800) odds to win the 2024 World Series—tied with Minnesota for the 7th-shortest in the MLB. The Orioles just won their first AL East division title since 2014 and broke a 6-year postseason drought. Their odds to win another division crown sit at (+330) on FanDuel Sportsbook right now, with the beefed-up Yankees playing the role of preseason AL East favorite.

#5 - New York Yankees

The oddsmakers are smiling favorably this spring upon the New York Yankees with their new additions of Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Marcus Stroman. But guess what? We don't even have them ranked as the top team in their own division. If you read the entry immediately before this one, you'll see we have the Baltimore Orioles as the 4th-best team in baseball heading into 2024, with the Yankees one spot behind at 5th.

Yes, the Yankees have the tradition, the bigger names, and pinstripes, but our data shows they deserve no better than to be considered the 5th-best team in the league heading into Spring Training.

Last year, New York narrowly avoided their first losing campaign since 1992 and salvaged an 82-80 record, missing the postseason despite rostering the 2nd-most expensive team in the history of the game (last year's Mets team was the most expensive ever).

Ace pitcher Gerrit Cole was sterling, but few other players performed at or above their career averages, including slugger Aaron Judge, who spent lengthy stretches on the injured list. Considering some of the big flops they endured (Carlos Rodon, Jose Trevino, Anthony Rizzo), it's amazing the Bombers were able to win even 82 games.

Of course, there is another New York team across the East River that has something to say about who is the best right now in the MLB. The New York Yankees—the winningest team in pro baseball history—have won over 90 games in 5 of the past 6 full seasons and yet are mired in a 15-year long World Series drought, the club's 3rd-longest since adopting the Yankees name.

It has been a decade and a half since the Yankees have tasted championship champagne, or even appeared in the World Series, which is unusual for a franchise where championships were once strung together like pearls on a necklace. The New York Yankees made a bid to end the drought in the 2022 postseason but were swept 4-0 by the Astros in the ALCS. As we touched on earlier, they weren't even close to making the postseason last year.

As 2024 Spring Training commences, FanDuel Sportsbook has set the Yankees' season win total at 93.5 games—the highest total in the American League. The odds to win the AL East division for New York are in their favor, as well, at (+115). Like all of the teams in this section of the MLB Power Rankings, the Bronx Bombers are eyeing bigger prizes with (+850) odds to win the 2024 World Series, slightly longer than their (+650) odds at this time last year. These are the 4th-shortest championship odds in the entire MLB to the LA Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, and Houston Astros.

Why are the oddsmakers (and us) a little more pessimistic on New York this year than last? Because we saw some pretty bad individual seasons from players who were supposed to be key contributors in 2023. We mentioned above the flops of Carlos Rodon (starting pitcher), Anthony Rizzo (starting 1B), and Jose Trevino (starting C). All 3 of these guys were being counted upon to carry much of the weight for the Pinstripers last year, and all 3 turned in terrible seasons—far underperforming what was expected of them.

The Yankees re-signed the Home Run King Aaron Judge to a 9-year contract last offseason, and were also expecting big things out of him. He couldn't stay healthy. Judge (62 HR in 2022) lurked in the middle of the lineup alongside mashers like Giancarlo Stanton (31 HR in 2022). Last year, Judge managed to hit just 37 home runs (still good, but not for him) in 106 games, while Stanton hit .191 with 24 dingers.

New York is in good shape to finally return to the top of the baseball mountain in 2024. They very well could have a great year and grab championship #28. We like the Orioles a little bit better right now, though. We love the Astros, too. The Yankees always start fast, winning 74 games in April over the past 5 seasons—more than any other franchise. We could totally see ourselves placing the Yankees above the Orioles very quickly once the regular season begins, but we're standing firm behind our rankings here in Spring Training.

#6 - Philadelphia Phillies

After reaching the 2022 World Series and losing to Houston, many expected the Fightin' Phils to make another one last year. They nearly did, losing in Game 7 of the NLCS to Arizona. This roster is still a championship-worthy one, and they have a great GM in Dave Dombrowski, who will absolutely make any mid-season additions they require.

The Philadelphia Phillies flew under the radar for most of 2022 after starting 22-29 under Joe Girardi. Nobody thought of the Phillies as a playoff team, let alone a pennant winner, until interim manager Rob Thomson took over.

Thomson led the Phils to the final Wild Card berth in the National League. Then the Phillies got hot at the right time, winning 3 postseason series and fighting hard for 6 games with Houtson before finally succumbing to that loaded Astros roster in the 2022 World Series.

They were not sneaking up on anybody in 2023. We all knew full well the threat that Philadelphia posed. Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos. The Phillies have a lot of big-name guys.

26-year-old Alec Bohm and 25-year-old Bryson Stott are a couple of young guys that Philly is high on. Bohm finally put together a nice campaign last year, hitting .274 with 20 homers and 97 RBIs. Stott was great, too, hitting .280 with 15 bombs and swiping 31 bags with his young legs.

FanDuel Sportsbook has set the Phillies' 2024 season win total at 90.5 games—exactly 1 game higher than they were posted at last Spring Training. MLB oddsmakers know the Phillies are no flash in the pan and could make a return to the national stage, giving them (+1300) odds to win the 2024 World Series—the 6th-shortest among all MLB teams and slightly shorter than their odds to win it all at this time last season.

The Phillies currently have (+300) odds to win their first NL East division crown since 2011. Reaching the postseason 3 times in a row would be heaven for a franchise, who just broke the 2nd-longest active postseason drought in the MLB a couple of years ago (10 postseasons).

#7 - Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers of today are nearly unrecognizable from the Texas team 2 years ago. They're also now the defending champion Texas Rangers—so that's new. The Rangers mucked around at or below .500 for 6 straight seasons before acquiring Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and Andrew Heaney while developing top prospects like Jonah Heim, Josh Jung, and Adolis Garcia.

First, let's talk about those 3 pitchers: deGrom, Eovaldi, and Heaney. Pitching has doomed the Rangers' franchise of late, so these types of reinforcements were much needed. The Rangers ranked 22nd in team ERA (4.22) in 2022 and 27th in walks issued as a staff (3.6 per game). Last year, they improved significantly as they also picked up 3-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer at the deadline. Texas ranked 18th in team ERA last year at 4.28 and 11th in walks at 3.1. These numbers are much more conducive to a championship run than ranking toward the bottom of the league in pitching.

deGrom is a 2-time Cy Young winner, although he hasn't completed a full season since 2019 due to arm injuries. Nathan Eovaldi picked up the slack, winning 12 games with a 3.63 ERA and 132 Ks in 144 innings. Converted relief pitcher Dane Dunning was one of the biggest surprise contributors to this Rangers' rotation, winning 12 games with a 3.70 ERA and leading the team in innings pitched (172.2).

Corey Seager and Marcus Semien make for an impressive middle infield duo, while Jacob deGrom, a (hopefully healthy) 2-time Cy Young winner, leads a formidable pitching rotation. These changes have not gone unnoticed by the oddsmakers, who have given the 2024 Rangers an early season win total of 89.5 games and (+180) odds to win the AL West division title. Last year, Texas was getting (+1000) odds to win the division, so the increase in respect is tangible.

The odds of the Rangers winning the World Series right now are better than they were when the last season began. (+1100) odds on FanDuel Sportsbook are the 5th-shortest odds in the MLB heading into Spring Training 2024. The Rangers went to back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 2011 under Ron Washington but lost both. These were the only World Series appearances in Rangers/Senators franchise history until they made the Fall Classic last year and won the thing in 5 games over the DBacks.

#8 - San Francisco Giants

Expectations aren't super high on the Giants in the Bay Area this spring, but we're hopelessly optimistic, placing San Fran in the top-10 MLB teams to watch heading into the 2024 MLB season.

San Francisco is a fun team to speculate about making the leap to Contenderville in 2024. Remember, this club is only 3 seasons removed from a 107-win effort—the best record in franchise history and only the 8th time the Giants franchise has won 100 games in a season. Mind you, they've been around since 1883. They now have a new manager in Bob Melvin and the same talented core that has helped them compete in the loaded NL West division for several seasons now.

Last year, it seemed the Giants' roster was less talented than both the Dodgers and Padres. While the Dodgers played as well as they were supposed to, the Padres flopped. It was the Diamondbacks coming out of nowhere to take 2nd place in the West. Do you know who finished at 79-83, though? Within striking distance of the postseason up until the final 2 weeks of the regular season? Yes, the Giants. They fell apart a little in September but were right there for much of the 2023 campaign. We had them placed within the top-10 of our in-season power rankings for much of the year.

Logan Webb, Alex Cobb, and Ross Stripling lead a talented rotation that can chew up a lot of innings. San Francisco also made a move to acquire the former Cy Young winner Robbie Ray from Seattle. He'll be a valuable innings eater down the stretch, but won't pitch until July as he's still recovering from Tommy John surgery last season.

The 2024 Giants will be looking to improve on last season's 79-83 record after finishing 81-81 in 2022. 81 wins was good for 3rd place in the NL West that year, but 79 wins got them 4th place in 2023. We fully expect the Dodgers to be good again, but the Padres lost Juan Soto, and there is no guarantee the "Answerbacks" will recapture any of their 2023 magic.

Yes, playing double-digit games versus the Dodgers will hamper your overall record a little, but we see the Giants finishing 2nd in the West. FanDuel Sportsbook has the Giants' 2024 season win total at 81.5 games—right where they were last year. It makes sense—do nothing in the offseason and get the same, mediocre results, but we like them to outperform their career averages under new leadership (Bob Melvin).

The Giants have (+5000) odds to win the 2024 World Series and (+1100) odds to win their first NL West division title since winning 107 games in 2021. These are very similar to the MLB futures odds San Fran was getting at this time last year, and look at how that season went. They were in it the entire way until the last couple of weeks in September.

While the Giants may not be considered legitimate contenders at the moment, their deep farm system and high number of breakout candidates give them a high ceiling in 2024. We're buying low and hoping for the best.

#9 - New York Mets

We believe the New York Mets could indeed be a top-10 team in baseball this year after missing the playoffs in 2023. MLB oddsmakers in Vegas have set the Mets 2024 season win total at 82.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook—not exactly a lofty number. This is better than the 75 games New York won last year, though, indicating that negative variance may have played a role in the down season in Queens.

The Mets still possess a downright obscene payroll, ranking 2nd in the MLB (behind the Yankees) at $236 million this year. 40-year-old Justin Verlander was the most expensive free agent of the 2023 offseason, but he's now back in Houston. With him still on the books, the Mets would likely have the largest payroll again this season.

Star closer Edwin Diaz broke his leg during the World Baseball Classic in March of 2023 and missed the entire season. If that's not negative variance, we don't know what is. As of today, Diaz is standing on 2 perfectly healthy legs, so the Mets are already ahead of where they were last year.

The New York Mets are poised for a strong 2024 after finishing the 2023 season 7 games under .500 and in 4th place in the NL East. The Atlanta Braves finished atop the East, again. Many were picking the Mets to contend alongside them last year. They were wrong. Nobody thinks it's going to happen this year, but why not?

There is a lot to like about this 2024 Mets team. Their rotation contains the likes of Japanese sensation Kodai Senga, former Yankees Luis Severino (who started to figure it out toward the end of last year), and young guns David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and Joey Lucchesi. Veterans Sean Manaea (used a lot as a bulk man last year) and Jose Quintana are also in the mix. This rotation could be one of the best in the National League. Could be.

The bullpen is strong, too, and all of these pitchers will be throwing to 22-year-old catcher Francisco Alvarez. The Venezuelan-born backstop only hit .209 last year but parked 25 homers with 63 RBIs and 51 runs scored. He's an average defensive catcher. Alvarez did net about 7 defensive runs saved above average in 2023 but allowed the 2nd-most stolen bases against him in the entire league (behind only Keibert Ruiz).

FanDuel Sportsbook gives the Mets longshot odds of (+900) to win the NL East this year after putting them ahead of the Braves in Spring Training 2023. It's funny how different the expectations are this spring in Queens. Last year, it was championship or bust. This year, it's just "hey, let's make the playoffs." With (+3700) odds to win the 2024 World Series, the Mets are barely inside the top half of the MLB with 14th-shortest World Series odds in the game.

Despite a 100-win 2022 season, the Mets were unable to advance past the Wild Card series. They then tanked last year and finished under .500 despite rostering the most expensive team in MLB history. The Mets believed they bought a winner last year, and it never materialized. Many of those same guys are still on the team (minus Verlander and Scherzer). If a couple of those young arms we mention step up, the Mets could achieve their 2023 success a year later in 2024.

Star pitcher Jacob deGrom is out of town, but deGrom's career was plagued with injury. The 2-time Cy Young winner only made 38 combined starts over the past 3 seasons.

The 2024 Mets are set up to get hot right out of the gate this March, playing series versus the Brewers, Tigers, and Reds to start the year, none of whom were world-beaters in 2023. Starting fast and jumping out to an early lead over Atlanta in the East will dispel some of the nerves that accompany taking the field after a heavily disappointing season.

Will the Mets be the last team standing in October? Who knows. We do know, however, that New York is primed to start strong and lead the pack early in their 2024 title quest. They had a big red target on their backs last season, but they'll slide under the radar for a month in 2024 if they're actually good, allowing them to build up a little bit of a cushion in the standings before they start getting everyone's best shot.

#10 - Seattle Mariners

We really didn't know where to put the Seattle Mariners in this list, but sliding them into the end of the top-10 seems appropriate. Hope was restored, and history was made in 2022, leaving Mariners fans on the edge of their seats wondering if lightning would strike twice. It didn't. Seattle narrowly missed the postseason last year after leading the AL West as late as September 4th.

The Mariners broke the longest active playoff drought in Major League Baseball (21 years) in 2022. With odds of (-230) on FanDuel Sportsbook to make the 2023 postseason, the bookies think Seattle has a good shot to get back.

The Mariners will enter their 2024 camp with a few new faces, including Jorge Polanco (2B), Samad Taylor (OF), Mitch Haniger (OF), and Anthony DeSclafani (SP).

Seattle lost outfielder Teoscar Hernandez and pitcher Robbie Ray—to name a few of their subtractions, but this is still a talented ball club. Fans of the team are very happy to see management move on from the stopgap solution of Kolten Wong at 2nd base and trade up for Polanco, a proven vet with a good bat.

Of course, the shining star in the Mariners' franchise is 23-year-old outfielder Julio Rodriguez. Rodriguez hit 18 home runs and stole 21 bags in his first 100 MLB games, becoming the first player to do so since Ellis Burks of the Boston Red Sox in 1987.

But as the winds of change blow in 2024, the Mariners are facing new challenges with a season win total set at 85.5 games—a 2.5-game drop from last year's record of 88-74. The Mariners are still expected to contend for the AL West, given the 3rd-shortest odds at (+230) to bring home the division crown, behind the Houston Astros, of course, and Texas. All 3 of these teams are rather bunched up in the divisional race, signaling what could be another tight race as it was in 2023.

While the Mariners may have fallen short in their ALDS showdown against Houston in 2022 and then fizzled out in September last year, the franchise just recently won their first postseason series since 2001, steamrolling past the Toronto Blue Jays 2 games to 0 in the AL Wild Card Round in 2022. Many in the Pacific Northwest are still riding high on this series win.

Will J-Rod continue to dazzle with his dynamic combination of power and speed? Can a starting rotation of Luis Castillo, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, and Logan Gilbert contend? There are lots of unanswered questions, but hopes are high again this year for the Seattle Mariners.

#11 - Toronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays became 2022 preseason contenders after adding third baseman Matt Chapman from Oakland and starting pitching phenom Jose Berrios from Minnesota. They made it, but immediately lost to Seattle without winning a game. Last year, Toronto was back in the postseason—this time edging out the Mariners for the final Wild Card spot. Again, the Jays went out without a whimper, losing 2 games to 0 to the Twins in the Wild Card Round. Two seasons of playoff ball. 0 postseason wins.

Feeling like they needed to shake up a few things, the Jays let Matt Chapman go and will likely rock with Isiah Kiner-Falefa (the former Yankee) at the hot corner. Here in 2024, the Jays are garnering a season win total of 86.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook and (+2000) odds to win the 2024 World Series. These are slightly longer odds to win it all than the Jays were getting at this time last year, and that season win total is a few games lower than their preseason 2023 total.

After an 89-win season in 2023, the Blue Jays are again right on the cusp of being a serious contender in 2024. One aspect of the Varsho, Belt, and Kiermaier acquisitions from last offseason that is flying under the radar is how all 3 of those hitters are left-handed. This couldn't be more important.

Per MLB.com, Toronto took more at-bats from the right side of the plate in 2022 than any team since the 1993 Rockies. Sprinkling a trio of lefties into that order prevented opposing teams from abusing the righty-righty matchups like they could without retaliation last season. This is slightly less important than it's been in year's past, however, because of the 3-batter minimum rule.

Outfielder George Springer, finally entering 2024 fully healthy, needs to make the All-Star team and live up to his hype. Cavan Biggio, Whit Merrifield, Vlad Jr., and Alejandro Kirk have all demonstrated above-average hitting prowess in recent seasons and need to be strong in 2024 to give the lineup depth.

Alek Manoah was absolutely awful last year, getting sent all the way down to Rookie ball for a deep reset. Kevin Gausman was great—in the Cy Young race the entire year, as was Chris Bassitt.

We saw flashes of greatness from Toronto last year. They need sustained excellence to take the leap in 2024.

The Jays play in a tough division. That matters, because 86.5 wins is fewer games than they won last season. It's tough when you have New York and Baltimore for upwards of 30 games. Note that the new scheduling in the MLB reduces this number from the high 30s to the high 20s.

Toronto finished 3rd in the AL East last year and then were unable to advance past the AL Wild Card round, losing 2-0 to the Minnesota Twins. This has not deterred bookmakers from making the Blue Jays a preseason top-10 World Series favorite for the 3rd consecutive year. Those aforementioned World Series odds of (+2000) are tied with the Mariners for the 9th-shortest in the league. We have them at 11th, but they could realistically be ranked anywhere from 8th to 13th.

The Blue Jays are also (+400) to win their first AL East title since 2015. Toronto is on the fringe but could quickly become a serious contender for the 2024 World Series, especially if they start hot.

#12 - Arizona Diamondbacks

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros hold the 2-best April records in baseball over the past 5 seasons. Guess who is #3? If it's not the Arizona Diamondbacks, this would be a dirty trick, wouldn't it? It is Arizona at 74-52 SU.

The Diamondbacks are fast starters. And last year, they never faded, going all the way to the Fall Classic. Arizona did not earn their spot on this list purely from their April history, but from their incredible deep run last postseason. The DBacks have plenty of good things going for them in 2024, too.

22-year-old outfielder Corbin Carroll was definitely ready for the big stage, playing in the Majors all year and winning National League Rookie of the Year by hitting .285 with 25 bombs and 54 steals. He also scored 116 runs, pacing that potent Snakes offense which seemed to fully come alive when behind, earning their "Answerbacks" moniker.

The NL West is a grind. You got the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, and the San Francisco Giants all projected for winning seasons, in addition to Arizona. While the West is crowded, only the Dodgers are projected for more wins that year than the Snakes on FanDuel Sportsbook.

FanDuel has Arizona's 2024 season win total at 83.5 games—8 games more than the club was projected to have at this time last season. The Diamondbacks are (+850) to win their first NL West title since 2011. These are the 2nd-shortest odds in the division behind Los Angeles. (+850) are the longest 2nd-place odds in all of baseball, showing you how highly the books regard the Dodgers and all of their shiny new toys.

Want to bet on a repeat trip to the Fall Classic? FanDuel Sportsbook lists the Diamondbacks' odds to win the 2024 World Series at (+3500)—nearly 75% shorter than those same odds in Spring Training 2023. Arizona famously upset the New York Yankees in the 2001 World Series with a walk-off hit by Luis Gonzalez. Any sort of deep postseason run by Arizona this year would certainly garner analogous narratives.

Arizona's offense was sneakily effective in 2023, ranking top-10 in the MLB in both walks and steals and posting one of the 10 lowest team strikeout totals at the plate.

The pitching staff could definitely improve. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly were a terrific 1-2 punch, but it was shallow real quick behind them. Arizona ranked in the bottom half of the league last season in both starter ERA and starter K/9. Pitching is normally what separates the contenders from the pretenders. Arizona's bullpen surprised some people last year. Can they do it again?

The Diamondbacks are one of those swing teams with an impressive core of young players who could get back to the promised land again in 2024 or who could lose 85 games. There is a lot of variance in the desert. Arizona baseball operations are typically at their finest early in the season, though, so we'll air on the side of Diamondbacks’ optimism here in our Spring Training 2024 edition of these MLB Power Rankings.

#13 - Tampa Bay Rays

Last year, we had the Rays ranked in the teens in our initial preseason MLB Power Rankings, and they immediately embarked on one of the best starts in MLB history, winning each of their first 13 games and being 29-7 after 36 games in May. They didn't even win their division … Baltimore did. So, we were ultimately correct about where they should be ranked.

The 2024 version of the Tampa Bay Rays has been given a Vegas win total of 85.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook—a solid increase of 4 games from their projection at the beginning of last year but a 13.5-game reduction from their actual 99-win record last season. The Rays are still a contending team despite their epic collapse in September/October and continuing to own one of the lowest payrolls in the league this year and the 4th-lowest attendance in the world.

Rumors of moving the team out of St. Pete continue to circulate, but in the meantime, the Rays are just going to keep winning games. Oakland finally made the decision to move. The Rays should follow suit.

Tampa are the masters at avoiding detection, winning ball games in the shadows to little fanfare. When did the Rays last make a deep run? 2020—in the bubble. What have they done since in nationally televised games? Nothing. Even in the year they started 29-7 … nothing.

Ace pitcher Shane McClanahan had amazing numbers last year but stunk it up in the All-Star game for the world to see. Likewise, shortstop prospect Wander Franco is the face of the franchise and really … really tarnished his name. He won't be back this year … maybe ever.

One hidden factor working in the Rays' favor is the new MLB scheduling format which reduces the number of games they will play against their divisional opponents. This could become a major boon to Tampa's end-of-year record as they've had to navigate one of baseball's most competitive divisions with a minuscule payroll since forming as a franchise in 1998.

It took the Tampa Bay Rays 7 seasons of baseball, 1,134 games, before they didn't finish last in the AL East and another 4 seasons after that before they finished first. Division titles don't come easy in the AL East—as was beautifully evidenced last year when the Rays fell apart in the 2nd half, blew a massive lead, and backed into a Wild Card spot.

Fresh off reaching the 2023 MLB Playoffs as a Wild Card but losing 2-0 to Texas, the Tampa Bay Rays have been given (+3200) odds of winning the 2024 World Series. These are the 11th-shortest odds in the MLB right now. The Rays have never won a World Series in their franchise history, but have made it to the World Series twice—in 2008 and 2020.

The Rays' odds of winning the AL East title are decent—(+600) on FanDuel Sportsbook. This would be Tampa's 3rd division title in 5 years. This is a testament to the Rays' hard-fought success and their ability to compete with the best teams in the league while playing at a severe financial disadvantage. (+600) doesn't seem that long, but they're actually 4th—behind everyone but Boston.

The Rays will need to start fast in April and prove that they are truly one of the top-15 teams in the league, because after how last year ended, plus the Wander Franco stuff, we're not so sure.

#14 - Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs have made so many off-season moves, but is it enough to compete with the big boys of the National League?

Trey Mancini, Dansby Swanson, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon, and Drew Smyly are all guys the Cubbies have brought in over the past 2 years. The Northsiders needed a shakeup after finishing 74-88 in a weak division in 2022. They were 83-79 last year, but missed the playoffs as the Phillies, DBacks, and Marlins snagged the 3 Wild Card spots available in the National League.

The Cubs believe that their 2024 team will outperform their 2023 squad, but do we? Chicago's 2024 season win total has been set at 83.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook, which is certainly higher than the projection they were receiving at this time last year. Additionally, the Cubs' odds of winning the 2024 World Series are (+3800) right now on FanDuel Sportsbook—tied for the 15th-shortest in the league but better than anyone in their division except St. Louis.

The Chicago Cubs' odds of winning the NL Central division are (+210) this year, again, behind St. Louis. The Northsiders haven't won an NL Central title in a full season since 2017—the year after they won it all and snapped the longest championship drought in sports (108 years).

You may have noticed that we don't have St. Louis ranked higher on our list than Chicago. We have the Cubbies as the best team in the NL Central right now, heading into Spring Training. This, even with the possible departure of Cody Bellinger who may resign from the Cubs but is probably on his way out.

#15 - Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers were baseball's best non-playoff team in 2022, with an 86-76 record. For that, Milwaukee receives … nothing! No one felt sorry for them. Last year, the Brew Crew got over the hump by winning 92 games and the NL Central title. Did they parlay that into postseason success? Hardly. Milwaukee was swept 2-0 in the Wild Card round by eventual NL champion Arizona.

So, where do the Brewers stand heading into Spring Training 2024? Pitching has been Milwaukee's strength for several seasons now, but all of their good pitchers, other than Corbin Burnes, spent time on the injured list in 2023. Seeing guys like Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, Adrian Houser, and Eric Lauer fall victim to the injury bug with no suitable replacements ready to step up was a helpless feeling.

The Milwaukee Brewers bolstered their rotation last offseason by signing left-hander Wade Miley and right-hander Bryse Wilson to mix in with 6 returning pitchers who all started at least 17 games the year prior. This staff is deep, but how is the offense?

Funny, you should ask. The Brewers have also invested in their offense, a unit that hit for the 9th-lowest average in the MLB in 2023, by obtaining outfielder Jesse Winker and catcher William Contreras. Luke Voit, the aging power-hitting first baseman, and outfielder Tyler Naquin have both also been invited to Brewers camp in Phoenix this spring. Voit led baseball in home runs in 2020 (the shortened year) with 22, while Naquin's last good year was 2021 with Cincinnati. He hit .270 with 19 homers and 70 RBIs.

The Vegas bookies still see Milwaukee as the little brother to the St. Louis Cardinals, giving the Brew Crew (+400) odds to win the NL Central compared to the Cards' (+150). The Cubs are also shorter than Milwaukee at (+210).

It's a star-power problem. Milwaukee doesn't have an MVP-caliber guy like Goldschmidt or Arenado to get hot and carry the team for a week. The most consistent thing Milwaukee has is Bernie the Brewer and his slide.

Milwaukee is expected to finish right around .500 this season—given a 2024 projected win total of 78.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook, with odds to be 2024 World Series champions set at (+5500). There is some early action coming in on the over to that 78.5-win total, driving the price to (-115).

The Brewers have only appeared in one World Series in franchise history (1982) and lost, but have made the MLB playoffs in 5 of the past 6 years.

#16 - Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers own a league-high 9-game postseason drought (since 2014) but haven't won a game of postseason baseball since the ALCS in 2013. All of the great players who've passed through Comerica Park in the 2010s are on other teams or retired. Justin Verlander. Max Scherzer. Victor Martinez. Prince Fielder. JD Martinez. Ian Kinsler. David Price.

The Tigers tore down a great team and have since been stuck in a perpetual rebuild, with the lone player on the Tigers roster from their pennant-winning 2012 team, Miguel Cabrera, retiring at the end of last year.

Detroit has yet to emerge on the other side of their near decade-long rebuild, but we can see some fruit beginning to sprout on the tree. Spencer Torkelson (their 2020 first-round pick) hit 31 homers with 94 RBIs last year to pace this team, although he managed just a .233 average.

Outfielder Riley Greene hit .288 with 11 homers, 51 runs scored at the top of the lineup, and great defense. DH Kerry Carpenter batted cleanup for much of the year, belting 20 homers from the left side with 64 runs driven in and a healthy .278 average. He absolutely torched right-handed pitching but struggled versus southpaws, leaving us all wondering how reliable his bat will be in 2024.

Young starting pitchers like Matt Manning, Alex Faedo, Reese Olson, and Tarik Skubal all showed flashes of greatness in 2023. They, along with 2018 first-round pick Casey Mize who is returning from injury, will need to deliver plenty of quality starts in 2024. Detroit's bullpen was great last year. Their starting pitching was pretty bad.

The departure of ace lefty Eduardo Rodriguez will hurt, but not so much, provided that a couple of these young guys can make the leap to 1 or 2-starter status.

High-paid shortstop Javier Baez was … terrible … again. He hit just .222 with a paltry 9 homers and 59 RBIs last year. Yes, he plays exceptional defense up the middle, but the Tigers need him to be more of a run producer. The hope in Detroit is that the rest of the lineup will begin driving the baseball more, allowing manager AJ Hinch to take the pressure off Baez by moving him down in the lineup (like he was in his prime in Chicago).

Prior to last season, The Tigers were a last-place team in the American League Central in 3 of  6 years and hadn't finished higher than 3rd in that span. Last year, their 78-84 record was good for 2nd in the division (behind only Minnesota).

Detroit has been one of the slowest starting teams in baseball over the past 6 seasons, posting a March/April record of 61-91 since 2017. Take April out of the equation last year and this Tigers team had a winning record. It is imperative for this group to finish fast in 2024. We believe they can, with 3 of their first 4 series coming against the lowly White Sox, Athletics, and Pirates. Each is way down at the bottom of these rankings.

A massive 4-game home series versus the Twins also awaits the Tigers in mid-April. The results from this series will set the early tone for how the year will go. Last year, the Tigers were a terrific 35-17 against teams in their division, beating the Twins in 8 of 13 contests.

The Tigers are given (+300) odds to win the AL Central in 2024—the 2nd-best odds in the infamously weak division. Tigers fans will gladly take making the playoffs and giving these young players something to get passionate and excited about.

A World Series victory seems far-fetched, but FanDuel Sportsbook is giving Detroit (+7000) odds to finish the year on top. This franchise hasn't hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy since 1984—although they reached the Fall Classic in both 2006 (Cardinals) and 2012 (Giants).

#17 - San Diego Padres

What a difference a year makes in San Diego. Juan Soto? Gone. He's now living in the Bronx and dressing himself in pinstripes for work.

Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., and Xander Bogaerts are still around. The Padres have some pop, but how can we trust them after they floundered to a miserable 82-80 season last year after having championship aspirations and a champion-sized payroll?

Yep, the Padres were pretty much an All-Star team and still couldn't make the playoffs. They're still pretty stacked this year, but are definitely less so after losing Soto (who is already on his 3rd big league team, by the way).

A projected win total of 81.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook is 12 fewer games than San Diego was projected to win last year. This is actually right at the mark that the Friars actually won last year, though, so we can get behind this line.

The Padres are still considered to be a team capable of making the playoffs in the National League, but once again, they're difficult to place trust in, for obvious reasons. With odds to win the 2024 World Series at (+3800), the Friars are getting the 15th-shortest Fall Classic odds in baseball.

San Diego is getting odds of (+1000) to win their first NL West division title since 2006—making them the 3rd-most likely team to win the division behind the Dodgers and the suddenly good Diamondbacks.

The Padres reached the playoffs in 2022 and bowed out with a disappointing 5-game NLCS loss at the hands of Philadelphia. They thought that was bad. In the most highly anticipated season ever of Padres baseball, they won 82 games and missed the playoffs. And they only did that good because of a hair-on-fire hot streak right at the end of the regular season.

This year, while now boasting a payroll that is below league average after being top-3 in 2023, there is a significant amount of pressure on the team to deliver some semi-decent results and not become a drooling cellar dweller.

The Friars still boast the biggest offensive names in the National League (behind Los Angeles, probably). Their pitching staff is iffy, though. Last season, the San Diego Padres sported above-average starting pitching but were in the middle of the pack in both bullpen ERA and K/9. Of course, Blake Snell had an immaculate 2nd half and won the National League Cy Young (his 2nd Cy Young award), but no one else on this staff was particularly impressive.

San Diego will lean on a starting rotation with a top-3 of Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and Blake Snell in 2023. Each enjoyed good success last season, averaging 28 starts, 10 wins, and a 3.13 ERA.

The Dodgers have employed baseball's best pitching staff every year over the past half-decade and are incredibly tough out in the West, winning an average of 104 games in each full season since 2017.

Sharing a division with a juggernaut like that is tough, but the Padres have spent beaucoup bucks (and then traded them away) precisely so they could compete with teams like that.

#18 - Cincinnati Reds

Pitchers and catchers have just reported to Spring Training, and the Cincinnati Reds have received their projected win total for the upcoming season on FanDuel Sportsbook. They are given a Vegas win total of 81.5 games for 2024—16 games higher than their horrendously pessimistic outlook last season.

What changed? The emergence of Elly De La Cruz as a potential superstar, Hunter Greene becoming one of the best strikeout artists in the game, and the prospects of having Noelvi Marte plus a healthy Nick Lodolo for a full season. Because of all these working in their favor, the Reds are currently receiving odds of (+6000) to win the 2024 World Series, placing them in the middle of the pack rather than way down at the bottom like most years.

Cincinnati has a lot of hurdles to overcome if they want to come out on top (of anything) in 2024. The phrases "inconsistent play" and "AAA talent" might as well buy the naming rights to the Reds' field because they perfectly exemplify the team—apart from those few studs we mentioned above.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Reds have the 4th-longest odds in the NL Central at (+450) to win the division. The Reds could easily wind up fielding a AAA ballclub in the second half of this season if they get unlucky with the injuries again like they did last year. Luckily, a few of these unproven guys come with high hopes, so the potential is there.

The Reds have some promising young prospects in Hunter Greene, Graham Ashcraft, Noelvi Marte, Elly De La Cruz, Tyler Stephenson, Jonathan India, and Nick Lodolo. If these top-tier youngsters can break out this year and synchronize their rise, this team could easily outperform this 18th-place ranking we're giving them today.

One reason for optimism is that the NL Central is a weak division. A surprise rise to the top is far more likely in this realm than in, say, the AL East. If literally every little thing breaks the right way in Cincinnati this year, the Reds could compete in the NL Central and make a deep postseason run. The last time Cincinnati won their division was 2012. They finished 10 games behind Milwaukee last year.

#19 - Cleveland Guardians

Last year, the Cleveland Guardians failed to secure their 4th-straight 90-win season, going 76-86 and falling 11 games short of division-leading Minnesota. Injuries played a part in this step backward, as did trading away both Amed Rosario and Aaron Civale at the trade deadline.

The AL Central is wide open—as wide open as MLB divisions ever get. The Twins are listed as the favorites on FanDuel Sportsbook, but you've likely noticed that we are not predicting much success for them. (+420) odds on FanDuel Sportsbook to win the AL Central are what the Guardians are getting right now, 3rd in the division.

The Tigers are 2nd right now with (+300) odds, and we like them the most of the bunch. The Guardians could certainly win a division title in 2024, but they'd love to do more after failing in the 1st round of the playoffs in both 2021 and 2022. They have their sights set on a much bigger prize. With a 2024 season win total set at 77.5 games, it is clear that Vegas doesn't think all that much of this team. Bearing in mind that win rates will be slightly inflated in weak AL Central, 77 or 78 wins is garbage.

Cleveland's 2024 World Series odds of (+7500) are slightly longer than Detroit's, making them the 3rd-most likely AL Central team to win it all this year. The Guardians feel it's their time to finally break their league-high 74-year World Series drought. They were last in the Fall Classic in 2016 but lost to Chicago in extra innings in Game 7 after a rain delay (so dramatic).

The Guardians have a talented young roster with a lot of room for improvement, and it's exciting to think about what they're capable of in 2024. The problem is that they're not very likely to realize the heights of their potential, hence the #19 ranking.

Gold Glove outfielder Myles Straw joins forces with superb-fielding LF Steven Kwan. Nothing is dropping on that side of the field. Right fielder Will Brennan is a solid outfielder, as well. Jose Ramirez is still the man. The Naylor brothers are pretty fun. In the rotation, Shane Bieber plays elder statesman to a host of young arms: Triston McKenzie, Gavin Williams, Logan Allen, and Tanner Bibee.

The aforementioned 4-time Silver Slugger, Jose Ramirez, is, again, an MVP candidate on the left side of the infield. His shortstop, Andres Gimenez, is coming off a nice year himself.

The Guardians could claw their way back to being the class of the AL Central here in 2024, although both the Tigers and Twins will have something to say about that. The Royals could, too, although they seem to be another year or two away from truly contending. As one of the youngest teams in baseball last year, Cleveland stood face-to-face with some talented opposition—even without some of their star guys due to injury.

#20 - St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals enter 2024 with a projected win total of 85.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook—3 games lower than their projected 2023 win total at this time last year. 85 wins would be a major step in the right direction for the Dirty Birds, who finished dead last in the NL Central last year with a 71-91 record. We understand that the MLB oddsmakers certainly feel the Cards are due for a bounce back, but we don't see it.

Sure, St. Louis did totally revamp their rotation, adding Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn, and Kyle Gibson, but are these really additions that will improve their record by 14 wins? Probs nah.

Ten-time All-Star and future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina retired after 19 seasons with the club, ending a storied chapter of the Cardinals franchise. First-ballot slugger Albert Pujols also called it quits, but not after he passed Babe Ruth for 2nd place on the all-time RBIs list. The guard is changing, for sure, but St. Louis still has some dawgs on the roster in 2024.

Guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Willson Contreras, Brendan Donovan, Tommy Edman, and Nolan Arenado are the new faces of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. The ancient Matt Carpenter is back in town, although he was so terrible for the Padres last year that it's hard to get too excited about him.

Last season, the Cardinals broke their streak of making the playoffs in 4 straight seasons with their first last-place finish since 1990 when they were in the National League East division. St. Louis is currently given odds of (+150) to win the NL Central division this year—the shortest of the bunch. Like we said, Vegas is in love with this team.

With (+3000) odds to win their first World Series since 2011, it's clear that public favor in the Cardinals' 2024 title chances also exists.

Beloved Cardinals outfielder Tyler O-Neill is now in Boston. O'Neill never quite recaptured the magic from his breakout 2021 campaign in which he hit .286 with 34 bombs, 80 RBIs, 89 runs scored, and 15 steals.

Replacing an everyday starter and legend like Yadier Molina is never easy, but St. Louis did their best last year with the young Willson Contreras. Contreras should be plenty familiar with the Cardinals now, having started at catcher 72 times against them across his 7 MLB seasons and catching 125 games for the club last year—albeit with nearly an entirely different starting rotation.

Offensively, the Cardinals easily pace the NL Central, returning 2022 NL MVP winner Paul Goldschmidt and the 3rd-place MVP votes getter from that year, Nolan Arenado. Neither of these two guys did exceptionally well in 2023, but the Cards are hoping for duel bounce backs.

It is St. Louis' starting pitching that will make or break their 2024 season. Adam Wainwright retired after his 18th and final season in St. Louis. Good riddance, he was 41. Miles Mikolas desperately needs a bounce-back season after posting a disappointing 4.78 ERA led to a 9-13 record in 2023.

The Cards could certainly use some more depth in the pitching staff, as many of their arms are aging and/or unproven.

#21 - Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins have been given a win total of 86.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook for the 2024 season, which we believe to be too high. Amazingly, early money is coming in on the over, driving the price of that bet to (-114). Minnesota won 89 games last year—helped in part by down seasons from Detroit, Cleveland, and Kansas City.

While the Sox will likely continue sucking in 2024, those other 3 teams (especially Detroit and Cleveland) should be better. There will be fewer easy ones for the Twins to pick up along the way this season.

We weren't super high on Minnesota at the beginning of the 2023 season, either. The strength of this Twins team is definitely their pitching because their lineup doesn't scare anyone. Even pitching-wise, though, the Twins worsened from last year to this. Sonny Gray is now in St. Louis. He was a key piece of the pie last year, posting a sub-3 ERA and winning double-digit games. There aren't a ton of guys walking around on this planet who can do that anymore.

Jorge Polanco is also gone, as is Joey Gallo. Byron Buxton is on the roster but hasn't played a full season since … ever (sadly, he could be great). The Twins are really banking on 24-year-old Royce Lewis to ball out, as he did in the 2023 postseason versus Toronto.

Minnesota is viewed as the favorite to win the AL Central division this year, with odds of (-145). Behind them are the Detroit Tigers at (+300) and the Cleveland Guardians at (+420). The White Sox were projected to be in the race last year, but nobody expects anything from the Southsiders heading into 2024.

Minnesota's key offseason move last year was resigning All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa, who tried his darnedest to leave. This wasn't an addition. Just desperation to keep what was already theirs. Was it worth it? Correa hit .230 with 18 homers and 65 RBIs. So … maybe? He did rake in the postseason with a .409 average and an OPS north of 1.000, so that's something.

The Twins certainly picked the right division to play in, the weak AL Central, but still can't get their odds of winning the 2024 World Series shorter than (+1800) on FanDuel Sportsbook. This is way too short, in our humble opinion.

#22 - Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals posted a disappointing 65-97 record in 2022 and were an equally miserable 56-106 last season. They have few reasons to think massive improvement is due in 2024, but there is a glimmer of hope.

Sure, promising young offensive players like Bobby Witt, MJ Melendez, and Vinnie Pasquantino are nice, but do they compare to established stars like Spencer Torkelson or Carlos Correa on other teams in the AL Central? We think not … except for Witt. That dude is a stud.

If Kansas City is to accomplish anything in 2024, Bobby Witt is going to have to play like an MVP. He is getting pretty short odds to win the American League MVP on FanDuel Sportsbook at (+2000). These are the 7th-shortest odds in the league behind only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Corey Seager, Yordan Alvarez, Julio Rodriguez, and Kyle Tucker.

Last year, Witt broke out with a .276 average, 30 homers, 96 RBIs, and 49 steals while playing excellent defense. He also scored 97 runs in one of the league's worst offenses—not an easy task. It's clear to see why the Royals will only go as far as Bobby Witt Jr. takes them in 2024. That's a lot of pressure for a 23-year-old kid from Colleyville, TX. We like his chances of balling out and willing his team to victories, which is why we're placing the Royals ahead of some of the real cellar dwellers coming up on this list.

The Royals starting rotation will be their biggest weakness in 2024—as it has been for some time. FanDuel Sportsbook set Kansas City's 2024 season win total at 72.5 games—higher than they set it last year (68.5) but still in the bottom-10 of the MLB.

The Royals are given long odds (but not the longest) of (+17000) to win the 2024 World Series. This team won it all back in 2015 over the Mets and then immediately re-entered a rebuild by dismantling that championship team.

What about just winning the wide-open AL Central division title? This is something Kansas City hasn't done since their World Series run in 2015, but is certainly doable. The Royals' odds of winning the AL Central crown this year are long at (+1100), but the White Sox's odds are over 3 times longer.

#23 - Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins hadn't enjoyed a full season with at least 80 wins since 2010 before they went off and won 84 games last year and made the National League playoffs. Their time in the postseason was short-lived as they were swept 2-0 by their divisional-rival Phillies—2022's National League representative in the World Series.

From 69 wins in 2022 to 84 last year was quite the jump. Today, FanDuel Sportsbook is posting a tempting 2024 season win total of 78.5 games for the Marlins—a mark they've now proved they can reach.

Miami hasn't won a postseason game since their World Series run in 2003, but that doesn't matter for the season-win total bet. Last year, the bookies were giving Miami 75.5 wins, so this is only 3 wins better. Given the young talent Miami possesses, we could certainly see them building upon their success from last year. However, we're ranking them 23rd in the Major Leagues, with only 1 team in their own NL East division ranked below them. While we acknowledge the possibility that the Marlins are building something in South Beach, we don't think we'll see any fruits from that labor yet this year.

The Miami Marlins have been quietly assembling a dominant rotation with Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, Eury Perez, Jesus Luzardo, Edward Cabrera, and Trevor Rogers. That's world class.

Marlins starters had the 4th-lowest ERA in the National League last year at 3.70. They weren't the problem. In fact, isolating Miami's strong, young starting pitchers might leave you wondering how they didn't win more than 84 games last year.

The problem was—and probably still will be—the offense. Marlins hitters scored the 3rd-fewest runs in baseball last year (3.6 per game), and they didn't make any big splashes in free agency.

Jazz Chisholm is the man. Luiz Arraez and Jesus Sanchez are both proven mashers. Jake Burger performed well after coming over from Chicago mid-season. Avisail Garcia and Josh Bell can both hit the ball a country mile but are rather streaky.

The Marlins are given (+2500) odds to win the NL East in 2024, much shorter than the (+4000) odds they were getting prior to Spring Training last year. Only the Nationals are longer shots right now at (+10000). This would be Miami's first division title in franchise history. The Marlins were a Wild Card team in both 1997 and 2003 when they won their 2 World Series.

The Marlins' (+6500) odds to become 2024 World Series champions place them right in the middle of the pack in terms of championship contenders.

#24 - Boston Red Sox

Boston has the best fans. They're so great, in fact, that we often get tricked into thinking that the Red Sox never lose. They lose a lot, though. The Boston Red Sox have been so crazily inconsistent in recent years, notching just 1 playoff appearance since 2019 and playing to a trio of last-place finishes in the AL East over the past 4 seasons. Last year, it was actually the Yankees and Red Sox who finished 4th and 5th, respectively, in the AL East. How about that?

This up-and-down roller coaster hasn't stopped fans from showing up to Fenway Park, though. That will never happen. The Red Sox have their work cut out for them in 2024.

A lineup of guys like Triston Casas, Rafael Devers, Bobby Dalbec, Trevor Story, Ceddanne Rafaela, Masataka Yoshida, and Jarren Duran will have to hope they can put together more runs than they did last season—one in which they ranked 11th in the big leagues in runs. This may seem good, but they were unable to keep up with their opponents as Sox pitching was busy compiling the 10th-highest ERA in the game (4.52).

The dismal situation is expected to continue and is reflected in the betting odds, with the Red Sox getting the longest odds to win the AL East this year at (+1000). Their 2024 World Series odds of (+3800) on FanDuel Sportsbook place them in the bottom half of baseball.

No one expects the Red Sox to come back from the basement in 2023 and win it all, but it's certainly possible. The Red Sox went worst-to-first from 2015 to 2016 and made it all the way to the ALDS. Before that, the Sox went worst-to-first from 2012 to 2013, winning the 2013 World Series over St. Louis. It's not in the DNA of Bostonians to quit, and Boston sports teams nearly always reflect the identity of their city.

#25 - Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals' 2024 season outlook is a subject of much debate … in the DC area. Anywhere else, it's pretty much one-sided—they're going to stink again in 2024. We're still waiting for the return in that Juan Soto trade a few years ago to translate into wins, because the Nats have been a last-place team ever since he left.

Washington's 55-107 2022 record was a franchise-worst. Last year, they improved significantly to 71-91. 71 wins is by no means good, which shows you how horrible their 2022 season was. They improved by leaps and bounds and still finished 33 games back of Atlanta for the NL East division lead. The Nationals are a professional team, meaning there are reasons to be optimistic for 2024 … just not many.

The Washington Nationals are making an attempt to usher in a new era. They have added DH Joey Meneses, first baseman Joey Gallo, and outfielder Jacob Young in an attempt to compete here in 2024.

The hope for this franchise moving forward is contained in the young guns—guys like CJ Abrams (22), Keibert Ruiz (24), Luis Garcia (22), Cade Cavalli (24), MacKenzie Gore (24), and Josiah Gray (25).

Because the Nats stink, Dave Martinez will have no problem finding playing time for these youngsters. These are the players to watch this season, people! Grab them in your keeper fantasy baseball leagues, too.

Let's talk odds, shall we? FanDuel Sportsbook has set the Nationals' season win total at a measly 66.5 games—2nd-lowest in the National League (only Colorado is lower). The odds of the Nats winning their NL East division in 2024 are not much better, with odds of (+10000). These are much shorter odds, however, than the Nats were receiving to win the NL East last spring.

Washington hasn't taken down the division since winning the second of back-to-back NL East titles in 2017. Max Scherzer was the Cy Young Award winner that year. He's now in Arlington—several teams removed from his time in our nation's capital.

This is baseball, anything can happen. Remember, the Nationals won the World Series in 2019. Even though the odds of Washington winning the 2024 World Series are pretty long at (+20000)—they're not the longest in the league. Consider that a moral victory, Nats fans.

#26 - Pittsburgh Pirates

If championships were distributed by how many former MVPs and Silver Sluggers in their mid-30s were on your roster—the Pittsburgh Pirates would be first in line.

Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, Ji-Man Choi, and Rich Hill all play for the Pirates this year. It's safe to say none of those 4 dudes are still in their prime.

These are not the types of flashy free-agent signings that make headlines and inspire players and fans alike to get to work.

Oneil Cruz, though, that guy is awesome … and young. The highly-regarded 6'7 Dominican shortstop is one of baseball's brightest prospects. Cruz put up impressive numbers in 2023, hitting 17 home runs, stealing 10 bases, and driving in 54 of his teammates in just 87 games.

Despite Cruz's potential, the Pirates are not expected to have a strong 2024 season. Just look at who their next-most notable guys are after Cruz. The youngest one is 36!

Pittsburgh's 2024 win total is set at just 73.5 games on FanDuel Sportsbook—higher than last year but still the 3rd-fewest in the National League. The Pirates are given the longest odds (by a mile) to win the NL Central this year at (+2500) and are given longshot (+12000) odds to win the 2024 World Series today on FanDuel Sportsbook—the 7th-longest championship odds in the MLB.

#27 - Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are not the most talented team in baseball, not even close. Even if everything broke their way in 2024, the Rockies might not be able to compete with the big boys of the NL West, namely the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Things certainly did not break the Rockies' way last year, leaving them in last place and 41 games back of the first-place Dodgers. Ouch.

So, where do the Colorado Rockies stand heading into 2024 in our first MLB Power Rankings? For starters, they need their huge 2022 free agency pick-up, Kris Bryant, to play 150 games and do Kris Bryant things out there on Coors Field. He barely saw the field last year due to injury.

The Rockies signed Bryant to a massive 7-year deal worth $182 million before the 2022 season and got 42 games of production out of him—about one-quarter of the year.

Rockies GM Bill Schmidt didn't feel the need to go out and land a shiny new player this past offseason because getting a healthy Kris Bryant back in the lineup every night accomplishes the same thing.

Second, the Rockies need their best pitcher, German Marquez, to act like their best pitcher again. Marquez is a 7-year vet who suffered his first full losing season in 2023 after pitching to a combined 49-34 record across his first 5 full seasons.

Get positive regression on these two-star players, and the Rockies can make their way out of the 20s in these rankings. Another down year for the duo, and the Rockies could easily slide. They still have a little room to fall, after all.

MLB oddsmakers give the Rockies huge odds of (+12000) to upset everyone on the West Coast and win the National League West division. Their 2024 World Series odds are tied with the A's for the longest in baseball at (+25000). Usually, FanDuel Sportsbook throws some (+50000)'s in there before the season starts, but (+25000) is the best you can get on the Rockies at the moment.

#28 - Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim) are poised for a historic 2024 season, but the bar for what counts as historical in Anaheim is kind of low right now.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Angels' win total for the upcoming season is set at 71.5 games, which wouldn't be a terrible performance considering how far this team has fallen. Let's not let the promise of a winning season distract from the fact that the Angels are currently tied with the Detroit Tigers for the longest Major League Baseball postseason drought—9 years and counting.

Despite having a future Hall of Famer on their roster in Mike Trout and losing another in Shohei Ohtani—the Angels' front is remarkably stagnant. We don't know anyone who is excited for Angels baseball in 2024.

For all of Mike Trout's impressive career statistics and accolades, he has had just 15 career postseason at-bats. He's been in the league since 2011. That's a Rookie of the Year, 3 MVPs, 9 Silver Sluggers, 11 All-Star selections … and 15 postseason at-bats. C'mon, LA!

The Angels are given (+5000) odds this year to buck the trend and upset the Houston Astros for the AL West crown. The Angels last won the AL West in 2014, which was also their last postseason appearance.

The team is given (+18000) odds to win the 2024 World Series—over 4 times longer than their World Series odds were in Spring Training of 2023 (they had Ohtani).

#29 - Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox had a disappointing 2023 season—finishing with a 61-101 record and almost letting the Royals pass them up in the AL Central standings. Can you believe some people thought the White Sox could compete for a playoff spot when the season began? They were an out-of-control dumpster fire. No drive. No purpose.

A lack of power, shoddy defense, poor baserunning, and questionable managerial moves were the root causes of the team's failures. Injuries to several key players was just the icing on the cake.

The White Sox are given odds of (+3500) to win the AL Central division in 2024—their longest divisional odds in quite some time. This puts them behind everyone, even Kansas City. FanDuel Sportsbook has Chicago's odds at (+20000) to win the 2024 World Series—tied with the Washington Nationals for the 3rd-longest World Series odds in the Major Leagues.

Vegas has set the White Sox 2024 season win total at 63.5 games—an even 20 games lower than they were projecting the Southsiders at in Spring Training 2023. Only the Rockies (60.5) and A's (57.5) are projected by the FanDuel Sportsbook MLB oddsmakers to win fewer contests this upcoming regular season.

One of the biggest positives for the White Sox in the offseason wasn't even a player move—it was upgrading from the antiquated Tony La Russa at manager to Pedro Grifol. There is hope that the players who underachieved in 2023, such as Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez, will get back to performing at a high level under the new coaching staff.

Another bit of good news for Sox fans is a revamped look for starting pitcher Lucas Giolito. The big fella is less big now, dropping about 30-40 pounds between last season and Spring Training this year. For the record, Giolito is still a massive individual at 6'6 245.

Solid right-hander Dylan Cease anchors this starting rotation, but he's a big trade candidate right now as this season is expected to go south, fast. Touki Toussiant is a 27-year-old hurler who showed some promise with a few good starts down the stretch last year. He, Michael Kopech, and former Braves pitcher Mike Soroka may be all that's left after a while. We've heard of, like, 1 pitcher in the Sox bullpen. Not a good sign.

#30 - Oakland Athletics

Last year, the odds of the Athletics winning the World Series this time of year were set at (+100000) on FanDuel Sportsbook. Here in 2024, the Athletics are only given (+25000) odds to win the World Series. Don't get too excited, though. These are still tied (with Colorado) for the longest odds in the league.

The Oakland Athletics' 2024 season win total has been set at 57.5 games—the lowest in the league, even lower than their miserable total of 59.5 from last year. The Athletics also possess crazy-long odds of winning the AL West division at (+15000), which are actually significantly shorter than they were last year.

Think this is just A's hate? Small-market bias? Nah, think again. Oakland has given us absolutely zero reason to believe anything good is coming in 2024. Last year, the A's offense ranked bottom-3 in team batting average, runs scored, and home runs hit. They're awful, and the lack of fans in the cavernous Coliseum doesn't help. We couldn't be happier that the franchise is getting out of Oakland and moving East to Vegas beginning next year.

The pitching sucked, too, in the Bay Area, ranking in the bottom-10 of the Majors in both team ERA and team WHIP. This was last year's product, and it's not like they emptied the pocketbook to revamp the team for 2024.

Their current payroll of $44 million for the 2024 season is the lowest in the league. Veteran shortstop Aledmys Diaz is currently the highest-paid player on Oakland's roster, with a salary of $8 million in 2024. For context, the Dodgers just signed Shohei Ohtani to a contract that pays him an average of $70 million over the next 10 years. Yes, he's making about 60% more than this entire A's team combined! This is exactly why the owners are prompting Commissioner Manfred to step in and balance out the revenue disparity. But until then, this is what we got.

It has been a while since the Athletics won the AL West division in a full season—not doing so since 2013 (the A's won the West in 2020). The Athletics 2023 season was so bad that it's hard to even fathom a winning season—let alone a division title. Oakland's 50-112 record last year was the worst record in the Major Leagues and the franchise's worst win percentage since 1919 (when they were 36-104).

The Athletics have undergone a demoralizing roster overhaul the last couple of years, like a twisted version of musical chairs with no winner. Nobody anyone recognizes plays for the A's anymore. It doesn't matter, though, because nobody is ever in the stands.

The attendance figures speak for themselves—fewer than 800,000 total fans in attendance for A's games in 2022 and even fewer in 2023. The financial drought in conjunction with stacking 100-loss seasons, has sucked the life out of the franchise, leaving them with a dearth of talent. You think a free agent would ever want to go to Oakland right now?

This is how bad it has gotten: only 2 players on the current A's roster even had 400 plate appearances in 2023. A team full of professional athletes is never completely hopeless, but this 2024 A's team is teetering on the edge of a historically-deep abyss. Regardless of what the Oakland baseball team accomplishes this season, they'll leave a horrible taste in the mouth of their fans as they leave for Vegas … even if they somehow win 100 games and the division. There's no reversing the emotional harm that has already been inflicted.