Breaking down the WORST teams in the MLB, listed from 10-1. With player acquisitions and trades, teams fluctuate throughout these rankings, but with most of the major deals done, let’s take a look at who comes out last. Make sure to drop your thoughts in the comment section!
10) Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have a roster that shouldn’t be that bad, but the rotation is in the bottom half of the American League, and their defense is still a problem. They project to have a bottom-10 OAA once again, which will also hurt their run prevention. What they do have is a pretty strong lineup, but it’s still not enough to surpass teams like the Yankees, Orioles, Blue Jays, and Rays, who have strong lineups and pitching staffs.
9) Cleveland Guardians
The Cleveland Guardians have a strong pitching staff, with Shane Bieber, Triston McKenzie, and Tanner Bibee at the top of their rotation, and the bullpen should remain strong as well. The issue is that their lineup lacks firepower, and the rest of the league has more talent than they do. Perhaps they’re able to overperform projections like they did in 2022, but they lack power hitting or power pitching in the lineup or rotation, and that’s a tough sell.
8) Milwaukee Brewers
Freddy Peralta is an ace, but the Milwaukee Brewers do not have much rotation depth outside of that. Their bullpen also took a hit with the injury to Devin Williams, and the lineup is not very inspiring either. They are great at maximizing value from pitchers, and the NL Central isn’t particularly strong, but they could find themselves in last place after trading away Corbin Burnes this winter.
7) Miami Marlins
With the injuries to nearly every pitcher in their rotation, it’s hard to rank the Miami Marlins much higher on this list. Their offense is pretty bad, they lost Jorge Soler, their farm system doesn’t have much to add to their roster right now, and the division they play in isn’t easy as well, with the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies both looking like World Series contenders. They do still have upside, as there’s some star-caliber talent on the roster, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll be enough to take them to the promised land.
6) Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals should be interesting, with Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha added to their rotation, but the issue is that they still don’t have much depth, and their lineup is underwhelming as well. They are a team that could fly up this list if Cole Ragans has a Cy Young-caliber season and builds upon the excellent season he had in 2023, and Bobby Witt Jr. has certainly become one of the best players in the game.
5) Los Angeles Angels
The Los Angeles Angels without Shohei Ohtani will be a weird watch as he departs for their crosstown rival Dodgers. Reid Detmers, Griffin Canning, and Patrick Sandoval are interesting top three for a rotation, and they still have Mike Trout in their lineup, but the injury risk and lack of depth are extremely concerning. This could be a team that gets to the 80-win mark, but the more likely outcome is that they get crushed by better-division rivals and miss the playoffs again.
4) Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals are young, interesting, and also very bad. The lineup might not be awful as they could get bounceback seasons from Jesse Winker and Joey Gallo while returning emerging shortstop CJ Abrams and breakout outfielder Lane Thomas, but they don’t have nearly enough pitching to support an underwhelming and low-floor offense. Perhaps James Wood comes up this year, and they will get good years from MacKenzie Gore and Josiah Gray, but that just won’t be enough this season.
3) Oakland Athletics
While the White Sox have a strong farm and are building in the right direction, the Oakland Athletics are a terrible team with an equally bad farm system. You’d think with their draft capital over the last two seasons that they’d boast one of the better prospect pools in the league, but none of the players they’ve acquired in trades have panned out and their top picks are not looking like future stars. Maybe they’ll finally try to win when they’re in Las Vegas.
2) Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox had a strong offseason, restocking their farm system with the likes of Drew Thorpe and Samnuel Zavala, but that’s come at the cost of gutting their MLB roster. It’s going to be a rough season in the South Side, but they seem to be trending in the right direction as an organization. Time will tell, but this is a rebuilding year for the White Sox, who might ship away Luis Robert Jr. by this time next year.
1) Colorado Rockies
While the Colorado Rockies play in one of the most gorgeous ballparks in the league, their rotation might be the worst I’ve ever seen. Their lack of a dominant offense, despite how well the ball carries in their ballpark, makes things even worse, and there’s just no chance that they do anything remotely interesting this year outside of maybe being the worst team of all time. There is zero upside here for 2024. At least Nolan Jones is a monster and could build on his incredible rookie campaign.