By Jackson Ketelsen
With opening day for the MLB being in ten days on march 28th here are my top 5 teams this year based on how they have played and who they add this offseason.
1. Dodgers
The Dodgers are already showing signs of being a really good team this year just from what they did in free agency this offseason signing the 2 biggest names on the market of Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The team makes it to the playoffs each year and has had at least 100 wins the past 4 years not including the shortened season. With the addition of both these players, it looks like they could be the best team in the league. The Dodgers have not won the World Series since the shortened season during covid. For that reason some people say that didn’t count but now with the two most sought after players in free agency they can get the push they need to win the World Series again.
2. Braves
The Braves are also always a good team having one of the best outfielders in Ronald Acuna. Michael Harris, who is going into his third year, shows signs of being a star player in the future. The Braves led the league in home runs with 300, more than 50 than the team in second. If it wasn’t for who the Dodgers added to their team then the Braves would be the favorites, but the Braves still have as good of a shot at the World Series as the Dodgers do. With who is on the Braves and how they all play together in the field and at the plate, they can easily find their way to the playoffs and further.
3. Phillies
The Phillies are a team that is always good and could go far, but after seeing how they played in the playoffs last year, they didn’t look like the same team from when they made it to the playoffs two years ago. They have all the pieces they would need to make it with good hitters like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos and with pitchers Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola and they have one of the best catchers in the league with J.T Realmuto. The only thing stopping them now most of the time is injuries. Last year it was their first baseman Rhys Hoskins in Spring Training. The year before they made it to the World Series after they lost Bryce Harper, their best player, and he was out to start last year. If they can stay healthy then they can make another push for the World Series.
4. Rangers
The Rangers are one of the teams that were surprising last year because nobody expected them to win. If they can play how they ended the season last year all year they have a good shot at the playoffs after keeping most of their players from last year and not losing any big ones in free agency.. There also is a chance that because they just won that they could be a bad team because most of the time teams that win don’t win again. The last team to repeat was the 2000 and 2001 Yankees. but keeping their players will help because everybody is used to playing with each other and how everyone plays on the team.
5. Orioles
The Orioles last year were a surprising team, winning what is sometimes the hardest division in the MLB: the AL East. Now with most of their players being young and having some of the best young players from their draft classes on the team. All this team really needs is the experience of the playoffs. The team just needs to make it to the playoffs more so players can get experience with it so they would have a better chance to win in them. There isn’t that much that a young team can do most of the time but they could always surprise everybody with how they play this year.