Baltimore Orioles
Boston Red Sox
New York Yankees
Tampa Bay Rays
Toronto Blue Jays
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Indians
Detroit Tigers
Kansas City Royals
Minnesota Twins
Houston Astros
LA Angels
Oakland Athleticss
Seattle Mariners
Texas Rangers
Atlanta Braves
Miami Marlins
New York Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Washington Nationals
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers
Pittsburgh Pirates
St. Louis Cardinals
Arizona Diamondbacks
Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres
San Francisco Giants
In amazing fashion, I completely whiffed last year on the worst team. Detroit put up a good fight and typically, 45 wins will earn you the top spot.. in the draft order that is. But 2052 had other plans. The highly decorated Kansas City franchise met the apex of their rebuild by winning only 42 games. The top eight fared as much as I expected, only with Oakland proving to be no fluke and improving on their 2051 campaign while the Evil Empire regressed after panic trades. So here's 2053 and what better way to start with the worst first.\
24. Detroit, win projection: 42-48
They were close last year, and they haven't added anything of note. Strangely, they sacrificed their 2nd round pick, which is essentially a late first round in terms of talent to dispose of salary. That's all well and good, but they legitimately pay only 2 players.
23. Kansas City, win projection: 45-50
The greatest thing about rebuilding and not worrying about winning? You get to take more risks and you get to play players you may otherwise rarely play. Also means that players can come out of nowhere with development or production. I think KC just has more Major League talent to edge out Detroit in wins.
22. San Diego, win projection: 50-56
They have a couple of good outfielders and a host of young players getting close to being ready to play in the Bigs. But their pitching looks like it's going to get abused, particularly with 3 good offenses in their division, it could be ugly fast. They continue to be in rebuild mode.
21. Philadelphia, win projection: 61-67
They've let several key pieces go to free agency over the past few seasons, that makes you wonder if they were ever paying attention, combining those guys with the young talent they do have that's developing, they could be real contenders. Especially when you consider Chicago and Cincinnati are on the down-swing and New York is the only clear contender. But what you are left with is a team that's routinely competing for a top pick.
20. Toronto, win projection: 61-67
They're the AL version of Philly. I would suspect the GM doesn't even know he's Toronto at this point.
19. Chicago N, win projection: 64-70
It's entirely possible they have enough talent to overachieve. But they have slowly been rebuilding and shedding a ton of salary. While they have enough pitching to be decent, they only have two real bats left. Maybe.
18. Minnesota, win projection: 67-73
So, they have Cespedes.....
17. Montreal, win projection: 71-75
They have a few pieces that will keep them competitive most of the time, but lack of depth kills any chance at this point. If they ever decide to promote Brewster, they'll have a strong front of the rotation. They have a few other prospects nearing the call that will help them and ultimately, they have a very solid farm that will make them interest in the next 2-3 seasons. They have 30 million in crap coming off the books, they'll have financial flexibility again.
16. St. Louis, win projection: 73-77
This is a team on the rise. They have a loaded farm with mega talent in the wings. Several of those potent players are near ready to be called up to join fellow mega young talent Charlie Snow. In addition, they have money, and have slowly pinpointed various free agents, including locking down catcher Johnny Bench. With development and potentially adding a few pieces, they could fly up this list towards a plus .500 record.
15. Los Angeles, win projection: 74-79
Seems like it's been light years since they were a contender. But in reality, it was only 2046 when they were last a really good team. Colorado and San Diego certainly put a damper on things in the division. Depth is an issue, they only have a few good bats, and a few good pitchers at this point. They have a few young guys that look good but are a ways away from being impact players.
14. Chicago A, win projection: 83-87
You'll see shortly a similar review for an NL team. They have some pieces, a solid lineup, but not enough pitching depth. They're in a rough division to contend right now but they could manage to be over .500 at best. They could use a triumphant return from their general manager to get them back in the thick of things.
13. Texas, win projection: 83-87
They used to be a dynasty, perhaps one of the greatest dynasties you could imagine. But times have changed, most notably being in a division with 3 highly active teams. Perhaps sitting on what you have worked back then, but I don't think it's going to be working ever again. They have a solid lineup and maybe enough pitching to finish over .500
12. Atlanta, win projection: 84-88
I think this could be a real sleeper team if they obtained more pitching. The division is weak, the opportunity is there. There's a few good pieces in the fire and they have a lot of money to work with, but they also have a lot of significant holes they really prevents them from taking a leap. That said, given Cincinnati's lack of depth, they could fight for a wild card.
11. Houston, win projection: 86-91
This is really fluid. They're reloading/rebuilding but with their GM being very active and rather creative with his management, it's hard to say how much of a rebuild or reload they'll do. They've got some good talent still, and the recent trade with San Francisco certainly knocks them down a notch but they did get a pretty nice haul. It's hard to rule them out at this point.
10. Cincinnati, win projection: 89-94
While they finally have some cap flexibility, they've suffered from losing too much depth in the past two seasons to be considered a favorite to repeat as NL champs. Nonetheless, this team still has the best starting pitcher and a group of bats that will make them hard to ignore. If they drop their stubborn attitude and address their lack of depth, they will rise on this list. But the truth is, right now, they only have 2-3 major league caliber pitchers.
9. Colorado, win projection: 89-94
One of two things could happen to either make this ranking too low or too high. Either they begin a rebuild or reload, or they acquire starting pitching (and McGlothlin has a late bloom). They have one of the best infield defenses I've ever witnessed in a sim league, they have plenty of offense, and they have the top closer in the game. But they only have two functioning starting pitchers. If they get lucky and Gibson and McGlothlin perform OK, they'll still contend for the division. Big if.
8. Arizona, win projection: 90-95
They had a bad August and September, effectively blowing their wildcard lead over San Francisco. You can certainly question their attention to detail and management of the team, particularly when it came to not promoting acquired veterans, but they did put together a very solid team last year. Building off that, they had a very expensive offseason after buying a couple bats and arms. Now they have more depth than a few notorious contenders to possibly push themselves ahead.
7. Anaheim, win projection: 91-97
Mantle and Mays are slowly dying, so what does one do? Go get a young star outfielder to pick up the slack. Anaheim certainly has enough pitching, in fact they've had the same pitchers for years. But they never all seem to put it together at once. If they do, they can certainly make the playoffs.
6. New York N, win projection: 91-97
Back in 2049, Colorado and New York completed a deal that involved Cristian Valles and Jose Mendez. I'm going out on a limb and say that deal was amazing for both teams. They have pitching to make some noise but do they have enough offense to get over the hump. Or the Rijo, rather.
5. New York A, win projection: 93-98
Focus and purpose. That's all it takes to get away from being mediocre again. Whether they stay on that path or not remains to be seen, but they have reloaded. They still have a lot of age but they have really good old guys. Gehrig only enhances the offensive potency. They are retooling their pitching staff but with Whurlitzer and Gotlander set to join the rotation, that'll see an improvement as well. Their critical weakness is that they have no pen to speak of and will struggle to close out games.
4. Oakland, win projection: 95-102
It's fair to question if they were a fluke in 2051 or not. Especially when one of your top pitchers is walking 120 plus and striking out only 90. They've managed with a rotation comprised of ductape, chewing gum, and shoelaces tied together. And now they have an ace and a legit #2 caliber starting pitcher. So that means they'll regress per OOTP theory. They have a mostly young lineup, that's only going to improve.
3. Boston, win projection: 95-102
I once again had several GMs rank me and I've averaged out their rankings, to avoid bias. Although, in my mind, I'm lower in the order. I am lacking a natural RF, ongoing drama in the bullpen, and uncertainy with my best player. I'm also in a division with Baltimore..
2. San Francisco, win projection: 100-108
They were slow out of the gate last season, likely due to mediocre starting pitching after their top 2. They definitely underachieved but still worked their way into the playoffs. Adding an MVP bat in Williams and a good pitcher in O'Toole makes you now wonder what the limit is for a previously disappointing 89 win team.
1. Baltimore, win projection: 112-120
When it comes to the playoffs in OOTP, particularly 6.5, anything can happen. It's true. But when a team is clearly dominant, then that's what is going to happen, the team is going to dominate. Baltimore has the rotation, bullpen, and the lineup to eviscerate any opposition. They have not just one or two players capable of carrying the team, they have almost half a dozen that can do that. Hello, Dynasty.
Register To Reply
Originally Posted by Providence A's
