Welcome to August. The MLB season is now well into its second half.
And by the time the sun is going down on Tuesday, August 1, we’ll know some buyers at the 2023 MLB trade deadline who have gotten stronger, and some sellers are casting their eyes on 2024 and beyond.
So as we get ready for the final two months of the season — and in the calm before the storm that will be 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday — it’s a good time to take a snapshot of the league with some power rankings of all 30 teams.
Let’s dive in, from 30 to 1, with the worst teams to the best:
30
Oakland A's
Ugh.
29
Kansas City Royals
At least Bobby Witt Jr. is awesome, right?
28
Chicago White Sox
At least they traded the guy above, Lance Lynn, and others. But a long year just got longer.
27
Colorado Rockies
We’re now in Year 5 since they last made the playoffs. Five very long years.
26
Washington Nationals
The rebuild continues, and hopefully by the time you read this, they’ve dealt anyone who’s not part of the future.
25
St. Louis Cardinals
The fire sale has begun, and that’s the exact right move to make.
24
Pittsburgh Pirates
Is it too soon to say that there’s some bright future pieces in Pittsburgh?
23
Detroit Tigers
The Miguel Cabrera retirement tour has been wonderful, including an ovation from Marlins fans.
22
New York Mets
The right move was to sell off at the trade deadline. Nice to see it actually happening!
21
Minnesota Twins
They lost five in a row heading into Monday. Not good.
20
Cleveland Guardians
Hovering around .500, and they’re selling at the deadline. That would be the correct approach.
19
San Diego Padres
Will they or won’t they decide to pull the plug on this season? The mystery! But they’re not having a great season at all either way.
18
Seattle Mariners
Feels like they could be one of those teams that makes an August run despite the fact that they’re trading away some key names.
17
Arizona Diamondbacks
I want to make them lower after the month they’ve had, but let’s see what happens.
MORE: Trade tracker for every big deal ahead of the deadline
16
Chicago Cubs
Are we seeing a team that could make a late-season surge, especially after trading for Jeimer Candelario?
15
New York Yankees
Too low with Aaron Judge back? I’d respond with this: Prove it and we’ll move them up.
14
Philadelphia Phillies
We’ve reached the “they’re all over the place, but they’re kind of intriguing” portion of the rankings.
13
Boston Red Sox
See above.
12
Miami Marlins
One little run and suddenly they’re going to be in thick of things, and if their starting pitchers make it to the postseason? Look out.
11
Milwaukee Brewers
Are they good? Bad? Somewhere in between? I lean … a playoff team. We’ll see!
10
Anaheim Angels
I could just write Shohei Ohtani and move on, but they’re also making trades to help him out.
9
San Francisco Giants
Just another one of those years where you shake your head and marvel at the Giants being good again.
8
Cincinnati Reds
They’re young, exciting and actually good at baseball. Let’s see if the front office helps them out with pitching at the deadline.
7
Houston Astros
Not as good as you’d hope, but … they’re the Astros. They should be feared.
6
Toronto Blue Jays
A REALLY good team … if the pitching can hold up. Here’s hoping Bo Bichette’s injury isn’t too bad.
5
Texas Rangers
They’re shoving their chips into the middle of the table. And they should!
4
Tampa Bay Rays
Not a great July, but still a bona fide contender.
3
Baltimore Orioles
You’d hope they’d upgrade their rotation, but if they don’t? Still a top contender.
2
Los Angeles Dodgers
Too high? I don’t think so. They’re upgrading at the deadline and they’re still the Dodgers.
1
Atlanta Braves
My goodness, they seem mostly unstoppable.
