Just Baseball’s Post-Trade Deadline Power Rankings

With the 2024 MLB trade deadline in the rearview mirror, it’s easier than ever to separate the true contenders from basement dwellers. Thus, it’s the perfect time for another monthly update to Just Baseball’s MLB power rankings.

When making these rankings, we try to balance what a team’s record is on the season with how they are trending based on recent play. This month, the trade deadline made things even more fun, as some rosters got a nice little boost before the most important stretch of the season.

Let’s kick things off at the top, breaking down the top 10 best teams in the game right now.

The Top 10 Best Teams in Baseball

The best teams in baseball largely remain the same as they were last month but with one big exception: The Arizona Diamondbacks have entered the chat. The D-backs have the best record in baseball since June 1 and are starting to remind us of the team that got so hot last October.

Atop these rankings, you will see some movement, as we shuffled around the top three teams. The Philadelphia Phillies have fallen on some hard times, pushing a couple of AL powerhouses to the forefront as our top two teams in baseball with less than two months left to play.

1. Cleveland Guardians (Prev. Ranking: 2)

July Record: 13-12

The Guardians continue to prove how much we all underestimated them entering the season. Their bullpen remains the best in baseball, and their offense seems to be picking up steam after going through a rough patch for most of July.

While July was Cleveland’s most difficult month of the year so far, the Guardians still posted a record above .500. Even at their worst, this team finds a way to win games.

The Orioles, Phillies, Dodgers, Yankees, Brewers, and Mariners all struggled in July, and now the Guardians are one of only two teams left with a winning record in every individual month of the season. Unfortunately, the other team is their biggest rival in the AL Central, but more on the Twins in a moment.

2. Baltimore Orioles (Prev. Ranking: 3)

July Record: 12-13

The Orioles did not play their best baseball in July, but it’s hard not to be high on this team after their front office pulled off such a strong trade deadline.

Baltimore needed pitching, and GM Mike Elias went out and added Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers, two of the better starters on the trade block. He also added Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto, a pair of high-octane hurlers, to shore up the bottom of the bullpen.

The Orioles already had a great offense — and they just added top prospects Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo to the mix — and now their pitching staff is looking much more prepared for a deep postseason run.

3. Philadelphia Phillies (Prev. Ranking: 1)

July Record: 10-14

The Phillies have had a rough go of it lately, but they still have the best record in the National League. They also have a comfortable lead over the Braves in the NL East.

Philadelphia’s offense struggled in July, but Bryce Harper is bound to heat up again. The rotation will be much stronger when Ranger Suárez and Taijuan Walker return from the injured list, and the bullpen is better post-deadline. The Phillies are still the team to beat in the Senior Circuit.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers (Prev. Ranking: 4)

July Record: 11-13

The Dodgers have let the Padres gain some ground in the NL West race, but make no mistake, this team is still a powerhouse until proven otherwise.

Jack Flaherty was exactly the kind of pickup L.A. needed to make at the trade deadline, and the Dodgers have plenty more reinforcements coming from the injured list. One could make a pretty compelling case that they’ll have the best offense and the best starting rotation in the NL down the stretch.

5. New York Yankees (Prev. Ranking: 5)

July Record: 11-13

Just as the Orioles addressed their biggest need at the deadline (starting pitching), the Yankees did what they needed to do to add another impact bat to the lineup.

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is already fitting in well with New York, smacking four home runs in his first seven games. He’s also adjusting well at third base, considering he’s playing the position for the first time in his professional career.

Thanks in no small part to Chisholm’s heroics, the Yankees have won six of his seven games in pinstripes. They’re currently tied with the Orioles for first place in the AL East.

6. Milwaukee Brewers (Prev. Ranking: 6)

July Record: 11-13

Like all five teams ranked above them, the Brewers weren’t at their best in July. Still, they hold a safe lead in the NL Central – no division leader has a bigger safety net – and they made some solid upgrades at the trade deadline.

Frankie Montas will provide some much-needed stability for the rotation, and Nick Mears was a great under-the-radar pickup for the bullpen. The Brewers also got closer Devin Williams back just before the deadline, and he will play a huge role for this team as they look to win their first postseason series since 2018.

7. Atlanta Braves (Prev. Ranking: 7)

July Record: 12-13

The Braves have a terrific pitching staff, but their offense continues to disappoint. This is still a great team, but the 100-win dynamo we imagined before the season has ceased to exist.

Austin Riley is looking more like his old self, but Matt Olson looks utterly lost right now. Similarly, Michael Harris II could provide a boost when he returns from the injured list, but Ozzie Albies might be out until late September.

Jorge Soler was a much-needed acquisition at the deadline, but he can’t fix this offense all by himself – and unfortunately, whatever he offers on offense will be somewhat offset by his poor glove in right field.

Philadelphia gave Atlanta a golden opportunity to catch up in the NL East with a poor performance in July, but the Braves weren’t able to capitalize as much as they needed to.

8. San Diego Padres (Prev. Ranking: 9)

July Record: 13-9

The Padres had a great month in July, proving that they are a step above some of their competition in the NL Wild Card race. What’s more, they did that with their best player – Fernando Tatis Jr. – sitting on the injured list since late June.

San Diego also got significantly better at the trade deadline, adding Tanner Scott, Jason Adam, and Bryan Hoeing to a bullpen that was already pretty good. It may have come at the expense of their future, but that’s outside our purview when it comes to power rankings.

9. Minnesota Twins (Prev. Ranking: 8)

July Record: 12-11

The Twins maintained their streak of winning records each month, but they failed to gain ground on the Guardians in the AL Central in July. They also had a pretty quiet trade deadline, aside from acquiring right-handed reliever Trevor Richards from the Blue Jays.

Still, this Twins team is loaded with top-end talent, and if all that talent (or just enough of it) stays healthy, Minnesota is built to make some serious noise in October.

10. Arizona Diamondbacks (Prev. Ranking: 15)

July Record: 17-8

The Diamondbacks had a terrific performance in July and shot up the power rankings. No other team moved up more than two or three spots, and the D-backs were the only team to enter the top 10.

Since June 1st, the Diamondbacks have the best record in baseball at 36-20, just a half-game better than the New York Mets at 35-20. Those two teams happened to be playing each other on June 1st, the third game of a four-game set. The Mets took the first two games of the series to close the month of May, while the Diamondbacks took the last two to start June.

Neither have looked back since that series split.

Arizona has an MVP candidate in Ketel Marte, and their starting rotation is about to get a huge lift with both Eduardo Rodriguez and Merrill Kelly making their way back from injury. The reigning National League champs seem to be hitting their stride at the perfect time.

Power Rankings: Middle of the Pack (11-20)

The teams in the middle are all still in the thick of the playoff race, but also very much in jeopardy of falling out of contention if things don’t go their way in the month of August.

This is the point in the season when these teams either need to make their push, or at least keep their heads above water and live to fight another day in September.

11. New York Mets (Prev. Ranking: 13)

July Record: 17-10

As previously stated, the Mets have the second-best record to the Diamondbacks since June 1st, and if we want to have fun with math, they have the best record in MLB since May 30th. Bottom line, over the past 50+ games, the Mets have completely turned their season around.

A team that was once thought to be a clear seller at the deadline turned into a cautious buyer, as the Mets added some pitching help in the form of four relief arms, a starting pitcher in Paul Blackburn and a left-handed bat in Jesse Winker.

Across six different trades, the Mets did not trade a single prospect from among our list of the top 15 in their farm system, as they still have an eye on preserving their future.

The Mets have featured one of the best lineups in baseball over the past two months, and Francisco Lindor is looking like a guy who could get some MVP votes. The only thing keeping them out of the top 10, and potentially the playoffs, is concerns over their pitching.

12. Seattle Mariners (Prev. Ranking: 10)

July Record: 10-14

The Mariners let the Astros gain more ground in July, and their lead in the AL West currently sits at just 1.5 games. And while Seattle had a pretty good trade deadline, Randy Arozarena and Justin Turner aren’t going to turn this team into an offensive powerhouse.

If the M’s are going to fend off the Astros and make some serious noise in the postseason, they need Julio Rodríguez to come off the IL and play like the superstar he is, and they need their pitchers to keep up the dominant work.

It’s not hard to imagine a world in which that happens, but there’s a reason the Mariners dropped out of our top 10. It’s just as easy to picture a scenario in which their pitchers falter just a tiny bit and the bats can’t muster enough offense to support them.

13. Boston Red Sox (Prev. Ranking: 11)

July Record: 13-11

The Red Sox were never going to go all in at the trade deadline, but they shored up their bench, their rotation, and their bullpen with some smart, under-the-radar moves. The impending returns of Triston Casas and relievers Chris Martin and Justin Slaten will also be key for this team down the stretch.

Boston is still a tier below the very best AL contenders, but this is a roster that ranks among the top 10 in position player WAR and pitching WAR (per FanGraphs). The 2024 Red Sox are a genuinely good baseball team, and they’re going to make the AL Wild Card race very interesting down the stretch.

14. Houston Astros (Prev. Ranking: 12)

July Record: 14-11

The Houston Astros once looked dead in the water, ranking as low as No. 24 in our power rankings to begin May when they got off to a 10-19 record to start their season.

Since then, the Astros have a 47-36 record, which is only a game and a half behind the Yankees for the best mark in all of baseball. In doing so, the Astros have pulled themselves from the cellar and are now sitting just behind the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.

The path to October may be easier through their division than in the Wild Card race, so the Astros have one team in their sights during the stretch run. To finish the job, they made a very aggressive trade for Yusui Kikuchi to bolster their rotation. We will see if that was the right move to make.

15. St. Louis Cardinals (Prev. Ranking: 14)

July Record: 13-12

Outside of a strong June, which saw them play to a 16-12 record, the St. Louis Cardinals have been about a .500 team all year. That proved to be the case in July, as they failed to build off their momentum from the month prior and wasted an opportunity to gain ground on a struggling Brewers team in the NL Central.

With that said, keeping their heads above water has put the Cardinals in position to make a real push over the final two months, and they made some shrewd moves at the deadline to do exactly that.

By landing both Tommy Pham and Erick Fedde in a fascinating three-team trade, the Cardinals gave their lineup a steady veteran outfielder they desperately needed and a starter who can slot into the No. 2 spot in their rotation.

We will see if that is enough to get them over the hump down the stretch.

16. Kansas City Royals (Prev. Ranking: 16)

July Record: 13-10

The Royals are still hanging on to playoff hopes, and their turnaround from a sub-.500 June to three games above .500 in July is crucial for them at this stage in the game.

Bobby Witt Jr. only hit .489 last month in 100 plate appearances, but Freddy Fermin, Hunter Renfroe and MJ Melendez deserve props for their performances. Brady Singer, Michael Wacha and Cole Ragans helped the Royals post the seventh-lowest SP ERA in the league last month, but they’re going to need some help from Seth Lugo and Alec Marsh down the stretch.

17. Pittsburgh Pirates (Prev. Ranking: 18)

July Record: 15-10

Another month with a winning record has graced the Pirates. Paul Skenes, Luis Ortiz and Mitch Keller continued to do their thing out of the starting rotation, while Bryan Reynolds, Rowdy Tellez and Oneil Cruz had a 136 or higher wRC+ as well.

What’s going to be the real test for the Pirates moving forward is how they hold up after injuries. Nick Gonzales, Joshua Palacios, Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski all hit the shelf last month, so it will be interesting to see how they fill the voids as they cling on to postseason aspirations.

18. Texas Rangers (Prev. Ranking: 20)

July Record: 14-11

Last year’s champions have had a down year in 2024, but they put together a solid month of July. Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney are a strong duo atop their rotation while the Corey Seager-Nathaniel Lowe-Marcus Semien trio in their lineup is no joke either. The Rangers are six games under .500, but it’s possible that their two-spot gain in this month’s rankings is the beginning of a comeback.

19. Tampa Bay Rays (Prev. Ranking: 17)

July Record: 13-11

How about these Rays? They finished fourth in baseball in ERA last month, mostly because of Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot and a healthy Shane Baz carrying the team in the rotation. Tampa Bay isn’t quite ready to move out of the lower half of the league in these rankings, but as they continue to receive reinforcements from the IL, that could shift.

20. San Francisco Giants (Prev. Ranking: 22)

July Record: 13-12

After having one of the most active offseasons of any club, the Giants have largely disappointed this year. Their pitching staff was top-10 in ERA, FIP, K/9, HR/9 and LOB% in July, but their offense came in at 16th on the fWAR and 18th on the wRC+ leaderboards.

The club is just one game under .500 now that we’re a few days into August, but a 4.5-game deficit in the NL Wild Card race still feels doable.

The 10 Worst Teams in Major League Baseball Right Now

Looking at our power rankings in full, it is pretty incredible how clear the line in the sand is between our top 20 and the bottom 10; the following teams are all but out of contention at this stage of the season.

It is still conceivable that the Cincinnati Reds or Chicago Cubs could get back into the race with an incredible month of August, but anything short of that will leave them too far out come September.

Once you get past those two NL Central rivals, the final teams on this list have all but accepted their fate as non-playoff teams, with some already turning the page to the future in 2025.

21. Cincinnati Reds (Prev. Ranking: 21)

July Record: 13-11

The Reds have been without multiple bullpen pieces and two of their top offensive contributors (McLain, Encarnacion-Strand) for a while now, but they still found a way to play decent ball in July.

Hunter Greene allowed just one earned run in 27 innings (0.33 ERA) while Reece Hinds, Santiago Espinal and Elly De La Cruz all put together solid months on offense too. Like the Cubs, the Reds are not out of this thing just yet, but more months like this past one are needed.

22. Chicago Cubs (Prev. Ranking: 23)

July Record: 13-12

It was a weird month for the Cubs in July. On offense, they were below average in most major categories, but their staff combined to finish third in baseball in ERA (3.14). They ranked near the bottom of the league in strikeout rate, but they didn’t allow free passes or home runs either, so it works out.

The Cubs are still technically in the hunt for a Wild Card spot, but they’re going to need the offense to kick it up a notch in August.

23. Washington Nationals (Prev. Ranking: 19)

July Record: 10-16

This year’s Nationals have shown occasional promise, but the month of July saw them return to what we all expected them to, finishing six games under .500. Luis Garcia Jr. and Juan Yepez took some significant strides on offense, but two of their top hitters in July (Winker, Thomas) are wearing new uniforms now, so the freefall could continue for the Nats.

They had a solid deadline and some of their young pitchers are turning a corner, so the future is bright in D.C. Things just aren’t going to look pretty throughout the remainder of this season.

24. Detroit Tigers (Prev. Ranking: 25)

July Record: 14-11

Six hitters on the Tigers had a wRC+ north of 100 (min. 40 PA) and the club also finished in the top half of the league in fWAR and runs scored. It’s been a tough year for the Tigers, but they’re starting to get some encouraging performances out of some of their top young hitters.

25. Oakland Athletics (Prev. Ranking: 28)

July Record: 15-9

These Oakland A’s continue to exceed expectations. While they are not anywhere close to sniffing contention, a W-L record above .500 in the month of July is something virtually nobody saw coming.

Brent Rooker and Lawrence Butler took the world by storm, posting a wRC+ north of 200 in the month of July. This was enough for both of them to earn podiums in our AL Hitters of the Month piece. JP Sears put together a solid month on the mound too (5 GS, 29.1 IP, 3.07 ERA), but it’s still the A’s we’re talking about here. They’re going to need many more months like this before they earn back any sort of credibility.

26. Toronto Blue Jays (Prev. Ranking: 24)

July Record: 12-14

The Blue Jays appeared to be headed toward a major sell-off at the deadline, and their disappointing play backed that up. The club once again had a sub-.500 record and did a solid job at unloading rentals when the time came.

The vast majority of the starting lineup and pitching staff laid an egg in the month of July, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is back to being one of the best hitters on the planet, so perhaps there’s a rare positive storyline to follow emerging in Toronto.

27. Los Angeles Angels (Prev. Ranking: 26)

July Record: 11-14

The Angels finished the month of July with the second-lowest wRC+ in the game, above only the White Sox. More than half of their top offensive contributors posted below-average numbers, including trade chips like Taylor Ward and Luis Rengifo.

On the pitching side of things, they had the eighth-highest ERA in baseball. Like most teams this low on the list, there’s not much to be excited about moving forward. Heck, they don’t even have a Mike Trout return to hold onto anymore.

28. Miami Marlins (Prev. Ranking: 27)

July Record: 10-14

Both Xavier Edwards and Jake Burger had a wRC+ north of 160 in the month of July, but that’s pretty much all that went right for the Marlins. Miami spent the vast majority of the month playing with a Triple-A-caliber lineup, and that is only going to be further exploited now that the deadline has come and gone.

To their credit, they did an incredible job at the deadline, but that may not do them any favors over the remainder of the current season.

29. Colorado Rockies (Prev. Ranking: 29)

July Record: 11-15

The Rockies are comfortably the worst team in the NL and there were no signs of improvement through the month of July. Kyle Freeland and Ryan Feltner were the only two pitchers to throw over 20 innings and have an ERA under 4.00, but “aces” Cal Quantrill and Austin Gomber completely fell apart.

On the offensive side of things, five players (min. 50 PA) had a wRC+ north of 100, but centerpieces Ryan McMahon, Brendan Rodgers and Elias Díaz all fell short. Diaz, Quantrill and McMahon were three of the Rockies’ top trade chips but their struggles likely played a part in why they did not switch uniforms at the deadline.

30. Chicago White Sox (Prev. Ranking: 30)

July Record: 3-22

There simply are not enough words to describe just how poorly the White Sox are playing right now. Entering the day, they are riding a 20-game losing streak (yes, you read that right) and are the worst team in baseball by a wide margin. We truly are looking at one of the worst teams in MLB history, which is shocking to think about.