MLB Opening Day Power Rankings 2024

Today marks the beginning of a brand new Major League Baseball season, with teams setting off to embark on their 162-game journey through the 2024 campaign.

After spending the last few months focused on nothing but transactions and roster construction, we finally get to see these teams hit the field and show what they truly have. As the season wears on, there are sure to be teams that exceed and fail to meet their expectations, regardless of what they look like on paper.

With that said, all we have to grade them on right now is what they look like on paper. Which makes creating a power ranking of all 30 teams rather difficult.

Instead of doing our first rankings of the season based solely on projections or betting odds, we are doing this based on feel. I created my personal ranking of every team in baseball in order, then took it to the staff at Just Baseball to consult them on which teams I was maybe too down, or too high on.

For example, my original ranking had the Royals a few spots higher on this list, and the Pirates a tad lower. Our very own Jack McMullen and Peter Appel felt I should swap this two around, and so I obliged. Meanwhile, when the Arizona Diamondbacks signed Jordan Montgomery at the 11th hour, we all agreed that move was worthy of bumping them up a few notches in the top 10.

So without further ado, here is our 2024 MLB Opening Day Power Rankings!

1. Atlanta Braves

Yes, you read that right. We got a hot take right at the top of list with the Atlanta Braves coming over the Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers might have the better collection of star power on paper, but they don’t have the best team.

The Braves return with their unbelievable young core, which they supplemented with a really nice complement of veterans acquisitions. Between Chris Sale and Reynaldo Lopez, the Braves have added a few impact arms into the fold, and their collective rotation looks far more dangerous than the Dodgers on Opening Day.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

We could not possibly put the Dodgers any lower than No. 2. In reality this is probably more of a 1A, 1B, situation, with two teams who are absolutely loaded, where 100 wins is their floor heading into the season. But we went with the Braves as the 1A, because there are some real questions about the Dodgers pitching staff.

Everyone at Just Baseball expects that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will soon be awesome, but he didn’t look that way in spring or in his first MLB start. Walker Buehler should be back to his old self this year and Clayton Kershaw should join the team down the stretch. Right now though, those two guys aren’t in the rotation for the first turn through.

Not to mention, there is still the whole Mookie Betts experiment at shortstop. He will probably handle the switch just fine, but we still have to see it play out for awhile.

The Dodgers are going to have a great season and will surely be featured at the No. 1 spot on our power rankings many times throughout 2024. For now though, we got to put them at No. 2 until the questions are answered.

3. Houston Astros

It feels like the Houston Astros are being slept on a bit, after they lost to the Texas Rangers in the ALCS last season. The Astros made one big move to fortify their roster this offseason, signing the top closer on the market in Josh Hader.

Houston’s bullpen was already a strength, but by adding Hader, they have the best late-game trio in all of baseball, with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly setting up their new closer.

With a great lineup, some star pitchers atop the rotation and arguably the best bullpen in baseball, the Astros look like the best team in the American League again.

4. Baltimore Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles are coming off a 101-win season and they only got better this offseason. After years of us all wondering when they would turn their immense prospect capital into an arm to headline their rotation, the Orioles finally pulled the trigger on Corbin Burnes.

Even with dealing for Burnes, the Orioles still have plenty of top prospects left who can contribute now or who could be dealt for more reinforcements at the deadline. With new ownership officially in place, the Orioles have the chance to go on a real dynastic run over the next 5-10 years.

Ultimately the decision of Astros over Orioles comes down to track record, but these feel like the best two teams in the AL to start the year.

5. Texas Rangers

The reigning World Series champs round out our top five, as they look to repeat with their young core this season. The biggest addition from last year’s club is the promotion of top prospect Wyatt Langford, who forced the Rangers hand with a fantastic spring. Between Langford and Evan Carter, the Rangers have a great shot at having this year’s Rookie of the Year.

The only question with the Rangers is if they will have enough pitching to get through the first half. They have reinforcements on the way in the second half, with Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and the newly acquired Tyler Mahle set to return off injury. Still, the rotation questions to start the year were enough to put them below their division foe in Houston, as well as behind the Orioles.

6. Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies spent this offseason making sure they could bring the band back together. First they signed Aaron Nola in free agency. Next they extended Zack Wheeler. Their biggest external addition was probably Whitt Merrified. Giving them an ideal utility man to complement their roster.

The Phillies have shown us over the last two years that they can absolutely win the World Series. Maybe this is the year that they put it all together.

7. Arizona Diamondbacks

An early riser on our list, we initially had the Diamondbacks sitting in the No. 9 spot, but we have bumped them up a few pegs thanks to their late addition of Jordan Montgomery. The Diamondbacks went to the World Series last year and added a handful of veterans this offseason that will help them complement their young core.

Why did we put the D-Backs below the Phillies if they improved so much and beat them in the NLCS last year? Well, two deep postseason runs trump one.

8. Seattle Mariners

It was a typical offseason for Jerry Dipoto in Seattle, where the Mariners president of baseball operations made a series of trades to turn his roster over once again. Jorge Polanco, Mitch Haniger and Luke Raley were all acquired via trades to bolster the Mariners lineup, and Mitch Garver was signed to be the team’s new DH.

While the lineup could be improved, the back-bone of the Mariners is still their pitching, particularly in the starting rotation. With George Kirby, Luis Castillo and Logan Gilbert, the Mariners have one of the best trios of starters in baseball. Young hurlers Bryce Miller and Bryan Woo round out a fantastic group of five starters.

9. New York Yankees

The New York Yankees have as high of a ceiling as any team in baseball, with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto set to be the most-feared duo in baseball. What is keeping the Yankees from being higher on our list is their lack of pitching depth.

The Yankees had to sacrifice a lot of their depth in exchange for Soto, and then they lost Gerrit Cole for the start of the season. Cole’s injury casts a shadow over this team until he can return to the mound and prove to be healthy.

10. Toronto Blue Jays

Unlike the Yankees, the Toronto Blue Jays have a starting rotation that can be counted on and they did the best they can to improve their lineup from last season.

Matt Chapman left in free agency, but he wasn’t much of an offensive threat for the final five months last year.In his place Isiah Kiner-Falefa steps in, keeping a good glove at the position. Justin Turner replaces Brandon Belt as their veteran presence in the lineup at DH, albeit with a bit more positional flexibility.

There is every chance the Blue Jays have a better season then the Yankees, but they didn’t improve enough this offseason to put them over a team that has two of the best five hitters in the game with Soto and Judge.

11. Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays are laughing at us for keeping them out of the top 10 after they won 99 games just last season. They are probably right. Somehow, some way, they will find themselves atop the standings this year. For now though, solely based on how their roster looks on paper, it feels like they are just a bit less talented than the Yankees and the Blue Jays in their division.

With that said, grouping these three teams together was no mistake on my part.

Make a strong enough argument for any of them and I can buy into them being the second-best team in the AL East. I think the only thing clear in that division on Opening Day is who is the best (Baltimore), and who is the worst (Boston).

12. Minnesota Twins

We have ranked the top three teams in the AL West and the top four teams in the AL East. Think it is about time to rank a team out of the AL Central?

The Minnesota Twins won the division last year, so by default, they go first in the rankings. They also have the roster that looks the most well-rounded on paper right now, with a solid lineup, rotation and bullpen. In that wide-open division, the Twins are the early-favorites.

13. San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres mark a section of this list where we have all the NL Wild Card hopefuls.

We have the two Wild Card teams from last year that made it to the NLCS (Phillies and D-Backs) featured in the top 10, and of course the two NL juggernauts in the Braves and Dodgers. Now we settle into the rest of the National League contenders and the Padres headline the list.

San Diego would not have been anywhere near this high before the Dylan Cease trade, but that move gave them a rotation to be taken seriously. They ran into a ton of bad luck last year and are due for some positive regression. We will see if it is enough to punch their ticket back to October.

14. Chicago Cubs

Nearly halfway through the league before we mention a team in the NL Central, but first up in their division is none other than the Chicago Cubs.

The Cubs narrowly missed the playoffs last year, falling short in their division to the Milwaukee Brewers and in the Wild Card race to the Diamondbacks and Marlins. With Milwaukee taking a step back this offseason, and now featuring their old manager in Craig Counsell, the Cubs should be considered the early-season favorites in the NL Central.

15. St. Louis Cardinals

We mentioned positive regression before with the San Diego Padres, here comes another team looking to flush 2023 and bounce back in 2024.

The Cardinals a deep core of young talented position players, who are led by two potential Hall of Famers in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt. All they needed was a little pitching and they got that this offseason with Sonny Gray, Lance Lynn and Kyle Gibson.

Now how well those three veterans throw the ball will determine where the Cardinals end up in future rankings, but right now they look like the second-best team on paper in the NL Central.

16. Cleveland Guardians

It would be fair to call the Cleveland Guardians the other co-favorite in the AL Central based on their track record and starting pitching alone. With that said, this lineup leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to packing an offensive punch.

17. San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants probably would have found themselves somewhere in the 20s even one month ago, but some late shopping has shot them up our rankings. The addition of Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman, and now Blake Snell, has the Giants looking like a real threat in the National League.

18. Cincinnati Reds

Sort of the exact opposite of the team they are ranked just behind, the Reds have seen their stock drop over the last month due to things out of their control. First, it was the Noelvi Marte suspension. Next it was losing some key players due to injury, namely Matt McLain and TJ Friedl.

The Reds still have the depth on their roster to absorb all of these losses and turn in a solid season, but their margin for error has gotten so much smaller.

19. New York Mets

The New York Mets are coming off a disaster of a 2023 season and the residue from that collapse has them near the bottom of this list. There are massive questions surrounding their starting rotation, which Kodai Senga’s injury to start the year has only illuminated further.

Yet if you squint hard enough, you can see a potential playoff team in Queens with the roster that David Stearns has put together in his first year running the Mets. The addition of J.D. Martinez at least give the Mets a top of the lineup to be feared, with Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, and Pete Alonso batting ahead of their new cleanup hitter.

20. Detroit Tigers

Cracking the top 20 should be considered an accomplishment for a Detroit Tigers team that has not had a winning season since 2016. While it has been a long time since they have had success, the Tigers might finally be turning the corner.

Their rebuild has brought some talented players onto the field already with Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter. They now add to the mix with Colt Keith, who they signed to an extension before he makes his MLB debut.

Tarik Skubal enters 2024 as the Tigers ace and a dark horse Cy Young candidate. The Tigers topped off that young core with some great veteran additions this offseason, such as Mark Canha, Gio Urshela, Kenta Maeda and Jack Flaherty.

This could finally be the year the Tigers make some noise in the AL Central.

21. Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers took a big step back this offseason when they traded Corbin Burnes. That deal had followed the loss of Brandon Woodruff to injury, and then after Burnes was dealt, the Brewers lost Devin Williams due to stress fractures in his back.

Just like that, the best three pitchers they have had in recent years are all out of the picture to start the season. Now the debut of Jackson Chourio is very exciting, as is the addition of Rhys Hoskins, but overall this Brewers team no longer looks like a huge threat in the NL Central.

22. Boston Red Sox

Where do we even start with the Boston Red Sox?

They have a great slugger in Rafael Devers, who has a relatively strong lineup around him, but there is just no pitching to speak of in Boston. The Red Sox desperately needed Lucas Giolito when they signed him this offseason, because he was at least expected to be dependable innings-eater.

But now Giolito is on the shelf for at least the next year and a half due to Tommy John surgery.

Even with Giolito, the Red Sox needed pitching. Now without him, that need has gotten to an extreme where they might not even try to add any this season.

23. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates may not be in a rebuild too much longer. They have extended some of their homegrown big league success stories, such as Ke’Bryan Hayes, Bryan Reynolds and now Mitch Keller, giving them a core to build around.

With Oneil Cruz set to return this year after a lost season in 2023, the Pirates could take some people by surprise in 2024.

24. Kanas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals have been rebuilding for years now, but are starting to take some real steps to being a contender in the AL Central.

First, they signed Hunter Renfroe to give them a veteran bat in the middle of their lineup, while also adding Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha to fortify their rotation.

Then they signed Bobby Witt Jr. to an extension, which will keep their face of the franchise in place for the next decade-plus. They might be starting the season near the bottom when it comes to the Power Rankings, but there is optimism in Kansas City for the first time in a long time.

25. Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins were a playoff team last year, and here they find themselves near the bottom of our Power Rankings as one of the worst teams in all of baseball. So what changed?

The Marlins made very minimal moves to supplement their roster this offseason, while losing Jorge Soler in free agency and having already lost Sandy Alcantara due to Tommy John surgery.

Having just traded Jon Berti before the start of the season, the Marlins could be positioned as sellers throughout this season to help jumpstart a rebuild of their farm system under new president of baseball operations Peter Bendix.

26. Los Angeles Angels

The Los Angeles Angels enter their first season adjusting to life without Shohei Ohtani, which has tempered expectations in Anaheim. There is some optimism surrounding their new manager Ron Washington, and Mike Trout is always a draw, but overall this team leaves a lot to be desired.

27. Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals could very well find themselves shooting up these ranking throughout this season as their top prospects start to rise to the surface. Dylan Crews and James Wood are both nearing their MLB debuts and will immediately make this team far more interesting.

28. Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are fully entrenched in a rebuild, especially after trading their ace Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres just before the start of the season. With no Cease in place, the White Sox are starting Garrett Crochet on Opening Day, for what will be the first start of his MLB career.

This will be a year for seeing what they have in young players like Crochet, but team success in terms of their record is certainly not expected.

29. Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies are coming off a franchise-worst 103-loss season in 2023. It can’t really get much worse for them this year, and there is every chance with some internal improvements they can be far better than last season. With that said, it is hard to count on the Rockies to do much this year, particularly when they are very clearly the worst team in a loaded NL West.

30. Oakland Athletics

What do we really need to say about the Oakland Athletics?

The A’s lost 102 games back in 2022, then following that up by losing 112 games in 2023. While they probably won’t drop even further down to lose 122 games in 2024, the A’s aren’t going to suddenly turn things around to be a winning team either. Expect them to lose at least 100 games again.