MLB Power Rankings: Pre-Opening Day edition

6. The rebuild is in full effect in Philadelphia. They collected some nice assets last July for Cole Hamels and got some more for closer Ken Giles. The Phillies will hit a little and Maikel Franco will emerge as one of the best young hitters in the game this year. That pitching staff has some nice pieces in Aaron Nola and Jarrod Eickoff but when Jeremy Helickson is your opening day starter, it’s going to be a long season. . . Philadelphia Phillies. 30. team

29. team. 17. The rebuild is in full effect down in the ATL as well, except that they may be ahead of the game. They have a deep farm system including most of the Arizona Diamondbacks system thanks to the Shelby Miller trade. The Braves have some veteran pieces they may move at the deadline to further increase their stockpile. The guy to watch here is Hector Olivera. Can the Cuban defector live up to the contract the Dodgers gave him last year?. . . Atlanta Braves

Colorado Rockies. 28. team. 108. I’m really not intending to pick on the National League, however they are the weaker league right now. The Rockies have a deep farm system as well that is starting to bear fruit. I didn’t quite understand signing Gerrado Parra and then trading Corey Dickerson for Jake McGee when keeping Dickerson was the better option but c’est la vie. Jose Reyes won’t be walking through the door anytime soon, but Trevor Story looks more than capable of playing short so far this spring.. .

. . Cincinnati Reds. 27. team. 61. The Reds will continue their great teardown this year as well as it seems like the National League is either totally in or totally out. Aroldis Chapman and Todd Frazier are gone. They tried to deal Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce, however, both deals fell through. Look for them to try again this year. The Reds won’t have an all-rookie starting crew this year, especially when Homer Bailey returns, but Chris Reed was impressive this spring and may be up before you know it.

team. 76. Speaking of NL Central teams that are all out, say hi to the Milwaukee Brewers. Just a couple of years ago, they collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs and certainly will again this year. They still have Ryan Braun. Jimmy Nelson looks pretty good and their farm system improved with their trades last year and this off-season. Domingo Santana deserves a shot in the outfield, and if he does, look out.. . . Milwaukee Brewers. 26

. . San Diego Padres. 25. team. 127. Last off-season, the Padres were the talk of baseball. Matt Kemp. Justin Upton. Derek Norris. James Shields. Party like it’s 1998! Upton left via free agency so did Ian Kennedy. Norris and Shields are on the block and they have to start paying Kemp a Brinks trunk of money. The Pads got some nice prospects for Craig Kimbrel and have a chance to further load up their system in the upcoming draft. Wil Myers was a part of their mega dealing last off-season and I think the move to first will really help his production

62. Welcome to Seattle where unless you are Robinson Cano, Kyle Seager or Felix Hernandez you may be new. New GM Jerry DiPoto came in and started wheeling a dealing right away, making more trades than anyone. Their bullpen is full of castoffs and the island of misfit toys, but sometimes that’s just how you build one. Now that Cano is healthy, look for him to be more like his Yankee self.. . . Seattle Mariners. 24. team

. . Oakland A's. 23. team. 96. Billy Beane is a mad scientist and is always mixing and matching. I wonder if this year he got another sleeper on his hands. The A’s had one of the worst bullpens in all of baseball last year. He added John Axford and Ryan Madson to fix that along with a hopefully healthy Sean Doolittle. They have a horse in Sonny Gray and some nice bats in guys like Josh Reddick and Billy Butler. Look out for Danny Valencia at third this year. This team could find themselves higher and quickly.

22. team. 11. The Orioles this year could go one of two ways. They could make the playoffs or be like those Texas Rangers teams in the 2000s with Alex Rodriguez that hit the tar out of the ball and couldn’t pitch to save their lives. The O’s have a lineup that should produce a lot of homers, but their starting pitching leaves a lot to be desired. I think Pedro Alvarez may put up monster numbers at Camden Yards.. . . Baltimore Orioles

21. team. 82. The Marlins have some nice pieces. Giancarlo Stanton is a beast. Jose Fernandez is back and healthy. Dee Gordon can rake. Chrisitan Yelich is a really good outfielder. The problem is the rest of their club isn’t good. The rotation after Fernandez and Chen is shaky at best. The farm system isn’t great so if anyone goes down, there aren’t a ton of options. If Stanton and Fernandez are healthy for a full season who knows? Maybe it’ll be a fun baseball summer down in Pitbull land. Look for Marcell Ozuna to bounce back.. . . Miami Marlins

. . Minnesota Twins. 20. team. 2. The Minnesota Twins were one of the feel-good stories of 2015. No one expected them to be in contention right down to the season’s final week but there they were. Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton are just the first wave of a nice farm system. The power arms haven’t arrived quite yet. Look for even more out of Eddie Rosario this season.

19. team. 63. The Tigers continue to reload rather than rebuild. Even after trading David Price and Yoenis Cespedes during last season, new GM Al Avila went to work has the Tigers right back into possible contention in 2016 (he even let go of his own son to do it). The Tigers added Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Lowe and Justin Wilson to an always shaky bullpen. They brought in slugger Justin Upton and Cameron Maybin to the outfield (though Maybin will start the year on the DL). They also added Jordan Zimmermann to the rotation. Add it up and the Tigers could be right there again.. . . Detroit Tigers

. . Chicago White Sox. 18. team. 128. Last year’s moves were supposed to make the Chicago White Sox a contender. They didn’t. Maybe this year will. Adding Todd Frazier, Jimmy Rollins and Brett Lawrie with Adam Eaton and Jose Abreu should give the White Sox a solid offensive attack. A full year of Carlos Rodon in the rotation should help as well.

17. team. 8. Dave Stewart and Tony LaRussa are not messing around. They saw an opportunity and stole Zack Greinke from the Dodgers than gave up their farm system for Shelby Miller. Put them with Patrick Corbin and it’s a nice 1-2-3. The D’Backs were the best defensive team in the game, but you wonder if Yasmani Tomas hurts them in right field. The bullpen is a question as well. Look for David Peralta to emerge as a star. . . . Arizona Diamondbacks

. . Tampa Bay Rays. 16. team. 21. The Tampa Bay Rays are always an interesting team. They have a ton of talent in their rotation, but the bullpen is a bit iffy. Their lineup also has some questions. New acquisition Corey Dickerson should add some power but what is Evan Longoria right now? Look for Kevin Kiermaier to continue emerge.

102. Speaking of teams with questions, the Angels have a ton of them too. Other than Mike Trout, can Albert Pujols stay healthy? Will Andrelton Simmons hit? The rotation has questions with C.J. Wilson’s injury and Jered Weaver’s velocity. Look for Kole Calhoun to increase his role in the Angels attack.. . . Los Angeles Angels. 15. team

team. 14. The Sox went shopping this off-season. David Price was added to the top of the rotation, but what about the rest of it? A lot of questions there. Craig Kimbrel and Carson Smith were added to the bullpen, but Smith is already hurt. Can Hanley Ramirez play first? Can Pablo Sandoval play third anymore? By the end of the year, Travis Shaw will be a full-time starter at some position.. . . Boston Red Sox. 14

. . Washington Nationals. 12. team. 90. The Nationals ended up being a colossal chemistry failure last season. In comes Dusty Baker to replace Matt Williams. The team rebuilt their bullpen with trades and signings for Oliver Perez and Shawn Kelley. They added Daniel Murphy in the infield and they still have Bryce Harper. Michael Taylor will be starting for them in the outfield by the All-Star break.

team. 43. The Yankees didn’t delve into the free agent pool this off-season, but they added Aroldis Chapman to an already loaded bullpen and then added Starlin Castro to the infield. Can Mark Teixeira, Alex Rodriguez and Jacoby Ellsbury stay healthy? If they can’t it may be a long year in the Bronx. Look for Michael Pineda to remain healthy all year and make the All-Star team.. . . New York Yankees. 11

Pittsburgh Pirates. 10. team. 4. The Pirates really have to ask themselves about what might have been the past two seasons after being eliminated in the Wild Card game the last two seasons. The Pirates still have a strong core with Andrew McCutchen, Starling Marte and Jung Ho Kang once he returns. What will the Pirates get out of their rotation after Gerit Cole? Look for Tyler Glasnow to emerge during the season.. .

9. team. 33. The Cardinals may have lost some talent to the division rival Cubs, but it doesn’t mean they won’t be any good. They added Mike Leake to replace John Lackey. Randal Grichuk and Steven Piscotty will get more playing time in the outfield with Jon Jay and Jason Heyward gone now. The Cardinals are a machine and Kolten Wang will be an All-Star this year.. . . St. Louis Cardinals

8. team. 71. The Dodgers had a rough off-season, losing Zack Greinke and already being down three starting pitchers and Andre Ethier. They still have Clayton Kershaw. Corey Seager will play in his first full season. What will Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir bring to the rotation? One prospect to watch? Pitcher Zach Lee. He’ll be in the rotation by June.. . . Los Angeles Dodgers

7. team. 126. Texas melted down during their series with the Toronto Blue Jays, but this team should be back again in 2016. Yu Darvish will be back in May to help the rotation. The team added Ian Desmond on offense and still has guys like Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland on offense. Ryan Rua will get plenty of at-bats at multiple positions and be a power threat.. . . Texas Rangers

. . Houston Astros. 6. team. 135. The team of the future arrived last season. Carlos Correa won rookie of the year and looks like A-Rod 2.0. They still have more prospects coming. They added Ken Giles to the bullpen to give them a young power arm at the end. If they have to get another starter at the deadline, they can do that too. A.J. Reed will be at first at some point for this club and all he’ll do is continue to hit like he has in the minors.

team. 39. They may have lost David Price, but they get Marcus Stroman for a full season. Make no mistake, this team is built on power. Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista and Troy Tulowitzki all have injury concerns, but when healthy, combining with MVP Josh Donalson is a scary lineup. Justin Smoak is finally going to be the player people thought when he was a high draft pick.. . . Toronto Blue Jays. 5

40. Well, it’s an even season so we all know what that means. Death, taxes and the San Francisco Giants winning the World Series. The Giants added Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to team with Madison Bumgarner and added Denard Span to the top of the lineup. Be prepared to see Brandon Belt continue to improve and maybe sniff the All-Star team.. . . San Francisco Giants. 4. team

team. 9. The Cubs are the sexy pick to break the curse and win the World Series. They have a ton of talent and added Jason Heyward and Ben Zobrist to an already loaded lineup. They added John Lackey to a rotation including Jon Lester and Jake Arrieta. They even had Dexter Fowler fall back into their lap. Jorge Soler will crack his way into the Cubs everyday lineup.. . . Chicago Cubs. 3

No one expected the Mets to reach the World Series, now they have the target on their backs and with good reason. The Mets have the four horsemen in the rotation and have Zack Wheeler coming back. They’ll have Yoenis Cespedes for a full season and added Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera up the middle. Michael Conforto will become one of the top young outfielders in the game.. . . New York Mets. 2. team. 3

7. The champs are number one, because well, they are the champs until they are knocked out. They added Ian Kennedy to the rotation and the hope is with former pitching coach Dave Eiland he can return to form. Their core remains intact as they look to make another run. Reymond Fuentes has had a great spring and that could continue this year.. . . Kansas City Royals. 1. team