MLB Power Rankings: Guardians dash, Yankees mash, Pirates crash
By Tim Boyle
20) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago Cubs
Cheer up, Chicago Cubs fans. Things could be worse. Unless you’ve yet to reach the second grade, at least the Cubs have won in your lifetime.
The Cubs were well out of contention early on this year which gave them room to try a few things out. Shortstop Nico Hoerner has been a brilliant for them and could even have the team thinking twice about spending big at the position with a free agent. The Cubs are, surprisingly, situation pretty well for next year. They just need to make a few good additions.
19) MLB Power Rankings: Arizona Diamondbacks
It’s the Zac Gallen Show out in the desert this year. The Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff was one of the bright spots of the team. Even if Madison Bumgarner did eventually crash and Zach Davies has a ton of no-decisions, there was a lot to enjoy from the mound.
At the plate was a little different but those young players are getting opportunities to hit. The Diamondbacks should be far more competitive in 2023.
18) MLB Power Rankings: Boston Red Sox
This doesn’t seem like it will be a good year in Beantown for sports—at least when it comes to closing things out. The Boston Red Sox were no exception. They fought back after a slow start only to crash shortly after a strange trade deadline.
The Red Sox will have major decisions to make in the offseason. They could go through some major changes highlighted by letting Xander Bogaerts leave. Or they could come back with a similar roster and add to the core. Either way works. There’s no rebuild in the future. The 2022 season is just a lost campaign.
17) MLB Power Rankings: Minnesota Twins
Baseball’s worst collapse of 2022 belongs to the Minnesota Twins. Oof! That hurts. The American League Central was theirs to take. What went so wrong?
The Twins may have simply been overachieving. Sure, injuries played a role. Overall, this doesn’t appear to be a baseball team with a playoff pedigree. There wasn’t enough run production. Blaming injuries isn’t fair. They have nine players who topped 100 games played. The bigger issue might have been not upgrading the offense more midseason.
16) MLB Power Rankings: San Francisco Giants
The 2022 collapse of the San Francisco Giants wasn’t nearly as major as the one the Twins went through. They were never a serious contender for the division and seemed only capable of taking advantage of the third wild card spot. During their days as a playoff hopeful, there was always a question if they had enough on the roster.
Clearly, they didn’t. It has been months since the Giants were a team we should take seriously. They can still beat good teams. What they can’t do is rip off enough wins consistently. Expect them to make a full effort to land Aaron Judge in the offseason.