Fingers said that the 2021 MLB season will start on time – and that we will be able to see some live baseball at the stadium this year.
While we wait, Buster Olney concludes his annual ranking of the top 10 players in each position next season – based on the contributions of industry evaluators – with a look at the complete teams. With more moves to make, which team is number 1 (and 2 … and 3 …) on paper right now?
teams
Many of the traditional baseball rivalries are latent. The Red Sox are reorganizing, and the Yankees, untouched by Boston, have not yet made any aggressive moves this winter. The puppies reduced their salary and changed their best starter, Yu Darvish, and the cardinals’ most important decision was the refusal of the option for Gold Glove’s base colleague Kolten Wong. The Giants are at least a few years away from challenging the Dodgers. Astros and Athletics are facing the departure of some of the best players – Oakland seems to lose Liam Hendriks, while George Springer seems certain to leave Astros.
In this vacuum, we now have the Dodgers and San Diego Padres, clubs that live in the same division, play in stadiums 125 miles away and have the best talent collections – and here’s the bonus: When they’re on the field, at least, these two teams don’t seem to like it very much. The Dodgers have won the Western National League in eight consecutive seasons, and the parents, after catching Darvish and Blake Snell, are directly watching LA San Diego want what the Dodgers have.
As a senior official said the other day, the Dodgers are clearly the best team in baseball, but the parents are a second away. Their games will be mandatory next year.
Top 10 baseball teams: