The Dodgers just won the 2024 World Series — and we’re already looking ahead to next year.
Another MLB season is in the books, and what a ride it was.
The 2024 season had a little bit of everything, from incredible individual performances — Shohei Ohtani’s historic 50/50 campaign, Aaron Judge’s season for the ages and pitching Triple Crowns from Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale — to improbable playoff runs from the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers to a historic World Series clash between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees resulting in the Dodgers’ second title in five years.
Now that the Fall Classic is over, we’re flipping the page to our annual Way-Too-Early Power Rankings. We’re ranking the teams based on where they stand entering the offseason — one in which Juan Soto will be the most-sought-after free agent on the market (and undoubtedly improve the ranking of whichever team lands him). Let’s dive right in.
Final 2024 Power Rankings | Final 2024 regular-season grades
2024 record: 98-64
Final 2024 ranking: 2
Dave Roberts called this his most challenging season as manager, and while the Dodgers did lead the majors with 98 wins, they had to use 17 different starting pitchers to do it — and only two of them reached even 100 innings. Coming off their World Series championship, most key players will return: Teoscar Hernandez and Jack Flaherty are the two main free agents along with reliever Blake Treinen. But Ohtani will be pitching next year and some of the injured starters will return or hopefully pitch more innings. Sure, Mookie Betts, Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman are all in their 30s, and the Dodgers might need a shortstop depending on where Tommy Edman plays, but you know they’ll spend money, whether it’s re-signing Hernandez or maybe signing Willy Adames — or, who knows, even going after Soto.
2024 record: 95-67
Final 2024 ranking: 1
The top of the 2024 standings was more muddled than it has been in years — seven teams won between 91 and 98 games — so it’s no surprise that the top of these rankings is difficult to order. It seems like the Phillies, coming off 95 wins, have the highest floor, since they have almost everybody coming back (relievers Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman are their only notable free agents). Their rotation depth helps, as does Bryce Harper still having the ability to hit like an MVP contender. The obvious concerns: Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos and J.T. Realmuto will all be 32 or older in 2025 and the bench remains a weak spot, despite president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s attempts to upgrade it last season.
2024 record: 93-69
Final 2024 ranking: 4
Can the Padres remain as cohesive for an entire season as they were in the second half of 2024, when they went 43-20 and looked like a World Series favorite entering October? They’ll be without Joe Musgrove, who blew out his elbow in his playoff start and will undergo Tommy John surgery, plus All-Star Jurickson Profar, catcher Kyle Higashioka and reliever Tanner Scott are free agents. Ha-Seong Kim will likely opt out of his $8 million mutual option, so they might need a shortstop (Xander Bogaerts filled in there, but he’s best suited for second base these days). There are holes to fill, but general manager A.J. Preller will be aggressive as always — and Jackson Merrill looks like the next big Padres star.
2024 record: 91-71
Final 2024 ranking: 9
It was an oddly flat ending to the season for the Orioles: 33-33 in the second half and then a sad loss to Kansas City in the wild-card series in which they scored one run in two games.
They have two major free agents to replace: Corbin Burnes (15-9, 2.92 ERA) and Anthony Santander (44 home runs, 102 RBIs, .814 OPS), plus Kyle Bradish will be out after Tommy John surgery. The O’s have the young bats to replace Santander — Heston Kjerstad, Coby Mayo, maybe Sam Basallo in the second half — plus Jackson Holliday and Colton Cowser should be better. And they have an MVP contender to build around in Gunnar Henderson. They’ll need to add a starter to go alongside Grayson Rodriguez and Zach Eflin, but Baltimore comfortably projects as a playoff team based on its offensive foundation.
2024 record: 92-69
Final 2024 ranking: 6
The 2025 Guardians are going to look similar to the team that reached the ALCS: bullpen, defense and Jose Ramirez. As always, they’re going to try to jam a 90-win team into a 70-win payroll. Re-signing Matthew Boyd would be a relatively cheap option for the rotation, but Josh Naylor might be trade bait entering his final season before free agency. The bullpen probably gives the Guardians an 80-win floor, although it will be difficult to repeat 2024’s regular-season performance. If top prospects Travis Bazzana and Chase DeLauter click, they could make an impact in the second half, and since Cleveland has the youngest group of position players in the majors, you can pencil in some general improvement across the board for the lineup.
2024 record: 89-73
Final 2024 ranking: 8
It was always going to be a herculean task to repeat the improbable 2023 run to the World Series, and though Arizona was a better team in 2024, it missed the playoffs by virtue of losing the tiebreaker to the Mets and Braves. It doesn’t get any more frustrating than that.
The Diamondbacks have a few key contract situations in limbo: club options on Eugenio Suarez ($15 million) and Merrill Kelly ($7 million) that they’ll pick up and a mutual option on Joc Pederson ($14 million) that is a tougher decision. Jordan Montgomery has a $22.5 million player option coming off a 6.23 ERA — it’s hard to see him turning that down. The always reliable Christian Walker is a free agent and he’ll be in demand (maybe Pavin Smith takes over at first). Assuming Montgomery returns, getting more from him and Eduardo Rodriguez (5.04 ERA in 10 starts) will be a key to returning to the postseason.
2024 record: 89-73
Final 2024 ranking: 11
The easy assumption is that the Braves will bounce back in 2025 — closer to their 104 wins of 2023 than the 89 of 2024. After all, they’ll have Ronald Acuña Jr. back, for starters. Except when he returned from knee surgery in 2022, it wasn’t until the next year that he was back at full strength (and he might sit out the first month of 2025 anyway). He also wasn’t anything special before his injury in 2024: .716 OPS in 49 games.
But the biggest issue here: Max Fried is a free agent and not guaranteed to return as the Braves failed to extend him despite attempts to do so. So is Charlie Morton, although he’s more likely to return. They also had offensive holes at shortstop and left field, and Sean Murphy hasn’t hit since the first half of 2023. Chris Sale’s season-ending health issues are a red flag for 2025 — and he just pitched his most innings since 2017. Atlanta will get Spencer Strider back at some point and the offense should be better, but regression from the bullpen and Reynaldo Lopez (1.99 ERA) should also be expected.
2024 record: 83-79
Final 2024 ranking: 16
The Cubs had a second straight disappointing season, this time under new manager Craig Counsell. Unfortunately, it was sort of the same drill: They once again underperformed their Pythagorean record (by seven wins in 2023 and five wins in 2024). The biggest question heading into the offseason is whether Cody Bellinger will exercise his $27.5 million player option. Chicago won’t be heartbroken if he does decide to opt out. Porter Hodge looks like a late-game solution in the bullpen, and the Cubs have a deep farm system with young players such as infielder Matt Shaw and outfielder Kevin Alcantara ready to contribute to the 2025 team. What they really need is a big bat for the middle of the lineup. If Bellinger does opt out, that’s more cash to throw Soto’s way.
2024 record: 94-68
Final 2024 ranking: 3
This might be a generous ranking. Without Soto, the Yankees don’t look all that different from the 2023 Yankees, who won 82 games and missed the playoffs. Yes, they will be the favorites to re-sign him, but it’s no guarantee that owner Hal Steinbrenner will give Soto the $500 million it might take — not when Judge is under a $360 million contract. The rotation is the projected strength, although Gerrit Cole’s elbow injury early in the 2024 season and decline in swing-and-miss stuff is a concern. There are holes at first base and second base (Gleyber Torres is also a free agent), and key relievers Clay Holmes and Tommy Kahnle are also free agents. The offseason rests on signing Soto — and if that doesn’t happen, it will be fascinating to see how the Yankees pivot.
2024 record: 81-81
Final 2024 ranking: 17
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The Red Sox are sitting pretty, with an exciting young core led by Jarren Duran — who had a breakout season in 2024 and was fourth in the majors with 83 extra-base hits — and an impressive group of position player prospects all ready to hit the majors at some point in 2025 in Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer and Kyle Teel, who were all in the top 55 of ESPN Kiley McDaniel’s midseason prospects update.
