MLB: Yankees top power rankings
1. New York Yankees (Projected AL East winner): The Yankees, who reached the ALCS last year, have added ace Gerrit Cole (20-5, 2.50 ERA) to a team already full of stars like Aaron Judge (27 HR, 75 RBI), who will be looking to improve on an injury-riddled year. We aren't sure when the season will begin but we had the Yankees projected to go 107-55 so we'll say whenever the season does start, New York will win about 66% of their games.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (Projected NL West winner): The Dodgers weren't in the World Series last season for the first time in three years but LA made it clear that they were going all in on this season as they traded for Mookie Betts (29 HR, 80 RBI) in the offseason. Clayton Kershaw (16-5, 3.03 ERA) is back and should be fully healthy. A team that won 106 games last season will probably do about the same. We say they win about 65% of their outings.
3. Atlanta Braves (Projected NL East winner): The Braves are still young but they've been to the playoffs a couple times now and it's only a matter of time before they break through and reach the World Series. This might be the year with superstar Ronald Acuna (41 HR, 101 RBI) back, with the addition of veteran Cole Hamels (16-5, 3.03 ERA). Atlanta should win about 63.5% of their games, which would be slightly better (+3.6) than last year.
4. Houston Astros (Projected AL West winner): The Astros have had just about as messy of an offseason as you could possibly imagine, following their second World Series trip in the last three years. With the cheating scandal still in the spotlight, it's going to be a trying and strange season for Houston. But honestly, it's hard to say they aren't contenders with proven players like Jose Altuve (31 HR, 74 RBI) and Justin Verlander (21-6, 2.58 ERA).
5. Oakland Athletics (Projected AL West runner-up): The Athletics might be kind of a sleeper team heading into the year but they went 97-65 last season and should be even better with a healthy Khris Davis. Marcus Semien (33 HR, 92 RBI) might compete for AL MVP and we think Sean Manaea (4-0, 1.21 ERA) is going to have a breakout year for Oakland. Either the Athletics or Astros will lose out on the division, but they should both make the playoffs.
Photo Credit: New York Post.
