Ranking baseball's best fifteen teams, along with analysis of each team, and whether or not they are a World Series contender going into the 2020 season.
World Series Contenders:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers dominated the regular season last year, and traded for Mookie Betts in the off season. They are the team to beat in the MLB, and it is World Series or bust for LA.
2. New York Yankees: The Yankees were the second best team in the American League despite playing much of last year without many of their star players. Now they have Gerrit Cole leading their staff. Watch out.
3. Houston Astros: Yes, the Astros cheating scandal has come to light, and yes, they lost Gerrit Cole, but this team had the best regular season record in the MLB last year, and were one game away from going back to back World Series championships.
5. Atlanta Braves: The Braves are young and dangerous. Ronald Acuña Jr. is an MVP threat, and Freddie Freeman is still one of the most well rounded players in baseball. The Nats may have won the World Series, but this is the team to beat in the NL East.
4. Minnesota Twins: The Twins smashed the all time home run record by a team, and dominated the AL Central last year. Now they have added Josh Donaldson at third base. They are definitely a World Series contender.
6. Tampa Bay Rays: Despite the incredibly low payroll, the Rays will be legitimate contenders in the 2020 season. They have one of the best pitching rotations in the game, and will go as far as that group carries them.
7. Washington Nationals: It might seem crazy that the defending champs are this low, but they are in a tough division, and lost superstar Anthony Rendon. They seem to have fallen off the radar a little, but they still have the talent to contend.
Playoff Teams/On the Bubble:
8. Oakland Athletics: Oakland just might surprise a lot of people in 2020. They have a young lineup that will only keep getting better. Marcus Semien, Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, and Ramon Laureano make up a very strong core.
9. St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals reached the NLCS last year, and have vitrually the exact same roster for the 2020 season. I have no doubt that they will regress, but in a wide open NL Central, they could still be good enough to win the division.
10. Cleveland Indians: The competition is finally tough in the AL Central, and Cleveland didn't really do anything this offseason to help them. While saying that though, they did win 93 games last year, and the decision to keep Francisco Lindor was huge.
11. Chicago Cubs: The Cubs core group is absolutely strong enough to be successful, but it was their depth that let them down last season. They have talent, but inactivity in the offseason might come to hurt Chicago.
12. Philadelphia Phillies: Expectations were high for the Phillies going into last season, which led to bitter disappointment. They failed to finish above .500, never mind make the playoffs. Expect them to be more in the playoff hunt in 2020.
13. New York Mets: The Mets are stuck in a tough division, but they have more talent than they've had in a while both in terms of batting and pitching. Let's be honest though, it's the Mets.
14. Cincinnati Reds: For a team that won just 75 games last year, the Reds are looking pretty dangerous. Their pitching was already really good, so the club went out and made a bunch of moves to boost their offense. They should contend in the NL Central.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks: I expect the Diamondbacks to be very competitive in the wild card race. They got better in a lot of ways in signing Madison Bumgarner, and Cole Calhoun, while also trading for Ketel Marté