ESPN analysts Jim Bowden, Buster Olney and Keith Law ranked all 30 Major League teams according to strength of their Major League roster, quality of the farm system, financial strength, management and mobility of contracts and aggregated the scores to come up with the latest edition of their Future Power Rankings (ESPN Insider required and recommended). The Red Sox currently top the list based on their strong Major League and minor league rosters as well as the fact that they've committed just under $14MM to the 2016 season currently, giving them plenty of long-term flexibility.
Here's more on the AL East…
- Grantland's Jonah Keri looks at the Red Sox' bright future and writes that the team is essentially playing "moneyball" but doing so while also being able to outspend their opposition. Writes Keri: The Red Sox have begun combining their substantial resources with the obsessive advantage-seeking mind-set of a small-revenue club, and in so doing have set themselves up to vie for championships in 2014 and beyond." Keri examines Boston's innovative approaches in four main areas: health, platoons, shifts and prospects.
- Entering camp, Ricky Romero didn't seem to be a legitimate candidate for the Blue Jays' rotation, writes MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. However, Chisolm says that Romero's strong early performance has caught the attention of the club, and he's shown some flashes of the pitcher he used to be prior to his unexpected collapse. At this point, Romero's strong Spring Training has him in the mix for a spot in the rotation. Any form of resurrection for Romero would be excellent news for the Jays, as the left-hander is still guaranteed $15.6MM through 2015.
- Orioles top prospect Kevin Gausman is hoping to force the team's hand and work his way into the rotation out of Spring Training, but that probably won't happen, writes MLB.com's Britt Ghiroli. Gausman has added 12 to 15 pounds of muscle, cleaned up his delivery and begun wearing glasses while pitching, and the early results have looked good.
- MLB.com's Bryan Hoch reports that the Yankees are planning to give Alfonso Soriano a look at first base to improve his versatility, but there's been no talk of him seeing any time at second base.
Would Gausman for Nick Franklin be a bad trade? The O’s want Franklin and the Mariners need pitching. I dont know if Gausman is under team control or not.
Gausman is under control for six years. The Orioles wouldn’t be interested in that at all.
It’s not just Gausman being under control for 6 more years. Even though Franklin is under control for 5 more years? Gausman still has top of the rotation potential, Franklin, as good as he could end up, you don’t trade as talented of a SP prospect away like this. Gausman isn’t some Trevor Bauer type here who is having “other” issues with his game.
I just dont see it with them having schoop right there. If they were completely bare at that position i could maybe see it and it would still be a maybe because you can never have enough pitching.
The M’s would have to add another solid prospect or two to sweeten that deal enough to make it reasonable.
A young, cost-controlled, high-end pitching prospect like Gausman is worth his weight in gold nowadays with all this money flowing around.
my guess if the orioles are serious about trading for franklin they are trying to get him for players like norris, britton, and other players without options. I dont think trading their 1st or 2nd best prospect is what they are looking to do
I was wondering why you were asking this, I didn’t see the Orioles were interested. As for the trade for Gausman, I can’t see that either.
We didn’t draft him #4 just to trade him.
Anyway, I would consider signing Stephen Drew and playing him at second before I would consider any big time trade.
ESPN’s “future rankings” are very similar to their current rankings
Damn insider. Does anyone know where the Cubs ranked? The future is bright and they definitely have financial muscle, but their current roster is a tad bit lacking.
7th.
For those of us that don’t have insider just follow the link, you can’t read article, but can watch the video. They tell u top 10, and bottom 5, and several others in between.
Ranked 7th but expected to lose 90+ games this year. Need pitching/pitching prospects
what about Os
14th
It’s Olney, Bowden and Law… I doubt there is a retrospective on how wrong they are.
Not sure if the deal is still available, but I was able to get Insider for ONE dollar for a whole year. 52 issues of the magazine and Insider for just a buck for an entire year. I’d say it’s worth it.
If…and that’s a big if Romero can find his way back and even manage an ERA between 4-4.5 from the 5 spot, that will be a free agent acquisition in itself, and probably would have been the range Santana would have put up (and for $6 mill less). However, I think he still needs to start some games in AAA before even considering this. He’s definitely on the right track back, but the walk rate is still an issue.
If some how Ricky becomes his former self there is a baseball god in this world. I would shed such a big tear and scream out loud the waiting is finally over!!! Ricky’s back!!!!!!!! The first time I became a fan of Blue Jays was in 2010 when I opened my TV and saw Romero pitch against the Rays. He had 3 players at the plate, and had 3 walks and 2 strikes with 0 outs and he miraculously threw another strike, and 6 strikes in a row and gave 0 runs in that inning and after that I became a fan of Romero and the Jays.
In 4 full MLB seasons, he’s had an ERA in the 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s…must mean we’ll get a 1 or 6 this year lol
It would be over the moon if he gave us an ERA in the 2s. One can dream but this is a great news for the Jays.
Don’t see the 2’s. He way outlucked his talent level in 2011. He was a solid pitcher, but I would never expect him to repeat that cy young caliber year ever again even if he regains form.
I really disagree with ESPN. I can see that Cubs future looks bright, and the team should have money to carry a huge payroll in the future. Disagree with the Royals though being so high. You know the Yankees are going to be one of the top 10 teams for the next 5 years, so no point putting the Mets ahead of them.
People are piling on the Marlins, but I really wouldn’t put them dead last. They understood that they weren’t ready and trade for prospects. I’d take that gameplan a whole lot better than a team like the Phillies or Mariners, that is putting everything into making a .500 team.
I agree with you… having the Royals so high but especially the Marlins so low makes zero sense. Loria may be a problem but their system is stacked and they have two legit superstars in Fernandez and Stanton. While the MLB club isn’t very good I could see the Marlins finishing ahead of the Phillies this year.
The deep pockets of the Yankees are way undervalued.
But those pockets have spent a lot. Too much. In a poor free agent year. A not well-rounded catcher. Injury prone pieces in field. Aged with best years behind. Fingers are crossed there for those and their big Japanese pitching investment. Too much risk.
Marlins have some nice pieces including several young pitchers.
I know it’s not a sure thing but it’s probably about a 50/50 coin flip that the Mets get Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard up and running at some poin in the next 2 years which could be downright scary. They have tons of other young pitching as well. They are stacked with arms at all levels of the minor leagues and have a very smart front office. It’s a shame they have the owners they do.
If Romero picks up and plays like he did 2 years ago, he’ll become a very solid 4th pitcher in the Jays rotation
would be a great story for Romero to make the starting lineup. JAYS certainly need a break and maybe he’s the break they’ve been looking for all winter
Despite the excitement among Jays’ fans, Mr. Law has very little good to say about Ricky Romero. It’s probably best not to sit around and hope for a return-to-form, a la Scott Kazmir. If it happens, great, but…
Mr. Law saw Ricky’s first outing of spring which was awful, where he walked 3 in an inning of work. Since then, he’s struck out 6 and walked 2 in 6 innings pitched. The ball/strike ratio has been good too, according to the Jays beat guys.
Gotta be worried of you’re counting on Romero to step up this year… Yankees reloaded with Tanaka. Jays reloaded with…. Ricky ?
Not counting on him, but it could be a nice surprise if he’s able to rebound to the guy that, while he outpitched his peripherals, put up a 2.92 ERA in 2011 in the AL East.
doesn’t look like he made the team
Darn, was rooting for him.
Gausman has added 12 to 15 pounds of muscle, cleaned up his delivery and
begun wearing glasses while pitching, and the early results have looked
good.
Well, you gotta look good to feel good in order to pitch good! =P
It’s all about your sense of style when you’re on the mound!
Lastly, it’s good to read that Romero found himself again.
Always appreciate strong competition!
over/under soriano makes 25 errors playing 1st base. I guess that would spell texeria on the dl for most of the season.
In seven innings, Romero has walked five and stuck out six. Granted he has a low ERA, but how is that a strong performance?
Strong relative to last year would have been a more accurate statement
Which would mean “poor performance” in comparison to everyone else.
He was painting corners like the old Ricky, so it’s more than “relative to last year”. Problem was between his ears, not physical. Observers in Florida say he looks like Ricky that signed big contract. In an interview he seemed loose and talked of issues being in past. So that’s a good start. Trick is moving him onto roster….
He walked 3 in his first inning of work, and has been quite good since. 2 walks in 6IP beyond that.
Here’s the order all
1 – Red Sox
2- Cardinals
3- Dodgers
4- Rangers
5- Pirates
6- Nationals
7- Cubs
8- Tigers
9- Braves
10 – Royals
11- Mets
12 – Rays
13 – Yankees
14 – Orioles
15 – Reds
16- A’s
17 – Astros
18 – Padres
19- Giants
20 – DBacks
21 – Indians
22- Blue Jays
23 – Twins
24 – Angels
25 – Rockies
26 – White Sox
27 – Phillies
28 – Mariners
29 – Brewers
30 – Marlins
I am Very very surprised the Mariners are ranked that low
Agreed. I’d put them at 18 on that list.
The M’s pitching is hurting right now. Maybe that’s why?
Well the keyword you said is right now. I’m sure it will be better next year. The Cubs who actually are not very strong in pitching (both majors and minors), are ranked 7th
And their major league team is pretty bad with many of the key contributors like Schierholtz going to leave soon and long term guys like Castro doing poorly. I’m going to guess there is a lot of Theo worship.
That surprised me along with the Twins and Marlins rankings. Loria casts a big shadow on that franchise but there is still plenty of talent.
Talent that doesn’t last long on that team. I’m not surprised the Marlins are ranked last.
Interesting note – Only 2 players in their franchise history (Luis Castillo and Jeff Conine) have ever played 1000 games for the Marlins.
There have been only 9 players who have played 600 games or more with the Marlins in their franchise history.
You’re right. I’m surprised the Twins are ranked that high. ha
Having the 1st AND 3rd prospect in the game to hit along side Joe Mauer is a scary thing. They are too low.
Number 1, Byron Buxton, is thoroughly blocked and played in AA last season, and number 3, Miguel Sano, had Tommy John surgery today.
The Twins have a much-improved pitching staff and an excellent bullpen, but barring some great fortune, they will have trouble scoring runs this year. For example, who is their leadoff hitter? Also, other than Mauer, who can be counted on in this lineup to produce runs?
The rankings were for the next five years. This “future” ranking says the Twins are going to in about the same position as they were last year over the next five years. If this was just next year I would completely agree with you. Also they figured they Twins are in a far worse position now than the last time they did the rankings.
Wild guess says the Cano signing is what’s working against them. They have him on the payroll for 10 years and he’s already 31. Considering he’d be 25% of their payroll IF they increased their payroll to $100M (Something they haven’t had in 5 years), I’m not surprised that the safe bet is on the Mariners having issues in the future.
Isn’t King Felix making as much if not more?
In my opinion that makes it worse. They have $46M for 2 players on a payroll that has been almost steadily cut over the last 5 years. Even if they up their salary they won’t be a very flexible team payroll-wise for a while.
Correct. 22-27m per now and 2019.
Nobody else tho is owed much of anything. Only real issue coming up is Iwakuma. They have a 7m team option for 2015, but really should try to get him locked up for longer.
For the Red Sox, I think that there was some luck involved last year as well.
Starting with the 2012 trade with the Dodgers that freed up money for
free agents, and a return to health and/or effectiveness of Lackey,
Ellsbury, Papi and Lester. On the free agent front, there were many
holes to be filled and pretty much everyone of Cheringtons picks worked out
better than expected, Some of that was skill in choosing the right
players, but for all 7 free agents to meet exceed projections there has
to be some luck They also enjoyed a year where the Yankees were off due
to injuries, and capitalized by going 6-13.
As for the training and physical therapists being responsible for the lack of significant injuries instead of simple regression I will be more convinced if they have another year like last year on the health front. Buchholz, Bailey and Hanrahan show there are always going to be injuries that will keep players out for
long periods, regardless of how good the medical care is.
The farm system appears very strong now after a good year, but it was only
last year that the Yankees were ranked above the Red Sox system, which
just shows how volatile the rankings can be year to year.
Well put on a variety of points.
Better lucky the good. There is always luck involved.
I don’t understand why the O’s would want Franklin unless the Mariners don’t want much back.
That is my only thought. Unless they feel that their depth with Gaussman is enough
Why haven’t the Jays traded for Franklin ? They are hopeless at 2B.