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Power Ranking All 6 MLB Divisions Entering 2023 Season

Brandon Scott

We are officially less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training. As much fun as the holiday season can be, this rivals it as "the most wonderful time of the year."

Teams are mostly set and fans have a decent enough idea of where everyone projects.

The games are not played on paper, which is what makes spring so exciting as action begins to ramp up.

But for now, paper (digital, anyway) is all we've got.

Let's take a look at all six MLB divisions and power rank them based on their offseason moves and most recent track record.

6. AL Central

AP Photo/Abbie Parr

Middle America is where you can find the worst professional baseball right now.

The defending AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians came out of nowhere last year, as one of the youngest teams in baseball taking the division from the favored Chicago White Sox.

Cleveland upgraded by adding Josh Bell and Mike Zunino in free agency. Now, they need sustained performance from all of those young players who stepped up in 2022.

Meanwhile, the White Sox added Andrew Benintendi and Mike Clevinger, while losing franchise icon Jose Abreu to the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in free agency.

If they stay healthy, the White Sox could very well return to their 2021 form. But even that wasn't worth more than two wins in the ALDS.

The Minnesota Twins added Joey Gallo, Kyler Farmer and Christian Vázquez, while also retaining Carlos Correa after a dramatic free agency pursuit.

That doesn't exactly put them on-par with the Astros, New York Yankees or any other AL contender.

Rebuilds continue in Kansas City and Detroit, which would make it shocking if either the Royals or Tigers are competitive.

5. NL Central

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All of what is keeping this division ahead of its American League counterpart is the strength of the St. Louis Cardinals and the Chicago Cubs' quietly impressive offseason.

The Cubs have several notable additions making them a more serious franchise this year: Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger, Trey Mancini and Jameson Taillon. They also retained Drew Smyly in free agency.

This is before we even mention the Milwaukee Brewers, who should compete for the NL Central title once again this year.

The Cardinals, coming off a 93-win season, are the one true contender in this division after replacing future Hall of Fame catcher Yadier Molina with three-time All-Star Willson Contreras.

While there is a valid question of whether St. Louis has done enough to be considered among the league's elite, it still has reigning NL MVP Paul Goldschmidt and MVP contender Nolan Arenado at its corner infield spots, distinguishing it from every other team in the division.

Don't expect much from the Cincinnati Reds or Pittsburgh Pirates, who really bring down the property values in the NL Central, but the top three teams should still be interesting.

4. NL West

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It's a credit to the Los Angeles Dodgers that they could have a fairly dull, uneventful offseason and still be considered one of the better teams in the league.

They barely addressed the holes at shortstop and center field, with Trea Turner's departure in free agency and non-tendering Cody Bellinger. But the strength of the team over the years has been its depth. Don't expect that to change.

The San Diego Padres added Xander Bogaerts to an already stacked lineup with the expected return of Fernando Tatis Jr., who will likely move to the outfield. They also signed Matt Carpenter, who still provides some defensive versatility but is mostly there for his bat.

Meanwhile, Seth Lugo provides San Diego with the pitching depth it had been looking for and will certainly need in a loaded National League.

With all of that, the NL West story of the offseason centers around who the San Francisco Giants pursued but failed to land. It was one of the worst-kept secrets in baseball that San Francisco had eyes on Aaron Judge, a hometown guy who grew up a Giants fan. But it didn't happen.

There was also the near-signing of Carlos Correa until they raised concerns about his surgically repaired ankle from nearly nine years ago, and the deal fell through.

Still, San Francisco spent over $193 million on seven free agents who should raise the team's floor from last year's .500 finish, most notably outfielders Mitch Haniger, Michael Conforto and starting pitchers Sean Manaea and Ross Stripling.

The Arizona Diamondbacks should be more competitive after adding Evan Longoria, Kyle Lewis, Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but they are still firmly behind the other three teams.

The Colorado Rockies should still be one of the three-or-four worst teams in the NL.

3. AL East

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This was the only division last year with four teams to finish above .500 and no team with fewer than 78 wins.

It should be a good group once again, headlined by the New York Yankees, who brought back Aaron Judge on a monster deal and added free agent Carlos Rodón to an already solid rotation.

The AL East is the Yankees' division to lose, but the rest of the teams should be right on their heels.

Toronto added Chris Bassitt to a rotation that already features Alek Manoah, Kevin Gausman and José Berríos, who they expect to have a bounce-back season.

The Blue Jays also traded for Daulton Varsho from the Diamondbacks and signed Kevin Kiermaier in free agency to solidify the outfield defense and add left-handed hitting balance the lineup was sorely lacking.

The model of consistency known as the Tampa Bay Rays signed their largest free agent contract in franchise history, adding pitcher Zach Eflin on a three-year, $40 million deal. If they can keep Wander Franco healthy, this is another dangerous team in the division.

While the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox are clearly a step behind their division rivals, both teams have a chance to be competitive. At the very least, they are better than most division cellar-dwellers.

The Orioles don't have the pitching to match up with the juggernauts, though, and the Red Sox have some holes in their lineup.

But there are no easy outs in the AL East.

2. AL West

Bailey Orr/Texas Rangers/Getty Images

The division with the reigning World Series champion has to be high on the list. Despite losing Justin Verlander in free agency and operating without a general manager this offseason, the Houston Astros' championship squad is largely still intact.

They signed Jose Abreu from the Chicago White Sox to upgrade at first base. Michael Brantley, who was injured during the postseason run, was also retained to help keep the Astros lineup balanced with dangerous left-handed hitters. And Houston's pitching depth was so good, the Astros could afford to let Verlander walk.

This is easily a 90-plus-win team in 2023.

Then consider what the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers are doing to stay relevant. Seattle, after breaking the longest postseason drought across the four major North American pro sports, traded for Teoscar Hernández and Kolten Wong.

The Mariners also brought in veteran A.J. Pollock, who, along with Hernández, should help an offense that was shut out a dozen times last season.

Texas followed up one eventful offseason with another, this time nabbing Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi off the free-agent market. The Rangers traded for Jake Odorizzi and brought back Martín Pérez on a qualifying offer, which solidified the back of their rotation.

They could still use more hitting, but the pitching is elite.

The Los Angeles Angels are difficult to believe in until they prove otherwise, but at least there is immense star power between Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and Anthony Rendon if he stays healthy.

In Oakland, it's hard to tell if they are lucky or unlucky to even have a baseball team.

1. NL East

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Three of the last four NL pennant winners have come from the East.

Aside from the pandemic-shortened season in 2020, the division sent a representative to the World Series every year since 2019, when the Washington Nationals pulled off an improbable seven-game upset of the Astros, in which both teams won every road game and lost every home game.

The Nationals are not in the mix anymore, but the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta certainly are.

The Mets added Justin Verlander to a group that won 101 games last season. They lost Jacob deGrom but replaced him with a guy who won the AL Cy Young Award at age 39, coming off Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for a couple of seasons (Verlander won it the last time he was healthy in 2019, too).

That should play well.

The Phillies, who represented the NL in the World Series last year, added the best free-agent shortstop available in Trea Turner. They also signed former Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker to help fortify the rotation.

Atlanta, which won the World Series in Houston the previous year, had a relatively quiet offseason in comparison to the others. But its coming off a 101-win season of its own and has won this division for the past five seasons.

These three squads are good enough to carry the Miami Marlins and Nationals to make for the best and most compelling division in baseball. After all, all three have a legitimate chance to win the World Series.

   

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