Power Ranking Each MLB Team's Best Current Cap

Every year, it seems like at least one team modifies their logo at least a little bit. This year, we have had several changes, with the Marlins moving to Miami and the Blue Jays and Orioles reverting to more classic logos.

While several teams have changed their logos, there are those teams who have kept the same logo over time. The Yankees, Tigers, Phillies and others have had virtually the same caps for as long as one can remember.

Here are the best caps from each major league squad for the 2012 season, ranked from worst to best.

30. Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins had the ability to make a splash. They changed their name, they got a new stadium and they were getting a new logo and cap as well. As a result, my expectations were rather high.

Instead, we get this. There are too many colors thrown together in the M, and the Marlin popping out of the M doesn't really work. With the black cap it's not too bad, but it's actually painful to look at with the alternate orange road cap.

29. San Diego Padres

While I see what they were doing with the letters in the Padres cap, this is an example of something that almost worked. The sandy color works since it's not one seen elsewhere, and close up it looks nice.

From far away, where you look at caps from, the letters blend together and it creates a mess on the cap. If the outline were harsher, it would lose the feel the cap gives off, so it's a no-win situation here.

28. Colorado Rockies

I'm entirely fine with purple used for team colors. The NFL's Baltimore Ravens used it very well, and the green-purple combination the Arizona Diamondbacks tried out, while washed out somewhat, worked as well.

The reason the cap is ranked low is due to the way the CR is put on the cap. The purple is fine, but instead of a seamless flow, like the Giants or Dodgers caps, only certain parts of the letters have purple, and it looks bad as a result.

27. Baltimore Orioles

While I like the occasional change in logos, and while I'm always a fan of throwbacks, I definitely liked the Oriole from last year and prior better.

The orange and black combination works somewhat (far better than the three-toned alternate cap), but when compared to the other caps, it feels extremely out of place.

26. Minnesota Twins

This is one of those rankings I might get a lot of flack for. On the one hand, the logo is somewhat classy, and fits the cap well.

That being said, having the red C thrown in doesn't feel right, seeing as how the C is overused in caps as it is by teams that actually have a C in their city name. I get that it stands for Twin Cities and is the logo they've always had, but I've never been a fan of it.

25. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Unlike their crosstown rivals, who place quite high on this list, the Angels have a cap that feels washed out at best. Close up, the halo is a nice touch, and it actually doesn't look too bad.

Again, from far away, the double outline is the reason that the A is clear. The red and red, even with the outlines, doesn't feel right.

24. Houston Astros

When it comes to logos, the cap has always been the Astros' weak spot. The color combination is one that's difficult to pull off, and in the case of the home and road caps, it doesn't quite work.

I actually think the outline is what hurts it. The open star is nice, but feels overly superimposed. Either changing the stitching to a beige or removing the outline entirely would make the cap look far better.

23. Oakland Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have had the same A's logo forever, and their two-toned color scheme on the home is far from anything else that we see in Major League Baseball.

I'm fine with the differences, but the end product is a cap that doesn't work. Their road cap is an improvement, but in their case I would take out the 's. The green cap with the gold A would actually look great.

22. Cleveland Indians

The Indians have done a lot of tinkering with their cap recently, and I think it will be a while yet before they get it right. While I'm fine with Chief Wahoo and the two-toned cap myself, that's more due to growing up with it, as from an objective point of view it doesn't look that good.

They are now moving to caps with a more classic C, and had a cursive I for a couple years. I think the latter could have worked out had they continued with the modifications, but for now, let's at least shrink the far too big outline on Chief Wahoo.

21. Arizona Diamondbacks

The Diamondbacks have a cap that is very difficult to rate. On the one hand, close up it looks great, with the snake making the D and all the colors coming together.

From far away, however, the dark red used and the gold outline actually causes everything to blend together somewhat, and the snake looks neither like a snake nor a D, losing the effect it was trying to go for.

20. Seattle Mariners

I actually love the logo that the Seattle Mariners use in general. It looks good on SportsCenter, as well as great on the jerseys.

When it comes to the cap, however, something gets lost in translation, and instead it just feels like an S getting blocked. It's a major improvement over their original logo, however, and even if it doesn't work on the cap, it works elsewhere.

19. Philadelphia Phillies

If I had to use one word for the Philadelphia Phillies cap, I would call it underwhelming. It uses the same formula as many caps that rank high on the list, though, so why does it not feel right?

The red cap with white P is simple enough, and an improvement over the first logo. Still, they used the maroon color for decades, and it suddenly changing feels off, even if it would be difficult to make a cap work with maroon.

18. Atlanta Braves

It seems like the things that bother me about the Braves cap are the same things I like about it. The two-toned cap isn't ideal, but given the logo above it works.

An A on the dark cap might be overly simplistic, but at the same time, though, there's enough going on with the axe in the A that it's almost too much. The Braves logo is definitely a love it or hate it one, and one has to think it's better than the alternative, such as the old-school logo.

17. Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays logo is certainly deserving of its spot right in the middle of the pack. After doing perhaps too much originally, such adding a ray into the cap, when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays became the Tampa Bay Rays, their logo suddenly became downplayed.

Now, it's simply a dark cap with light lettering, the only hint of color coming from the light blue shadow. It's clean and safe, and it's one I see them holding on to for a long time.

16. Milwaukee Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers cap is quite nice to begin with. The hint of gold with the white and navy makes it look nice, and the grain on the bottom gives it the right amount of flair.

That being said, it almost tried to do too much. I'm not sure if the loop is needed in the M, for example. Still, they've had downplayed caps in the past, and they didn't look right, so this is entirely serviceable.

15. Washington Nationals

The Washington Nationals just started in 2005, and came onto the scene with a cap that taps into the past, and for the most part works.

The red cap with white lettering is simple, and while many do it, the cursive W is a nice touch. It's simple, and with most caps using either very classic or very modern fonts, this one seems to fit nicely right in the middle.

14. Toronto Blue Jays

The new Blue Jays logo, a throwback to the original, is certainly going to be divisive, with some loving it and others hating it. Personally, I love it.

The blue jay seems right at home on the blue cap, and the red maple leaf is a nice touch. The only iffy part would be having four colors right in the middle of the cap, which almost seems like too much. The Blue Jays are able to pull it off, though.

13. Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers have a solid cap that seems to embody the team, and they are a team that seems to only make improvements to their cap.

The white T jumps out thanks to a rec shadow and a blue cap, making it look nice. There's nothing overly amazing about it, but it works, and there's not much to modify further.

12. New York Mets

The Mets seem to be doing quite a bit of tinkering with the cap lately. They moved to a black one with almost no orange at one point, and could be adding an outline this year to the lettering.

Meanwhile, the orange curved lettering on the blue cap that they've had since the beginning is the same one they should stick with. It doesn't need to be tinkered with; if they need to find something to tinker, they can fix the team itself.

11. Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox are the rare team that uses their team name in the cap, rather than going for a white C on a black cap, which would likely not work.

The Sox on the black cap, however, works very well. Despite the fact that it's a relatively new cap, only about 20 years old, it feels timeless, like it could have been the White Sox cap since their creation.

10. Kansas City Royals

Admittedly, I'm a big fan of the Royals cap. They may not have the best teams, but they know how to make a classy cap.

They've used the same logo since their creation, and it's easy to see why. The blue cap with the thin white lettering gives it that throwback feel while letting it seem right at home in the 21st century.

9. St. Louis Cardinals

I'm not a fan of the two-toned caps, nor am I a fan of going overboard with the logo that's added on to the cap. Despite all this, the Cardinals still manage to make a great-looking cap.

The cardinal on the cap actually looks a lot better than what they used to have, and for them, it fits. It's tough to explain, since if you tried this with nearly any other team it would backfire, but the Cardinals can take their logo and make a great cap out of it.

8. Chicago Cubs

The classic red C on the blue cap has been a Cubs staple. Even the white outline, which I've noted I'm not a fan of, works great here.

The Cubs have not messed with the logo at all either, sans actually putting a cub on the cap for a short time, which was overkill. Without it, it's simple and works well.

7. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates may have not had a good team for a long time, but on the plus side, they have always had one of the best caps in the majors.

The Pittsburgh black and gold looks quite classy on the cap, and since the logo has changed very little to begin with, it thankfully means that they have messed very little with it.

6. San Francisco Giants

This is a cap that came very close to being near the bottom of the ranks. The way the letters are added to the cap makes an outline impossible, and it has to look just right so that people can tell the logo is an SF.

Does it work? Absolutely. Originally, the S and F didn't have so many sharp corners added in, and it felt washed out, not unlike the Padres logo mentioned earlier. Instead, it works in a way that's tough to explain, since other caps have tried and failed where the Giants succeed.

5. Cincinnati Reds

The Reds cap logo is one that has gotten better over time. It went from looking like it belonged to the Indians or Cubs to looking nice. The most recent change, a tweak in the late 1990s, bumps their cap to the top five.

The red cap with the simple white C is clean, and if anything, I'm surprised it took the Reds this long to pin the cap down.

4. Los Angeles Dodgers

As one may expect, the top-tier of caps is, in fact, simply letters on a monotone cap. That's because it works, and sometimes simplicity is the best.

Take the Dodgers cap, the same one they've had since moving to Los Angeles. The blue cap with white lettering is crisp and classy, and doesn't need anything added to it.

3. Boston Red Sox

The highest ranked one to have an outline for the letter, the Boston cap is certainly classy. Adding the B to their caps was a relatively recent development, especially compared to the first two teams, but it definitely looks great.

2. Detroit Tigers

I nearly put this cap first due to its lengthy history, but due to the iconic nature of the first logo, I could not do it. The Tigers have used the classic D on their caps longer than anyone else has used a logo on their cap.

I like the orange D slightly better as it pops more, but the classy white D works just as well, and would be worth putting second as well.

1. New York Yankees

The Yankees logo is iconic beyond even the world of baseball. It makes the cap look crisp, classy and it needs no sprucing up. It says something when you can use the same cap with any of the uniform combinations and it works perfectly.