Power Ranking All 30 MLB Franchises over the Past 5 Seasons
Over the past five years in Major League Baseball, five different teams have won a World Series, nine have posted at least one 100-win season and 16 have an overall winning record for that half-decade.
Who ranks where in the 30-team hierarchy for 2019-'23, though?
For the most part, the focus for this exercise is on regular season, and preferably sustained success over the course of the past five years. Winning a division title carries more weight than winning an ALDS or NLDS. Having an overall winning record for those five years counts for a whole lot more than, say, Baltimore winning 101 games in 2023 after being downright terrible from 2019-21.
But, yes, the postseason does factor into our rankings.
Texas and Washington each made the playoffs just once as a wild-card team and would be down in the No. 25 range if they had been immediately eliminated from those postseasons. Because they each won a World Series, though, they were immune from a spot in the bottom 10.
Going on a deep postseason run or two also provided a rankings boost for the Phillies, Padres and Diamondbacks.
However, getting bounced in the NLDS three times in five years didn't hurt the Braves or the Dodgers as much as you might think/hope.
The "Playoffs? You Wanna Talk About Playoffs?" Tier
1 of 10
30. Pittsburgh Pirates (287-421, -780 run differential, no postseason appearances)
Pittsburgh doesn't quite have the worst overall record of the past five years, but it does have the worst run differential by a fairly wide margin. And outside of getting out to a surprisingly hot start this past April, there just has not been anything resembling reason to believe since the end of 2018. The decision to swap Tyler Glasnow, Shane Baz and Austin Meadows for Chris Archer at the 2018 trade deadline certainly didn't help matters.
29. Kansas City Royals (280-428, -657 run differential, no postseason appearances)
The Royals had a great peak in the mid-2010s, even winning the 2016 World Series. But this small-market franchise has been paying the price for chasing that high for perhaps a year or two too long. They do at least have a few budding stars (most notably Bobby Witt Jr.) and have the luxury of playing in the worst division in the majors. Maybe they can start to turn the proverbial corner in 2024.
28. Detroit Tigers (291-414, -696 run differential, no postseason appearances)
Though none of the five teams in this tier has made the postseason in at least five years, at least the Tigers are the one team that appears to be on the mend. With the albatross of Miguel Cabrera's contract no longer weighing them down, they were able to make some solid moves this offseason and should build upon a respectable 78-win campaign in 2023. Still, it has now been seven consecutive losing seasons in Detroit, and we'll believe the Tigers are good again when they're actually good again.
27. Colorado Rockies (298-409, -669 run differential, no postseason appearances)
If we factor in the disastrous Nolan Arenado trade, the equally disastrous decision to not get anything more than a compensatory draft pick in return for losing Trevor Story and giving Kris Bryant a $182 million contract, it sure would be effortless to argue Colorado has been the worst-run franchise of the past half-decade. However, they've managed to marginally out-play the bottom three teams, despite playing in a much, much better division than the Pirates, Royals or Tigers.
26. Los Angeles Angels (321-387, -342 run differential, no postseason appearances)
If you wanted to say that the Halos should actually be in dead last for repeatedly posting a sub-.500 record during a six-year stretch in which they simultaneously employed two of the greatest players in MLB history, I wouldn't argue with you. They absolutely squandered a golden opportunity. They were never outright terrible, though, and in fact have not finished dead last in the AL West since 1999. They've simply perfected the art of underachieving without ever fully tanking. (That is not a compliment. They've been stuck in purgatory for more than a decade.)
The "Occasionally Good" Tier
2 of 10
25. Miami Marlins (308-400, -459 run differential, 2020/2023 Wild Card team)
Both of Miami's postseason appearances were sort of extenuating circumstances in which they didn't even win 52 percent of their games and had by far the worst run differential of any team to make the playoffs that year. But, hey, they did enough and did it twice, which is more than can be said for the five teams at the bottom of the list. With the worst offense* of the past half-decade, though, we can't go any higher than this for the Marlins.
24. Baltimore Orioles (315-393, -454 run differential, 2023 AL East champs)
Fresh off their first 100-win campaign since 1980, the O's are in fantastic shape right now. They just won the AL East, and there's no good reason to assume they couldn't do it again in 2024. But for more than half of this five-year dataset, they were horrific, going 131-253 (.341 winning percentage) from 2019-21. They sure have drafted well, though.
23. Oakland Athletics (329-379, -278 run differential, 2020 AL West champs)
The inverse of the O's, the A's have been an unredeemable dumpster fire over the past two seasons, going 110-214 and getting outscored by 541 runs while quite controversially trying to move the franchise to Las Vegas. If you've forgotten everything from before 2022, they are absolutely dead last in your mind. But they made the playoffs in 2019, won the division in 2020 and finished 10 games above .500 in 2021. Things were pretty good in Oakland until the lockout ended and they immediately burned it all to the ground.
22. Cincinnati Reds (333-375, -191 run differential, 2020 Wild Card team)
Aside from that 3-22 start to a 100-loss campaign in 2022, the Reds haven't been particularly bad, posting winning records in each of 2020, 2021 and 2023, sneaking into the 16-team 2020 postseason bracket because of it. But without so much as a second-place finish in the NL Central (in more than a decade, in fact), Cincinnati is pretty well entrenched in the bottom third of the league. That said, we are officially intrigued to see if their offseason pitching acquisitions can help a solid offense become a legitimate contender in 2024.
21. Chicago White Sox (342-365, -135 run differential, 2021 AL Central champs)
Remember two preseasons ago when the White Sox—a few months removed from winning the AL Central by a 13-game margin—were essentially co-AL favorites with the Astros and the Yankees? Things sure did go downhill in a hurry, as we now wait to find out if and where they will trade Dylan Cease in the process of fully embracing a rebuild.
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (320-388, -223 run differential, 2023 NLCS champs)
It feels like the Diamondbacks should be higher than this, as they just played in the World Series. But that 110-loss 2021 season most definitely still happened, and (for the purposes of these rankings) undoes almost all of the good that 2023 did. Having the Madison Bumgarner signing blow up in their collective face really set this franchise back after a solid run from 2017-19. But with Corbin Carroll and Zac Gallen leading the way, the Serpents should at least be in the mix for a playoff spot once again this October.
*Miami has scored slightly more runs (2,753) than Detroit (2,746), but the Tigers played three fewer games. Miami's scoring average is 3.888 runs per game while Detroit's is 3.895.
The "Surprise World Series Champions" Tier
3 of 10
19. Washington Nationals (310-398, -352 run differential, 2019 World Series champions)
Running this back again a year from now with 2019 no longer part of the equation, Washington reasonably could land in last place.
The Stephen Strasburg contract has completely derailed this franchise. Throw in the $15 million per year in deferred money they'll still be paying Max Scherzer until 2028, and they are effectively lighting $50 million on fire on an annual basis. Because of those contracts (plus Patrick Corbin's $140 million deal), they had to trade away Trea Turner and Juan Soto rather than sign them to long-term contracts. They were two of the best position players during that 2019 World Series run.
And now they're a mess with no realistic hope of chasing down Atlanta or Philadelphia in the NL East any time soon. Maybe top prospects Dylan Crews and James Wood get called up and thrive in the outfield in 2024, but it's going to take more than that for the Nats to get back to the annual contender they were from 2012-19.
They did win a World Series, though, so we can't possibly justify putting them in the bottom 10. It just feels right for the '19 champs to be 19th on the list.
18. Texas Rangers (318-390, -217 run differential, 2023 World Series champions)
Sort of the inverse of the Nationals, the Rangers probably would have been in dead last if we had done this one year ago, in which case their 2023 World Series title is replaced with a 67-95 mess of a season in 2018.
Credit where it's due, though: They spent their way out of that quagmire, giving half a billion dollars to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien during the 2021-22 offseason before aggressively upgrading the pitching staff the following winter.
They also hit several much less expensive roster-building home runs. They drafted Josh Jung and Evan Carter. They signed Leody Taveras when he was just 16. They scooped up Adolis García from St. Louis for cash considerations. They traded for both Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim during the 2020-21 offseason when they were still unproven commodities. All six of those position players played key roles in the World Series run.
As far as 2024 potential is concerned, Texas is light years ahead of most of the teams in the Nos. 6-17 range on this list. But that plays no part in this ranking, where going 228-318 from 2019-22 really weighed down the reigning champs.
The "Frustratingly Mediocre" Tier
4 of 10
17. Seattle Mariners (363-345, -69 run differential, 2022 Wild Card team)
I mean, how could we not open the 'frustratingly mediocre' tier with the franchise whose GM said he's "doing the fanbase a favor" in trying to win 54 percent of games? Seattle does have a winning record over the past five years, but all it has to show is one trip to the playoffs as a wild-card team in 2022. The M's did at least win that wild-card series against the Blue Jays, but turning around and getting swept by the Astros was a sobering reminder of where they remain in the AL West hierarchy. Having the Rangers blow right past them and win it all this past season didn't help matters.
16. Chicago Cubs (346-362, +10 run differential, 2020 NL Central champs)
In fairness to the Cubs, they had little choice but to embrace a rebuild at the 2021 trade deadline, as the core that led them through a great run from 2015-18 was on its way out the door. As far as rebuilding situations go, they've done it pretty quickly, bouncing back to win 83 games this past season. Still, they haven't won a postseason game since the 2017 NLCS, despite consistently spending way more money than the Brewers, Reds and Pirates among NL Central teams. A sub-.500 record for any five-year stretch is kind of inexcusable here.
15. Boston Red Sox (356-352, +38 run differential, 2021 Wild Card team)
Similar to the Cubs, the Red Sox tried to hang onto their championship-winning (in 2018) nucleus and got themselves stuck between a rock and a rebuilding place. They woefully underachieved in 2019 and then made the infamous Mookie Betts trade in February 2020, all but gift-wrapping a title to the Dodgers while preparing for a possibly rough couple of years. The really frustrating part is the offense has remained great, scoring the fourth-most runs in the majors over the past five years. They just haven't been able to get the pitching back to where it had been during their last three World Series runs.
14. New York Mets (365-343, +154 run differential, 2022 Wild Card team)
Of the six teams in this tier, the Mets are definitely the most frustrated, spending like there's no tomorrow only to perform like there's no October. 2023 was especially rough, spending approximately $0.475 billion (factoring in their $101 million luxury tax payment) for a .463 winning percentage. They're still on track to be well above the luxury-tax threshold in 2024, but with minimal hope of finishing top two in the NL East. Lather, rinse, drink heavily, repeat.
13. San Diego Padres (357-351, +147 run differential, 2020/2022 Wild Card team)
The Padres drastically increased their willingness to spend during the 2020-21 offseason, but they're still basically a .500 club. They had an impressive run to the 2022 NLCS as a No. 5 seed but went 161-163 between the 2021 and 2023 campaigns. And without once seriously threatening to win the NL West, the pseudo joy ride might already be over, as they made a concentrated effort to slash payroll this offseason, which included trading away the same Juan Soto who they sold the farm to get in August 2022.
12. San Francisco Giants (373-335, +91 run differential, 2021 NL West champs)
The Giants had one spectacular year with 107 wins in 2021. But they immediately lost an all-time classic of an NLDS to the 106-win Dodgers and have otherwise not posted a winning record since 2016. They've consistently been in the .475-.500 winning percentage range in each of the other four years of this half-decade, which is just an annoying purgatory of mediocrity that keeps resulting in a first-round draft pick in the teens. They keep whiffing on their attempted major free-agent acquisitions, too, tantalizing their fans with names like Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani only to settle for Mitch Haniger and Jung Hoo Lee.
The "Better Than Most, Never Quite Elite" Tier
5 of 10
11. Cleveland Guardians (376-332, +170 run differential, 2020 Wild Card team, 2022 AL Central champs)
You could argue Cleveland should be part of the "frustratingly mediocre" tier, what with just one AL Central title in a division that is always winnable. But they have been a little bit better than the likes of the Mets, Cubs and Red Sox—notably so with a drastically lower budget. Heck, Cleveland's total Opening Day payroll from 2020-23 ($243.5 million) was $87.2 million less than New York's Opening Day payroll just for 2023. Even if the Guardians were mediocre, it wouldn't be as frustrating as it is for those deep-pocketed clubs. And at 44 games above .500, they've been better than mediocre anyway.
10. Toronto Blue Jays (371-337, +242 run differential, 2020/2022/2023 Wild Card team)
With two AL East teams ranking in our top five, it's mighty impressive what Toronto has been able to do in that division. In fact, the Blue Jays have gone 161-159 with a plus-138 run differential against the AL East over the past five years, only particularly struggling with Tampa Bay (33-47). They made the playoffs three times and only barely missed the cut in 2021 with 91 wins. (They would've made it with room to spare in the current 12-team format.) But that 0-6 record in the postseason and lack of division titles puts quite a glass ceiling on their ranking.
9. Philadelphia Phillies (368-340, +107 run differential, 2022/2023 Wild Card team, 2022 World Series runner-up)
Fun fact: Philadelphia has won more postseason games (19) in the past half-decade than the other five teams in this tier combined (12). Because of their deep runs in both the 2022 and 2023 playoffs, the Phillies land ahead of both Cleveland and Toronto, but slightly behind the next three teams that won multiple division titles in the past five years. After all, the Phils haven't finished within six games of an NL East crown since they last won it in 2011. But credit to them for somehow thriving in the role of "plucky underdog," despite three consecutive years with MLB's fourth-highest Opening Day payroll.
8. Minnesota Twins (373-333, +265 run differential, 2019/2020/2023 AL Central champs)
Sure, the AL Central champion is constantly the No. 3 seed in the American League and almost always expected to immediately lose in the wild-card round. But when you win three division titles in the span of five years, you at least rank ahead of every team with fewer than two division titles. Them's the rules. And at least the Twins finally ended their 18-game losing streak in the postseason this past October, even winning that wild-card series against the Blue Jays.
7. St. Louis Cardinals (375-331, +172 run differential, 2019/2022 NL Central champs, 2020/2021 Wild Card team)
2023 was a disaster by Cardinals standards, as they finished in dead last in their division for the first time since 1990. But they were good enough from 2019-22 to still land in the top 25 percent, making the postseason in all four of those years. Granted, they did very little in those Octobers, thrice losing in the wild-card round after getting swept out of the 2019 NLCS. Still, they are one of just seven teams to have made the playoffs in at least four of the past five years.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (391-317, +219 run differential, 2021/2023 NL Central champs, 2019/2020 Wild Card team)
The Brewers are a slightly better copy of the Cardinals: Two NL Central titles, two wild-card berths...and a whole lot of nothing to show for it, going a combined 1-8 with three shutout losses in those four trips to the playoffs. But at least in the year that they missed the postseason, they still finished 10 games above .500. That pushes them ahead of their NL Central rivals who fell flat on their face last year.
At 74 games above .500, Milwaukee is the clear dividing line between the top five (where everyone is at least 110 games above .500) and the bottom 24 (where no one is better than 44 games above .500.)
5. New York Yankees
6 of 10
2019: 103-59, +204 run differential, AL East champs, Lost in ALCS
2020: 33-27, +45 run differential, Wild Card, Lost in ALDS
2021: 92-70, +42 run differential, Wild Card, Lost in Wild Card Round
2022: 99-63, +240 run differential, AL East champs, Lost in ALCS
2023: 82-80, -25 run differential, Missed playoffs
Overall: 409-299, +506 run differential, 12-14 in postseason, no World Series appearances
By New York Yankees standards, no, it has not been a successful half-decade. The franchise with 27 world championships and what is effectively a limitless supply of money expects to at least make the World Series once every five years and should never have a season where it gets outscored and misses the playoffs by a seven-game margin.
But comparing what the Yankees have done to what MLB's other 29 franchises have done over the past five years, it's pretty impressive.
They're clearly a step behind the top four on this list, where everyone has at least 421 regular-season wins, at least a plus-626 run differential and at least one World Series appearance. They're also light years ahead of the likes of Milwaukee and St. Louis, darn near as many games above .500 (110) as our No. 6 and No. 7 teams combined (118).
This didn't factor into the rankings at all, but it's an interesting factoid: The Yankees are the only club to have produced both an MVP (Aaron Judge in 2022) and a Cy Young winner (Gerrit Cole in 2023) in the past five years.
Of course, it only adds to the frustration in the Bronx that they haven't been able to win a World Series even with both of those stars on the roster. (Though, at least they've fared a whole lot better than the Angels did with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.)
4. Tampa Bay Rays
7 of 10
2019: 96-66, +113 run differential, Wild Card, Lost in ALDS
2020: 40-20, +60 run differential, AL East champs, Lost in World Series
2021: 100-62, +206 run differential, AL East champs, Lost in ALDS
2022: 86-76, +52 run differential, Wild Card, Lost in Wild Card Round
2023: 99-63, +195 run differential, Wild Card, Lost in Wild Card Round
Overall: 421-287, +626 run differential, 15-19 in postseason, one World Series appearances
What's funny about Tampa Bay consistently being pretty darn good is the baseball world seems to be surprised by it every year.
After winning 90 games in 2018, the Rays had the 15th-best World Series odds heading into 2019. Even after making the World Series in 2020, they opened 2021 tied with Oakland and Washington for the 12th-best World Series odds. (A lot sure has changed in three years, eh?) They did finally get a bit of love prior to 2022 when the AL looked as wide open as it ever has, but they fell right back to 10th-best odds heading into 2023.
Granted, Tampa Bay has yet to burn the oddsmakers on those World Series odds. But if you've just been hammering the over on its preseason win total on an annual basis, congrats on your four extremely comfortable cashes and sorry for your narrow loss in 2022.
It's because of some combination of their minuscule budget, the overall strength of the AL East and the fact that fans in St. Petersburg barely even bother to show up to support the team that we never expect much from the Rays. However, they just keep finding diamonds in the rough and churning out contenders.
So, try not to be shocked when they're still competitive in 2024 despite trading away Tyler Glasnow, Luke Raley and Manuel Margot.
3. Atlanta Braves
8 of 10
2019: 97-65, +112 run differential, NL East champs, lost in NLDS
2020: 35-25, +60 run differential, NL East champs, lost in NLCS
2021: 88-73, +134 run differential, NL East champs, World Series champs
2022: 101-61, +180 run differential, NL East champs, lost in NLDS
2023: 104-58, +231 run differential, NL East champs, lost in NLDS
Overall: 425-282, +717 run differential, 23-18 in postseason, one World Series title
Purely from a regular-season perspective, there's a good case to be made that Atlanta should be ahead of Houston. Their records are almost identical, the gap in run differential (Houston is at plus-837) isn't too huge and, most importantly, Atlanta is the only team to have won its division in each of the past five years.
It's when you get into the postseason—where Houston has nearly twice as many wins (44)—that it becomes less of a valid argument, thanks to Atlanta immediately losing in each of 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Braves did win it all in 2021, though, doing so oddly enough at the end of the season in which they posted their worst winning percentage of the bunch.
Long story short, though, GM Alex Anthopoulos and Co. have put together quite the force of nature, repeatedly signing soon-to-be multiple-time All-Stars to team friendly long-term deals while they are still affordable.
Ronald Acuña Jr.'s 10-year, $124 million contract (including the club options for 2027 and 2028 that Atlanta will absolutely exercise) sure does pale in comparison next to that $700 million deal Shohei Ohtani recently got, doesn't it? And that's just one of several contracts helping to keep Atlanta on top of the NL East year after year.
2. Houston Astros
9 of 10
2019: 107-55, +280 run differential, AL West champs, lost in World Series
2020: 29-31, +4 run differential, Wild Card, lost in ALCS
2021: 95-67, +205 run differential, AL West champs, lost in World Series
2022: 106-56, +219 run differential, AL West champs, World Series champs
2023: 90-72, +129 run differential, AL West champs, lost in ALCS
Overall: 427-281, +837 run differential, 44-27 in postseason, one World Series title
We've been beaten over the head with the fact that Houston has made it at least to the ALCS in seven consecutive years, and still the Astros averaging nearly nine wins per postseason feels just plain ridiculous.
The Dodgers (23) and Braves (22) have barely combined for as many postseason wins as the Astros have in the past half-decade.
It usually takes something historic or close to it to eliminate this team from the playoffs, too.
In both 2019 and 2023, the Astros were knocked out in seven-game series in which the road team won every game. That has otherwise never happened in MLB, NBA or NHL, and they just so happened to be the victim both times.
Moreover, in 2020, Houston erased a 3-0 series deficit against Tampa Bay, forcing a Game 7 in that ALCS before coming up just short.
The Astros are the Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees of Major League Baseball, seemingly unkillable and featuring prominently every October. (With that whole trash-can/sign-stealing scandal adding to their villainous lore.)
Just to get to October time and again, though, they've been pretty damn good in the April-September range, too. Even with that sub-.500, barely-positive-run-differential campaign in 2020 factored in, only the Dodgers have a better record or a better run differential than the Astros.
If Houston and Los Angeles were as neck-and-neck in those categories as Houston and Atlanta are, the postseason success would absolutely push the Astros over the top to No. 1. But with one World Series title apiece and the Dodgers so far ahead during the regular season, it wasn't actually a difficult decision at all.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
10 of 10
2019: 106-56, +273 run differential, NL West champs, lost in NLDS
2020: 43-17, +136 run differential, NL West champs, World Series champs
2021: 106-56, +269 run differential, Wild Card, lost in NLCS
2022: 111-51, +334 run differential, NL West champs, lost in NLDS
2023: 100-62, +207 run differential, NL West champs, lost in NLDS
Overall: 466-242, +1,219 run differential, 22-20 in postseason, one World Series title
Yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers suffered stunning losses in the NLDS in three of the past five years.
But do you know why they were so stunning?
Because the Dodgers have been so preposterously dominant during the regular season.
In 320 games played against the NL West over the past five years, they have gone 216-104 with a plus-609 run differential. They aren't just relentlessly beating up on the Rockies, either. They have at least a .612 winning percentage and a plus-123 differential against each of the other four clubs.
In fact, Los Angeles has a winning record and a positive run differential against each of the 19 teams it has faced at least eight times over the past half-decade. Better yet, the only one of those 19 teams it hasn't beaten at least 60 percent of the time is St. Louis, going 15-12 (.556) against the Cardinals.
There have been eight cases in the past five years of a team ending the year with a winning percentage of .650 or better. The Dodgers are responsible for half of those seasons, and they still won 100 games in the year they fell short of that mark.
For whatever reason, though, getting a bye straight to the NLDS has been a death knell for the Dodgers.
They swept the Padres in 2020 and outlasted the Giants in 2021, but only after first surviving the Wild Card Round in each of those years. Give them a few days off to hone their bowling skills, however, and the juggernaut becomes mortal.
Still, with at least 39 more wins, at least 89 more runs scored and at least 190 fewer runs allowed during the regular season than every other team in the majors over the past five years, those NLDS shortcomings weren't enough to keep the Dodgers out of the top spot.
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