MLB franchise rankings, Part I: Taking stock halfway through the decade
We've somehow already reached the midway point of the 2020s. theScore's MLB editors look back at the previous five seasons and rank each club on how they've done over that span. We start from the bottom with teams 30-21.
20-11 (Wednesday) I 10-1 (Friday)
It would be an understatement to call Colorado's past five seasons "rocky." The organization hasn't produced a winning record this decade, finished more than 30 games back of first place four times, and lost 100 games twice, including a franchise-record 103 in 2023. It's the only franchise with a team ERA higher than five since 2020 and owns the decade's worst wRC+ (82) despite playing home games at altitude. Even the Rockies' attempts to spend have failed miserably: former MVP Kris Bryant's accrued minus-1.3 fWAR since inking a $182-million deal in 2022. Meanwhile, Nolan Arenado was traded in 2021 for virtually nothing, with the Rockies even kicking in $50 million to get rid of him - a deal that led to longtime general manager Jeff Bridich resigning months later. On the bright side, the Rockies have somehow achieved stability in the dugout, where Bud Black is about to begin his ninth season as manager.
The Nationals won the 2019 World Series, then almost immediately plunged into a rebuild. Washington's spent four of the past five seasons in the NL East basement and finished 20 or more games under .500 in each of the past four years. Over the past five years, GM Mike Rizzo traded away Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, and Trea Turner to restock a farm system that is finally starting to bloom. Soto leads the team in fWAR over the past five seasons despite being dealt in August 2022. Luckily, a bright young core of CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, and Dylan Crews looks poised to be the next batch of players to return the Nationals to glory.
The Pirates have scraped the bottom of the barrel this decade, finishing last in the NL Central in four of the past five years while topping out at just 76 wins. The Buccos have not fielded a competitive lineup - only the Miami Marlins have scored fewer runs since 2020. Fortunately, the team has fared much better at developing pitchers. Three homegrown success stories appear primed to anchor the rotation for years: Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. If the Pirates can finally strike it rich on a few position players - or better yet, open up their treasure chest and sign some - they could end the decade strong. Skenes, just 22, has the potential to change the trajectory of the franchise.
The Angels haven't made the postseason since 2014 and have wasted the brilliance of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Despite Ohtani winning a pair of MVP awards, Los Angeles hasn't finished closer than 17 games of the eventual AL West champions - in full seasons - this decade. It even managed to finish 10 games back during the 60-game COVID campaign. Not trading Ohtani at the 2023 trade deadline, and later watching him sign with the Dodgers, was a colossal blunder. What makes things arguably worse, is the fact the Angels were actually trying to compete during that time and spending money. Their inability to build a winner, and stubbornness in not properly rebuilding has left the franchise in limbo. The future is a bit brighter with some intriguing young players. However, the Angels still have a ways to go to be competitive.
The Royals turned things around in 2024, making the playoffs for the first time since winning the 2015 World Series. It was a rough road to get back there, finishing last in the division in 2022 and 2023. The fate of the franchise changed at the 2019 draft when it landed Bobby Witt Jr. with the No. 2 pick. Witt inked an 11-year extension ahead of the 2024 season, solidifying his place within the organization long term. The 24-year-old's 16.2 fWAR over the past two years is tops among all major leaguers. So, the future is promising for the Royals with young stars such as Witt, and Cole Ragans to go along with top prospects like Jac Caglianone and Blake Mitchell.
As is their norm, the Athletics spent much of this decade dismantling a talented team instead of paying their stars. The difference this time is owner John Fisher's done his best Rachel Phelps impression while moving the franchise from Oakland to Las Vegas (via West Sacramento). The foursome of Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, and Frankie Montas accrued a combined 26.7 fWAR in Oakland this decade; the 17 players acquired for them have produced just 4.0 fWAR in green and gold, with more than half that total courtesy of Shea Langeliers. The A's opened this decade by winning a division title and one playoff round. Three years later, they lost 112 games while posting the third-worst run differential (minus-339) of the modern era. In that sense, last year's 93-loss campaign felt like an improvement. While Brent Rooker and closer Mason Miller, along with the team's sudden spending this winter, offer some hope, the relocation drama will continue to hover over the A's.
Detroit appears to finally be on an upward trajectory after a shaky beginning to the decade. The hiring of manager A.J. Hinch combined with a revamped front office led by Scott Harris has the club moving in the right direction, which include back-to-back AL Central second-places finishes and a playoff appearance last season. Having Miguel Cabrera's gargantuan contract come off the books helped Detroit move on to a new generation. The emergence of homegrown talents such as 2024 Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and All-Star outfielder Riley Greene have been a big part of the turnaround. Top picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize haven't exactly worked out, stalling the franchise's chance at being more successful sooner.
Few organizations in baseball history have nose-dived as hard as the White Sox over the past few years. The futility of the 2024 team is well-documented: They combined terrible hitting, pitching, and defense to lose an MLB-record 121 games. The White Sox winning the AL Central as recently as 2021 makes this ineptitude even more unfathomable. Chicago looked like a juggernaut in the making with a core headlined by José Abreu, Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jiménez, Yoán Moncada and Dylan Cease. Now only Robert remains, and he's battled injuries and inconsistency. The good news is all the losses and sell-offs have landed the organization six prospects ranked inside MLB Pipeline's top 100 heading into 2025. A new era is on the horizon.
The Marlins opened the 2020s by snapping a 16-year postseason drought, and they even swept the Chicago Cubs in the wild-card round. But any optimism was quickly extinguished when Miami followed that up with back-to-back 90-plus loss seasons. Another surprise playoff berth in 2023 wasn't enough to help stabilize a franchise that's become far too well-known for not spending and trading away star talent. Trailblazing GM Kim Ng unceremoniously left the organization after the 2023 season when she received what would essentially have been a demotion. Miami has since torn down its roster under its new president of baseball operations, Peter Bendix.
The Reds' most successful season this decade was the shortened 2020 campaign, making it difficult to quantify. Even then, they were swept out of the playoffs without scoring a run. Despite playing in a cozy ballpark, Cincinnati's 91 wRC+ ranks 25th this decade. Things hit rock bottom during a 100-loss season in 2022 - the first time the club dropped that many games in 40 years. While it hasn't always been pretty, the Reds succeeded in one area during the first half of this decade. They've built up a bounty of bright young talent, led by electric shortstop Elly De La Cruz and flame-throwing starter Hunter Greene. For as rough as the first half of the 2020s was, the door's wide open for the Reds to turn this decade around.