Fingers crossed that the MLB 2021 season starts on time – and that we can see some baseball live at the stadium this year.
While we wait, Buster Olney concludes his annual ranking of the top 10 players in each position towards the next season – based on the opinion of industry reviewers – with a look at the complete teams. With more moves to be made, which team is No. 1 (and 2 … and 3 …) on paper now?
Times
Many of baseball’s traditional rivalries are dormant. The Red Sox are reorganizing, and the Yankees, without Boston pressure, have yet to make an aggressive move this winter. The Cubs are reducing their payroll and switching their best holder, Yu Darvish, and the Cardinals’ most significant decision was to refuse the option of Kolten Wong, second baseman Gold Glove. The Giants are at least a few years away from challenging the Dodgers. Astros and Athletics are experiencing the departure of some of their best players – Oakland looks set to lose Liam Hendriks, while George Springer seems certain to leave the Astros.
In that vacuum, we now have the Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, clubs that live in the same division, play in stadiums 125 miles away and have the best talent collections – and here’s the bonus: when they’re on the pitch, at least , these two teams don’t seem to like each other very much. The Dodgers have won the National West League for eight consecutive seasons, and the Fathers, having grabbed Darvish and Blake Snell, are aiming directly at LA San Diego wants what the Dodgers owned.
As a senior official said the other day, the Dodgers are clearly the best baseball team, but the Fathers are in second place. Their games will be a must next year.
The 10 best baseball teams: