MLB Spring Training Power Rankings

1. St. Louis Cardinals

The National League's most prolific offensive club from 2013 is poised to be a juggernaut yet again, as they addressed their one glaring weakness in the offseason's nascent stages, signing Jhonny Peralta to a four-year deal. The acquisition of speedy center fielder Peter Bourjos will help assuage some of the club's defensive woes -- the Cardinals managed a .703 defensive efficiency rating last year, the third-worst mark in the National League -- while uberprospect Oscar Taveras will help compensate offensively for the loss of veteran outfielder Carlos Beltran. Entrusted with an everyday role at second base, Kolten Wong will spend all of 2014 trying to make amends for his horrific baserunning gaffe in Game 4 of the World Series; he could probably endear himself by approximating the .835 OPS he managed at Triple-A Memphis last year. Oh yeah, and their pitching rotation remains awesome. So awesome, in fact, that they may not even have a starting job for Carlos Martinez, a 22-year-old right-hander who evokes comparisons to Pedro. PEDRO! It's really difficult to find something negative to say about the Cardinals. This club boasts a bevy of young talent (Matt Adams, Michael Wacha, Shelby Miller), a cadre of reliable veterans (Adam Wainwright, Matt Holliday) and the league's best catcher in Yadier Molina. Watch out.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers

A slow start and heartbreaking finish belied baseball's most talented team in 2013, an unabashedly spendthrift club that used the winter to address their scant few weaknesses. Though they already possess an imposing complement of starters -- a contingent anchored by  a pair of Cy Young award winners -- the Dodgers grabbed veteran right-hander Dan Haren back in November, whose second-half success salvaged an otherwise ghastly 2013 campaign. They also inked southpaw Paul Maholm (read: Josh Beckett's insurance policy), and currently boast the kind of depth that will allow them to avoid handing 26 starts to the likes of Stephen Fife, Matt Magill, Ted Lilly, and Edinson Volquez. Cuban defector Alexander Guerrero will most assuredly constitute an offensive upgrade over Mark Ellis, whose 85 wRC+ since 2011 makes one pine for Jeff Keppinger, while their reconstituted bullpen is poised to rank among the league's finest. Also, Yasiel Puig.

3. Detroit Tigers

For all that was made of Prince Fielder's "disappointing" 2013 campaign -- which, by the way, was marred by whispers of discord in his personal life -- the burly slugger still managed a 120 OPS+ and, not surprisingly, appeared in all 162 contests. Since 2009, only three other players have done that. Well, now the royal first baseman is gone and prospect Nick Castellanos, who hit .276/.343/.450 in Triple-A last season, is responsible for picking up the offensive slack. Defensive wizard Jose Iglesias will partake in those duties as well -- he's taking over for departed shortstop Jhonny Peralta -- an unsettling proposition for a player who, despite his miraculous 2013 campaign, posted a .622 OPS over 294 career minor-league games. Their vaunted rotation remains the envy of the league, but the club's resident ground-ball specialist Doug Fister, whose 13.3 WAR since 2011 represent the ninth-highest mark among starters, got shipped to Washington for a bag of baseballs in November. Detroit's bullpen remains shaky despite the addition on Joe Nathan, and though his dashing good looks might've sold general manager Dave Dombrowski, newly-hired skipper Brad Ausmus lacks the grizzled curmudgeonly-ness of Jim Leyland. 

4. Boston Red Sox

This isn't the team that hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy back in October. With their roster as currently constituted, the Red Sox are likely to entrust regular playing time to prospects with less than two months of service time combined. The palpable dreaminess of Xander Bogaerts will surely help Red Sox fans forget about Stephen Drew, but the 21-year-old still has just a handful of big-league plate appearances under his belt, and Drew quietly engineered a 3.4-win season in 2013, the eighth-best mark among shortstops. This same sobering caveat must be applied to Jackie Bradley Jr., another MLB neophyte. Though he boasts an impressive defensive profile and respectable on-base skills, Bradley is a rookie. And perhaps more important, he's not Jacoby Ellsbury, who stole all the bases, played all the defense, and broke all the hearts.

5. Washington Nationals

The Nationals' supremely sluggish start in 2013 betrayed a club many picked as the favorite to win the National League East.  However, a second-half surge brought them within four games of a wild-card berth, and illustrated the considerable potential of a team anchored by some exciting, young position players and an impressive rotation. The Nationals' offense should receive a boost this season with Anthony Rendon assuming an everyday job at second base, while Bryce Harper could be an MVP contender if he can manage to avoid the disabled list and right-field fence at Dodger Stadium. A shrewd swap for catcher Jose Lobaton should afford the Nationals a nice insurance policy behind the plate, as starter Wilson Ramos battled recurrent hamstring problems last season. Despite already boasting one of the league's top rotations, general manager Mike Rizzo was able to finagle Doug Fister from the Tigers for a collection of spare parts, adding the right-hander to a formidable starting corps of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Jordan Zimmermann.

6. Tampa Bay Rays

Remember the last time the Rays got less than 90 wins in a season? Yeah, me neither. When you make shrewd, prudent decisions and develop starting pitchers like it's a bodily function, you're probably going to have success. Last offseason, the Rays swapped two seasons of James Shields for Wil Myers, Kansas City's top prospect, a move that paid immediate dividends as the 22-year-old emerged as the second-best hitter on the team, en route to the American League Rookie of the Year award. Only Tampa Bay can dispose of their second-best starter and still field on the game's top rotations, as prospect Chris Archer handled his call-up with aplomb, fashioning a 3.22 ERA over 23 starts for the big club. This offseason, the Rays acquired Ryan Hanigan, one of the league's foremost defensive catchers, and Heath Bell, a reclamation-project reliever who's floundered of late, in a three-way trade that cost them next to nothing. They also re-signed James Loney to a reasonable deal and shipped Alex Torres to San Diego for some prospects and a utilityman. Finally, they replaced erratic closer Fernando Rodney with a better, less-expensive reliever in Grant Balfour. As for David Price, he doesn't appear to be going anywhere for the time being. So, yeah, what changed? Not a whole heck of a lot. This is just a damn fine ball club.

7. Oakland Athletics

The league's most unheralded team somehow managed to improve this winter, as general manager Billy Beane brokered a series of savvy moves to fortify one of the league's strongest bullpens while also replacing veteran right-hander Bartolo Colon, who inked a two-year deal with the Mets. Armed with renewed velocity and a clean bill of health, Scott Kazmir could conceivably improve in Oakland on his resurgent 2013 campaign -- a high-strikeout, fly-ball pitcher at the O.co Coliseum? Yes, please! -- while ground-ball machine Jim Johnson, though not as overpowering as Grant Balfour, will stabilize the back of Oakland's bullpen. Sonny Gray's late-season cameo only inspires more confidence that Oakland could field one of the league's stronger (and younger) rotations, and positive regression is expected for Josh Reddick and Yoenis Cespedes, both of whom battled injury problems last year.

8. Atlanta Braves

Rather than venture out into the free-agent market, the Braves elected to spend their money internally this offseason, signing several of their young players -- a few of whom weren't even eligible for arbitration yet -- to long-term deals for a combined cost of $280 million. As such, the club's promising core of Freddie Freeman, Andrelton Simmons, Julio Teheran, Craig Kimbrel, and Jason Heyward will remain in place for the next several seasons, a contingent talented enough to ensure the Braves remain relevant amid the losses of Brian McCann and Tim Hudson. In fact, even a modest bounce-back from B.J. Upton, who managed -0.6 wins above replacement last year, could help ameliorate the loss of McCann, the All-Star catcher who blasted 20 homers with a 122 wRC+ in 2013. Mike Minor, Kris Medlen, and Teheran comprise one of the league's most enviable starting corps -- each starter managed at least 2.4 wins above replacement with a strikeout-to-walk ratio over 3.37 or better last year -- and there's more than enough offensive talent  to help the Braves reach the postseason for a third consecutive season.

9. Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates engineered of 2013's most compelling narratives and appear poised to contend for a playoff berth again this season. Despite the loss of veteran right-hander A.J. Burnett, a garish offseason wasn't necessary  for the Pirates -- their biggest offseason addition was Edinson Volquez -- as the club boasts an impressive collection of reliable contributors that's soon to be augmented by a couple of highly-touted prospects. Jameson Taillon, the second-overall pick in 2010, will likely begin the campaign at Triple-A, but the 22-year-old right-hander is bound to make an impact at the big-league level this year after posting a 3.73 ERA with 2.75 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 147.1 innings in 2013. Another youngster with realistic big-league ambitions this year is Gregory Polanco, a five-tool outfielder who exploded onto the prospect scene in 2013 after hitting .285/.356/.434 with 44 extra-base hits and 38 stolen bases. Gerrit Cole, who plus-plus fastball fueled an impressive rookie season last year, could emerge as a legitimate star as soon as this season, while Andrew McCutchen represents the league's best center fielder not named Mike Trout.

10. Texas Rangers

A freak injury to left-hander Derek Holland, who enjoyed something of a breakout campaign in 2013, casts a serious pall over the state of the Rangers' rotation, but it's fait accompli that Texas will produce an obscene amount of runs for their suspect collection of starters this season. The presence of Shin-Soo Choo affords the Rangers a legitimate leadoff hitter, an asset that was sorely missed in 2013 -- seriously, Ron Washington pencilled Elvis Andrus atop the lineup card 25 times last year -- while Prince Fielder, acquired in an offseason swap with the Tigers, still represents one of the game's top left-handed power bats, his 2013 struggles notwithstanding; Fielder will also relegate Mitch Moreland to a platoon role, a fitting assignment considering his career .657 OPS against southpaws. While the loss of Ian Kinsler is hardly insignificant, precocious infielder Jurickson Profar will assume full-time duties at second base, and perhaps some positional stability will allow the 21-year-old to start actualizing the potential myriad scouts drool about. The Rangers' potent lineup, perhaps the strongest in the league, could conceivably mitigate the concerns surrounding, well, every Rangers starter not named Yu Darvish.

11. Cincinnati Reds

Contending with the Cardinals and Pirates last season proved unexpectedly difficult for the Reds, and general manager Walt Jocketty did little this winter to bolster his team's chances beyond firing manager Dusty Baker. The loss of centre fielder Shin-Soo Choo, who finished ninth among qualified hitters with a 151 wRC+ last season, is hardly insignificant, and the Reds could have serious trouble getting men on base for Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. New skipper Bryan Price will thrust speedy prospect Billy Hamilton into Choo's old role atop the lineup, but skepticisms abounds over his offensive capabilities, as he hit just .256/.308/.343 in Triple-A last year. Though Cincinnati's rotation is replete with talent, Johnny Cueto's dubious medical history is less than encouraging -- he's averaged 23 starts per season since 2011 -- while Mat Latos underwent knee surgery just a few weeks ago. Mike Leake, meanwhile, outperformed his peripherals last season by suppressing home runs with atypical regularity (0.98 per nine innings), and regression could easily ensure for the right-hander. 

12. Baltimore Orioles

After ostensibly ruminating for months over whether to forfeit their draft picks by chasing free agents, the Orioles finally caved and opted to invest further in their current club. Offense was hardly Baltimore's problem last season -- they averaged 4.6 runs per game, the fourth-best mark in the American League -- but the club's rotation was pretty ungood. And that's being generous. As such, chief architect Dan Duquette decided to swap his first-round pick and $50 million for Ubaldo Jimenez, the erratic right-hander who turned five impressive months -- he crafted a 2.61 ERA over his final 28 starts in 2013 -- into a four-year deal. After relinquishing their first-rounder, the Orioles couldn't stop there, grabbing PED pariah Nelson Cruz on a cheap one-year pact. The club's rotation is still suspect, but not without hope; right-hander Kevin Gausman showed some encouraging signs in his brief stint with the big club last year (24.4 K%, 6.5 BB% over 47.2 innings), while Dylan Bundy is set for a mid-season return from Tommy John surgery.

13. New York Yankees

Incensed by an ugly 2013 campaign, the Yankees elected to act like the Yankees this offseason, spending copious amounts of money to overhaul an aging roster whose most talented player, Robinson Cano, signed a lucrative deal in December to spend the next decade in Seattle. Despite a stated desire to avoid the $189-million luxury-tax threshold, the Yankees exercised little restraint this winter, locking up Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, Carlos Beltran, Hiroki Kuroda, and Masahiro Tanaka  -- along with every old infielder on the planet -- for a combined cost of $465 million. The Yankees will be better this year, but every single player in their infield inspires a ton of skepticism -- the decrepit unit comprised Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, Brian Roberts, and Kelly Johnson could be frighteningly bad. Ultimately, this is a team that probably eats dinner at 5:00 pm on a regular basis; not a single one of the Yankees' expected regulars will be younger than 30 on Opening Day, and several of the club's core contributors (Beltran, Sabathia, Teixeira) have already exhibited symptoms of decline.

14. Kansas City Royals

Dayton Moore's mission to contend immediately didn't quite materialize in 2013, as the perpetually-moribund Royals finished just 5.5 games out of a wild card spot. One year later, Moore brokered another series of moves designed to yield immediate results, signing soft-throwing southpaw Jason Vargas, who owns a career 91 ERA+, to replace Ervin Santana, and grabbing Omar Infante to provide a little stability at second base. The Royals also shipped reliever Will Smith to Milwaukee in exchange for outfielder Norichika Aoki, the reliable leadoff man who authored a 104 wRC+ while swiping 20 bases in 2013. As such, the Royals' lineup is actually surprisingly competent -- Eric Hosmer, Alex Gordon, and Salvador Perez comprise a youthful core competent on both sides of the ball -- though their rotation doesn't exactly inspire tumescence. However, hard-throwing prospect Yordano Ventura was rather effective in his three-start stint with the big club last year, and the strikeouts will soon pile up for the 22-year-old who notched 155 punchouts in 134.2 innings last season. Fellow prospect Kyle Zimmer, meanwhile, could contend for a late-season call-up if things go well at Double-A, potentially affording the Royals some exciting options for a stretch run. Yeah, I said it: a meaningful stretch run is a possibility.

15. Toronto Blue Jays

The carnage of the Blue Jays' 2013 season was so utterly devastating that seemingly everyone has forgotten how much talent exists in Toronto, where positive regression and, more importantly, renewed health could revitalize Canada's downtrodden club. Many expected the Blue Jays to acquire at least one starting pitcher this offseason after Toronto's injury-riddled rotation fashioned a 4.81 ERA/4.59 FIP in 2013, but, much to the chagrin of the club's disillusioned fan base, general manager Alex Anthopoulos opted not to pay an open-market premium for mid-rotation inning-eaters like Ubaldo Jimenez or Ervin Santana. The executive instead elected to look internally for solutions, banking on the substantial potential of prospect Marcus Stroman while anticipating reasonable bounce-backs from Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, both of whom missed most of the 2013 campaign recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Blue Jays' imposing offense should be among the league's most prolific provided Jose Reyes' ankle doesn't explode, Melky Cabrera doesn't get another tumor, Brett Lawrie doesn't overdose on Red Bull and injure himself at the World Baseball Classic, Jose Bautista doesn't bruise his hip bone while crossing the plate, and Dioner Navarro doesn't become J.P. Arencibia.

16. San Francisco Giants

Though their once vaunted rotation showed signs of vulnerability in 2013 -- Tim Linecum continued to battle command issues among waning velocity, while Matt Cain proved especially susceptible to the home run -- it's still hard to believe the Giants managed only 76 wins last season. As such, general manager Brian Sabean affirmed his confidence in his starting corps this offseason, re-signing Lincecum to a two-year deal while also shrewdly locking up veteran ground-ball specialist Tim Hudson. With a bevy of talent in place, a little positive regression could afford the Giants one of the National League's stronger rotations this year, anchored by 24-year-old southpaw Madison Bumgarner, who earned his first career All-Star appearance in 2013. After all, both Lincecum and Cain managed abnormally high HR/FB rates last season for pitchers who call AT&T Park home. There's also reason for optimism on the other side of the ball: first baseman Brandon Belt hinted at his considerable offensive potential last season, Angel Pagan is healthy, and an increasingly lithe Pablo Sandoval could be primed for a productive campaign with free agency looming.

17. Cleveland Indians

The pitching staff that led the Indians into the American League wild card game last year quickly dissolved this offseason, as right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez and southpaw Scott Kazmir both sought the greener pastures of free agency, inking multi-year deals with the Orioles and Athletics, respectively. General manager Mark Shapiro elected not to pursue replacements via free agency, and their roles will consequently be played this season by Danny Salazar, owner of a 96-mph heater who compiled 65 strikeouts in 52 innings last year, and one of either Carlos Carrasco, Shaun Marcum, or beleaguered prospect Trevor Bauer. The Indians were, indeed, a fine club in 2013, but their success was the consequence of a lot of good things happening at once: Yan Gomes posted 3.7 wins above replacement in 88 games; Ryan Raburn slugged 16 homers with a 153 OPS+; Justin Masterson managed a career-high 24.3 percent strikeout rate. Despite offseason additions of outfielder David Murphy, a platoon player who eked out a .656 OPS last year, and former Brewers closer John Axford, it's unlikely the Indians enjoy the same good fortune this year that colored their 2013 season.

18. Los Angeles Angels

Mike Trout.

Ugh, fine. Despite disappointing performances from Albert Pujols and newcomer Josh Hamilton, scoring runs wasn't exactly a problem for the Angels last season, as the club averaged the sixth-most runs per game in the American League. It wasn an entirely different story on the mound, though, as the Angels utilized 26 different hurlers last season in a veritable carousel of ineffective pitching. Beset by an early-season injury to Jered Weaver, the Angels' starting staff combined for a 4.30 ERA/4.17 FIP, handing upwards of 50 starts to Jerome Williams, Joe Blanton, and Tommy Hanson. The club's lack of success on the mound prompted general manager Jerry Dipoto to ship slugger Mark Trumbo, who belted 34 homers with a 106 wRC+ in 2013, to the Diamondbacks this winter as part of three-way trade that brought back left-handers Hector Santiago and Tyler Skaggs. The former crafted a 3.56 ERA over 23 starts and 11 relief appearances last year for the White Sox, while the latter, once considered a top prospect, gets a chance to re-establish himself with the club that selected him in the first round of the 2009 draft. Their reconstituted rotation isn't the most formidable staff, but who knows, maybe Mike Trout can make the occasional start.

19. Arizona Diamondbacks

A shaky rotation prevented the Diamondbacks from capitalizing in 2013, when the Giants were surprisingly bad and the Dodgers spent the first two months of the season imitating the Padres. General manager Kevin Towers did his best to address his club's pitching woes this offseason; alas, that pursuit culminated with Bronson Arroyo, the homer-prone veteran who's currently battling some discomfort in his back. However, Arizona's boring rotation could receive a significant boost from top prospect Archie Bradley, the 21-year-old right-hander who crafted a 1.84 ERA over 152 innings in the minors last year. The club's conspicuous power deficiency, meanwhile -- the Diamondbacks combined for 130 homers last year, the fifth-fewest in baseball -- will benefit from the addition of Mark Trumbo, whose .221 isolated power over the last two seasons represents the fourteenth-best mark among qualified hitters.

20. Seattle Mariners

Eager to resuscitate a relentlessly bad team, general manager Jack Zduriencik brokered one of the offseason's boldest moves, signing second baseman Robinson Cano to an entirely unexpected 10-year, $240-million deal. Presumably aware that Cano alone can't turn the Mariners into a contender, Zduriencik also added veteran outfielder Corey Hart, who spent the entire 2013 campaign nursing his surgically-repaired knees, while also grabbing Logan Morrison from the Marlins. Despite the aggressive overhaul, the Mariners lineup is still too devoid of impact talent to reasonably compete in a competitive American League West. Prospect Taijuan Walker, boasting a plus-plus fastball and nasty cutter, should make an immediate impact, but an untimely injury to right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma -- he sprained a ligament in his right hand at the outset of spring training -- could seriously undermine Seattle's rotation depth.

21. Milwaukee Brewers

The emergence of shortstop Juan Segura notwithstanding, bad luck befell the Brewers in 2013 as Corey Hart missed the entire season after undergoing knee surgery, Aramis Ramirez was limited to 92 contests, and Ryan Braun incurred a 65-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis debacle. Though Hart headed westward to join the Mariners this offseason, restored health and Braun's return could afford the Brewers a surprisingly potent offense this year; outfielder Khris Davis, who crafted a 153 OPS+ during his 56-game stint in the majors last year, will assume an everyday job in left field, while Carlos Gomez is quietly becoming one of the game's top center fielders. Their rotation, while unspectacular, will benefit from the addition of Matt Garza, though he's proven increasingly unreliable in recent years.

22. Colorado Rockies

Though it was once considered a foregone conclusion that the Rockies will struggle on the mound -- they've had just two starters author an ERA+ greater than 130 since 2010 -- the imminent arrival of prospects Eddie Butler and Jonathan Gray could ameliorate some of their pitching woes. The acquisition of oft-injured left-hander Brett Anderson from Oakland could also bolster their rotation, which may be without Jhoulys Chacin for the beginning of the season as he recovers from a shoulder strain. Justin Morneau, who inked a reasonable one-year deal, will succeed franchise legend Todd Helton at first base, and could recoup some of the lost value in center field, as Dexter Fowler was traded to Houston during offseason.

23. New York Mets

Even David Wright conceded that "it probably was somewhat unrealistic" to think the Mets' myriad maladies could be fixed in one offseason, but general manager Sandy Alderson certainly didn't lack for effort. After another appalling season -- the Mets, incidentally, haven't reached the 80-win plateau since 2008 -- Alderson opted to look outside the organization for help, locking up outfielders Curtis Granderson and Chris Young. He also inked corpulent veteran Bartolo Colon to a two-year deal, though he probably won't help anyone stop pining for Matt Harvey, likely sidelined for the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October. The Mets are poised for another frustrating year, but the absence of postseason ambitions will allow prospects Wilmer Flores and Travis d'Arnaud -- and maybe even Noah Syndergaard -- to ease into the big leagues, while right-hander Zack Wheeler will get an opportunity to build on his solid 2013 debut, when he crafted a 3.42 ERA over 17 starts despite a 10.7 percent walk rate.

24. Philadelphia Phillies

There's no club more universally lambasted than the Phillies, and this past offseason illustrated precisely why they've earned such a lousy reputation. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is responsible for much of that, as he decided to make an old team older this winter by handing out multi-year deals to Carlos Ruiz and Marlon Byrd, a pair of players with some serious red flags. Cuban hurler Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, who landed a $12-million deal from the Phillies several months ago, has done little to endear himself thus far, prompting skipper Ryne Sandberg to resort to unconvincing euphemisms to discuss his new right-hander -- “I know that we’re using a lot of patience with him."  A.J. Burnett will fill in nicely for retired hero Roy Halladay, but with a lineup still anchored by Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Bobby Abreu, it's become readily apparent that Amaro still believes it's 2006.

25. San Diego Padres

An intriguing club with some talented, young players, the Padres still won't be able to reasonably feign parity with the Dodgers this season -- or, frankly, even realistically contend for a Wild Card spot -- but restored health from Chase Headley and Yasmani Grandal should enable the Friars to improve upon their 76-86 record from last season. There's some upside in a rotation that now features Josh Johnson, a right-handed reclamation project, but the club's core of youngsters need continued development. Consequently, general manager Josh Byrnes opted not to pursue any high-profile free agents this offseason, instead favouring low-cost, low-impact acquisitions like Joaquin Benoit and Seth Smith.

26. Chicago White Sox

Rick Hahn inherited quite a mess when he took over as general manager of the White Sox in October, but the new architect did an impressive job overhauling an aging club in his first winter at the helm. Hahn's regime began with aplomb, as he grabbed Cuban slugger Jose Abreu for $68 million, finding an heir to geriatric first baseman Paul Konerko, who's entering his final big-league campaign. Hahn also negotiated two trades that infused some young talent into Chicago's lineup, as he shipped closer Addison Reed to Arizona for third-base prospect Matt Davidson, and subsequently swapped left-hander Hector Santiago for outfielder Adam Eaton. Hahn also fortified his bullpen with ground-ball extraordinaire Ronald Belisario and veteran southpaw Scott Downs, two cheap, effective relievers who could prove valuable trade assets at this year's deadline. The club's farm system is still a mess, but Hahn appears to be righting a ship that went wayward some time ago.

27. Minnesota Twins

Realistically, much of the upcoming season will be spent waiting for Miguel Sano to recover from Tommy John surgery, while counting down the hours until Alex Meyer and Byron Buxton make their respective debuts and revive Minnesota's moribund club. With an impressive triumvirate of prospects on their way, general manager Terry Ryan made a few proactive moves this offseason that'll ensure there's at least some respectable talent in Minnesota when the youngsters arrive. The veteran executive signed Phil Hughes and Ricky Nolasco to multi-year deals, locking up a pair of solid-but-unspectacular inning-eaters who will immediately help the Twins' beleaguered rotation, which fashioned a 4.55 ERA in 2013, the second-worst mark in the league. The Twins also made another significant personnel move, announcing that longtime catcher Joe Mauer, hampered by a concussion last season, will transition to first base in 2014. Though the club will miss Mauer behind the plate, his absence effectively frees up an opportunity for Josmil Pinto, the 24-year-old catcher who hit .309/.400/.482 with 15 homers between Double-A and Triple-A last year.

28. Miami Marlins

Things in Miami aren't quite as dire as they first appeared when owner Jeffrey Loria abruptly sold off most of the club's assets last winter. The future of the Marlins was quite manifest during the latter stages of the 2013 season, when Jose Fernandez, Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich, Jake Marisnick, and Adeiny Hechavarria provided a glimpse of the club's potential, and general manager did a reasonable job this offseason adding some major-league talent to help insulate his fledgling core. The club isn't close to contending -- further development is needed from Marisnick, Marcell Ozuna, and a bunch of prospects not yet ready for the big-league level -- but newcomers Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Garrett Jones, and Rafael Furcal will prevent the Fish from replicating their laughable 2013 campaign.

29. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs continue to bide their time, waiting for Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, and the rest of their prospect army to blossom as the major-league club futilely putters along. To break up the monotony of the offseason, the Cubs inked Jason Hammel and Jose Veras to a one-year deals, while extending minor-league contracts to a host of woebegone veterans (Jonathan Sanchez, Chris Coghlan, Emilio Bonifacio, etc.) because why not? The future is decidedly bright on the North Side, but this season is just another unfortunate salvo in what could be a very successful rebuild.

30. Houston Astros

Mired in the painful stages of a violent rebuild, the Astros are poised for another trying season, with a fifth-place finish in the American League West practically preordained. The club stills boasts the lowest payroll in baseball, but general manager Jeff Luhnow did bolster his fledgling team with a few veterans this offseason, signing right-handers Scott Feldman and Jerome Williams to a pair of reasonable deals that could turn them into moderately attractive trade assets. A savvy swap also brought center fielder Dexter Fowler to the Lone Star state, effectively injecting a talented up-the-middle player into a lineup devoid of impact talent. While the 2014 season won't yield any pennants, Astros fans will get their first peek into the future when prospects George Springer, a dynamic outfielder who belted 37 homers and stole 45 bases last season in the minors, and first baseman Jonathan Singleton eventually debut.