Last season we may not have had the MLB season that we have been used to since virtually the inception of the game, but nonetheless we had a season even if it may have only been 60 games. While the MLB officially started in 1869, there was no official season until 1876 when there was only one league (National League) in which they played a total of 57-70 games during the regular season. This was all dependent on the team, but only one team played fewer games than that of the 2020 regular season of 60. From 1876-1878 each season was near an average of 60 games per season and that would be the fewest games until 2020 (including strike shortened seasons).
This season though we are looking to get things back to normal, or as normal as they can be, with attempting to fit in all 162 games for each team. While there are few people who claim nothing from last season counts due to the shortened season nature the bottom line is it does and it helped translate into this season with all sorts of moves, including some big trades and some key free agent departures/additions.
Some of these include Francisco Lindor moving to the Mets via trade and George Springer joining the young Blue Jays squad as a veteran presence. All of these moves have helped shake things up into these preseason power rankings, but of course while we can look at only the new revamped teams, we also have to look at their performances last season.
With looking at last season, can any team overtake the defending champion Dodgers? Will their opponent from the 2020 World Series (Rays) even crack the top 10? What offseason moves will send teams up the ladder and which moves will send them sliding down? Let’s start out with what could be seen as an easy number one pick, but as always if you all disagree with any of these feel free to leave comments about how I am wrong.
Without any further ado, let’s get into it.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers – Repeat as Champions
2020 Record: 43-17 (WS Champs)
Embed from Getty ImagesWhen you are the reigning World Series champions and on paper your team gets better during the offseason then you are doing things right. Since 2017 the Dodgers season has ended in disappointment, getting so close to the eternal prize but every time being just out of reach. Well, they finally did it and even though they did it they will catch a ton of slack for doing so (any team would have) since it was only a 60-game season and not a true 162. The bottom line is they did it and now they are looking to become the first back-to-back champions since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees. They are in a perfect position to repeat as well with a ton of talent in both young players and veterans as well as adding the 2020 NL Cy Young Trevor Bauer to an already great starting rotation.
Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Corey Seager, David Price, Trevor Bauer and those are just the players that have won a major individual award (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year) shows just a glimpse of the talent they have on their roster. Add on to those players some young players with tons of promise in Julio Urias, Dustin May, Brusdar Graterol, and Gavin Lux; the Dodgers are set up not just for this year but for years to come. Anything less than a repeat will be seen as a failure this season, but in order to get there they have to go through another team in their division that got much better over the offseason.
2. Padres – The pitching staff
2020 Record: 37-23
Embed from Getty ImagesSooner or later the Padres were going to come up and be major threats in the NL West with all of the talent that they had in their farm system and they took the route of the former and showed up last year compiling the third best record in the MLB—still only good enough for second in the division. The excellent play of their left side of the infield in Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado led the lineup that was one of the best in all the league, but we cannot discount the play of former Rookie of the Year winner Will Myers either who put together his best major league season yet. They were all great and will be surrounded by the Jake Cronenworth, Eric Hosmer, Trent Grisham, and Tommy Pham which all around should make for one of the best lineups in the game. While that is great, the real treat will be to watch the pitching staff that made a huge upgrade over the offseason.
The pitching staff did a very good job most of the time last year with Zach Davies, Dinelson Lamet, and a midseason addition in Mike Clevinger in the rotation while the bullpen bolstered pieces such as Drew Pomeranz, Pierce Johnson, Matt Strahm, and Tim Hill. This staff did well enough to post the third best ERA in the NL, but this year should be even better, especially on the starting side. Let’s start with the two big name additions of Yu Darvish and Blake Snell. Both of these players are former Cy Young winners and with neither of them having to worry about being the only ace they should thrive. They still have Lamet who will most likely not be ready by opening day but should definitely see the field for a large part of the season and Chris Paddock who is looking to get back to his 2019 form after a tough 2020 season. Then they have young prospects in Adrián Morejón and MacKenzie Gore who could be up opening day or any time this season to add to this already potentially great rotation. The Padres may still be looking up to the Dodgers entering the season, but they have so much to look forward to in 2021.
3. Yankees – A Healthy lineup
2020 Record: 33-27
Embed from Getty ImagesTell me if this sounds familiar, the Yankees were bitten by the injury bug last season which directly impacted how they would get to and play in the postseason. Giancarlo Stanton only played in 23 games—his second straight season playing less than 25 games— and Aaron Judge only played in 28. These are two of the biggest bats that the bombers need if they are going to be at their full potential. They may not have won the division last season, but they were able to still win without these two thanks to the help of MVP candidate DJ LeMahieu and breakout first baseman Luke Voit. During his final couple seasons in Colorado LeMahieu showed to be one of the best second baseman in the game and during his time in the Bronx he has showed that it is most certainly true. Then if Voit can continue his rampage of last season the middle of the lineup will strike fear into the heart of any opposing pitcher. Add onto that a potential resurgence of Gary Sanchez, the continual development of Gleyber Torres, and the switch-hitting Aaron Hicks and the lineup can be dangerous as always.
Then we move to the pitching side with Gerrit Cole, the newly added Corey Kluber, to go along with Jordan Montgomery and Jameson Taillon in the starting rotation. But we get to the injuries early on with Luis Severino only being medically cleared to throw fastballs, Zack Britton recovering from surgery. They added Darren O’Day to the bullpen to help get a different look, but the key with this team the past number of seasons has been injuries. The Yankees can no doubt be the frontrunner in the AL assuming they can stay healthy, but that is never a guarantee in sports. The stars of this team are getting older and the time to win is now, if they can stay healthy, they should be in the playoffs, if they are bitten again, they may miss out on a title run once again.
4. White Sox – Bright future of stars
2020 Record: 35-25
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 2020 White Sox were in a similar boat as the 2020 Padres as sooner or later they were going to be contenders and they chose the former. They had a ton of young talent in the farm system that has now reached the major league level and should continue the path of dominance they have shown. They finally got the production they wanted out of first baseman José Abreu as he went on to win the AL MVP as well as great play from shortstop Tim Anderson, left fielder Eloy Jimenez, and very good play from the young center fielder Luis Robert who went on to finish in second in the AL rookie of the year voting. They also have one of the better hitting catchers in Yasmani Grandal, switch hitting third baseman Yoán Moncada, and a speedy second baseman in Nick Madrigal. The news has not been good though during spring training as one of the most feared young bats in the game Eloy Jimenez ruptured his left pectoral tendon and will miss 5-6 months of the season. This is a huge early season loss, but the White Sox have talent so let’s see if they can muster up something to “replace” Jimenez.
On the pitching side they made two huge moves which should only help their chances of winning the division in starter Lance Lynn and closer Liam Hendricks. Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, and Lancy Lynn all finished in the top five for Cy Young voting and they will be one of the best 1-2-3 combos in the AL. Liam Hendricks has been one of the best closers in the game over the past two seasons, Aaron Bummer and Garrett Crochet are both left-handed gassers and we will finally see the prospect Michael Kopech after opting out of the 2020 season. Kopech has seen very limited major league action but that was all the way back in 2018, so we really don’t know what we will see from him but if we get anything close to what they talk him up to be we could see the pitching staff of the Central. It will be interesting to see what new head coach Tony La Russa will be able to bring out of this crew.
5. Braves – Bolstered pitching staff
2020 Record: 35-25
Embed from Getty ImagesAtlanta had one of the best lineups in the league last season and they were on track to match the Dodgers in nearly every category, making a monumental clash in the NLCS. While we still got a fantastic seven-game series in the NLCS even though the pitching staff of Atlanta was nearly destroyed. The destruction started early as well as star pitcher Mike Soroka only appeared in three games before suffering a season ending injury. Things did not get any better on that end with former all-star Mike Foltynewicz being placed on waivers after only one appearance. Luckily, the lineup was good enough to carry the team led by NL MVP Freddie Freeman, power hitting outfielder Marcel Ozuna, switch hitting second baseman Ozzie Albies, and young future/current star Ronald Acuna Jr. The lineup may have been great, but one pitcher made a name for himself as being one of the best in the game, Max Fried. Fried finished in the top five for Cy Young voting and surrounded by a better cast this season, there is a lot to look forward to.
The lineup is virtually the same as last season, the biggest difference being that Nick Markakis will no longer be there after retiring earlier this offseason. The pitching staff though is what should take this from a very good team to a great team. Mike Soroka should be back and fully healthy come late April, Max Fried proved his worth last season, Ian Anderson should only grow as a major leaguer and Charlie Morton was added from Tampa Bay to complete this starting rotation. The staff overall ranked in the middle of the pack in team ERA, but the bullpen ranked as fourth in the league so obviously the starters were the issue. The addition of Morton and the health of the starters should make the Braves one of the most complete teams in the MLB and a threat to anyone they will face.
6. Twins – Byron Buxton
2020 Record: 36-24
Minnesota for the most part looks like they will be sporting the same roster as last season with one major change, a sure gloved shortstop in Andrelton Simmons. Simmons will not do much in helping the lineup, but he adds a level of defense this team needs to go along with a powerful lineup. The pitching staff is nothing special, they are led by José Berrios and Kenta Maeda, but the question is what we will see from the others in the staff? The most exciting thing though should be the play of center fielder Byron Buxton. We have always known the speed and defensive ability of Buxton was special, but we were waiting on the offense to turn around. Last season was a bit of a coming out party on that end having his best statistical season, if he can repeat that and stay healthy then watch out for Minnesota.
7. Rays – Wander Franco?
2020 Record: 40-20
Tampa Bay always knows how to make something out of nothing, and last season was continuing proof of that, making the World Series after winning the division without having a “bonafide star”. Things took an even tougher turn this season as they lost their top two pitchers in Blake Snell and Charlie Morton but knowing the Rays, they will bring some underutilized players into leading this team to the next level. The farm system is great especially with top prospect Wander Franco. Out of everything we have heard about him he is no less than a superstar and baseball needs some of that right now. It is still possible that Franco will not be brought up this season since the middle of the infield is secure right now, but if he is brought up than all eyes will be on Tampa and the 20-year-old phenom.
8. Mets – Francisco Lindor
2020 Record: 26-34
The Mets were supposed to get everyone over the offseason according to their fans. Well, they may not have gotten everyone but the first offseason under new owner Steve Cohen was a great one with the biggest move being trading for Francisco Lindor at shortstop. Another part of that trade was adding Carlos Carrasco which helps this starting rotation that will be without Noah Syndergaard until at least June. The lineup has power and the ability to get on base with Lindor, Pete Alonso, Dominic Smith, Michael Conforto, and Jeff McNeil. The biggest question as always with the Mets will be with the bullpen, if they can maintain leads and close games out, they could be a threat, but if not, it could be yet another tough season for them.
9. Blue Jays – Young Studs
2020 Record: 32-28
Toronto’s core may be the youngest in the entire league and though they may not be the most talented, yet they definitely have the potential to be great. Bo Bichette, Vladamir Guerrero Jr., and Cavan Biggio are the young big three, but they also had a busy free agency adding outfielder George Springer and infielder Marcus Semien. The lineup has all the potential in the world, now the issue is the pitchings. Hyun Jin Ryu is the established number one, but behind that we really don’t know what we will see. Add onto that one of their free agent additions Kirby Yates now has to get Tommy John surgery things look even tougher. The Jays are a dark horse to win the AL East, but the pitching staff will be the determinant of that.
10. Athletics – Pitching
2020 Record: 36-24
Oakland is usually in a similar situation as Tampa as in they will not “overspend” in free agency whether or not the move is actually an overspend. They are very tight with spending and that could come back to haunt them. But, similarly to Tampa they have managed to find a way around that over the past couple of seasons. They still bring back their main core in Matt Chapman, Matt Olson, and Ramón Laureano, but they also lost middle infielder Marcus Semien and closer Liam Hendricks. The lineup of Oakland is never going to wow anyone, but they have a chance like usual to have a dominant pitching staff and if they can find that they could be right back in the playoffs.
11. Cardinals – Nolan Arenado
2020 Record: 30-28
The NL Central may have sent four teams to the playoffs last season but to put it bluntly, they were not a good division. The Cardinals finished in second last year and one of the biggest reasons for that was due to their pitching staff led by Jack Kwang Hyun Kim and Dakota Hudson. They also still have Jack Flaherty who can be an ace at any point so the pitching staff should still be there. In the lineup Paul Goldschmidt was really the only consistent bat for them and that was one of their biggest issues. They never really had a lineup surrounding him to help move the offense along, but this season they added Nolan Arenado for almost nothing. Arenado and Goldschmidt should create a great duo, but they can only do so much. The rest of the lineup will need to step up if the Cards want to win the division.
12. Astros – Back at full health?
2020 Record: 29-31
The Astros struggled last season and they have already been down on luck this season, Justin Verlander is still recovering from Tommy John, George Springer departed and went north to Toronto, and pitchers Jake Odorizzi and Pedro Báez will not be ready come opening day. The final two should only be a minor setback, but not having Verlander or Springer could be a huge blow throughout the season. Not to worry though, on paper the lineup should be able to make up for a lot of this with Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, Alvarez, Carlos Correa, Kyle Tucker, and Yuli Gurriel. They did struggle last season at the plate, and this is not something that can happen this season if they want to succeed. The good news, the AL West is wide open so even starting out thin in pitching it could be enough to earn a playoff spot.
13. Cubs- Kris Bryant in contract year
2020 Record: 34-26
On paper the Cubs should be the favorites to win the NL Central, at least if you only look at their lineup. Anthony Rizzo, Javier Baez, Wilson Contreras, Ian Happ, and Joc Pederson. But when you dig deeper and look at the pitching staff things may not be so easy. They lost Yu Darvish and didn’t make any major additions so they will have to rely on Kyle Hendricks, Zach Davies, and Jake Arrieta. Due to this they will really rely on their lineup with the biggest name being Kris Bryant. After a bit of a resurgence in 2019, 2020 was an abysmal season for the former MVP and if spring training means anything than this season will be another rough one. However, Bryant is in his contract season which means they could get a season similar to his MVP season (at least they hope) otherwise Bryant could be gone before the deadline this season.
14. Angels – Mike Trout
2020 Record: 26-34
The Angels have always had the possibility of being a playoff contender since they have the best player in the league, but things are not always that simple in baseball. One player cannot make that much of a difference to change a whole team’s outlook. Surrounding Trout in the lineup is Anthony Rendon, David Fletcher, Shohei Ohtani, and newly added José Iglesias. The concern is the pitching staff and whether or not two-way player Ohtani can remain healthy for an entire season. If all works well, they should find themselves in the playoffs, but no matter what happens just watching Trout play surrounded by Rendon should be a treat in itself. Trout had a down year last season and still finished top-five in the MVP voting, that should prove how dangerous of a player he is, enjoy it while you can.
15. Phillies-The tandem back together
2020 Record: 28-32
J.T. Realmuto was brought back on a new contract and now him and Bryce Harper are reunited for the time being. The hope of bringing him back is that they can both take away some of the disappointment of last season and lead the team to the playoffs. In order to do that they will need help from the rest of the roster, especially the pitching staff. Rhys Hopkins, Jean Segura, Alec Bohm, and Didi Gregorius should all help in the lineup around Harper and Realmuto, but the biggest issue has not been the lineup, it has been pitching. They had one of the worst bullpens last season at a 7.06 ERA, that will not carry this team to the playoffs. The pitching staff needs to shape up this season because they cannot solely rely on the lineup to carry them.
16. Indians – Pitching
2020 Record: 35-25
Getting rid of Francisco Lindor has given many people reasons to count the Indians out of playoff contention, and while we are still waiting on that there is much to look forward to. Much of that comes via the pitching side, but in the lineup, they still have perennial MVP candidate José Ramírez, Franmil Reyes and new addition Eddie Rosario. The lineup might not convey confidence, but the rotation should be able to pick up the slack. 2020 AL Cy Young Shane Bieber, Zach Plesac, and Triston McKenzier to go along with a potential elite bullpen that includes James Karinchak, Emmanuel Clase, and Nick Wittgren; this could be a great pitching staff which could make them a fringe playoff team.
17. Brewers – Return of MVP Yelich
2020 Record:29-31
Christian Yelich immediately made Miami regret shipping him off to Milwaukee, in his first two seasons he won the MVP and finished in second, but last season he had the worst season of his career. Yelich is only going into his age 29 season so there may not be reason to be worried, but they cannot have a repeat if they hope to make the postseason. They also added bats such as Kolten Wong and Jackie Bradley Jr. to join Keston Hiura, Travis Shaw, and Avisaíl García to lead the offense. They also have some great pitchers in Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Josh Hader, and Devin Williams in their starting rotation and bullpen, however, they lack depth and that could be the factor that keeps them from being a contender.
18. Nationals – A comeback season
2020 Record: 26-34
Washington has not been great during the first 60 games over the past two seasons, it worked in 2019 during a full season but not so much in the 2020 60-game season. This season they have to get off to a better start in this tough division. Juan Soto and Trea Turner are going to be the leaders of the lineup, while Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg will be the leaders of the rotation. They did address some of their problem areas including Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell, and Brad Hand, but they still are not quite in the upper echelon of teams in the NL. We should see a bit of a rebound from the 2020 season especially with a possible MVP in Soto, but a division win could be a huge stretch for this squad.
19. Marlins – Young pitchers take the lead
2020 Record: 31-29
Miami shocked the baseball world last season by making the playoffs at over .500 and therefore being way ahead of schedule for rebuilding. While they may have done that, there is no doubt they are still rebuilding and there could easily be a worse record in store for 2021. The pitching staff has three young future stars in Sandy Alcantara, Pablo López, and Sixto Sánchez to help carry them, but the lineup is too weak to make a real impact. Brian Anderson, Starling Marte, and Corey Dickerson are the biggest bats in the lineup and that is not a sign of a playoff team. It is all possible they come and surprise everyone again, but they faded towards the end of the 60 games, so the best bet would be something similar and .500 might be a big ask.
20. Giants – The rise of Joey Bart
2020 Record: 29-31
Does having a star catcher for years to come sound familiar in San Francisco? Well, it should. Buster Posey played his first full season over a decade ago and now he is on the downswing of his career, now is when the next catcher should step up in Joey Bart. While he may not be on the roster opening day, he is having a strong spring and very well could be their staple behind the plate for years to come. Outside of that they really didn’t make any noteworthy additions and we will see a very similar team to that of last year. Brandon Belt, Donovan Solano, Tommy La Stella, Mike Yastrzemski, Evan Longoria, Kevin Gausman, and Johnny Cueto lead this team, but this is not a playoff team unless they make a huge midseason move.
21. Red Sox- Pitchers back and healthy
2020 Record: 24-36
Eduardo Rodríguez may not be ready for opening day after dealing with some arm issues, but he should be back on the field and that is much better than what we could say last season. Chris Sale should also be back, although his road will be longer due to recovering from Tommy John. Finally, they added Garrett Richards to add another strong arm to the starting staff, but overall, this rotation is still not great, though they are much better than they were last year. The lineup should not be the issue as they still have Rafael Devers, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez, Kiké Hernandez, Alex Verdugo, Hunter Renfroe, and prospect Bobby Dalbec. This still may not be a playoff ready team, but they should do better than the bottom of the division.
22. Reds – Luis Castillo
2020 Record: 31-29
How are the Reds going to get by without the 2020 NL Cy Young winner? Pretty simple, they won’t, at least theoretically they should not. They went all in last offseason and the big gamble didn’t work out and now the rotation has gotten worse, and the lineup hasn’t gotten any better. Luis Castillo is still a great pitcher and could be a dark horse Cy Young candidate so he should bring some excitement to this city, but outside of that there is not much hope for the postseason. The lineup that consists of Mike Moustakas, Eugenio Suárez, Nick Castellanos, and Jesse Winker should produce runs, but outside of Castillo and Sonny Gray there is not much in terms of the pitching staff. They went all in and failed and now they will be in rebuild mode sooner rather than later.
23. Mariners – Jarred Klenick and this young outfield
2020 Record: 27-33
While the AL West might technically be wide open for any team to take the division, it is the least likely that it will be the Mariners. Not necessarily because they are a bad team, but because they have one of the youngest teams in the league. Kyle Seager, Mitch Haniger, and James Paxton will be the veterans of this team that include young talent such as Evan White, Kyle Lewis, Taylor Trammell, Justus Sheffield. Plus, they also have two young prospects in Julio Rodríguez (not likely to see the majors this season) and Jarred Kelenic who if not on by opening day should be up very soon. Kelenic is their top prospect and by all means should be a star, if brought up this will be the start of what could be a very special career.
24. Royals – Bobby Witt Jr.?
2020 Record: 26-34
The Royals never go big in free agency and this year was just another example of that with their biggest move being adding Carlos Santana. Salvador Perez, Santana, Adalberto Mondesi, Whit Merrifield, and Jorge Soler will lead the lineup which could score runs fairly well, but the pitching is a different story. The pitching is honestly up there as being the worst in the league and that will be the reason why they will most likely finish at the bottom of the AL Central. If they are near the bottom, it is entirely possible, we see the debut of Bobby Witt Jr. Witt Jr. is one of the very highly touted recent prospects and everyone in Kansas City is ready to see him, now the question is will we see him this season?
25. Diamondbacks – Bounce back for Ketel Marte
2020 Record: 25-35
No one would call it a major failure, but the Diamondbacks season last year was a disappointment with what could have been. After a breakout 2019 season Ketel Marte was the largest of those disappointments, having one of his worst professional seasons. Marte is only one of the players who will need to step it up to not finish in the bottom of the barrell, though if they beat the Rockies that would be impressive. An early injury to ace Zach Gallen is also not the kind of start this team was looking for so now they will need more out of their lineup to lead them to early wins. Eduardo Escobar, Christian Walker, Marte, and David Peralta will need to be big for the D-Backs. While not quite the bottom of the division, don’t expect a .500 season.
26. Rangers – Young talent
2020 Record: 22-38
The best thing going for the Rangers this season, they are the only team in the majors opening with their stadium at full capacity. They will be able to show off their fancy new stadium to fans, but the product they are putting forth may not and most likely will not be the best. We will get to see loads of young talent this season including Leody Taveras, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Solak, and Dane Dunning but even these names are not jumping off the page at you. Outside of them Joey Gallo is the player to watch strictly for his power, but that is what this team is, home run or bust, expect more busts this season.
27. Tigers – Young pitching prospects
2020 Record: 23-35
Miguel Cabrera is still on his journey to 3,000 hits and 500 home runs (both of which could happen this season) but that is one of the few things to look forward to on the offensive end. The real joy of watching this team (maybe not this year) will be the pitching staff which include three young potential aces in Casey Mize, Tarik Skubal, Matt Manning, Spencer Torkelson, and Riley Greene. With the lineup around them another 100-loss season is entirely possible, but watching these young pitchers develop should give fans something to look forward to, outside of watching Cabrera battle for a pair of milestones.
28. Orioles-Adley Rutschman?
2020 Record: 25-35
Baltimore amazingly didn’t finish in last place in the AL East last season and some fans (including myself) will consider that a victory. While that would be hopeful thinking, don’t expect that to happen this season. Anthony Santander, John Means, Trey Mancini, Ryan Mountcastle, and as always Chris Davis! It is not all gloom in Baltimore, especially being able to watch Mancini in his first season back after a battle with cancer, but what everyone is looking forward to is seeing the switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman. The last catcher like that in Baltimore? Matt Wieters, and though he was good he never turned to the player they hoped possibly due to overuse. It is entirely possible that Rutschman never sees the show this season, but if he does it will certainly be something we keep our eye on.
29. Pirates – Ke’Bryan Hayes
2020 Record: 19-41
The best hope for the Pirates is that they go .500 this season and even that is unrealistic. Last season they had the worst record in the league, and it is possible they got worse over the offseason losing Josh Bell. They still have pieces such as Kevin Newman, Colin Moran, Jacob Stallings, and Bryan Reynolds as well as a young potential stud in Mitch Keller, but none of these guys will be talked about as that guy. Ke’Bryan Hayes most likely won’t be looked at like that either (at least this year) but they are hoping he is the future of the team and this will be our first glance. Last season he was up and played fairly well, if he can do that again for them this season then the Bucs can give fans something to look forward to. However, they are in full rebuild mode so don’t be shocked if they are fighting for the worst record in the league.
30. Rockies – Coors Field Effect
2020 Record: 26-34
The Rockies probably would not have been this low until they made one of the most confusing moves in recent memory, trading Nolan Arenado for practically nothing. Now that leaves this lineup with basically Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon to carry the load. Sure, they added C.J. Cron to add some pop, but this is not a lineup that will win many games. Sure, they will score runs due to the Coors Field effect, but they will also give up a ton of runs due to the field and just not having a good pitching staff. Add on to that Story is an upcoming free agent and he might be a trade candidate, this is a team in a full rebuild and this will just be the start of a very tough period of Rockies baseball.