ESPN Future Power Rankings

[Myth111]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/ ... -nos-30-21

ESPN is doing a power rankings of the future of all teams. They only released the teams ranked 21-30 and luckily the Jays are not on it.

#30 Baltimore
#29 Houston - NL Central
#28 Chicago White Sox - AL Central
#27 Cleveland - AL Central
#26 New York Mets
#25 Minnesota - AL Central
#24 Pittsburgh - NL Central
#23 Oakland
#22 Miami Marlins
#21 Milwaukee - NL Central
#20 San Diego
#19 Los Angelas Dodgers
#18 Seattle
#17 San Francisco
#16 Cincinnati
#15 Colorado
#14 Washington
#13 Chicago Cubs
#12 Detroit
#11 Kansas City
#10 Philadelphia
#9 Atlanta
#8 Arizona
#7 Los Angelas Angels
#6 Toronto - AL East
#5 Boston - AL East
#4 St. Louis
#3 Tampa Bay - AL East
#2 New York Yankees - AL East
#1 Texas

Notice a pattern? Central divisions suck. It really is dumb how much easier it is for them than teams in the East divisions. When you can only have a max of two teams in the playoffs then divisions need to be divided more fairly. They have an unfair advantage over other teams.

[BobbyBoy]

WOOO! were not on the 30-21. And yeah, IMO the jays are a top 2 in almost every other division.

[Strav]

we'll appear in the 11-20 spot no doubt, probably closer to 11 than 20 however. And that doesn't bother me one bit. Go Jays!

[Dr Positivity]

I can't believe Baltimore got so fked the last couple years. After the decade they just had to be sitting in last. Wow. No way I would put them below Houston though.

[Myth111]

I forgot to post the criteria they used.

Like the NBA version, we asked our MLB experts, Jim Bowden, Keith Law and Buster Olney, to rank all 30 franchises, from 1 to 30, in five categories. But because MLB organizations are run a bit differently than NBA clubs (and the leagues operate under different rules), the categories are different. For MLB they are:

• Majors: Quality of current big league roster

• Minors: Quality and quantity of prospects in their farm system

• Finances: How much money do they have available to spend?

• Management: Value and stability of ownership, front office and coaching staff

• Mobility: Do they have a lot of young, cheap players? Or old, immovable guys?

The average of the panelists' scores for each category are visible in the bar graphs for each team and are rounded to the nearest integer.

To come up with an overall score, we weighted the categories based on importance.

Major and minor league quality are given the most weight, finances and smarts are given 2/3 the weight, and mobility is given 1/3 the weight. So, for example, if everyone voted your team first in majors and minors, it would be worth 30 points, for finances and management that would be worth 20 points, and for mobility it would be 10.

The final scores are given on a scale from 0 to 100, representing a team's percentage of total possible points.

The scores and rankings are designed to reflect how well these clubs are set up for sustained success over the next five years.

[Schad]

Daresay we could crack the top 10.

[BobbyBoy]

How come Baltimore has such a bad farm system? I say the jays will be 13th.

[Parataxis]

Daresay we could crack the top 10.

With those categories, absolutely. Especially if they evaluate how much money we are able to spend, not how much we're willing to spend.

[Raps in 4]

Daresay we could crack the top 10.

With those categories, absolutely. Especially if they evaluate how much money we are able to spend, not how much we're willing to spend.

Every MLB owner is a billionaire that could spend $200 million on his team. It's evaluating willingness too spend, where we rank extremely poorly.

[Myth111]

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/ ... -nos-20-11

Toronto will be in the top 10.

20) San Diego
19) Los Angelas Dodgers
18) Seattle
17) San Francisco
16) Cincinnati
15) Colorado
14) Washington
13) Chicago Cubs
12) Detroit
11) Kansas City

[BobbyBoy]

Wow. I think they should just do a MLB roster, management, and prospects.

[Myth111]

Blue Jays are ranked #6.

http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/ ... 2-nos-10-1

#6 Toronto Blue Jays
LAST SEASON: 81-81 (fourth place AL East)

Toronto was given a score of 69.3/100

18/30 for Major league roster
29/30 for Farm system
17/30 for Finances
19/30 for Management (This included President and owners so sadly it looks like some people agree with the Rogers haters on this board)
19/30 for Mobility - I do not get this one because which contracts are bad?

The lowdown

In any other division, Toronto probably would have made the playoffs a couple of times over the past decade, and no team will benefit from the extra wild card as much as the Jays. Of course, they could be in position to win the AL East outright very soon.

Not only do they have arguably baseball's best hitter (Jose Bautista), phenom (Brett Lawrie) and farm system, they have virtually no long-term commitments. They are probably one or two pitchers away from winning this division, and have the payroll flexibility and trade chips to make it happen. This sleeping giant is almost ready to wake up. -- Buster Olney

The next step

Lawrie will be a fixture in Toronto's lineup for years, but the Jays still will need a big bat to accompany him and Jose Bautista. Toronto should pursue Canadian Joey Votto if he becomes available in a trade or as a free agent. -- Jim Bowden

#10 Philadelphia
#9 Atlanta
#8 Arizona
#7 Los Angelas Angels
#6 Toronto
#5 Boston
#4 St. Louis
#3 Tampa Bay
#2 New York Yankees
#1 Texas

I love our division. We only have 4 of the top 6...

[ForeverTFC]

6th best in the majors

2nd last in own division ...

[Brinbe]

6th best in the majors

2nd last in own division ...

Yep, had the same reaction.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

How come Baltimore has such a bad farm system? I say the jays will be 13th.

No money invested in scouting

[Schad]

How come Baltimore has such a bad farm system? I say the jays will be 13th.

No money invested in scouting

Heh, and then they land a potentially elite prospect in IFA, only to have the South Korean government smack them down, resulting in MLB nixing the deal.

[Myth111]

O's board thinks MLB will approve the deal in 30 days.

Is there any hope we will ever get out of this terrible division? Seriously. It is a joke how easy Central teams have it and few people talk about it.

[BobbyBoy]

O's board thinks MLB will approve the deal in 30 days.

Is there any hope we will ever get out of this terrible division? Seriously. It is a joke how easy Central teams have it and few people talk about it.

Nope. Its where we are located. I guess we could go to the NL east. Probably not. But T-bay might be moved out.

[Schad]

Makes far more sense for Toronto to be moved than Tampa, given that Toronto is at least somewhat proximate to the midwestern teams who comprise the Central divisions. Neither is at all likely, though...barring a mass reshuffling, we're stuck where we are.

[LBJSeizedMyID]

Worst thing for baseball would be for the Jays to make the playoffs. Would make for terrible tv ratings

For that reason, we're buried in the AL East.