Braves Top Inaugural 2024 Power Rankings As Spring Training Gets Started

The Atlanta Braves were the best team of the 2023 regular season, and they got even better over the offseason.

Atlanta added MLB's career K/9 leader in Chris Sale to their rotation, as well as upgraded in left field from the platoon of Eddie Rosario and Kevin Pillar to former top prospect Jarred Kelenic, who has already reported to spring training to prepare for what the team has said will be everyday playtime in left field.

That's why in pre-Spring Training power rankings, Atlanta's consistently coming in at the #1 spot in most polls.

The Athletic, USA Today, and FanGraphs all installed Atlanta as their #1 team entering spring training, whereas ESPN was swayed by the greater than one billion dollars spent by the Los Angeles Dodgers in this year's free agency and put them at #1, with Atlanta at number two.

(MLB.com's Power Rankings haven't been updated since January 1st, but Atlanta was in first place when they last did them.)

The Athletic noted that the Braves are one of the deepest teams at virtually all positions on the diamond, with a young and cost-controlled roster that it the envy of the rest of the league. USA Today pointed out that eight of Atlanta's primary position players are between the ages of 23 and 29 (Travis d'Arnaud is 35, while DH/1B Marcell Ozuna is 33), meaning this isn't the only season Atlanta should be high in these rankings.

Most of the questions and/or uncertainty across the power rankings has to do with new additions Sale and Kelenic. FanGraphs asks about the "mercurial" Kelenic, and ESPN points out that while he's never "lived up to the hype" in the majors, he is both young (only 24) and coming off of better pre-injury results in Seattle last season, so there's things to like and potential for growth. The Athletic notes that the key to the season is how Sale (and Charlie Morton) do from a health and effectiveness perspective, with ESPN acknowledging that Sale's stuff is still "top-of-the-rotation" quality when he's healthy.

Atlanta's division rivals don't all get the same amounts of respect, with the Phillies being a top ten team to most outlets but FanGraphs having them 13th (behind the Boston Red Sox!) and pointing out that running it back - while a legitimate strategy for a team that went to the World Series and NLCS in the last two postseasons - isn't very aspirational and is a sign that Philadelphia's not even trying to catch Atlanta in the division, settling for a wild card spot.

The Mets and Marlins flip-flop spots in the middle tier, with the Marlins reaching a high of 15 (FanGraphs) and a low of 23 (ESPN), while the Mets range from 17th to 23rd, most commonly coming in the back half of the top 20.

The Mets made a lot of acquisitions and signings, but just of veterans on short-term "prove-it" deals, while the Marlins still haven't signed a major league free agent and saw top home run hitter Jorge Soler opt-out and sign with the San Francisco Giants, prompting the question of how to replace his 36 homers and 75 RBIs from the lineup.

The Nationals consistently come in towards the bottom of the power rankings, with little expectations for them to compete this season. 2024 is commonly considered to be yet another rebuilding year for the Nats, with several high-level prospects that could see MLB playtime late in the season.

Braves now project to have best 2024 rotation in MLB

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