We’re days away from MLB’s Opening Day, one of the most exciting times of the sports year. With Spring Training coming to a close and the weather starting to follow suit, baseball is in the air and it has reached us here at the station.

So in preparation for the season, we have decided to prepare some Power Rankings as we approach the baseball season.

I brought in fellow sports staff members Andrew Wallace and Billy Whyte to help me out with these rankings. Each of us did it individually, and we aggregated our selections in one list, which we’ll start with. That will be followed by our individual opinions, including blurbs on the teams.

Combined Power Rankings

1.cards logo St Louis

2. sox logoBoston

3.tigers logo Detroit

4.dodgers logo LA Dodgers

5.nats logo Washington

6.rays logo Tampa Bay

7.rangers logo Texas

8.reds logo Cincinnati

9.as logo Oakland

10.os logo Baltimore

11.braves logo Atlanta

12.download Arizona

13.royals logo Kansas City

14.pirates logo Pittsburgh

15.yanks logo NY Yankees

16.indians logo Cleveland

17.giants logo San Francisco

18.download (9) Seattle

19.download (10) LA Angels

20.download (12) Colorado

21.download (11) Philadelphia

22.download (8) San Diego

23.download (6) Toronto

24.download (7) Milwaukee

25.download (5) Minnesota

26.download (3) Chicago Cubs

27.download (4) Chicago White Sox

28.download (1) NY Mets

29.download (2) Miami

30.astros logo Houston

Individual Power Rankings

Seth’s Power Rankings

1. Boston 

Boston lost a couple of key pieces, but still are the defending champions, and should be respected as such. They will be relying on young guns Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr, who will usher in the next era of Red Sox baseball.

2. St Louis

If you pick against St Louis, you get burned. Up there with death and taxes, Cardinals baseball is one of the constants in the universe, and they promise to be just as good as they were last season. It’s a safe pick for them to return to October.

3. Detroit

Justin Verlander, Miguel Cabrera. Need I say more?

4. Washington

Matt Williams is a steal of hire. With a team that still is as talented as any in the majors, Washington will be looking to prove that 2012 was no fluke.

5. LA Dodgers

With star talent at almost every position and the best pitcher in baseball, there is nothing suggesting that the Dodgers will be anything but successful in 2014. Injuries are a concern, but that’s the case with every team in baseball.

6. Tampa Bay

As long as David Price, Evan Longoria and Joe Maddon are in Tampa, the Rays are going to be a competitor. Wil Myers and Chris Archer are also guys that can take the next step in 2014.

7. Texas

The relatively quiet additions of Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo add to an already potent lineup that features Adrian Beltre and Alex Rios. Is this the year Ron Washington and company puts it all together?

8. Kansas City

The loss of Ervin Santana will hurt, but this is a team with a lot of young and exciting talent. If guys like Hosmer, Butler and Gordon can continue to improve, this team is a real threat to thrust themselves into playoff consideration.

9. Arizona

While they lack a staff ace (and a potentially devastating loss with Patrick Corbin), the Diamondbacks are above average at almost every facet of the game. An MVP candidate in Paul Goldscmidt, this is a team that can compete for the NL West crown, though a wild card is more realistic.

10. Atlanta

Offense and youth highlight the Braves, but it will be interesting to see how this team responds to losing Medlen and Beachy for the season.

11. Cincinnati

Really, the biggest question for Cincy is whether or not Billy Hamilton can fill the void left behind by Shin-Soo Choo in the lead-off spot. If he can, the Reds have the pieces to compete with the Cardinals for the NL Central.

12. Oakland

Looking at the talent, Oakland isn’t that good of a team. Why, then, have the Athletics made the postseason two years in a row? Buy into the system, guys – the A’s aren’t going anywhere.

13. Baltimore

Even if Chris Davis doesn’t repeat his 2013 performance, I’m a believer of what Buck Showalter has done these past couple seasons. Is an active offseason enough to shorten the gap in the tight AL East?

14. NY Yankees

The last time the Yankees spent a lot of money in the offseason, they made the playoffs. That being said, Masahiro Tanaka has been the real deal according to the scouts, and McCann and Beltran are still above average pickups at their positions.

15. Cleveland

I’m a big proponent of that Cleveland lineup and Justin Masterson, but Cleveland has just enough holes to keep them out of “contender’ status for me. Danny Salazar is a young gun to watch, though.

16. Colorado

I am pretty high on Colorado (Rocky Mountain high?). Arguably the best lineup in baseball and an improving pitching staff, a lot will hinge on the health of CarGo and Tulo, but that’s every year for the Rockies.

17. Pittsburgh

Losing Burnett hurts, and I don’t think they made the improvements in the offseason to stay steady enough to repeat their Cinderella 2013. Even with McCutchen, the offense wasn’t reliable, and can’t be depended upon over the course of a season

18. San Francisco

San Francisco has the pitching staff of a top five team, but struggled with inconsistency last season. That can’t be ignored. If Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum can return to form, the Giants are well-equipped to make a run. It is an even year, after all.

19. Philadelphia

Ryne Sandberg is making rookie mistakes in his mishandling of the Jimmy Rollins situation early, and that could be a preview of what is to come for the rookie manager. It’s a shame, too, because Philly looks pretty good in Spring Training, Rollins included, and I think they can be a dark horse contender.

20. Seattle

Seattle is much improved in 2014, and it isn’t too lofty to expect that it turns to wins for the Mariners. The best one-two punch in baseball with King Felix and Iwakuma and an underrated lineup, the only thing keeping me from bumping them up higher is the amount of more established teams in their way.

21. San Diego

Which Chase Headley is the real Chase Headley? The 31 homer stud in 2012 or the 13 homer disappointment from last season? This team will go where he goes; the pitching staff is serviceable and the supporting cast is young and figures to improve this year.

22. LA Angels

Talent-wise, the Angels have everything they need to be successful. The best player in baseball right now (Trout) and the best player of the past decade (Pujols) aside, Mike Sciosca is definitely on the hot seat for this season.

23. Toronto

This team is the ultimate boom-or-bust pick. They have the talent in Reyes, Dickey, Encarnacion and Bautista, but so does every other team in their division. If Toronto was in another division, they could contend for a wild card.

24. Milwaukee

We will see just how valuable Ryan Braun is, after serving his 50-game PED suspension last season. Even with him, though, this team is miles away from the likes of Cincinatti and St Louis.

25. Chicago Cubs

Chicago has too much young talent to write off forever. They’re probably a year or two away from it turning into wins, though.

26. Chicago White Sox

There’s a lot to like about the White Sox. Chris Sale is a legit Cy Young contender and the youth on the roster stands out in Avisail Garcia, Jose Abreu, Matt Davidson and Adam Eaton. This was still the second-worst team in terms of run production last season, though.

27. Minnesota

Minnesota has some nice pieces, but with Ricky Nolasco as their staff ace, I’m reluctant to embrace the Twins. Like so many of these lower teams, though, things are going to get worse before they get better.

28. NY Mets

The loss of Matt Harvey for the season hurts a team that was already struggling to find something to get excited about. Young pitchers Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler will be guys to watch going forward.

29. Miami

Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Fernandez are studs, but the Marlins still lost 100 games last season. That’s not good.

30. Houston

After record-breaking badness last season, Houston has an impressive farm system. That doesn’t really help them in 2014.

Andrew’s Power Rankings

1. Boston

World Champs earn my leadoff spot, but fall second in the aggregate (so you can’t call me too STL biased). Can’t argue with the loss of Jacoby Ellsbury when you have Dan Nava to plug-in as a replacement. Xander Bogaerts looks to be next beantown star.

2. St Louis

Redbirds poised to repeat as NL champs in always balanced Central division. Matt Carpenter moves to 3B, Kolten Wong comes off the bench to replace Carp at 2nd, and hyped rookie Oscar Taveras will need to recover from offseason ankle surgery to help bring championship hardware to Busch.

3. Detroit

Can Max Scherzer repeat his “ace-esque” dominance in the 2 spot? If so, expect the 1-3 in this rotation to be the best in the Bigs. Torii Hunter reverted to old school form last season, needs to continue to do so while mentoring Austin Jackson.

4. LA Dodgers

All the talk this offseason was related to Clayton Kershaw’s contract. Don’t buy into any of that. The dude has had under a 3 ERA and under a 1.25 WHIP the last five seasons. The trick to this team is managing the ego that is Yaisel Puig. Don Mattingly will need to enlist the help of veterans such as Adrian Gonzalez, Hanley Ramierez, and Carl Crawford to reign in Puig. Matt Kemp’s return to All-Star form would also be crucial.

5. Pittsburgh

The mental fortitude and sheer will of Andrew McCutchen is reason enough to place the Bucs in my personal top 5. Fransico Liriano looks to continue his resurgence under pitching coach Ray Searage. Searage looks to take the next step in his work, moving project reliver Tony Watson to the second starter.

6. Tampa Bay

The devil came out of the mascot years back, but this minor market franchise maintains their success as if they still had a deal with him. As a team they finished in the upper half of the league in Runs, BA, OBP, Slugging, BAA, ERA, and WHIP.

7. Texas

Elvis Andrus is only 25 years old, yet he already has 5 years of MLB experience. He could be an x-factor if his fielding ability jumps from “elite” to “gold glove.” With a .976 FPCT and 30 errors over the last two seaons, he is comparable to the last two gold glove winners at SS (Jimmy Rollins and Andrelton Simmons) who combined for a .979 FPCT and 27 errors.

8. Washington

As a DC area guy, I’ve learned it is seldom wise to buy into any of the District’s pro franchises when there is a lot of hype surrounding them. That being said, the Nationals fell short of expectations last season, so there is a lot less chatter in Washington. Still, cautious optimism is the best way to approach this club, especially from an offensive perspective. Werth, Zimmerman, and Harper need to have All-Star seasons. I don’t “buy” any other hitter in this lineup.

9. Cincinnati

The NL Central is chaos. With a weakened NL East and an ugly NL West, expect the Central to continue to breed multiple playoff teams. Despite my personal bias against Brandon Phillips, he is the best defensive 2nd baseman in the Bigs.

10. Baltimore

Having spent time this summer in Camden Yards I share the general media consensus of Chris Davis. I’d say to expect a drop off, but nothing catastrophic. This is also easily the scrappiest lineup in baseball.

11. Cleveland

Mark my words Cleveland sports fans, Ubaldo Jimenez won’t be as missed as LeBron, but you’ll be disowning him as you did “King James” once your staff’s ERA hits 5. Other than Justin Masterson things look bleak.

12. Oakland

AJ Griffin and Jarrod Parker will be out the first 2-4 weeks of the season. This will provide for a slower start for the back-to-back AL West champs. Oakland is used to being chased by Texas, but the division battle will be enhanced by the possibility of a resurgence from the Angels and the Cano addition for Seattle. I have the A’s sneaking into the playoffs.

13. Atlanta

The key to Atlanta offensively is two-fold. Is Evan Gattis an everyday player? Can Chris Johnson build off last year’s BA? Both of those answers receive a resounding “YES” from me. Expect a slightly lower average for Johnson, but an increase in Runs from last year’s pedestrian 54.

14. Arizona

The most unpredictable team that we collectively have ranked in the top half of the league. The West is atrocious, so they could finish as high as 6th on this list, or succumb to the weakness of the division and finish as low as 16th. The Trumbo signing is going to be the crux for this team. He needs to find a spot in the lineup where his big bat and poor average is maximized. Goldy is my preseason MVP pick.

15. NY Yankees

No mo Cano…Uh oh. What happened to the team that could out-bid any franchise? They made their bed with Tanaka, so we’ll see if he becomes Darvish or Dice-K.

16. Kansas City

Kansas City is a team on the rise. It’s hard when you share a state with the Cardinals to progress past a certain stage but Shields and Guthrie helped the team to finish 3rd in the Majors last season in quality starts with 95.

17. LA Angels

Reuniting David Freese with Albert Pujols could pay off. CJ Wilson is a CY Young contender. Unfortunately for the Angels of Anaheim of California of the United States…there are too many questions for them to be ranked in the top half. What is the offensive identity? How do they fix the disparity in talent between the starters and the bullpen?

18. San Francisco

Who brings the power on offense to a franchise that is used to hitting lots of home runs? Finished 29th as a team in that category while also finishing in the bottom 10 in RBIs and Runs Scored last season.

19. Seattle

The Mariner’s might be the worst small-ball team from 2013. As a team they only hit .237! Cano is a great add to fix that but last year’s team leader in BA (Kendry Morales) has yet to be re-signed. He was recently quoted as saying “I’ll wait until June if need be.”

20. Toronto

Toronto is perhaps the definition of mediocre. Injuries crushed what hope they had last season and with an aging squad again this year, expect a middle of the pack finish.

21. Philadelphia

Philly, Philly, Philly. Manager Ryne Sandberg is engaged in off-field drama with star SS Jimmy Rollins. Jonathan Papelbon is losing touch on his fastball, so it will be interesting to see if Sandberg is forced to make another “enemy” and relieve Papelbon of his closer duties.

22. Milwaukee

Brew Crew woes. The return of Ryan Braun will be an unfortunate distraction for a club who looks primed to go. The ace is Kyle Lohse, who has been excellent since having his mechanics retooled in St. Louis via the legendary Dave Duncan.

23. Colorado

Troy Tulowitzki looks good on paper, and is a star who (when healthy) helped the Rockies finish in the top 10 in every major offensive category excpet OBP. 17 year coaching veteran Jim Wright will have to duplicate his success with a lackluster rotation. Luckily the bullpen behind Rex Brothers looks nasty.

24. Minnesota

Joe Mauer might want to stick to acting instead of hitting in the Twin’s line-up. He is the lone talent in an offense that didn’t finish in the top 20 in any batting category last year.

25. San Diego

Similar to Arizona, this team could finish almost anywhere. It will be tough to make the playoffs but Bud Black is one of the most underated managers in the League. He has two World Series rings, one as a player, the other as a pitching coach.

26. Chicago Cubs

Write off this team forever. Just kidding Seth, this team will continue to grow but Jeff Samardzija will likely be trade bait for Cub’s President Theo Epstein, who is constantly loading up for the future. Unless new manager Rick Renteria pulls out a miracle, he’ll likely be gone by the time this squad sees postseason action.

27. Miami

Arguably just as poor as Houston because the AL West had the slight edge in superiority over the NL East in 2013.

28. NY Mets

If the Nationals and Braves struggle, expect the Mets to rise out of nowhere as they have been known to do when disrepected. Unfortunately, once they start winning and gain recognition, it is typically downhill from there. Wilmer Flores is dark horse to win ROY. A versatile infielder, he hit 15 HR, had 86 RBI and batted .321 with a .531 SLG% in Triple-A ball last season.

29. Chicago White Sox

The Windy City’s AL team has a decent 1-3 rotation in Chris Sale, Jose Quintana, and John Danks. That being said, when I try to sell you on a team’s ‘decent rotation’ you shouldn’t expect much. Gordon Beckham has been a bust to this point and is currently hurt.

30. Houston

Houston’s move to the AL made them look foolish. If it was at all possible for the franchise to regress last year, they did. Chris Carter has an All-Star future (29 homers and 82 RBI in just 244 AB) if he can strike-out less (SO in 36% of his at-bats in 2013).

Billy’s Power Rankings

1. St Louis

It seems like every year the Cards get better regardless of who they lose. They develop starting pitching better than anyone in the league, rookies come out of nowhere to become elite closers (Trevor Rosenthal), and their offense is as good as any in the country.

2. Detroit

Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez make up the best trio in baseball. The offense is incredible. Not much else needs to be said.

3. Washington

Combine one of the best starting rotations in baseball with one of the best lineups in baseball and you get the future NL East Champs. Last year was more an outlier than anything to expect in the future for this team.

4. LA Dodgers

They can afford almost every player they want, they have three players who have been major league closers in Jansen/Wilson/Perez, they have one of the best young players in Puig, and then they have the best pitcher in baseball in Keshaw. So yeah the Dodgers won’t be going away anytime soon.

5. Boston

I’m slightly more concerned with the defending champs than my cohorts as losing Ellsbury will hurt a lot in the short run, Jarrod Saltalamacchia is being replaced by two 37 year olds (A.J. Pierzynski and David Ross), theoretically David Ortiz will finally start to regress, and John Lackey and Mike Napoli weren’t close to as good as the postseason would suggest. But they still should be a contender with an elite bullpen, plethora of young talent, and a power lineup.

6. Tampa Bay

It seems every year we write off Joe Maddon and company and every year they make the playoffs. So assuming Alex Cobb, Matt Moore, and Chris Archer continue to progress, the offense should have enough juice to get them to the playoffs.

7. Oakland

Time for everyone to stop doubting the Athletics. Josh Donaldson emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate, Sonny Gray looks destined to become an ace this season, and the bullpen may be the deepest in baseball.

8. Texas

Shin-Soo Choo’s addition is bigger than people think and the bullpen will continue to be phenomenal but there are real concerns in the starting rotation behind Yu Darvish and Derek Holland.

9. San Francisco

Matt Cain rebounded from a shaky first half with a dominant second half, Bumgarner is legitimate Cy Young candidate, the Giants still have a strong bullpen and the team has a surprisingly 1-6 in the lineup with Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and Pablo Sandoval.

10. Seattle

Don’t sleep on Seattle this year, Taijuan Walker is a potential rookie of the year candidate, James Paxton should take the leap, Dustin Ackley and Justin Smoak have had a dominant spring training so far, and they added Robinson Cano who is always in the MVP conversation.

11. Cincinnati

Losing Shin-Soo Choo is worrisome as the Reds are lacking reliable hitters outside of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, but the depth of the rotation and the strength of the top of the bullpen should put the Reds back in the playoff conversation.

12. Baltimore

I’m concerned with whether Chris Davis can repeat last year’s production and the O’s are really hoping Manny Machado can repeat his production as doubles machine last year coming back from injury. If those two and Adam Jones don’t get going then the O’s will have serious troubles scoring this year.

13. Atlanta

Losing Medlen and Beachy knocks them out of the playoffs for me, as there is way too much uncertainty in the rotation and too much reliance on unreliable players in Heyward, the Upton brothers, Dan Uggla, and Evan Gattis.

14. NY Yankees

Spending an absurd amount of money doesn’t guarantee success. Team is loaded with injury concerns, Tanaka has to have a big year for the pitching staff to succeed outside Sabathia, and there still questions at the bottom of the lineup. However it is hard to beat the combination of Ellsbury, Beltran, Teixeira, and McCann at the top of the lineup.

15. Arizona

The Diamondbacks have a lot of pressure to win this year with Gibson’s and Tower’s jobs hanging on the fence. Will they be able to replace Patrick Corbin if he does get Tommy John surgery? Will Archie Bradley live up to expectations when he is called up? And the offense is relying on Trumbo and Montero to improve off last season. On the plus side Goldschmidt should once again be a top three MVP candidate.

16. Kansas City

The question isn’t whether Kansas City will take the leap, but whether it’s this year or next year. Eric Hosmer is a darkhorse MVP candidate, and the team is loaded with exciting young talent. But losing Santana hurts, and there is always a question mark whether Shields can be an ace or not.

17. Cleveland

Look for Cody Allen to replace John Axford early in the year, there are some nice pieces in the lineup between Bourn, Swisher, and Kipnis, and Danny Salazar could easily have a break out year with his fastball that can reach 99. But there isn’t enough on the team to suggest they will be anything other than average to above average.

18. Pittsburgh

It’s hard to imagine Pittsburgh as the same production from their pitching and defense next year and outside of McCutchen and Alvarez there isn’t enough on the lineup to rely on.

19. San Diego

The Padres will be sneaky good this year with Chase Headley coming back from injury and Everth Cabrera/Jedd Gyorko continuing to improve, but still concerns with the pitching staff and the rest of the lineup.

20. LA Angels

Mike Trout is the best player on the planet. However Weaver’s fastball keeps losing velocity, the bottom of the rotation along with bullpen is very concerning, and it’s hard to imagine Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton will improve dramatically from last year’s disappointment.

21. Milwaukee

The Brewers have depleted their farm system to try to win now, and while they are intriguing if Jean Segura or Carlos Gomez can keep up from last year’s leap, and if Ryan Braun becomes the player he was before the PED scandal, but the team just doesn’t have a strong enough pitching staff or lineup to compensate for their holes and lack of depth.

22. Toronto

Toronto’s offense alone makes them interesting with Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and home run machine Jose Bautista. But R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle aren’t exactly the best to have at the top of the rotation and there are major concerns with the bullpen and bottom of the order

23. Colorado

The Rockies have a better than they get credit for pitching staff, but still lacks a true ace, not much depth, and the lineup is completely dependent on CarGo and whether Troy Tulowitzki stays healthy.

24. Philadelphia

Cliff Lee is criminally underrated in fantasy drafts this year, and there are some nice young pieces in Ben Revere and and Domonic Brown. But like the Angels, hard to expect Ryan Howard will improve and the bottom of the rotation is very worrisome.

25. Chicago White Sox

I really believe Chris Sale will win the Cy Young Award this year, and I love the young core of Jose Abreu, Adam Eaton, and Matt Davidson. But honestly that’s pretty much it, and the White Sox will continue to be a team building for the future

26. NY Mets

Curtis Granderson doesn’t magically make the team much better, but it gives them at least some potential to be intriguing if David Wright has a strong year, Daniel Murphy and Juan Lagares continue to progress, and with young studs like Zack Wheeler and minor leaguer Noah Syndergaard to watch. But no Harvey means team should struggle to get to around 70 wins.

27. Minnesota

The Twins have Joe Mauer and moving him to first base should help his longevity. Also Target Field is an impressive newer stadium. That’s about it, most of the team’s talent is in the pipelines and will likely only be little better than they have been the last couple years.

28. Chicago Cubs

The Cubs have a lot of nice talent in their farm system, and I assume eventually Anthony Rizzo, Starlin Castro, and Jeff Samardzija will become the elite players everyone thinks they will be. But the team is lacking too much offensively and in their pitching to make much of a difference.

29. Miami

Giancarolo Stanton could be a MVP candidate this year, and Jose Fernandez should be in the Cy Young conversation. But outside that this is a very weak and depleted team.

30. Houston

Jose Altuve is one of the better second baseman in baseball. That’s about it for this team, but at least the farm system is loaded with young talent.