All-Time MLB Franchise Rankings, 2017 Edition

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After several years of ranking all active MLB franchises on my other site, I’ve decided to move the process to SportsPaper.info. In addition to the list having a new home, I’ve upped my game by introducing some new technology to the process — namely, Tableau. Other than making things look snazzy, however, the methodology behind how I’m ranking all MLB teams remains pretty much intact. So for those who don’t know the rules, here they are again:

The Criteria

The categories and point values are as follows:

  • 20 points for a World Series title. Pre-1903 titles are not counted.
  • 15 points for a league pennant.
  • 6 points for a playoff series win (e.g. Division Series or Wild Card Game).
  • 4 points for a division title.
  • 3 points for a regular season winning percentage of .556 or higher, -3 points for a percentage of .444 or lower.
  • 1 point for a winning season, -1 point for a losing season.
  • Consecutive winning regular seasons are worth 2 points starting with the second, 3 points for the third, 4 points for the fourth, and so on. The counter is reset after any non-winning season. So if a team has three winning seasons in a row, they get a total of 5 points.

Feel free to share your thoughts on my rankings in the comments below. And as I do every year, I must give credit to two sites that helped form the basis of my own formulations — Bob’s Blog and Page 2.

All rankings are current through the end of the 2016 Major League Baseball season (prior-year ranking in parentheses). Click on the image to be taken to the interactive version:

All-Time MLB Franchise Rankings, 2017 Edition

The Top 10

#1. New York Yankees (#1) — 23.28 pts.
#2. San Francisco Giants (#2) — 8.41 pts.
#3. St. Louis Cardinals (#3) — 7.72 pts.
#4. Boston Red Sox (#4) — 7.58 pts.
#5. Los Angeles Dodgers (#5) — 7.26 pts.
#6. Oakland Athletics (#6) — 5.581 pts.
#7. Atlanta Braves (#7) — 5.578 pts.
#8. Chicago Cubs (#10) — 5.00 pts.
#9. Detroit Tigers (#8) — 4.82 pts.
#10. Toronto Blue Jays (#12) — 4.75 pts.

Two changes of note from last year — the World Series champion Cubs moved up two spots, and the Blue Jays cracked the top 10.


The Mediocre 10

#11. Pittsburgh Pirates (#9) — 4.67 pts.
#12. Arizona Diamondbacks (#11) — 4.15 pts.
#13. Chicago White Sox (#13) — 3.70 pts.
#14. New York Mets (#14) — 3.65 pts.
#15. Cleveland Indians (#17) — 3.62 pts.
#16. Cincinnati Reds (#15) — 3.51 pts.
#17. Kansas City Royals (#16) — 3.28 pts.
#18. Baltimore Orioles (#18) — 2.92 pts.
#19. Miami Marlins (#19) — 2.30 pts.
#20. Philadelphia Phillies (#20) — 2.001 pts.

Replacing the Jays in the middle tier are the Pirates, who had a sub-.500 campaign. The pennant-winning Cleveland Indians moved up two spots, while most of the rest of this group stayed put.


The Bottom 10

#21. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (#21) — 2.000 pts.
#22. Houston Astros (#22) — 1.77 pts.
#23. Minnesota Twins (#24) — 1.58 pts.
#24. Tampa Bay Rays (#23) — 1.33 pts.
#25. Texas Rangers (#25) — 1.05 pts.
#26. Washington Nationals (#26) — 0.74 pts.
#27. Milwaukee Brewers (#27)  — 0.44 pts.
#28. San Diego Padres (#28) — 0.19 pts.
#29. Colorado Rockies (#29) — -0.03 pts.
#30. Seattle Mariners (#30) — -0.11 pts.

Nothing much to report here, other than the Twins and Rays swapping spots. Colorado’s lifetime average dipped into negative territory, while the bottom-feeding Mariners edged up three-hundredths of a point thanks to finishing 10 games over .500.


Miscellany

  • The Cubs have logged more seasons in positive territory over the past 10 years (five) than in any period in their history since a string of six such seasons from 1967 through 1972.
  • The San Francisco Giants are the team of the decade so far, thanks largely to three World Series titles.
  • Despite not qualifying for the postseason, the Yankees continue to rack up big points due to finishing above .500 for 24 straight seasons.