MLB way-too-early power rankings: How did Dodgers fare this offseason?

There are less than two months until Opening Day, but some Los Angeles Dodgers fans might not be as amped as they've been in previous seasons due to the changes that went down this offseason ... that were seemingly all for naught, considering the team doesn't have plans to get under the $233 million luxury tax threshold. We thought that was the entire point of this.

Even with efforts to "downgrade" in a sense, the Dodgers still remain one of the best teams in MLB and, in the end, avoided overpaying some questionable players or doling out prohibitive long-term contracts to maintain their financial flexibility for the foreseeable future.

Outside of Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Chris Taylor, nobody is signed beyond 2025, and only Austin Barnes is signed through 2024. Everybody else is arbitration-eligible or has a contract option (Max Muncy, Blake Treinen and Daniel Hudson could all be let go after 2023).

But we're speaking strictly about 2023 right here. The future is an important factor to consider, but the immediate goal is winning a World Series. The secondary goal is sustaining success beyond the year in front of you.

That brings us to our way-too-early power rankings. Before spring training. As rosters will likely see significant alterations over the next eight weeks. We call this "fun."

2023 MLB Power Rankings: Where Do Dodgers Rank?

Bottom Tier:

30. Cincinnati Reds
29. Washington Nationals
28. Kansas City Royals
27. Oakland Athletics
26. Detroit Tigers
25. Pittsburgh Pirates

How much intel do you need here? None of these teams opted to upgrade in any manner (or very minimally) this offseason and will be relying on new young talent or rookies from 2022 to take massive leaps in order to improve their fortunes. This is the 60-win to 68-win bracket.

Close-to-the-Bottom Tier:

24. Colorado Rockies
23. Miami Marlins
22. Chicago Cubs
21. Arizona Diamondbacks
20. Texas Rangers

A tad more optimistic here. Teams like the Rockies, Marlins and D-backs have hopeful infusions of young talent that could change their trajectory (on top of a solid group of veterans that help the team avoid bottom-barrel status).

But the Cubs and Rangers? Not sure what they are. Sure, they've made some additions with an eye to improve, but were they enough to propel them much higher than they were in 2022? The Rangers' "big" free agent additions last year eventually led them to 68 wins (yup, over $500 million in expenditures). The Cubs invested close to $200 million and enjoyed 74 wins. Texas signed Jacob deGrom, Andrew Heaney and Nathan Eovaldi this offseason to bolster their rotation. Chicago brought in Dansby Swanson, Jameson Taillon, Trey Mancini, Cody Bellinger and a few others. Pending injuries and bounce backs, both teams will need a fair amount of luck to jump beyond the next tier.

Mid-Tier:

19. San Francisco Giants
18. Chicago White Sox
17. Boston Red Sox
16. Minnesota Twins
15. Los Angeles Angels
14. Milwaukee Brewers
13. Baltimore Orioles

Welcome to mediocrity! But in this capitalist baseball society, there's always an opportunity to move up the ranks! San Francisco tried, but they whiffed on Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa and Carlos Rodón. Bad. The White Sox signed Mike Clevinger (who might not play next year) and did nothing else. The Red Sox continue to make lateral moves at best (Justin Turner, Masataka Yoshida, Chris Martin, Corey Kluber, Adam Duvall). The Twins brought back Correa but only added Christrian Vazuez, Joey Gallo, Michael Taylor and Pablo Lopez ... but lost batting champ Luis Arraez in the process. How much better are they than their 78-win 2022 selves?

Then you have the Angels. Again, what are they? The two best players in baseball but nothing to show for it. Literally nothing! Not even a winning record! But their offseason additions of Tyler Anderson, Brandon Drury, Hunter Renfroe and Gio Urshela were largely regarded as "good," which is a surprise for LAA. The Brew Crew seemingly always has enough offense and pitching, so they're firmly in the middle, too. The Orioles' rebuild finally showed results in 2022 and they'll welcome a few more promising prospects in 2023, so with the proper leaps and infusion of more talent, they earned the right to be atop the mid-tier for winning 83 games last year.

Second-Tier

12. Tampa Bay Rays
11. Toronto Blue Jays
10. Seattle Mariners
9. St. Louis Cardinals
8. Cleveland Guardians

The start of the playoff teams! The Rays will never go away. They could lose half their roster tomorrow and figure out a way to reboot to an 80-win team by spring training. The Jays remain good but haven't earned the recognition they think they deserve for their embarrassing playoff exit and pedestrian offseason moves. The M's crack the top 10 after winning their first playoff series since 2001 and then making positive offseason transactions.

And now for the start of the division winners. The Cardinals remain a threat, but they only added Willson Contreras to a team that flamed out of the wild card round (sure, it was to the Phillies, but St. Louis blew Game 1 of that series in unforgivable fashion, which shifted the series drastically). The Guardians are oozing with young players that took them to Game 5 of the ALDS against the Yankees and added Josh Bell to fill their first base void. They got better and should see year-over-year improvement from the collective group.