Cubs start the year in the middle of the pack in first preseason MLB power rankings

We haven't even seen a spring training game yet (those start later this week) - but it's never too early for some MLB power rankings, right? We're just over a month from the Chicago Cubs opening the 2025 season against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Japan - so let's dig in on how one writer sizes up the league.

Over at The Athletic (subscription required), Jim Bowden took a first crack at ranking all 30 teams and there aren't many surprises at the top of the list, with the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies taking the top three spots.

Six of the top 10 teams are from the National League - and the Cubs check in at #16 overall, a middle-of-the-pack ranking for Craig Counsell's club. Bowden likes the team's Matthew Boyd signing, but it seems his lack of buy-in comes from the team's third base situation. After coming up short in their pursuit of Alex Bregman, rookie Matt Shaw has the inside track on the job and he'll have to prove himself at the big-league level to quiet his doubters and put the team on more solid footing.

Chicago leads all NL Central teams in the rankings, followed by Cincinnati (17), Milwaukee (18), Pittsburgh (23) and St. Louis (25). That seems to be the general pecking order most around the game have aligned on heading into the year, with the young Reds and new manager Terry Francona viewed as the Cubs' biggest challenger in the division.

That being said, we've underestimated the reigning NL Central champion Brewers too many times to count, so excuse us if we're not sleeping on Pat Murphy's crew heading into the year. In Pittsburgh, the question is: how far can Paul Skenes carry the Pirates? Because the front office did next to nothing to improve that roster this winter.

The Cubs might have edged a bit higher on this list for me personally, but the concerns with Shaw are fair and I have questions about what the back of that rotation looks like. There's a lot riding on Boyd being healthy and playing a major role on the staff this season. Still, the addition of Kyle Tucker and a reloaded bullpen have me feeling good - and this team will go through a brutal stretch of the schedule right out of the gates, which could give us an early check on how they stack up in the Senior Circuit.