Even as the Major League Baseball season reaches its stretch run, it’s never too early too look ahead. So we asked our staff which franchise seems best positioned for success over the next five years. The responses had only one thing in common: a belief that baseball’s good teams will get better.
Which MLB team is best set up for the future?
Matt Clapp: I think you could make excellent arguments for any of the Cubs, Astros, Red Sox, and Yankees (or even the Nats if you think they will keep Bryce Harper after 2018).
But the Dodgers are the safest choice. This is a team that may win over 110 games, and while this is almost certainly going to be their peak year, there’s no reason they shouldn’t stay awesome for a long while. Position player-wise, it starts with how Corey Seager is still just 23 and Cody Bellinger just 22. That immediately should give the Dodgers two of the top players in the National League for the next five years. And they continue to develop surprise star contributors offensively like Chris Taylor (26 years old, 4.5 WAR per FanGraphs).
On the pitching side of things, there figures to be some decline and there are health question marks all over the place, but they still have Clayton Kershaw and he’s performing nearly as well as ever this year with a 2.04 ERA (it’s ridiculous this isn’t even him at his best!). He’ll enter his 30s next year, but he should still be elite for at least a few more seasons.
So, they at the very least have those things going for them. Then factor in their resources, which are second to none. There are luxury tax concerns, but over the next five years, it would be surprising if this organization isn’t in play for a few more stars on the free-agent and trade market. While the Diamondbacks and Rockies are contenders themselves, and the Giants could quickly turn things around, there’s no reason to think the Dodgers won’t rule the NL West and remain a juggernaut over the next five years.
Joe Lucia: I would say the Red Sox, for two reasons: They have a strong young core that is under control for years to come, and they have a frightening about of financial flexibility. Come the 2020 season, when the best of their core players will be approaching arbitration and/or free agency, the only players on their roster with big-money contracts will be David Price and Dustin Pedroia. That flexibility will allow them to retain their core players and add to them from outside of the organization as needed.
Ian Casselberry: I’ll take the Houston Astros over the next five years. They’re already showing their capabilities with the best record in the American League (for now, at least) and a double-digit lead in the AL West. But there’s still some considerable upside for the Astros with a young core of stars in Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa, and plenty more talent to come.
Quite a few younger players have been called up to the majors recently and are still developing. Lance McCullers, Alex Bregman, Francis Martes, Derek Fisher, and Colin Moran have already become contributors and possible impact players. A.J. Reed, Tyler White, David Paulino and J.D. Davis have also seen some time in the big leagues. And top prospects like outfielder Kyle Tucker and pitcher Franklin Perez are probably a year or two from getting the call as well.
That’s a future which should be the envy of several major league teams, and the Astros are already a strong team in the present.
Alex Putterman: My first instinct was to say the Dodgers, who have a stable of young players along with oodles of money and an incredibly crafty front office. Then I realized the Yankees have all that too, only they have even more of it. They’ve got star youngsters Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Luis Severino. They’ve got top prospects like Gleyber Torres and Clint Frazier and other promising minor-leaguers like Chance Adams, Estevan Florial and Justus Sheffield. They’ve got owners with deep pockets and plans to spend big in the 2018-19 offseason. And they’ve got Brian Cashman’s ability to fill out a roster by finding value in trades.
The Yankees could potentially add to a young core by signing some of the best players in baseball (Bryce Harper? Manny Machado? Giancarlo Stanton, if he opts out?). Already the 27-time champions are playoff contenders. In a couple years, they could be the best team in baseball.
