MLB Power Rankings: Where do teams stand after the Winter Meetings?

The Winter Meetings are over, but the hot stove is still going at a medium flame.

Here's where everything stands as we head into the proverbial second half of the offseason:

30. San Diego Padres: Wil Myers, Yangervis Solarte, and a whole lot of guys you’re going to need to Google.

29.Milwaukee Brewers: Anyone want to make a deal? Ryan Braun is still available. Anyone… Anyone?

28.Oakland A’s: The A’s are probably going to have two rookies in their rotation to start the year, and if they don’t make a move soon, they might have those two starting pitchers platoon in center field as well.

27. Minnesota Twins: The Twinkies lost 103 games last year and are looking to sell high on Brian Dozier, who has quietly been one of the best players in baseball over the last few years. This rebuild is not going well.

26.Cincinnati Reds: The Reds could spend the rest of the offseason retooling their already nth-time retooled roster.
The middle of the order is pretty good — Zack Cozart, Joey Votto, Adam Duvall, and Brandon Phillips could play for anyone — but the rest of the roster has 100 losses written all over it.

25.Philadelphia Phillies:You can see the upward trajectory of this team, but it might still be a year away from doing any barking in the NL East.

24. Chicago White Sox: The only team in these power rankings that deliberately wants to move down. They’re doing a great job at it, too. Anyone looking to buy?

23. Tampa Bay Rays: There’s a lot to like with the Rays rotation, but there is an incredible drop-off in the back end of the order. Matt Duffy is probably the team’s No. 5 hitter. That and some of those pitchers are probably going to get dealt.

22. Atlanta Braves: The Braves think they’re going to make a splash this year. Who wants to tell them that they’re probably going to give 28 starts to Mike Foltynewicz (who is a real pitcher)?

21. Los Angeles Angels:  It takes a special skill to have two future Hall of Famers on the same team and still be this irrelevant. That said, the Angels could be a bit better than last year.

20. Kansas City Royals:  Perhaps the realization that this is the last go-around with the bunch that won the World Series in 2015 will buoy the Royals to a big year, but behind Danny Duffy, that starting rotation is looking mighty questionable and trade rumors will swirl around this team all year.

19. Miami Marlins: Instead of landing a top-flight starting pitcher this offseason, the Marlins went all-in on landing a closer for big money, despite the fact they have an All-Star closer. The Fish lineup is quite exciting, but ultimately that rotation looks poised to let them down in 2017.

18.Pittsburgh Pirates: When you’re a team that’s stuck between stations, the best thing to do is to publicly dangle your team’s best player and leader as trade bait all offseason and then pull him back.

17. Baltimore Orioles: Only the catcher position has been addressed so far this offseason — this ranking could jump, but as of now, they’re a team without nearly enough reliable starting pitching or a viable Major League right fielder.

16. Colorado Rockies: The Rox could make a jump this year — the batting order is stronger than it was last year. It all comes down to — tell me if you’ve heard this before — young pitching. Colorado could be a surprise team or selling come July. It's a big year in Denver.

15.Arizona Diamondbacks: You have to like their lineup, you have to expect that the starting pitchers will progress to their career means. Then you look at that bullpen and you realize why this team can’t win its division. (That and the uniforms.)

14.Detroit Tigers: What happened to that fire sale? The Tigers will return a nice lineup, a solid rotation (should Michael Fulmer avoid his probable regression) and a fine bullpen. One injury could ruin this team, though.

13.New York Yankees: There’s not a lot to dislike about this Yankees team in the lineup or in the bullpen — they’re a playoff team in both areas. But that rotation is on thin ice.

12. Toronto Blue Jays:  Another team that could jump up this list with some free agent signings in the second half of this offseason, but the Jays are in a strange spot in a competitive AL East right now — best of the rest but trailing the Red Sox by a significant margin.

11.Seattle Mariners :The Mariners feel so good about their starting rotation that they moved Taijuan Walker to land Jean Segura to play shortstop. Bold move, Dipoto. The M’s weren’t far off last year, so don’t be surprised if they’re in the thick of it this year.

10.Texas Rangers:  The Rangers’ biggest problem — a lack of starting pitching behind dual aces Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish — has not been addressed. No, Andrew Cashner does not count.

9.St. Louis Cardinals : They’re not going to push the Cubs for the NL Central, but last year’s 86-win campaign was probably a low-water mark for this club, who will have one of the better rotations in the National League (Carlos Martinez is an ace, and don’t you forget it), a lineup that is closer to the team’s ideological standard, and a bullpen that has the chance to be sneaky great. Don’t sleep on the Birds.

8.New York Mets: The rotation is excellent, even with the departure of Bartolo Colon. The bullpen is still strong at the back-end, and the lineup returns Yoenis Cespedes. If Jay Bruce bounces back, the Mets are going to be formidable.

7..Houston Astros: The Astros have quietly stocked up in some critical positions this offseason. Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, and Josh Reddick improve a lineup that already carries a ton of potential into 2017. The biggest question is starting pitching, but there is likely to be a progression from last year’s dip with Dallas Keuchel (he did win the Cy Young 13 months ago) and Lance McCullers should be 100 percent back from injury.

6.San Francisco Giants: That rotation is scary good (Matt Cain as a fifth starter? Whoa) and they landed the one thing they really needed this offseason by signing closer Mark Melancon. It comes down to if Buster Posey can bounce back and Jarrett Parker can hold down left field on an everyday basis.

5.Washington Nationals: They landed the center fielder they needed by trading for Adam Eaton, and they have by far the most upside of any team in the Top 10, but until they land a closer, they will rest right here.

4.Los Angeles Dodgers: They spent a lot of money to maintain the status quo, but the status quo is pretty damn good.

3.Cleveland Indians: The reigning American League champs look like they’ll be contending again in 2017. Some highly touted prospects are coming up to fill holes, Michael Brantley is back, the bullpen is still the force of nature it was last year, and the rotation should be 100 percent healthy going into the season. Could you imagine what they could do with another power bat, though?

2.Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox were already the best team in the American League last regular season, and while they lost David Ortiz to retirement (or did they?) they went out and added Chris Sale, who is quite excellent at pitching. Mitch Moreland is a sneaky-good pickup at first base — if nothing else for his glove — and Tyler Thornburg helps solidify an already strong bullpen.

If a less-chunky Pablo Sandoval can get back to his Giants form, the Red Sox should win 100 games easily this year.

1.Chicago Cubs: They addressed their loss of a closer by landing one of the best in baseball in exchange for an outfielder they didn’t plan on using much in 2017. That’s when you know you’re stacked. The team also has four guys who could easily pitch in the 8th inning with the addition of Koji Uehara, three Cy Young candidates, and a young roster that won the World Series last year. This is not a one-year wonder.-foxsports.com