All-Time MLB Franchise Rankings, 2016 Edition

I’ve upped my game with franchise rankings and introduced some new technology to the process — namely, Tableau. To see some other examples of me putting Tableau to good use, check out the Infographics section of my SportsPaper.info site.

Other than making things look snazzy, however, the methodology behind how I’m ranking all MLB franchises 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.

One thing that has changed is that thanks to Tableau, I’m able to dig into the numbers in different ways than before. Here’s the graph showing how all current franchises stack up after the 2015 season:

All-Time MLB Franchise Rankings, 2016

As has been the case ever since I started this project, the New York Yankees hold what looks to be an insurmountable lead over the rest of MLB. Despite losing the AL Wild Card Game to the Astros, the Yanks are still feasting on their incredible 23-year streak of winning seasons.

Here is the full top 10 for this year. For teams who have changed positions from last year, their previous spot is indicated in parentheses.

The Top 10

#1. New York Yankees — 23.23 pts.
#2. San Francisco Giants — 8.46 pts.
#3. St. Louis Cardinals (#4) — 7.77 pts.
#4. Boston Red Sox (#3) — 7.57 pts.
#5. Los Angeles Dodgers — 7.21 pts.
#6. Oakland Athletics — 5.68 pts.
#7. Atlanta Braves — 5.65 pts.
#8. Detroit Tigers — 4.85 pts.
#9. Pittsburgh Pirates — 4.75 pts.
#10. Chicago Cubs (#11) — 4.70 pts.

The Cubs’ Cinderella run to the NLCS allowed them to crack the top 10, sending the Arizona Diamondbacks into the middle tier.


The Mediocre 10

#11. Arizona Diamondbacks (#10) — 4.60 pts.
#12. Toronto Blue Jays — 4.56 pts.
#13. Chicago White Sox — 3.74 pts.
#14. New York Mets (#16) — 3.61 pts.
#15. Cincinnati Reds (#14) — 3.57 pts.
#16. Kansas City Royals (#18) — 3.47 pts.
#17. Cleveland Indians (#15) — 3.37 pts.
#18. Baltimore Orioles (#17) — 2.97 pts.
#19. Miami Marlins — 2.45 pts.
#20. Philadelphia Phillies (#21) — 2.06 pts.

The World Series champion Royals moved up for the 2nd consecutive year, while the NL champion New York Mets went up two spots.


The Bottom 10

#21. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (#20) — 2.06 pts.
#22. Houston Astros — 1.86 pts.
#23. Tampa Bay Rays (#24) — 1.85 pts.
#24. Minnesota Twins (#23) — 1.63 pts.
#25. Texas Rangers — 0.89 pts.
#26. Washington Nationals (#27) — 0.52 pts.
#27. Milwaukee Brewers (#26)  — 0.51 pts.
#28. San Diego Padres — 0.28 pts.
#29. Colorado Rockies — 0.01 pts.
#30. Seattle Mariners — -0.14 pts.

The Angels drop to the bottom third based on rounding, while in the rest of this group several teams swapped spots. The biggest point gainer was the Astros, whose run to the postseason netted them almost a quarter point.


Team of the Decade (So Far)

Here’s a look at how the total scores are shaping up for the 2010s across all of MLB. Click on the chart to see the live version and play around yourself.

MLB Team of the Decade (2010s)

The Royals have propelled themselves past the league average for the decade, but so far it’s the San Francisco Giants’ title to lose. Hot on their heels are the Cardinals, with the Texas Rangers, Royals, and Detroit Tigers not far behind.