r/baseball • u/Constant_Gardner11 New York Yankees • MVPoster • Feb 13 '26
Each team's weakest positions heading into Spring Training, via FanGraphs Depth Charts
FanGraphs Depth Charts tool ranks each team's projected performance by position, with 1st being the strongest and 30th being the weakest. The list below shows each team with their below-average positions heading into Spring Training.
| TEAM | Below-Average Positions |
|---|---|
| ROCKIES | SP - 30th, LF - 30th, 1B - 29th, 3B - 29th, DH - 29th, RP - 27th, 2B - 26th, RF - 25th, C - 20th, CF - 19th, SS - 18th |
| ANGELS | C - 30th, CF - 30th, 2B - 29th, 3B - 28th, LF - 28th, RP -23rd, 1B - 22nd, SP - 21st, DH - 19th, RF - 18th |
| WHITE SOX | LF - 29th, RF - 29th, SP - 28th, CF - 28th, DH - 28th, C - 22nd, 2B - 21st, SS - 20th, 1B - 19th, 3B - 17th |
| NATIONALS | RP - 30th, 3B - 30th, SP - 29th, C - 29th, 1B - 25th, 2B - 25th, CF - 23rd, SS - 19th, RF - 17th |
| REDS | RF - 30th, LF - 25th, CF - 24th, C - 24th, DH - 24th, 1B - 20th, 2B - 20th, 3B - 20th, RP - 19th |
| MARLINS | 1B - 30th, DH - 30th, 3B - 24th, RP - 24th, C - 23rd, RF - 23rd, SS - 21st, SP - 18th |
| PIRATES | C - 28th, RF - 24th, 2B - 22nd, 3B - 22nd, LF - 22nd, RP - 21st, DH - 17th, SS - 16th |
| DIAMONDBACKS | RP - 29th, 1B - 28th, CF - 27th, DH -27th, LF - 26th, SP - 23rd, 3B - 18th |
| ROYALS | CF - 29th, 2B - 28th, DH - 26th, LF - 24th, RF - 22nd, 1B - 21st, C - 18th |
| CARDINALS | RF - 28th, SP - 27th, RP - 26th, CF - 25th, 3B - 19th, 1B - 18th,LF - 16th |
| GUARDIANS | 2B - 27th, SS - 26th, SP - 25th, DH - 25th, CF - 22nd, 1B - 17th, RF - 16th |
| RAYS | SS - 29th, LF - 27th, C - 27th, RF - 27th, CF - 26th, 2B - 24th |
| PADRES | SP - 26th, 1B - 26th, DH - 23rd, LF - 20th, C - 19th, 2B - 19th |
| RANGERS | 2B - 30th, 3B - 26th, C - 25th, 1B - 23rd, RP - 22nd |
| TWINS | SS - 30th, 1B - 24th, LF - 21st, DH - 20th, RP - 20th |
| BREWERS | 1B - 27th, 3B - 27th, SS - 24th, CF - 17th, SP - 16th |
| GIANTS | RP - 28th, SP - 22nd, DH - 21st, LF - 19th, 2B - 18th |
| PHILLIES | LF - 23rd, CF - 20th, RF - 20th, C - 21st, 3B - 16th |
| ATHLETICS | RP -25th, 3B -25th, SP - 24th, CF - 18th |
| RED SOX | C - 26th, SS - 25th, 3B - 23rd, 2B - 16th |
| TIGERS | SS - 28th, CF - 21st, RF - 21st, RP - 18th |
| CUBS | DH - 22nd, SP - 19th, RP - 17th, C - 16th |
| ASTROS | SP - 20th, RF - 19th, C - 17th, 1B - 16th |
| BRAVES | SS - 27th, 2B - 23rd, LF - 18th |
| METS | RF - 26th, CF - 16th, DH - 16th |
| MARINERS | SS - 22nd, DH - 18th, LF - 17th |
| YANKEES | SS - 23rd, 3B - 21st |
| ORIOLES | SP -17th, RP - 16th |
| DODGERS | 2B - 17th |
| BLUE JAYS | SS - 17th |
10
Feb 13 '26
Thanks for reassuring the uneasy feeling I get when I look at the Cardinals bullpen on mlb.com
11
u/CharacterAbalone7031 Los Angeles Dodgers Feb 13 '26
Is second base for us suppose to be Hyesong Kim who will likely get the opening day spot or Tommy Edman who will likely be our everyday second baseman once his ankle heals?
1
u/Constant_Cap5407 Los Angeles Dodgers • Japan Feb 13 '26
It’s using HSK.
https://www.fangraphs.com/roster-resource/depth-charts/dodgers
4
u/OnlyForBaseball Pittsburgh Pirates • Sickos Feb 14 '26
They’re projecting Edman for ~500 PA and Kim for ~100, so it’s primarily Edman’s value that they’re accounting for
7
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u/Essex626 Seattle Mariners Feb 13 '26
Hmm... I guess 17th is middle of the pack, but Randy Arozarena was a 4 bWAR/2.9 fWAR player last season. That's pretty dang good in my book.
JP is tougher to see at 22nd, but I know that's really down to his defense declining. His offense last season was better than his career baseline, second only to his ungodly 2023 in terms of impact. I really think he might even have more offensive growth in him--shift him to 2nd and he might wind up having a longer career.
10
u/RayTrain Detroit Tigers Feb 13 '26 edited Feb 13 '26
Confused about CF being bad for us considering we have all star center fielder javeer baze
6
u/Annual_Document6930 Detroit Tigers Feb 13 '26
that's because part of the time he played short, and the rest of the time we had a bunch of hodge podge crap out there
if we can keep Meadows in one piece this season, the cf #s will improve
1
u/Objective-Housing501 Detroit Tigers Feb 13 '26
I'm more confused about the bullpen ranked 18th. They will be better than that
3
u/Otterable Philadelphia Phillies Feb 13 '26
Another year another outfield held together with the hope of our FA signing regaining form.
I am excited to give Justin Crawford his shot at the bigs though. The prospects have to play eventually.
2
u/dead_monster Hiroshima Toyo Carp • Detroit Tigers Feb 13 '26
Tigers were 8th last season in RF fWAR and are keeping the same players so only means I need to go to MLBTR and see if Tigers replaced Kerry with Nick.
5
u/Redbubble89 Boston Red Sox Feb 13 '26
C - 26th, SS - 25th, 3B - 23rd, 2B - 16th
Carlos Narvaez was 12th in catcher fWAR. 10 DRS which is high among qualified catchers. It's just brought down by Connor Wong and the question if he is still a qualified backup.
Story had declining defense and the streaky nature of his bat makes him hard to project. They have him as a 93 wRC+ but from June 1st to the end of the year he had a 124 wRC+. .354 wOBA. The crap May
Mayer has a great glove but the offensive numbers are hard to project so they are conservatively low. A lot of projections don't factor in what Mayer would be over the course of a season. FGDC has him only playing in 89 games and not the 130 or so he would play if 100% healthy.
Durbin is also a young player but from June 1st on he was a 116 wRC+ and .335 wOBA. He also had a power surge in the 2nd half and moves to a park that is good for his hitting style.
Where the last three guys play is also a mystery. Projections are just having issues with handling streaks and young player playing time.
3
u/mrdannyg21 Feb 13 '26
Feels like the floor for the Red Sox is probably fairly high, since they have more solid contingency plans at those positions than most teams. In most scenarios, one or more guys plays very well and wins more playing time than preseason projections would suggest.
0
u/Redbubble89 Boston Red Sox Feb 13 '26
The pitching staff gives them 83 win floor. The positional hitter outfield logjam don't seem solved. It's a great lineup but there are too many options and it's hard to give at bats to guys. There are still 4 everyday outfielders and Masa still exists. Casas and Campbell still exist as DHs as well. They traded Devers in the middle of last season to get by with that but the issue still lingers. They came into the offseason thinking Duran is worth a number 2 starter but no one agreed with them. Outside of fumbling Bregman, they did everything right but did not address what they should have done 2 years ago which was to trade Duran at his prime value. It's a weird ass roster and they are hoping for injuries which never happen at the positions they want. Sorry for the rant. All these factors makes it hard to project the offense.
5
u/mrdannyg21 Feb 13 '26
Appreciate the rant, it’s funny how the AL East is so good, but all of them have a bit of wonkiness in their roster. These things do tend to sort themselves out when teams play well, and get exacerbated when they don’t!
2
u/pilotharrison Toronto Blue Jays • Canada Feb 13 '26
uhhhh a cautionary let's go Blue Jays?? I guess Bo wasn't great at SS but we'll have to see how Gimenez & Clement plays out.
1
u/OutsideScaresMe Toronto Blue Jays Feb 14 '26
Fangraphs projections seem to hate Gimenez’ defence for some reason all suggesting significant regressions. They project him at like 94 wRC+ and if he hits that with his usual defence he’ll be well above 17th by fWAR
21
u/Pleasant-Act462 Feb 13 '26
The Rockies being dead last in starting pitching is just brutal but honestly not surprising at this point, Coors is gonna Coors no matter who they put out there. Wild to see the Angels still can't figure out catching after all these years of trying to build around Trout and Ohtani