Power Ranking MLB's Most Iconic Franchises: #16-20
It’s time to move into a portion of our list that is very intriguing. These are franchises that can go one of two ways: keep building momentum and climb into the top 10 one day or fall off completely and exit the national baseball consciousness. A lot hangs in the balance for these five teams who all figure to be movers and shakers within baseball “icon rankings” over the next decade.
- Los Angeles Angels.When you think about it, the Angels should be higher on this list. They play in the second-biggest market in the country and currently have the best player of the generation on their roster. They’ve even won a World Series within the last 20 seasons, a classic seven-game series against the Giants. But the Angels’ only good stretch in franchise history came in the early 2000s. L.A. sprinkled in a few solid seasons in the 1970s, but they certainly were never thought of as a perennial powerhouse.
With Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout now in the same lineup, the Angels have a chance to move up these rankings. As has been the case during most of Trout’s career, though, the Angels need more starting pitching to seriously contend. There’s no reason to believe the Angels shouldn’t be able to contend for a World Series a time or two over the next decade and if Trout finally hoists a trophy, that image will leave a lasting impression on baseball fans everywhere and help the Angels improve their “icon ranking” pretty immediately.
- Houston Astros.Until very recently, the Astros weren’t on anybody’s radar. However, their recent success and subsequent cheating scandal have thrust them into the public consciousness. You could make a compelling argument that the Astros are baseball’s most hated team right now and as they say, “People don’t boo nobodies.” Houston figures to be a contender for years to come with a young core of position players who can rake, so it’s hard to imagine Houston falling on this list in the future.
How the franchise reacts to the sign-stealing scandal will largely shape the long-term image baseball fans have of the Astros. If they can win a couple more World Series titles presumably without stealing signs, they will easily climb into the top 10 on this list especially as multiple current players earn consideration for the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame.
- Toronto Blue Jays.When the Blue Jays began play during the 1977 season, it was rough. It took seven seasons for them to earn their first winning season and another couple years before they reached the postseason for the first time. By that 1985 season, though, they were off and running. Toronto came within one win of a World Series berth that season and fell in the ALCS in 1989 and 1991 too. Finally, they broke through and won two World Series’ in a row in 1992-93, making them the second-most recent franchise to do so.
After a longer-than-20-year layoff from the playoffs, they finally made it back to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016, but fell short of a World Series berth in each series. Without much star power historically or in the recent past, it’s hard to see the Blue Jays rising up this list anytime soon. Then again, young budding stars like Vlad Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and Cavan Biggio present the franchise an opportunity to gain notoriety with an entirely new generation of fans.
- Minnesota Twins.Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew. The list goes on and on. For a relatively under-the-radar franchise, the Twins have had a ton of star power. Minnesota also won two World Series titles in a five-year span, which is something that very few franchises can say. However, most of the Twins’ glory days came more than 20 years ago. They’re starting to fade from the spotlight of baseball’s mainstream.
Given the premium that has been put on the long ball lately, perhaps the Twins have hope of a resurrection in “icon ranking”, though. After all, the team set an MLB record for most regular-season home runs in 2019 and also set an MLB record with eight players clubbing 20+ home runs a season ago. Younger fans may find these new-look Twins exciting, which could up their icon value.
- Cleveland Indians.Currently, the Indians are working on the longest active World Series drought in the league. Cleveland hasn’t won it all since 1948 despite getting close multiple times. As historic as the Indians are in terms of baseball lore, they really should be higher up on the list. Surprisingly, they are the 25th-most valuable franchise in the league, much lower than one may expect. With 13 Hall of Famers, the Indians are in the upper echelon as far as star power is concerned. However, they’re toward the middle of the pack elsewhere.
It feels like the Indians just closed a championship window, so it could conceivably be decades before the Indians end their World Series drought. There’s really no way to know. But based upon their team trajectory, it feels as if they are more likely to slip in the rankings than move up.