MLB.Com's preseason power ranking places SF Giants in an appropriate spot

As is tradition, MLB.Com published its preseason power rankings just a day before the start of the regular season. Last year, the SF Giants were ranked in the bottom third of the league to start the year, whereas they are in a more appropriate spot this year.

MLB.Com's preseason power ranking places SF Giants in an appropriate spot

The good news is that the Giants came in at No. 9 on this year's preseason list. The bad news is that they play in the same division as some very good teams including the Los Angeles Dodgers (No. 1) and the San Diego Padres (No. 10).

The Giants rattled off a franchise-record 107 wins last year before losing in the NLDS to the Dodgers. The Dodgers are not going anywhere and the Padres will likely be better than they were last year when they posted a 79-83 record while finishing in a distant third place in the NL West.

However, after several lean seasons prior to the 2021 campaign, the Giants look poised to make another run at the division title. This will be easier said than done as they sustained some notable losses in the offseason including Buster Posey to retirement and Kevin Gausman, Kris Bryant, and Donovan Solano to free agency.

The Giants rebuilt the rotation by bringing back Alex Wood and Anthony DeSclafani while adding some new faces in Alex Cobb and Carlos Rodón. Joc Pederson was the only major addition to the lineup and the hope is that he can return back to his pre-2020 form when he was one of the better left-handed bats in baseball.

These power rankings will come out at the beginning of each week for the rest of the season as MLB.Com tries to capture the pulse of how each team is doing. They are more of a fun discussion piece rather than a ranking based in analytics.

The ranking is an imperfect science, so the fact that the Giants are No. 9 on the list means that they look like one of the better teams on paper. A lot can change, but the narrative heading into this season is way more encouraging than this time last season.