Major League Baseball has experienced more parity since 2000 than any other era in baseball history, with the continued implementation of the Wild Card system and the advent of revenue sharing changing the entire landscape of the game. However, there's still a handful of franchises which have risen above the field and proven themselves to be the best six teams since the turn of the millennium.
6. Atlanta Braves
The Braves have been in rebuilding mode over the past couple of years, but they opened the millennium with the final six of an eleven-season division title streak. They've been to the playoffs nine times since 2000, with just four losing seasons in 16 years. We saw the end of the big-three era as the Greg Maddux/Tom Glavine/John Smoltz trio took its final bows, but we've also seen a remarkably resilient franchise that's continued to evolve and will likely be back in contention sooner than you think.
5. Oakland Athletics
Moneyball, baby. No team has done more with less since 2000. Also, no other franchise has warranted a movie starring Brad $%^&ing Pitt. The A's haven't reached the World Series since 1990 and have suffered heartbreak after heartbreak in their eight playoff appearance over this current 16-season span. However, it's the way this team has overcome a decaying stadium, spotty attendance and penny-pinching budgets which earns them a top-five slot.
Billy Beane used a cache of mathematics/statistics geeks to revolutionize the game, exploiting loopholes in the talent evaluation system and making chicken salad out of chicken poop. Remember the 20-game winning streak? The new Big Three of Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito? The A's changed the game the past decade and a half, spending less money per win than any team in the Majors.
4. Boston Red Sox
The curse has been lifted! Three times!! Prior to 2003, the Red Sox had made the playoffs seven times in 28 seasons. From 2003-13, the Red Sox earned playoff berths in seven of 11 seasons -- including capturing three World Series titles and shucking of 85 years of misery in a haze of alcohol and thick Massachusetts accents. Boston hasn't been as consistent across the board as other teams on this list, but they've sure made an impact on the narrative of MLB history.
3. San Francisco Giants
Three World Series titles in six years have made the Giants the closest thing to a baseball dynasty we've seen since the Y2K Yankees. 2000 was the beginning of a new era for Giants baseball as the team moved into its new digs by the water in SF -- infusing cash, fan interest and a different air into a Giants franchise that was held back by the limitations of a falling-apart Candlestick Park.
With deft front office work both through the farm system, free agency, and the trade market, the Giants have pieced together cornerstones (Buster Posey being one) and a rotating cast of complementary characters that have turned them into the sleek modern version of the MLB royalty of yore.
2. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals are the winningest National League team since 2000, boasting two World Series titles, four NL pennants and twelve playoff appearances in 16 seasons. If Detroit is Hockeytown, USA, St. Louis is Baseballtown, USA -- at least, that's the way Cards fans make it feel. No franchise has captivated and maintained a fan base like the Cardinals have since 2000. With just one losing season on their ledger, the 2000-15 Cards have set the benchmark for other National League franchises to match. Also, they played host to the end of the Mark McGwire era, the beginning of Albert Pujols' Hall-of-Fame career and a clearly-biased Joe Buck with a smile firmly planted on his face.
1. New York Yankees
The Evil Empire is the winningest franchise of the 2000-15 period, and hasn't endured a losing season since 1995. New York finished off the back end of a 13-year playoff streak with eight berths and a World Series title to ring in the new millennium (the final leg of a three-peat). In total, New York reached the postseason 12 times in the thirteen seasons from 2000-12, winning two World Series titles and four AL pennants. The luster of the Yankees juggernaut as worn off a little bit over the past three years, but it's nowhere near gone for good.
Short memories make big mistakes. This is the best team of the past sixteen years, and it's not really that close. All of the talk about the fall of the Yankees in the post-George Steinbrenner rubble is misguided. The luxury tax has put things in new perspective, but New York always finds a way to retool and reload.
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