Opening Day is now just days away as spring training is coming to a close, and the excitement is building around the new season. The Chicago Cubs are looking to defend their World Series title, and they're the favorites to repeat - but there are several other contenders that may stand in the way, including the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox. How does the rest of the field project going into the new year? Here's our MLB Preseason Power Rankings:
30) San Diego Padres
The best case for San Diego this season is for Wil Myers to play well enough to establish himself as a true franchise player or as a prime trade asset. This team isn't going to do much this year.
29) Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati is in the middle of a full-fledged rebuild, so despite having Joey Votto, their ceiling really isn't that high. This will be a successful season if some of their young players can establish themselves as quality players.
28) Minnesota Twins
The Twins are a young team that is still developing. Don't expect them to do much this year.
27) Milwaukee Brewers
Rebuild, rebuild, rebuild. This year is all about getting more experience for young players in Milwaukee. It will be interesting to see if they can flip Ryan Braun for prospects or if they decide to keep him.
26) Oakland A's
Oakland has built a solid rotation and great bullpen, but their lineup, once again, has a lot of holes.
25) Chicago White Sox
Chicago is dipping their toes into a rebuild, which they started when trading away Chris Sale to Boston this offseason. They're still trying to unload Jose Quintana, but it will be fun to watch their young prospects like Yoan Moncada find their way.
24) Arizona Diamondbacks
A.J. Pollock's return from an elbow injury will give the Diamondbacks a boost and give Paul Goldschmidt some offensive help he didn't have last year. However, the rest of the team is still fairly average.
23) Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies are still rebuilding, but they're starting to come out on the other end in good shape. They were contenders for the first quarter of the 2016 season, and they should be in contention a bit longer this year. However, there are still a lot of questions about the consistency of their prospects.
22) Atlanta Braves
Atlanta is going with a mix of young prospects and experienced players to try and stay respectable in their new stadium during their rebuild. They added Bartolo Colon, R.A. Dickey and Jaime Garcia to their rotation along with second baseman Brandon Phillips and catcher Kurt Suzuki in the lineup. They don't project to be anything more than an average team at best this year.
21) Tampa Bay Rays
Tampa Bay is used to doing less with more, yet they have a very good rotation headlined by Chris Archer. Now, their lineup just has to produce consistently.
20) Los Angeles Angels
Outside of Mike Trout, the Angels are a team full of question marks. And, in a loaded division, it'll be hard for them to make any noise.
19) Miami Marlins
Miami's lineup is fine, but their rotation is a major question mark. The death of Jose Fernandez was a tragedy in every sense of the word and won't soon be forgotten, but on the field, the Marlins are left without an ace and one of the worst rotations in the entire league.
18) Colorado Rockies
The Rockies are one of the candidates to be a breakthrough team this year, but I don't see it. They've been under .500 for six straight seasons, and their rotation posted a 4.79 ERA - fifth-worst in the majors.
17) New York Yankees
New York is rebuilding in their own way, as they have a ton of prospects with promising young futures, led by Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird and Aaron Judge. It will likely be a year of inconsistency for the Bronx Bombers, but they will also show flashes of greatness.
16) Pittsburgh Pirates
Andrew McCutchen is on the decline, and this should be a year of transition as young players like Tyler Glasnow, Austin Meadows, Gregory Polanco and Jameson Taillon begin to make their mark.
15) Kansas City Royals
The Royals aren't the same team that won the World Series in 2015, but their core players of Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar are still in town. They probably won't make the playoffs, but Kansas City will be relevant.
14) Detroit Tigers
This will be an interesting year in Detroit. The Tigers explored the possibility of trading their core veterans (Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander, etc.) over the winter, and they may pull the plug if they struggle out of the gates.
13) Toronto Blue Jays
Marcus Stroman is a star and Jose Bautista is back, but losing Edwin Encarnation is a move that will have a significant impact on their explosive offense. Add in the fact that they didn't address any of their weaknesses from last season, and Toronto is due to regress this year.
12) Seattle Mariners
Don't be surprised if Seattle ends their playoff drought this year. They have been knocking on the door for the past few seasons, and the flurry of moves Jerry Dipoto made this offseason could put them over the hump. Still, we haven't seen all of these pieces in action yet, and they play in a loaded division.
11) St. Louis Cardinals
Adding a player with the all-around skill set of Dexter Fowler was a big time move for the Cardinals this offseason. However, they need bounce back years from Lance Lynn, Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha if they want to avoid missing the playoffs again.
10) Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore's lineup and rotation are both inconsistent, but still return most of the same roster that was competitive for a playoff spot. Their lack of top-end pitching is still a major concern, but with mostly everyone back, it'll be a shock if they aren't competing for a playoff spot again.
9) New York Mets
All of New York's rotation is back and presumably healthy, and that can do a lot for this squad. However, seven of their projected starters in the everyday lineup are north of 30. Can the Mets avoid a decline?
8) San Francisco Giants
San Francisco did their best to sure up the back end of their bullpen with the addition of All-Star closer Mark Melancon, but their middle relievers may still struggle mightily to get him the ball with the lead in the ninth.
7) Washington Nationals
The Nationals have proven that they are more than just Bryce Harper, but they didn't make any offseason additions to really push them into contending status. Expect them to make a big midseason trade or two.
6) Texas Rangers
Texas is a team that could really compete for a World Series title this year. Rougned Odor appears to be on the verge of a breakout season, Jonathan Lucroy will be with the team all season, and they have a great rotation headlined by Yu Darvish, Martin Perez and Cole Hamels.
5) Houston Astros
Houston followed the Cubs model of loading up on assets and prospects, and after narrowly missing out on the playoffs last year, loaded up this offseason by acquiring catcher Brian McCann, DH Carlos Beltran and outfielder Josh Reddick. Add in those three with Houston's young talent, and the ceiling is the roof, as they say.
4) Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers still have as much on-paper talent as anyone in the league, and paid this offseason to make sure they kept all of their key pieces. LA will make another run this year.
3) Boston Red Sox
Chris Sale joins David Price and 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello in Boston's rotation, which is perhaps the best in baseball. Their lineup had very little holes last year, and their younger players are only going to improve. The question is - how much will the loss of David Ortiz hurt them? Because you know it will a little bit, at least at the start of the season.
2) Cleveland Indians
Cleveland surprised many with their World Series run last year, but they won't sneak up on anyone this year. They have a very good rotation, the league's best bullpen headlined by Andrew Miller, a superstar in Francisco Lindor and a lineup capable of providing a good amount of run support.
1) Chicago Cubs
The Cubs had the best record in baseball and shook the demons of 1908. All of their major pieces are back other than Dexter Fowler, but Chicago has more than enough to make up for that loss. This group should play more free with a World Series title under their belt, and they've shown they can handle high expectations. How they handle success will be the telling part of this season.