Milwaukee Brewers get no respect in MLB.com's preseason 2024 power rankings

Less than two weeks remain between now and the beginning of the 2024 Milwaukee Brewers regular season. So with the spring winding down, sites are starting to prepare and release their first set of power rankings for the year, which is just what happened over at MLB.com this morning.

One would think that the Brewers would fare relatively well in these types of rankings. Yes, they made some noteworthy subtractions this offseason, but they made some key additions as well. And oh by the way, they happen to be the reigning NL Central division champions.

Well in the words of country singer Shania Twain, that didn't impress MLB.com much. Not only were the Brewers nowhere to be found anywhere in the upper reaches of their power rankings, but they ranked lower than nearly all of their NL Central counterparts.

The Brewers got no respect in MLB.com's preseason power rankings for the 2024 season.

Coming off a division championship, MLB.com doesn't even have the Brewers in the top half of their power rankings heading into the 2024 season. No, you have to go all the way down to No. 19 to find Milwaukee on the list.

That places the Brewers just fourth highest of five NL Central teams in the power rankings. The Chicago Cubs come in highest at No. 12 followed by the Cincinnati Reds at No. 15 and the St. Louis Cardinals right above the Crew at No. 18. The Pittsburgh Pirates occupy a familiar spot at No. 25.

It's not as though the Brewers don't have questions. They enter 2024 with a starting rotation that doesn't feature two of the best pitchers in the NL, Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff, for the first time in years. They also just recently lost arguably the best closer in the NL in Devin Williams for the first half of the season.

Milwaukee balanced that out, though, by making big improvements to their offense with the additions of first baseman Rhys Hoskins and catcher Gary Sanchez. They also are probably one of the few teams that has a deep enough bullpen in place to sustain the loss of a pitcher like Williams.

The rest of the division comes with its own questions as well. Is the addition of manager Craig Counsell and pitcher Shota Imanaga enough to propel them to the top? The same goes for the Cardinals and bolstering their starting rotation but not the offense. And will the young Reds continue to grow and stay toward the top of the division this time?

Then again, it feels like this is what normally happens with the Brewers and different types of MLB rankings. Oftentimes, being seen as the underdog is exactly what propels the Crew into the successful season that few see coming.