The MLB season has had top teams, such as the San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Houston Astros.
You could argue that the Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres are not far behind, or perhaps in the same tier.
Others, such as the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, Cleveland Indians, and Philadelphia Phillies can still contend but are clearly in a tier below.
Then there are several mediocre clubs with mostly underwhelming performances.
Then we have the bad teams, like the Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Colorado Rockies, and Detroit Tigers.
And lastly, we have the worst four teams in the league.
These four organizations will mostly sell before the deadline, and they will be contending for the worst record in MLB when all is said and done.
4. Pittsburgh Pirates (36-57 Current Record)
The Pittsburgh Pirates have been in rebuild mode for a few years now.
They are still bad in 2021, and since they figure to be sellers prior to the deadline, the situation won’t change.
Actually, depending on how much they sell, they could conceivably finish with the worst record in the league, although that’s a long-shot.
Outfielder Bryan Reynolds is expected to be part of the future, but if they trade reliever Richard Rodriguez, or starter Tyler Anderson, they could be even worse than their current record suggests.
3. Texas Rangers (35-58 Current Record)
Texas is a strong contender for the worst record in the majors when everything is said and done.
At least, however, they know where they stand: a rebuilding franchise that has developed a budding star (Adolis Garcia) acquired two via trade (Nate Lowe and Dane Dunning) and drafted one (Jack Leiter).
They could be historically bad if they trade Joey Gallo, Kyle Gibson, and Ian Kennedy, but it makes sense to deal the last two, and they are better off trading Gallo if they can’t extend him.
I hate that i’m going to do this, but i’m going to publicly state that it I was the general manager in Texas, I would likely trade Joey Gallo and would not entertain spending substantial money this offseason.
— Walker Bailey (@WalkerBailey8) July 15, 2021
2. Baltimore Orioles (30-62 Current Record)
The Baltimore Orioles are, not surprisingly, among the worst teams in the league.
There is a worrying lack of pitching in the big league team, but at least Grayson Rodriguez and DL Hall are on the way.
It could be two or three years until Baltimore is ready to contend again, but only if they play their cards right.
1. Arizona Diamondbacks (27-68 Current Record)
The worst team in baseball by far, the Arizona Diamondbacks have been comically bad.
This year Arizona diamondbacks might be worst team in the last 20 years
— year 19 (@johnrivers131) June 20, 2021
In fact, there have been instances on the season in which they project the image of a tanking organization.
They are, as of Monday afternoon, the only team in MLB that hasn’t reached 30 wins.
To make matters worse (or better, if you have the future in mind), they are likely to trade some of their best players.
For example, infielder Eduardo Escobar, who leads the team in home runs, is widely expected to be dealt.
Outfielder David Peralta could also be traded.
But trading or keeping infielder/outfielder Ketel Marte could be a franchise-altering move.
In any case, the D-Backs are projected to finish with the league’s worst record.
NEXT: 3 Reasons Why Mariners Are In Wild Card Contention