Insider ranks Braves as having No. 1 MLB core

The insider broke players into three tiers: Elite, Above Average and Solid.

"There's some subjectivity here, and with the best young stars in the league, I tend to round up -- assuming they'll be better in 2024 than they currently are, averaging together their quality across this window. ... I consulted with league executives when ranking each team. Each tier is listed in rough order of preference for value over the two-plus-year window, which is why most teams' 'solid' tier ends with a reliever having an unexpectedly good season. (I have no idea if they'll be good in 2024, but they are right now,) she wrote. "The basic idea is that this will show which teams have the strongest starting hands going into free agency this winter. The Padres are good right now, but Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger, Josh Bell, Drew Pomeranz, Sean Manaea and Josh Hader aren't under control long enough to be included in this exercise. So, GM A.J. Preller has to rearrange the deck chairs in a big way soon while Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos does not. If we knew for sure what each team's payroll would be through 2024, we could include payroll space remaining as a factor, but that's not the aim here."

In McDaniel's rankings, 15 different Atlanta players are broken down into the three tiers, with superstar outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., slugging third baseman Austin Riley and ace lefty starting pitcher Max Fried being placed into the "elite" category. First-year Braves first baseman Matt Olson, second baseman Ozzie Albies, newly-extended outfielder Michael Harris II and NL Rookie of the Year contender Spencer Strider are in the "Above Average" tier and a group of eight players are in the "Solid" category.

"This may have been the first team you thought of when you read the rules for this piece. After extending Acuna, Riley, Olson, Albies and Harris, in addition to having an outside shot to go 1-2-3 in NL Rookie of the Year voting this year (Harris, Strider, Vaughn Grissom), there's been a lot of headlines about this group of young players. As if the World Series last year wasn't enough, this was the unanimous top choice for everyone I spoke with in the industry," McDaniel wrote.

With no "elite" players and only one in the "Above Average" category (Ryan McMahon), the Colorado Rockies are in last place on McDaniel's rankings.