When Major League Baseball's 2023 season begins, about the only thing that all 30 teams will have in common is that they'll all be trying to do as well or better than they did in 2022.

Some of them are inevitably going to end up disappointed in this regard, but which ones?

We've picked out eight teams that look like candidates to do worse than they did last season.

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Some are just naturally due for regression. Others are doomed to feel the effects of unsatisfying offseasons. Others still come with schedule-related concerns. For some, it's a combination of all of the above.

We'll go in ascending order of teams' records from last season.

 

Colorado Rockies

  • 2022 Record: 68-94
  • 2023 Over/Under: 65.5 Wins

This is how you know this article wasn't secretly written by Rockies owner Dick Monfort, who boldly went on record in January with his belief that his club can play .500 ball this year:

What we're proposing instead is this: The Rockies will not only be even worse than they were in 2022, but they will also be the worst team in all of Major League Baseball.

This is indeed what FanGraphs projects for them, though it's not hard to imagine their projection of 97 losses looking too generous in hindsight. The first 100-loss season in the franchise's 30-year history doesn't seem out of the question.

The Rockies are coming off the worst run-scoring season they've had, yet you'd never know it from the lack of new additions to their starting lineup. The hope seems to be that Charlie Blackmon, 36, will turn back the clock and Kris Bryant, 31, will stay healthy after playing in all of 42 games last season. Even then, there's probably no scenario in which the 2023 Rockies resemble the Blake Street Bombers of yore.

Poor offense alone would be enough to doom the Rockies, as no Denver-based team is ever going to pitch its way to a winning record. But particularly not this one, as both its rotation and bullpen project among the dregs of MLB.