Having just written about the Pittsburgh Pirates and the dire straights that they are in, I thought to myself, who are the worst franchises in the mlb in recent memory.  Of course a discussion like this has to have some rules so I have decided to limit my findings to the last 12 years.  It seems only fair since two of the teams in the majors have only been in existence that long.  That way everyone starts on an even playing field.

There are, of course, thirty teams in the major leagues.  Of those thirty teams there are only five who have not made a playoff appearance within the last dozen years.  These are the teams that I deem to be the WORST OF THE WORST.  We will do this David Letterman style and start with number five.

5.  The Toronto Blue Jays.  The Jays are not actually that bad all things considered.  They just play in an incredibly competitive division in baseball where third place is nothing and third place is tough to come in.  Over the last twelve years the Blue Jays have actually had seven winning seasons.  That is pretty good considering that they have to play 18 or 19 games against the Yankees and then again against the Red Sox.  Unfortunately, the Jays could not translate those winning seasons into playoff baseball.  They had zero years in October and that leaves them as the fifth worst team in baseball.

4.  The Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos.

You will have to excuse the old school logo but I am a crazy Canadian after all.  This franchise has only seen three winning seasons in the last twelve.  This has translated into zero playoff success and things do not look to be getting any better. Only one of the winning seasons (and I use the term “winning” loosely as they were 81 and 81) was in Washington.  It was really sad to watch the Expos play out those last few years in the “Big O” in Montreal.  They must have averaged about 5,000 or 6,000 a night.  That ugly old dome looked even uglier when it was almost empty.

3.  The Kansas City Royals.  How did this 
all-powerful team of the eighties turned into the dismal franchise that it is today?  The Royals have only managed one winning year out of the last twelve in question.  They have had the good fortune of playing in baseball’s weakest division but have not been able to take advantage of it.  Every year I look to Kansas City to break out and every year they have the same season…a losing season.  Maybe next year will be the year that they can break loose of the weak teams in the AL Central. 

                                                               
2.  The Baltimore Orioles.  Yet another once proud organization falls upon hard times.  Of course, they also reside in the extremely tough AL East where pennants and playoff berths are tough to come by.  However, the Orioles shouldn’t even concern themselves with the playoffs.  (Insert Jim Mora “PLAYOFFS speech here.)  They have not had one winning season in the last dozen.  At least they seem to be on the right track.  They have a lot of good young talent that is ready to lead this team back to it’s winning ways. 

1.  The Pittsburgh Pirates.  Ahh yes, the Pirates.
  Here is a team that has not had a glimpse of the playoffs or even a winning season in 17 years.  They are terrible.  And the worst thing is that their ownership seems to be content with the status quo.  They trade away anyone of value in order to stay afloat.  This franchise was also a very proud one not too long ago.  When are the powers-that-be in Pittsburgh going to correct this situation?  I am not a Pirates fan but I will be rooting for them to break the .500 barrier this season.

There you have it…my Bottom Five list.  Hopefully, 2010 will hold some surprises for us all and a few of these teams will break losse of the bottom feeder status and make the playoffs or at least finish .500.