MLB 2024 Watchability Index: Ranking most fun teams to watch - ESPN

Welcome to the 2024 MLB Watchability Index! As ESPN NBA writer Zach Lowe would say — and we're stealing this idea from his annual League Pass rankings — these are NOT power rankings, but watchability ratings. Imagine you're sitting at home on a Saturday evening and you want to watch a baseball game, but perhaps your favorite team has already played. Which teams do you most want to watch? This is that list.

We've created a super complex formula to score teams in seven different categories, creating a possible maximum score of 50. These categories fit into the general idea of: «What makes baseball exciting?»

First, the 10-point categories (on a scale of 1-10 points maximum):

Star power: This is based off our annual MLB Rank of the top 100 players of the season, with points rewarded on how many players a team had in the top 100 and how high they ranked.

Youth: We love young players — especially promising, young players. I looked at each team's projected FanGraphs WAR from players in their first or second seasons in the majors.

Baserunning: The new rules helped bring speed back into the game last season with more stolen bases, creating a more exciting — and watchable — version of baseball. I used FanGraphs' team baserunning metric (which factors in stolen bases and running the bases) from last season, making some adjustments for major roster changes or additions.

And then there are the 5-point categories (on a scale of 1-5 points maximum):

4- and 5-star catches: The Baseball Savant site lists catch probability for outfielders, including the number of 4-star plays (catch probability of 26-50%) and 5-star plays (probability of 0-25%). Even 4-star catches are pretty rare. Ronald Acuna Jr., for example, had no 4-star catches