BALTIMORE, MD – APRIL 20: A bat and batting gloves sit on the grass before the start of the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 20, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

10. Houston Astros – 2.58

-Todd Kalas (play by play)
-Geoff Blum (analyst)

Previous rankings: 23 (2014), 18 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.00 (2014), 2.32 (2016)

Most popular grade: B (31.64% of the vote)

Analysis: With Todd Kalas in the broadcast booth for his first season (not to mention, a young and great team), the Astros soar into the top ten for the first time. This could definitely be a team to watch going forward, as no team received a lower percentage of F votes than Houston (just 7.88%).

9. Milwaukee Brewers – 2.63

-Brian Anderson (play by play)
-Bill Schroeder (analyst)
-Craig Coshun (play by play – select)
-Matt Lepay (play by play – select)

Previous rankings: 8 (2014), 11 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.59 (2014), 2.57 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (30.25% of the vote)

Analysis: Milwaukee’s score marked a three-poll best, though their ranking fell just short of their 2014 mark. Brian Anderson is getting more and more national work, and the high acclaim for his performances are also reflecting well on the Brewers. If he ends up taking his talents nationally on a full-time basis, Milwaukee will be hard-pressed to replace him.

8. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – 2.65

-Victor Rojas (play by play)
-Mark Gubicza (analyst)

Previous rankings: 9 (2014), 9 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.53 (2014), 2.57 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (35.67% of the vote)

Analysis: The Angels’ crew finally makes some headway, moving up a spot from the previous two rankings, while their score also improved for the third time in a row. What’s amazing to me is that despite this high ranking and score, the Angels rank fourth out of the five California teams – baseball fans out there are spoiled with great announcers.

7. Los Angeles Dodgers – 2.65

-Joe Davis (play by play)
-Orel Hershiser (analyst)
-Nomar Garciaparra (analyst)
-Charley Steiner (play by play – select)

Previous ranking: 21 (2016)
Previous grade: 2.22 (2016)

Most popular grade: B (33.19% of the vote)

Analysis: After a rough debut in our rankings last season, the Dodgers took a big step forward in the post-Vin Scully era. No one will ever confuse Davis and his two analysts with Scully, and it’s not fair to compare the two, but this is still a solid ranking and score for a crew trying to replace a legend.

6. Baltimore Orioles – 2.83

-Gary Thorne (play by play)
-Jim Palmer (analyst)
-Jim Hunter (play by play – select)
-Mike Bordick (analyst – select)

Previous rankings: 3 (2014), 3 (2016)
Previous grades: 3.14 (2014), 3.15 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (38.66% of the vote)

Analysis: After back to back third place rankings and scores that were almost identical, Baltimore fell this year thanks to an influx of F votes (just over 11% of their total). With that being said, 70% of the Orioles votes were either an A or a B, and just a small shift from B to A would have resulted in them improving in the rankings.

5. Chicago Cubs – 2.85

-Len Kasper (play by play)
-Jim Deshaies (analyst)

Previous rankings: 5 (2014), 6 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.72 (2014), 2.82 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (45.69% of the vote)

Analysis: Talk about consistent – the Cubs have been in the same general spot in the rankings all three years we’ve done them. There wasn’t a spike following the team’s World Series win, which actually caught me offguard, but they did still finish with the third-most A votes and the fourth-highest percentage of A votes.

4. San Diego Padres – 2.87

-Don Orsillo (play by play)
-Mark Grant (analyst)
-Mark Sweeney (analyst – select)
-Tony Gwynn Jr (analyst – select)

Previous rankings: 12 (2014), 5 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.46 (2014), 2.87 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (38.78% of the vote)

Analysis: The Padres pull in the same score as last year, and move up a spot, despite the retirement of Dick Enberg. The Orsillo/Grant team continually receives strong reviews from fans, and San Diego was our final team with under 10% in both D and F grades. This is another team that could be on the rise in the future, though it will be difficult to break into the top three.

3. New York Mets – 2.92

-Gary Cohen (play by play)
-Ron Darling (analyst)
-Keith Hernandez (analyst)

Previous rankings: 4 (2014), 4 (2016)
Previous grades: 2.99 (2014), 3.06 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (60.26% of the vote)

Analysis: The Mets moved up a spot despite a lower score, and they probably could have finished second if not for a ridiculously high percentage of F votes (18.85%, by far the highest of any team in the top half of our rankings). The Mets crew did end up finishing with over 60% of A votes, the second-highest percentage of any team, and finished with the second-most votes overall.

2. New York Yankees – 3.00

-Michael Kay (play by play)
-Ken Singleton (analyst)
-David Cone (analyst)
-John Flaherty (analyst)
-Al Leiter (analyst)
-Paul O’Neill (analyst)

Previous rankings: 25 (2014), 27 (2016)
Previous grades: 1.93 (2014), 1.95 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (57.70% of the vote)

Analysis: When I saw this, I was stunned, mainly because the team finished so low in each of the two prior rankings.

Then I read the comments, and saw the reason why the Yankees finished so highly.

I’ve gotta respect that. The Yankees finished with the highest vote total of any team, the most A votes, and the third-highest percentage of A votes. However, it wasn’t enough to propel them to the top spot.

1. San Francisco Giants – 3.15

-Duane Kuiper (play by play)
-Mike Krukow (analyst)
-Dave Flemming (play by play – select)
-Jon Miller (play by play – select)
-Javier Lopez (analyst – select)
-Jeremy Affeldt (analyst – select)

Previous rankings: 1 (2014), 2 (2016)
Previous grades: 3.46 (2014), 3.54 (2016)

Most popular grade: A (63.57% of the vote)

Analysis: The Giants finished with by far their lowest score and vote total, but that was still enough to drag them over the finish line into first place. Just over 63% of you gave the Giants an A, and nearly 80% of the team’s votes were either an A or a B. After one year at the top, and one year in second behind Vin Scully, the Giants are back at the top of mountain.

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.