Who Are the Worst MLB Teams Ever?

Judging the worst MLB teams ever is about more than their records. To compile these rankings, I considered teams which massively underachieved their preseason win totals provided by MLB betting markets and years riddled with bad luck. 

5 Worst Teams in MLB History

5. 2018 Baltimore Orioles

A sizeable group of teams have had a worse winning percentage than the 47-115 Baltimore Orioles posted in 2018. Of those teams, though, the 1935 Boston Braves, 1942 Philadelphia Phillies, 1939 St. Louis Browns, and 1932 Boston Red Sox are the only teams to have finished further back in their division.

Baltimore went 15-40 after the trade deadline, finishing 61 games off the AL East lead. Having made the playoffs in 2016, the Orioles were by far the worst team in the majors in 2018, and fans had to cope with Manny Machado, Kevin Gausman, Darren O’Day, and Jonathan Schoop being dealt in July.

A deep rebuild didn’t take long to bear fruit, however, as the Orioles were among online sports betting candidates to make the playoffs by 2022.

4. 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks

Scoring the fewest runs per game and only narrowly avoiding conceding the most, the 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks had a truly miserable year. This was just three years after winning the World Series and two years after winning 98 games and making the playoffs. 

Arizona was this bad even with Randy Johnson posting 8.2 bWAR and finishing second in Cy Young voting. The Hall of Famer was traded to the New York Yankees in the following offseason.

On this day in 2004, Randy Johnson achieved perfection. pic.twitter.com/dmfbwfMfNZ

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 18, 2023

Preseason baseball betting markets didn’t project the Diamondbacks to be a 100-loss team, let alone finish 51-111. 

3. 1932 Boston Red Sox

Owners of the worst run differential in the modern era, the 1932 Boston Red Sox finished 43-111. Finishing with 43 wins was the result of an improved second half of the season after starting 12-55. 

Sporting an 89 ERA+ and a 76 OPS+, the 1932 Red Sox were well below average on both sides of the ball. They lost nine more games than any other AL team and finished 76 games behind the league-winning New York Yankees. 

2. 2003 Detroit Tigers

The 2003 Detroit Tigers only avoided accumulating the most losses in MLB history by winning five of their last six games. A 43-119 record was still historically bad. Designated hitter Dmitri Young was the only Tiger to generate more than 1.7 bWAR.

Tied for the worst ERA+ and with the third-lowest OPS+, there was nothing to be positive about on this Tigers roster. Carlos Peña, acquired during the previous season, only posted a 108 OPS+. At least Tigers ownership splashed the cash the following winter, signing perennial All-Star catcher Iván Rodríguez.

1. 2024 Chicago White Sox 

The 2024 Chicago White Sox are the worst team in MLB history. There is more talent in the majors than ever before, and front offices have more tools at their disposal to field a winning team than at any other point in league history. 

The ChiSox finished 41-121, one of the worst regular-season records in MLB history.

There were 12 teams with a smaller payroll than the White Sox. Chicago wasn’t crippled by injuries. Garrett Crochet was a Cy Young contender for a portion of the season, and Erick Fedde was pitching like an All-Star before he got traded. 

There was no reason for the White Sox to be this bad. This was the result of years of mismanagement.