The Ten Worst MLB Teams Since Integration

These are the ten worst single-season MLB teams by win percentage since integration.

Right now, the Colorado Rockies are 7-33, on pace for an all-time worst 28-134. These ten teams have been similarly bad, as they’ve been the worst teams in baseball since integration in 1947, sorted by win percentage.

10. 1969 San Diego Padres (52-110)

The Padres were an expansion team in 1969, and they were atrocious. The pitching was bad, though it did feature a young Joe Niekro. Offensively, just two players, Nate Colbert and Ozzie Brown, had WARs over 2.

9. 2013 Houston Astros (51-111)

The Astros were full-on tanking in 2013. That paid off, as the rebuild ended up winning the team two World Series wins. That 2013 team featured future stars Jose Altuve and Dallas Keuchel.

8. 1979 Oakland Athletics (54-108)

The Athletics won three World Series titles early in the decade, but by 1979, all of those stars had either signed elsewhere or been traded away by cheap owner Charlie Finley. That led to an awful product in 1979, losing twice as many games as they won.

7. 1965 New York Mets (50-112)

The Mets were four years in as a franchise, but the team had hardly improved from their disastrous debut season in 1962 (more on that later). But, players like Ed Kranepool and Tug McGraw would go on to play huge roles in their 1969 World Series teams.

6. 2019 Detroit Tigers (47-114)

The Detroit Tigers were tanking after being pretty successful for a decade. Both the hitting and pitching on this team was well-below league average, and Miguel Cabrera really start to show signs of decline. That tank is paying off now, as the Tigers are one of the better teams in baseball.

5. 2018 Baltimore Orioles (47-115)

The Orioles had plenty of good teams in the 2010s. 2018 wasn’t one of them, and was the start of their rebuild. After paying him a ton of money, Chris Davis became one of the worst players in baseball. They traded Manny Machado at the deadline. It was a complete disaster, but helped jumpstart the team towards acquiring a ton of young talent.

4. 1952 Pittsburgh Pirates (41-112)

The 1952 Pirates, who had long been one of the best teams in the National League, were awful, mainly due to the fact that they wouldn’t spend money on the ball club. Sound familiar?

3. 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119)

Let’s not pretend like the offense was good for the 2003 Tigers, as the unit totaled just over 5 WAR in whole. But, the pitching may have been the worst in MLB history. Mike Maroth lost 21 games, and the total staff had negative WAR. Three years later, the franchise won the pennant.

2. Chicago White Sox (41-121)

The 2024 Chicago White Sox were the worst baseball team I have ever seen. Considering the team had two above-average starting pitches in Garrett Crochet and Eric Fedde, the record is truly astonishing. How were they so bad, you ask? They had an offensive WAR of -6. Essentially, the offense performed six games worse than a team of fringe major leaguers. They were truly pathetic.

1. 1962 New York Mets (40-120)

The expansion Mets were a sad group of ball players. Four pitchers lost at least 17 games, including two 20-game losers. Richie Ashburn was one of many over-the-hill big name players the Mets used to sell tickets in Queens. It sure didn’t work to win games. But, seven years later, the “Miracle Mets” won the World Series.