2020 MLB spring training caps, ranked

You know spring training is slowly making its way around the mountain when official caps get released. That’s right, the MLB and New Era have released the team caps for this year’s spring training and the theme is logos in logos, which actually, isn’t as dumb as maybe one would think.

It really works for some teams, and it really doesn’t for others.

Naturally, it’s time to rank them.

Without further ado, my official rankings of the 2020 MLB spring training caps. (h/t to SportsLogos for the pictures)

30. Pittsburgh Pirates

I have no idea what I’m looking at here. The P is lost because of so much black in the logo and I can’t tell what the logo is because the P is too small. Just messy.

29. New York Mets

Just ever so slightly cleaner than the Pirates cap, but still messy. The logo in the text is completely lost which ruins the fun of it.

28. Cincinnati Reds

It looks like there’s a man trapped in a giant C, screaming into the abyss, praying for his life to be returned to how it once was. But it never will be. He’s trapped. Forever.

27. Washington Nationals

The W looks like a poorly made pretzel that was dunked in dipping sauce.

26. St. Louis Cardinals

There’s nothing special here. Also the white thread around the St. L crowds out the logo, losing it’s charm (though not sure the logo would have worked in the text anyways).

25. New York Yankees

The deep navy and white make the logo pop in the NY but the text is so thin that it’s hard to make out much of the logo.

24. Kansas City Royals

I get what they’re doing but you can’t even really see that it’s a crown in the KC. Maybe if they’d made the text also blue, then the crown would have really popped. But they didn’t and the crown is blah.

23. Cleveland Indians

How long did it take them to come up with this design?

22. Los Angeles Dodgers

You should be able to guess my problem with these by now.

21. Tampa Bay Rays

I’m all for more baby blue in the world, but the sunburst really does not translate well into the logo. Why didn’t they do a manta ray and use the old throwback colors? Asking for a friend.

20. Boston Red Sox

The definition of eh. Really it’s just a B with some white stripes at the top.

19. Milwaukee Brewers

What am I looking at in the logo? Is it the barley seams? Of that got lost in translation. This might belong further back on the list if I’m being honest...

18. Chicago White Sox

The Sox kinda works with the batter so at least the two logos look alright together. That’s more than half these caps can say.

17. Baltimore Orioles

These are terrible but they’re so terrible that I kind of love them. The whole hat would look so much better if they didn’t have that damn black stitching around the bird face. Way too many lines.

16. Miami Marlins

The Marlins make it this far simply because their colors are amazing and I love them and will never say anything bad about them ever. But the logo in the marlin is impossible to see and fails on all levels.

15. Chicago Cubs

The logo fits nicely. That’s a win. I don’t know what they insisted on having white outlines inside the bear. It muddles up the Cubs.

14. Seattle Mariners

The compass fits nicely in the M and on the hat. It’s a little crowded with too many colors but the ultimate idea is there and that’s enough to put it in the top 15.

13. Colorado Rockies

The Colorado flag in the letters, it works. I don’t hate it.

12. Detroit Tigers

It’s not the most original but the tiger stripes do look good in the logo. You know exactly what you’re looking at which is a positive.

11. Atlanta Braves

I think the rope on the tomahawk worked quite well on the A.

10. San Francisco Giants

The bridge is a little hard to make out, but the general thought behind it is strong. And the three color platte works well.

9. Texas Rangers

The flag works, it’s clean and simple. Top 10 cap for sure.

8. Toronto Blue Jays

Much like the Rangers, the Blue Jays cap is simple, clean and elegant. It’s not really pushing the bounds of imagination, but it doesn’t need to. Don’t mess with what works.

7. Los Angeles Angels

Is it crowded? Yes. Could it have been done better? Yes. But damnit if I don’t love the little A being the center of the bigger A. That’s just perfect design right there.

6. Minnesota Twins

Simple, clean, elegant. Check.

5. Philadelphia Phillies

The Liberty Bell is what makes this hat. If it was anything else, like the P, it wouldn’t be in the top five. It would be down with the Cleveland Indians.

4. Oakland Athletics

It’s basically the same hat as the Phillies but the A’s get the nudge because their shape is an elephant and I hate to sound unpatriotic, but that tops a bell.

3. Houston Astros

I love the Astros throwback colors so including them instantly makes this hat a banging one. It’s so electric it might zap you when you put it on.

2. San Diego Padres

If this is a controversial take, I DON’T CARE! The SD fit perfectly in the friar and I LOVE the friar logo so all checks from me.

1. Arizona Diamondbacks

The clear and obvious winner. That snake in the A is almost too perfect.