Although they missed out on Gerrit Cole, the Los Angeles Angels landed a big fish during the Winter Meetings last week. They gave free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon a seven-year contract worth $245 million, and will pair him with the great Mike Trout and the extremely fun Shohei Ohtani going forward. Start your lineup with those three and you're in great shape.

Rendon is, rather easily, the best teammate Trout has had in his Angels career, and I say that with complete respect for what Albert Pujols has accomplished. Rendon and Trout are two in-their-prime superstars and I don't think there's a better 1-2 lineup punch in the game. With that in mind, why don't we rank MLB's best 1-2 lineup tandems heading into 2020? 

Before we begin, let's lay down some ground rules:

  • We are considering offense only. Defense and positional value are irrelevant in this exercise. We're looking for the best hitters.
  • Only one set of teammates per team. Otherwise I'm pretty sure we'd have three or four iterations of Astros on this list.
  • The players don't actually have to hit back-to-back in the lineup. They just have to be on the same team and in the same lineup.

There are still trades to be made and free agents to be signed between now and spring training, so this list is merely a snapshot in time. Depending where Josh Donaldson signs, and whether some big-name trade candidates actually change teams, this list could look very different by time Opening Day rolls around. For now, we'll work with what we have.

I've included FanGraphs' Steamer projections for reference but they were only a small consideration when compiling this list. Regurgitating a bunch of projections would be rather boring, no? This list is mostly subjective with a tiny little bit of assistance from the objective projection system. Now on to the top 10 lineup tandems.

1. Anthony Rendon and Mike Trout, Angels

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .962

Trout led baseball with a .438 on-base percentage in 2019. Rendon was fourth with a .423 on-base percentage. Over the last three seasons Trout leads the sport in on-base percentage (.447) and Rendon is sixth (.397). Oh, and they hit for power too. Add in elite baserunning -- yes, from Rendon too -- and Trout and Rendon are on the very short list of the game's best offensive players. There's no reason to believe they will be something less than that in 2020, especially Trout, who is still only 28. I didn't have to think all that hard about which tandem would sit in the top spot.

2. Alex Bregman and George Springer, Astros

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .894

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Few teams can match Houston's lineup depth. USATSI

Six players had 500 plate appearances for the Astros this past season and I'm pretty sure you could pick any two at random, and they'd fit into this list. (Yordan Alvarez only had 369 plate appearances, so he's not even one of the six.) Bregman has emerged as one of the game's top hitters the last two years -- did you know he had 119 walks and only 83 strikeouts in 2019? golly -- so he's an obvious pick for one spot. I went with Springer over Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, or Yuli Gurriel for the other spot mostly due to health and my personal expectations, though I wouldn't argue with any other pairing. Houston's offense is ridiculously deep.

(For what it's worth, Bregman and Alvarez have Houston's highest combined projected OPS at .925. I'm a little skeptical Alvarez will be that good again though. No knock on him. I just feel more comfortable betting on Springer.)

3. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman, Braves

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .903

If I could buy stock in one MLB player for the next ten years, I'm pretty sure I'd pick Acuna. He's so young and already so good, and it's not unreasonable to believe he can get even better given his natural talent. I may be betting on Acuna a little too much with this ranking, I know, but I've always believed in betting on talent, and few are as talented as this kid. Freeman is so consistently excellent that it's almost boring. As long as his elbow is healthy going forward (it wasn't late in 2019), I expect him to remain one of the game's most productive hitters for another few years. Acuna and Freeman are quite the duo. Ozzie Albies isn't so bad either.

4. Mookie Betts and Rafael Devers, Red Sox

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .916

Will Mookie be a Red Sox (Red Sock?) on Opening Day? Heart says yes, head says ... also yes. I think a David Price trade is more likely as Boston trims payroll. Anyway, Xander Bogaerts or J.D. Martinez would fit into this exercise nicely, but Devers is a freakishly gifted hitter -- 90 extra-base hits at age 22 is no joke -- and every time Betts makes an out, I'm surprised. It feels like luck whenever a pitcher retires him. His hands are so quick and he gets the bat on the ball so easily. It must be a nightmare facing him. Or Devers. Or Bogaerts and Martinez.

5. Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy, Dodgers

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .895

Even after whiffing on Rendon, the Dodgers are so deep it's obnoxious. They seem to have more good players than roster spots -- ZiPS has the Dodgers with 22 (!) players projected for at least 1 WAR in 2020 -- and a new elite prospect debuting each year. Joc Pederson, Corey Seager, or Justin Turner would not be out of place next to Bellinger on this list. I'm going with Muncy as Robin to Bellinger's Batman given the 70 homers and 169 walks the last two seasons, and the fact there's little reason to believe he can't do it again in 2020. Muncy is only 29 and he showed 2018 was no fluke this summer.

6. Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, Yankees

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .874

No team dropped on this list due to injury as much as New York. Judge and a healthy Giancarlo Stanton would've challenged Rendon and Trout for the top spot, but various maladies limited Stanton to 18 games in 2019, and I'm not comfortable projecting him to be a fully healthy player in 2020. I hope it happens, Giancarlo is awfully fun, but I'm not counting on it. Torres is a pretty great in his own right, and we could even slot DJ LeMahieu or Gary Sanchez in here. Judge and Stanton would be in the conversation for the top spot. Instead, the Yankees have to settle for having a better 1-2 lineup punch than 24 other teams.

7. Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez, Indians

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .879

A year ago Lindor and Ramirez might've sat in the top spot. Then Ramirez slipped into an ugly and prolonged slump -- the slump actually started in August 2018 -- that had him sitting on a .586 OPS as late as June 12 this year. He bounced back and finished the season extremely well, but that slump still leaves me a little squeamish. I'm comfortable knocking Lindor and Ramirez down a few pegs because of it. That said, Lindor and Ramirez are awesome, and their ability to combine contact with power makes them two of the game's truly elite hitters when right. Plus they're extremely fun and I am pro-fun. 

8. Matt Chapman and Matt Olson, Athletics

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .855

Fun fact: Oakland led all teams in WAR at first base (3.0), shortstop (5.7), and third base (4.5) this past season. Defense doesn't factor into this list though, and this exercise is meant to be forward-looking, so I'm not sure why I brought that up. I just find it to be a pretty neat stat is all. Anyway, Marcus Semien had an incredible MVP-caliber season in 2019, but his track record of being that good at the plate is exactly one year, so Chapman and Olson get the nod. The Matts form arguably the best corner infield tandem in the game.  

9. Nelson Cruz and Miguel Sano, Twins

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .886

The boom or bust tandem. If Cruz continues to defy age and Sano stays healthy, this duo could put monster numbers in 2020. If Cruz starts to slow down in his age 39 season and Sano again battles injuries and strikeoutitis, they could be a bottom-10 pair rather than a top-10 pair. Cruz has staved off Father Time this long and I'm not about to start betting against him. Sano can be a very frustrating player, I know, but few players hit the ball as hard as him -- only Judge (95.9 mph) had a higher average exit velocity in 2019 (94.4 mph) -- and he's still only 26. One of these days it's going to click and Sano's going to hit 50 homers. Why not 2020?

10. Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, Cubs

Combined 2020 projected OPS: .897

The Cubs have been capital-F Frustrating the last two years and they're talking about shaking up the lineup, so it can be easy to forget just how good these guys are. Bryant in a down year topped a .900 OPS and Rizzo had his best offensive season since 2017 this year despite a slow start and prolonged home run drought. There is some risk here because Bryant has regressed the last two seasons and Rizzo is now (barely) on the wrong side of 30, but I'm still a believer in both. Start your offense with Bryant and Rizzo and you're doing alright. Add in Javier Baez and, well, the Cubs should've been better than they were the last two years.

Honorable Mention: Keston Hiura and Christian Yelich, Brewers; Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil, Mets; Fernando Tatis Jr. and Tommy Pham, Padres; Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon, Rockies; Eloy Jimenez and Yoan Moncada, White Sox