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David J. Phillip/Associated Press

The 2017 MLB season came to a close Thursday night as the Houston Astros were crowned World Series champions. There's plenty of celebrating still to come for the Astros and their fans, but for the rest of the MLB world, the offseason is now officially underway.

As such, it's time for an updated version of our leaguewide power rankings with a focus on what's to come.

For the first edition of our offseason rankings, teams will be ranked based on their outlook for the 2018 season. That took into account things like how complete the roster is heading into free agency, how active the team is expected to be and the overall direction the franchise is headed.

In other words, don't be surprised when a Kansas City Royals team that won 80 games is ranked below a Philadelphia Phillies team that won 66 games.

Again, we're looking ahead to 2018.

We'll put together fresh versions of these power rankings throughout the offseason, with teams shifting based on their wheelings and dealings. For now, this will serve as a starting point.

On a personal note, I want to say thanks to everyone for reading along all season. This was my sixth year authoring our weekly MLB power rankings here at Bleacher Report, and it's still one of my favorite parts of the job.