This is also a refernce to some other comments upthread but, in my opnion, the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cardinals are the game's four elite franchises. They never have to rebuild (or at least not rebuild for long). They reload. All four franchises know the secret to simultaneously building a WS contender every season and building for the future. All four of those organizations exude cultures of competence and excellence from top to bottom.
I would probably put the Braves, Giants, Astros, Guardians and Rays on a second tier. They don't reload but their rebuilds are never long and their rebuilds typically work and they've field good teams over the past thirty-plus years far more often than they haven't (or since 2008 in the case of the Rays).. The Rays are what the Expos were from the late-'70's to 1994, the fiancially-strapped organization that plays in a dumpy dome and which cannot afford to keep ML stars for long but has extraordinary front office, scouting and development acumen that enables them to field a contender each season (and just maybe catch lightning in a bottle one October).
The other 21 franchises basically get lumped together and have to go through up and down cycles of success and rebuilds (and their rebuilds don't always work out). However, I may be inclined to put the Marlins, Reds, Rockies, Royals and Orioles on a worst franchise list.
