MLB Power Rankings - Week 15 07/07/08

MLB Power Rankings - Week 15 07/07/08

The Rays have pushed themselves into the realm of the elite and they aren't getting it done by chance. Chew on this...The AL East has a + 195 run differential! Every team has scored more runs than they've allowed, and in the era of the unbalanced schedule that means the Rays have had their hands full. I mean compare that to the atrocious first place D-Backs division and its -185 run differential!

1.
Tampa Bay Rays 55-32 (1)
-(6-0) Break up the Rays! Without a doubt they are the story of the year, even if they were to collapse and fade now. But with they're solid starting pitching and young spunky lineup, they look like they've shaped to hang around. Evan Longoria has also emerged as a big-time front runner for rookie of the year.

2.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 53-35 (2)
-(4-2) It's a pretty simple formula they have down in Disneyland - good pitching wins ballgames. 5 quality starts in 6 games this week, with the one bad one being a rare bad outing from ace John Lackey. The bullpen was its usual dominant self as K-Rod got 2 more saves to stay on pace to set the saves record.

3.
Chicago Cubs 53-36 (4)
- (4-3) Seven All Stars is pretty impressive, but considering Kerry Wood has five blown saves and is considered an All Star is a slight to NL pitchers around the league. Fortunately for the Cubs, their bullpen with Howry, Marmol, and Wood is far superior to that of the Brewers and Cards … go figure. On a less backhanded compliment note, Carlos Zambrano returned to pitch six shutout innings against division rival St. Louis on way to a 2-1 victory.

4.
Chicago White Sox 51-37 (6)
-(5-2) 2B Alexi Ramirez, who is currently batting .299 with 7 HR and 28 RBI, should already be having voters mumbling his name for rookie of the year. Or at least Manager Ozzie Guillen wants you to think that way, and if you don't think like Ozzie he will throw a water cooler at you!

5.
Boston Red Sox 52-39 (3)
-(2-5) Well, the Sox bullpen found inopportune times to give up runs last week, blowing 2 games in fantastic fashion, to their chief rivals to boot, the Rays and the Yanks. The offense wasn't too much better, outside of Pedroia and Lowell. Not too worry though, the Sox head home for 6 games before the break, and they love home-cooking, as they are 31-10 at home. Ortiz also looks on-line for a late July return.

[Editor's Note #2: Our Red Sox correspondant refused to provide a statement regarding the rediculously over the top homer inclusion of 6 out of 9 members of the Boston offense in the all star game....Pedroia, Tek, Youk, and Drew may very well be the worst team collective of all stars to ever grace a baseball diamond.]

[Editor's Note #3: Our Yankee correspondant is a douchebag and also can't spell "ridiculously."]

[Editor's Note #4: If anyone is a douchebag, it's Pedroia. Worst All Star Ever]

6.
Minnesota Twins 49-39 (8)
-(5-1) The beat-down they just put on Cleveland might have sealed the fate of C.C. Sabathia. The Twins had another great week, securing their sixth and seventh straight series victory. The Twins are playing some great team ball, and you have to give credit to Joe Nathan for sticking around. He stayed in the twin cities and has 25 saves (3 this past week) to show for it, blowing just two, but the Twins were able to win both of those games.

7.
St. Louis Cardinals 50-40 (7)
-(3-4) The recent lack of scoring runs are making wins hard to come by. With one run scored in three of their last four games, the Cards finished off a disappointing home stand at 3-4. Mark Mulder, who is going to start game 2 of the upcoming series with the Phillies, needs to fill the void of Adam Wainwright and not need to have another surgery on his old and busted shoulder.

8.
Milwaukee Brewers 49-39 (11)
-(5-2) The J.J. in Hardy’s name must stand for July Jacks, because he pummeled six balls for home runs this week and compiled 18 hits and 12 RBI. The Brewers just keep on rolling and the rumors are all over ESPN Sunday Night Baseball that J.J. won’t be the only double initialed player on the team … look out for C C dominating the NL.

9.
New York Yankees 47-42 (7)
-(3-4) This playing at .500 malaise could be attributed to injuries, after all not many teams could do without their one and five hitter and their staff Ace (Matsui, Damon, Wang), but the rest of the players are too good to not step it up. Mariano Rivera certainly has by going perfect in all 23 save opportunities and cleaning up his own bases-loaded, nobody-out jam against the Sox on Saturday. Look for Cano to put his abysmal start behind him as he’s a .355 career hitter in July - and he has started this one off on the right foot hitting .391 w/ 4 RBI, and two of those RBI were very clutch in Sunday’s game against the Red Sox. We'd also like to pat ourselves on the back for giving a shout out to Brett Gardner last week, then watching him hit the game winner off Papelbon ... mad props are deserved.

[Editor's Note #1: Our Yankee correspondant provided this ridiculously over-the-top homer write-up]

10.
Philadelphia Phillies 48-41 (9)
-(4-2) Great start to the week, sweeping the division rival Braves in Atlanta, before allowing the Mets to steal two out of three in their house. The biggest plus for the Phillies this past week is that Ryan Howard has extended his season-high hitting streak to nine games and is 11 for his last 37 with 4 HRs and 11 RBIs. When the Big Dog is eating, it's good news for Philly.

11.
Texas Rangers 46-43 (15)
-(4-2) Strange week for the Rangers - thrice they gave up double digit runs and still won four games! Despite the post-Hank beatdown they were on the receiving end of, this was a great week as they took two out of three from two AL East teams, on the road no less. Not surprisingly, their big four offensive guys were named all-stars; also not surprisingly, none of their pitchers made it.

12.
Oakland Athletics 47-41 (10)
-(3-4) MEDIC!! Currenlty on the DL are Eric Chavez (shoulder), Keith Foulke (shoulder), Bobby Crosby (hamstring), Joey Devine (Elbow), and Frank Thomas (quadriceps). The A’s have had to use the DL 18 times this year and are currently running options at AAA Sacramento.

13.
New York Mets 44-44 (16)
-(4-3) Back at .500 the Mets will look to take three out of four from the Phillies (thanks to timely hitting from Brian Schneider and Fernando Tatis) with Pedro on the mound Monday night. In my opinion this is a must perform for Pedro … his 7.39 ERA and 1.73 WHIP have made him a huge detriment to this team, and if he doesn’t get it done (along with Delgado/Alou) this season then the Mets will once again miss the playoffs. Omar Minaya better start brushing off the old resume.

14.
Detroit Tigers 44-44 (13)
-(3-4) It was looking like full steam ahead for el Tigres, but they've slipped back to .500 this week, which was bound to happen after that 18-4 stretch. With Joel Zumaya back in action, the Tigers are going to have a much easier time getting to the later innings, which will definitely result in some much needed Ws for a team with high expectations to win the division. I wonder if Detroit fans are still wondering what happened to Dontrelle Willis? I know I am. I knew that stupid Steve Erkle delivery would catch up to him eventually.

15.
Florida Marlins 45-43 (14)
-(3-4) The Marlins starting rotation is about to be refreshed with two of the organizations highly prized right handed pitchers, Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad. Johnson, who went under the knife last year for elbow reconstruction, is started to start on Thursday and Volstad to start on Friday.

16.
Arizona Diamondbacks 44-45 (12)
-(3-4) It's simply amazing that this team is still in first place the way they've been playing the past couple of months. I'm actually embarrassed that we didn't see the gaping holes in this team and had them in 1st on our rankings for so long. Hey, at least we're not these guys. The D-Backs are now 2 games under .500 and I will officially cry if the Giants (4 Games Behind) catch the D-Backs this season.

17.
Los Angeles Dodgers 43-45 (21)
-(5-2) The Dodgers ended their June swoon and came out hot in July. Nomar Garciaparra plugged himself into the Way-Back Machine and played shortstop for the first time since 2005. The Dodgers continue to be in playoff contention thanks to the terrible division they are in.

18.
Atlanta Braves 42-47 (17)
-(2-4) Losing three at home to the Philly’s is killer at this point in the season. Frenchy (Jeff Francoeur and his .234 BAVG) was even demoted for his lack of hitting, which was the boon of the Braves this week, scoring only 8 runs in their four losses. The offense may get an infusion with the return of SS Yunel Escobar, but the pitching might get an even bigger boost as Mike Hampton and Rafael Soriano are both close to returning to action.

19.
Baltimore Orioles 44-43 (18)
-(3-4) The Orioles Sunday massacre continued this past week with an 11-10 losing effort against the Rangers. In their 13th straight Sunday loss, starter Radhames Liz was gone by the 3rd, Adam Loewen aggravated an elbow injury and relievers Jim Johnson and George Sherrill gave up five runs in two innings. I guess Sunday isn’t for the birds.

20.
Cincinnati Reds 43-47 (24)
-(5-2) Yahoo! The Reds are totally back, well not to compete for the division or the wild card or even actually to avoid embarrassment this season, but they're back to just 4 games under .500 and that's exciting ( Honestly they swept the Nationals in a 4 game series which my local little league team just accomplished as well last week). The Reds need to clean out their closet and get rid of Griffey Jr and Adam Dunn before the deadline.

21.
Toronto Blue Jays 42-47 (19)
-(2-4) You will not get any praise after losing 2 out of 3 from the Mariners. The Blue Jays need to seriously consider trading away injury prone AJ Burnett. Oh and we're almost at the All-Star break and Vernon Wells leads the team with 9 HRs! Once again, Toronto fans you need to start pushing for the removal of your GM JP Riccardi. He sucks more than this.

22.
Colorado Rockies 37-52 (27)
-(5-2) Well another week goes by and Manager Clint Hurdle is still around and Matt Holliday is not a Yankee. Hurdle will be given the honor of managing the NL team in this year’s All-Star game. Let me remind you that this is due to his team's amazing run last year and nothing to do with his less than mediocre coaching abilities.

23.
Houston Astros 41-48 (22)
-(2-5) What a sad week... The Pirates currently have a better record than the Astros. If Roy Oswalt doesn't stay healthy the Stros are going to be near the bottom of the division for the rest of the season. I don't expect major trades to be made in Houston this year but at least the Astros will send Berkman and Tejada to the All-Star game in New York.

24.
San Francisco Giants 39-50 (26)
-(3-4) Just like the Blue Jays the Giants leading home run hitter (John Bowker) only has 9 home runs. Are the Giants fielding a triple A team? 9 home runs at the break just makes me want to cry. You know Barry Bonds is sitting somewhere with a big ass smile on his face. Holy Shit! The Giants are only 5 games behind the the D-Backs??? Haha.. that says nothing about the Giants and only speaks to the fact of how horrible the D-Backs have become.

25.
Pittsburgh Pirates 40-47 (23)
-(2-4) Over the past series with the Brewers the Bucs hit .220, struck out 21 times, and committed 5 errors. They also won zero of those games. These are all three categories that they dramatically need to improve upon if any hope can be salvaged from this season.

26.
Seattle Mariners 35-53 (30)
-(4-3) Erik Bedard (5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) is missing another start after posting a great outing against the resurgent Tigers. One has to wonder if it was due to his 99 pitches thrown in just five innings. Whatever the cause his trade value is diminishing by the day and the Mariners are certainly going nowhere.

27.
San Diego Padres 35-54 (28)
-(3-3) Cha Seung Baek brought a little firework show to AZ this Fourth of July posting a solid 6IP, 2H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7K. The Padres actually took two of three from the division leaders, but it’s a moot point as they’re still 9 games back in the loss column. Stay Classy, San Diego!

28.
Kansas City Royals 39-50 (25)
-(2-5) The Royals must be jealous of the Rays as they've attempted to rebuild the same way but haven't quite nailed it like they have. Terrible starting pitching led to this disaster of a week. At least Joakim Soria is quite the deserving All-Star, not the typical Royals representative that gets in because each team gets at least one player.

29.
Cleveland Indians 37-51 (20)
-(0-6) The Indians went on a losing streak as if the players knew management was trading their ace CC Sabathia and giving up on the year already. I'm not exactly sure how a team so close to the World Series last year could fall so fast in just one year. Regardless, this season is over for the Tribe and the Indians are hoping Matt Laporta will be their franchise player for years to come. Let's just hope he wears his hat straighter than CC.

30.
Washington Nationals 34-56 (29)
-(1-6) Just as Elijah Dukes started panning out, he gets hurt and needs a scope on his knee. Thus there is nothing else interesting to report on the boring Nationals, other than every decent player on their roster seems to get hurt.