MLB Power Rankings
MLB Power Rankings - Week 9
MLB Power Rankings - Week 8
MLB Power Rankings - Week 7
MLB Power Rankings - Week 6
MLB Power Rankings - Week 5
MLB Power Rankings - Week 4
MLB Power Rankings - Week 3
MLB Power Rankings - Week 2
MLB Power Rankings - Preseason
It's still early to make too much of the rankings except a lot of bad teams jumped out of the gates hot, and a lot of good teams jumped out of the gates slow, and the Giants sucked as expected. Last weeks rankings are in parenthesis.
1.
Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 (7)
Chris Young and Justin Upton are carrying the offense. Brandon Webb dominant as ever. Brandon Lyon’s days as closer are numbered.
2.
Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 (15)
Ryan Braun is all that he is cracked up to be, Bill Hall with a career game can take some of the weight off of Prince Fielders 0HR. Eric Gagne needs to be more consistent.
3.
Los Angeles Dodgers 4-2 (10)
Very balanced offence, and Rafael Furcal’s defensive presence is coming through. Can Brad Penny bounce back from a bad start?
4.
Cincinnati Reds 4-2 (18)
Can the young arms of Edison Volquez and Johnny Cueto withstand Dusty Baker and his reputation with over pitching youngsters?
5.
New York Mets 2-3(1)
How much time will Pedro Martinez actually miss with his injury and when will he get injured next? I agree with Carlos Beltran, there should be instant replays in baseball.
6.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4-3 (12)
Patchwork rotation holding up well, K-Rod looking dominant as ever. In some not shocking at all news, the Angels are leading the AL West - the more things change, the more they stay the same.
7.
Atlanta Braves 3-3 (11)
John Smoltz back from DL is a good sign especially when beating Johan Santana. It seems like everyone on their offense has been hitting the ball well, led by Chipper's sizzling start.
8.
St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 (21)
Starting rotation allowed only 2 runs in 29 2/3 innings. Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel are swinging hot bats. But let's not get too excited down there quite yet.
9.
New York Yankees 3-3(2)
Starting rotation outside of Chen-Ming Wang is full of concerns while the bullpen could be best in majors. A-Rod seems not to be phased by Canseco and his allegations.
10.
Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 (17)
Sweep of the Red Sox and both losses to the Yankees by 1 run, could be this year’s sleeper team. Vernon Wells is swinging a hot bat and will need to continue for success.
11.
San Diego Padres 4-3 (13)
Jake Peavy looking to repeat as NL Cy Young. Kevin Kouzmanoff is off to a fast start, and is offering some protection to Adrian Gonzalez.
12.
Chicago Cubs 3-3 (5)
Derrek Lee is looking like he is finally over that horrific wrist injury. Kosuke Fukudome has become a fan favorite with clutch hits.
13.
Boston Red Sox 3-4 (4)
Not a top team when being swept by a divisional opponent this early in the season. J.D. Drew and Jason Varitek are nice surprises but offense is sputtering.
14.
Cleveland Indians 3-3 (6)
C. C. Sabathia is not looking like last years Cy Young winner. Offense desperately needs Victor Martinez’s bat back in the lineup.
15.
Philadelphia Phillies 2-4(8)
Chase Utley is on fire making an early case for MVP. Ryan Howard & Jimmy Rollins, the NL's last two MVPs, need to be more productive for the Phillies to start rolling.
16.
Detroit Tigers 0-6(3)
Did anyone see this one coming? Curtis Granderson needs to return soon to help stop the ship from sinking.
17.
Seattle Mariners 2-4 (9)
Felix Hernandez is dominating opponents but the bullpen needs J. J. Putz to close the door.
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18.
Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 (23)
Can only get better with the return of Scott Kazmir, and the young offense has done well so far.
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19.
Chicago White Sox 4-2 (19)
Jermaine Dye is looking to rebound after a mediocre 2007. Pierzynski is 10-for-20 with two home runs, seven RBI and seven runs scored in five games to open the season, not bad production from your catcher.
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20.
Kansas City Royals 4-2 (29)
Billy Butler and Alex Gordon are like fine wine, and only get better with age. New management will hopefully bring success to them.
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21.
Baltimore Orioles 4-1 (30)
Is Brian Roberts going to be traded before the All-Star game? Jeremy Guthrie can not match up against other AL Aces.
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22.
Oakland Athletics 3-4 (24)
Can Rich Harden continue his dominance without an injury? Travis Buck hitting leadoff was not a good experiment.
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23.
Minnesota Twins 3-4 (20)
Starting rotation should present little problem for the bats of the AL. Still too early to determine if Justin Morneau is going to have a batting average of 2006 with .321 or 2007 where he hit .271.
24.
Texas Rangers 3-3 (22)
Not enough quality starting pitching to contend in the AL west. Enjoy the woes of rebuilding
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25.
Pittsburgh Pirates 3-3 (27)
Nate McLouth is making a name for himself and is breaking out this year. At the moment Xavier Nady is an offensive force but his bat will soon go cold.
26.
Colorado Rockies 1-5 (14)
Matt Holliday is hitting the ball well so don't let his .100 batting average fool you. He will be batting .300 by the end of the month. The Rockies apparently did not get the memo that, in fact, the 2008 season has started.
27.
Florida Marlins 3-3 (28)
Hanley Ramirez is a fun player to watch and is going to be for a long time. Tied for first in the N.L. East for now, but sorry Floridians it won't be long until you're chasing the Braves, Phillies, and Mets for good.
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28.
Washington Nationals 3-4 (25)
Lastings Milledge still needs time to mature. Austin Kearns and Nick Johnson need to take more of the load off of Ryan Zimmerman.
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29.
Houston Astros 2-5 (16)
Needs more production at the top of the lineup. Jose Valverde is hurting their chances to win games.
30.
San Francisco Giants 1-5 (26)
Nothing surprising here, except that they actually have one win. Barry Zito, in two starts, has gotten zero run support. As John Madden would say : "You're not going to win games if you don't score any runs."
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Umm... how does this work? As the only team without a win yet this season, how are they not ranked dead last? They got slaughtered 13-2 in Chicago, yet they are ranked above the two teems that swept them, handily I might add. At this point, the ship is not sinking. It is sunk--the last time they did this they broke the record for most lost games at 119 (I believe).
Orioles #1.
eat it, nerds. Don't bother jumpin on our bandwagon this year as we snipe the WS!
Oh snap! The rest of the MLB just got PWNED! Go Orioles!
When you have diminishing numbers, and the Cy Young was undeserved in the first place, plus you have the most outlandish contract in major league history. Giving up a total of twelve runs is quite a hurdle to expect your team to jump over. Maybe he should just understand that you don't fix your mechanics entering spring training. Your reasoning and defense of Barry Zito is completely uneducated and furthermore, you are a moron for even carrying any respect for that joke of an unproven National League pitcher. The national league is a pitchers league people...
I'm not going to pretend that this will happen throughout the season, but since we're talking only about the initial sliver of this season, I am wondering why the best team in Baseball, the Baltimore Orioles, are so low on the pole. Sure, everyone and their grandmother has them ranked in the pre-season as the worst team around, but at this point nobody can touch them.
So how about explaining the numbers that set these ranking as such?
Cheers -
george
This early in the season it was a group effort, and while not one of us would singularly agree on each outcome it reflects our combined thoughts.
When the season is further along and there is more data to draw from the rankings will take on a formulaic approach, which we will explain.
Crazy Orioles' fans! I see you've beaten such AL juggernauts Tampa, Texas and Seattle (4 times). Seattle minus their ace closer, with whom they would have won 2, and you'd be a tidy 4-3, instead of "the best team in Baseball" at 6-1. This is why the first couple weeks of the MLB season is very tough to judge. So, Orioles' fans, in the words of Winston the Wolf, "Well, let's not start sucking each other's dicks quite yet."
However, being 6-1 is better than 4-3 and based on the field, the Orioles are currently one of the best teams in the AL. You can cry about the lack of JJ Putz, but if the Orioles are THAT bad, then shouldn't the rest of the bullpen have been able to keep them down?
Every team sees a drop off when they lose their closer. The Orioles currently have the best record but by no means are one of the best teams. No team batting Kevin Millar and Aubrey Huff 4th and 5th can be considered one of the best teams. No team that features Guthrie, Traschel & Daniel Cabrera as their 1-2-3 starters can be considered one the best teams. Most teams will have stretches where they win 6 out of 7 during the marathon baseball season. The Orioles happen to have to done it out of the gates. I cannot emphasize enough that the Orioles winning 6 out of 7 will not be a recurring theme throughout the year. Sorry to shoot down your hopes of a 139-23 season.
Swept in a doubleheader by the Rangers! The swift decline begins!!!