MLB Power Rankings Week Nine

We've reached the 1/3rd mark of the season--not enough to know how things will end up, but certainly enough to see how things are shaping up.

30. Washington Nationals: Normally, you could say, "hey, they took one from the Mets", but the Mets are trotting out an AAA line up for all intents and purposes.

29. Baltimore Orioles: I guess the Beltway and baseball don't mix? With the exception, of course, of Matt Wieters.

28. Oakland Athletics: The A's are hitting much better of late, and whaddya know, they've started to in games. Pitching wins championships, but offense can win you the games to get there in the first place...though this team's got way too much to do for that to realy be a realistic possibility at this point. Now the question is where does Matt Holliday end up?

27. Colorado Rockies: They're really not this good, but you've got to give them some credit for their play this weekend against St. Louis. Actually, they've been playing well under interim manager Jim Tracy. Another week like this and they'll shoot up for real.

26. Houston Astros: They're still worse than the Pirates. Even after the Pirates gave up Nate McClouth. That says something.

25. Cleveland Indians: There's an argument to be made that when Carl Pavano is your best pitcher things are seriously amiss, but if you've actually looked at Pavano's recent numbers, he really has been pitching well. Yankees fans are, of course, seething.

24. Pittsburgh Pirates: With the trade of McClouth, the Pirates got rid of the last piece of their recognizable outfield--the only recognizable part of the team--but paved the way for Andrew McCutcheon. No pressure, kid.

23. Kansas City Royals: When even Zach Grienke is giving up seven ER in five innings, you know it's not going well.

22. San Diego Padres: Hey, they lost the 18-inning marathon and did the whole pitching-with-a-position-player thing...

21. Arizona Diamondbacks: And they won it.

20. Florida Marlins: Need to play the Nationals more often. But that Cody Ross is something to watch in the field.

19. Chicago White Sox: By traditional standards, the Sox play-by-play man on TV is the worst in baseball...but I find him kinda funny. It takes guts to blatantly cheer from the press box.

18. Seattle Mariners: Russell Branyan is having himself quite the season.

17. Minnesota Twins: Look, I know Detroit is running away with the AL Central...but the Twins should really make a better fight of it. They have it in them to be much better than this.

16. Atlanta Braves: The McClouth deal should send waves that the Braves are going for it, but they've got a lot to do to undo the PR damage they suffered by releasing Glavine in the manner they did.

15. Toronto Blue Jays: Roy Halladay is single handed-ly keeping this team treading water. Alex Rios has some PR damage control to do of his own after a YouTube video surfaced showing him being inappropriately rude to a fan, even though said fan is a notorious autograph hound that has bothered some on the Yankees as well.

14. LA Angels: Feels good to have a pitching staff back, don't it? Imagine how good it would feel to have a bullpen, too...

13. Tampa Bay Rays: Despite all the injuries, they're still playing pretty well. It'd be foolish to count them out at this point, but they need to make a move soon.

12. New York Mets: I know, I know, their record is much better than this, but the number of injuries would be comical if it wasn't so...crazy. Only two in their line up right now were starters on Opening Day: Wright, who has been streaky as all hell, and Beltran, who's battled a nasty virus as well.

11. San Francisco Giants: Well, they do say pitching wins championships...if only it wasn't for the Dodgers, they'd have an actual shot.

10. Cincinnati Reds: I don't know how they're still winning, but they are.

09. Chicago Cubs: Getting Zambrano back has certainly helped. The team's started to win again.

08. St. Louis Cardinals: How good is Pujols? Last night he got two RBI on a sac fly.

07. Texas Rangers: Don't let the record fool you, but they've struggled this year against +.500 teams. They did, however, take two of three from Boston, so there is something to be said for that. Nelson Cruz is turning into something special.

06. Philadelphia Phillies: They really really need to do something about Lidge--I know he's your closer, but you won't win championships when your closer has six blown saves and it's only June. Maybe try Madson in that spot?

05. Detroit Tigers: I'm not sure another team has a better starting three of Verlander-Jackson-Porcello right now, but Jackson has historically been hit-or-miss and Porello's still a rookie, so I'd still be careful.

04. Milwaukee Brewers: I'm not sure anyone picked them to be better than the Cubs (though some may have thought them better than the Cardinals), but they are. Really and truly. A Brewers fan went with us to Saturday's game and cheered CC the entire time.

03. Boston Red Sox: They're keeping pace, step-by-step with the Yankees and the two could run away with the division, and the AL's best records, if Tampa can't pick it up.

02. New York Yankees: And since the Yankees are the team in first, they get a higher nod, but they're still not as good as...

01. LA Dodgers: You know, this team might be playing better without Manny, and while the Yanks might be the Comeback Kids, the Dodgers have some late inning magic of their own.

MLB Power Rankings Week Eight

Sorry about missing these last week...but two weeks does give you a better sampling to see what teams are where.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the rankings.


30. Washington Nationals: They have a grand total of thirteen wins in two months. That's about 1.5 wins a week...which isn't such a big deal in football or possibly even hockey, which plays such a stretched out season, but when you play baseball every day up to 21 days straight, that doesn't sit very well.

29. Oakland Athletics: Congratulations to Jason Giambi for cranking number 400, but they're the only team besides the Nationals in all of MLB not to have 20 wins.

28. Colorado Rockies: What a long fall in such a short time for Clint Hurdle. From the manager of the defending NL champs to fired in less time than it takes for Rafael Betancourt to deliver a pitch, you could still see this one coming from a mile away. The Rockies, quite simply, are not nearly as good as they need to be.

27. Houston Astros: The ChiSox are rumored to be interested in Astros' ace Roy Oswalt. The problem, if you're an Astros fan, is that Ed Wade is the guy responsible for making sure you get good guys back for him.

26. Arizona Diamondbacks: They changed managers, and they're still losing. However, I could watch Arizona all day just for the ability to watch Justin Upton.

25. Pittsburgh Pirates: As a whole, the team's not very good, but there's something to be said for the Pirates' outfield. And this is the season after they gave up Jason Bay and Xavier Nady.

24. Cleveland Indians: Most in Cleveland probably didn't care too much about the Indians' struggle (Carl Pavano is their #2 starter, for example), but then the Cavs lost, and now fans of the Tribe have to deal with a team that's got no Victor Martinez and no Grady Sizemore for at least 15 days.

23. Baltimore Orioles: Matt Wieters. If only he played a sport like basketball or hockey, where just one good player can single handedly turn a franchise around... (see: James, LeBron; Kidd, Jason; Crosby, Sidney and Ovechkin, Alex.)

22. Florida Marlins: If only they could play the Nationals every game...they started 11-1 and are now below .500, and get to play AL East teams during interleague. I'm not entirely sure that can end well.

21. Kansas City Royals: Let's face it. Right now this team is worth watching once a week, and if you're only going to be certain you can win one game a week, things might not go so well. Then again, Zach Greinke is really, really worth watching.

20. Seattle Mariners: That fast start was too good to be true. Still, the team has 3.5 games on Oakland, ahead of last place in the AL West.

19. Minnesota Twins: Getting swept in a four game set has to hurt. When three of the four losses are of the walk off variety, that hurts more. No wonder the Twins exploded for 20 runs against the White Sox...Joe Mauer is on his way from just being a 'great' catcher to becoming a legend in Minnesota if he keeps hitting like this.

18. Chicago White Sox: They're in second in the AL Central not because they're good, but because everyone else is likely that bad. They're not even trying to hide that they want a pitcher--they couldn't get Peavy, but rumors say they may be also trying to get Oswalt.

17. Tampa Bay Rays: They're finally beginning to win a little more, but blowing a 10-0 and then a 5-0 lead to Cleveland can't do a whole lot for group self-esteem. The problem now, as the Yankees had last year, is not so muh games back in the standings as it may be the number of teams they are trailing.

16. San Diego Padres: I'm trying to figure out how this team is .500 and then I remember that they won something like 10 games in a row. We always knew Adrian Gonzalez was good, but this year he's a veritable MVP candidtate.

15. Atlanta Braves: Also sittin' pretty at the .500 mark. They're only four back of the Mets and the Phillies at the moment, and their young pitching staff has stepped up, big time. If they can keep Chipper and McCann off the DL, the four games won't feel like twenty.

14. Toronto Blue Jays: Nevermind the record; if you lose nine straight you're going to drop in the rankings. Still, who thought the team would get back on its feet by taking two of three from...the Red Sox?

13. San Francisco Giants: They're all the way up here, but they probably shouldn't be. They've got the perfect opportunity to pick up games on the Manny-less Dodgers, but they're only a game over .500. Then again, being over .500 at all with that offense is an accomplishment in itself.

12. Chicago Cubs: From being the best team in baseball last year, they're currently in fourth place in the NL Central, ahead of only the Pirates and the Astros. That's not really where you want to be on June 1st. The "it's early" excuse doesn't really hold water a month before the All Star break.

11. LA Angels: Still waiting for them to take off, and they haven't, yet, despite getting a large number of players back from the DL. Texas might simply be the better team in the AL West this season.

10. Cincinnati Reds: No, I'm not really sure how this team makes the top 10, either, but they've been performing admirably. Maybe there's something to this 'young pitching staff' thing...

09. New York Mets: Only a half game out in the NL East, this has got to be the most frustrating team on the planet (for some). They've got all the talent in the world...and then lose games in extra innings because they fail to touch third or have three errors in the same game.

08. St. Louis Cardinals: Watching Albert hit is crack. That is all.

07. Boston Red Sox: Losing two out of three to a team that had lost nine straight doesn't really bode well. Nor does dropping David Ortiz down in the line up. This team is still one of the most dangerous in the league, but they have some serious problems they need to address before long (the other teams do, too, but every day Ortiz is in the line up is a day the Red Sox go to bat with effectively an 8-man line up.)

06. Detroit Tigers: This is the team we were supposed to see last year, only with better starting pitching. They could run away with the AL Central if they keep going like this.

05. New York Yankees: The Yankees are 14 of their last 18, and have not lost two in a row since losing five straight at the beginning of May. They've also tied MLB's record for the longest streak of errorless baseball. While this may mean great defense on the left side of the infield and the outfield, it probably has more to do with lack of range at SS and 3B than actual good defense... Anyway, Jorge Posada is back, Jose Molina is coming back, and even Xavier Nady, who many thought would be done for the year, is starting to throw.

04. Philadelphia Phillies: Are here because they did take two of three from the Yankees, the first series the Yanks have dropped since the nightmare homestand of doom. And what is in Raul Ibañez's cornflakes? do I really want to know?

03. Texas Rangers: Despite dropping the series to the Yanks, they are probably the best team in the AL right now, and they are certainly one of the most fun to watch. Nolan Ryan is onto something.

02. Milwaukee Brewers: Speaking of fun teams to watch...I wonder if I put it to a vote, who'd win the category of 'most impressive lineup', Texas or Milwaukee...

01. LA Dodgers: They started hot, lost Manny and have, somehow, still stayed hot. Just check out their run differential compared to, well, everyone else's.


1.

MLB Power Rankings Week Six

As the season progresses, teams till jump up and down the rankings, but not nearly as much as in the first few weeks.

30. Arizona Diamondbacks: They fired their manager, now a while ago, and have not improved all that much, if at all. That alone would be bad enough, but it's the middle of May and the snakes are already eleven games out.

29. Washington Nationals: No other team has won so few games; the -43 run differential is the second worst in all of baseball. Still, only 9.5 back of the Mets, instead of 11 out, they get to stay out of the basement another week. It's too bad Ryan Zimmerman lost his hitting streak--that was by far the most interesting thing going on with the team this year.

28. Oakland Athletics: Only the Nationals have fewer wins. Only the White Sox have scored fewer runs, and a starting pitching staff as young as the A's, there are bound to be rough outings. Billy Beane had a good idea in trying to nab sluggers during the off-season, but it seems like he chose the wrong ones.

27. Colorado Rockies: When the Pirates are playing like the Pirates usually play (ie, in last place and not on some hot streak), and then you lose to the Pirates, it's not a good sign.

26. San Diego Padres: Give them some credit. Despite their league-worst -47 run differential, they managed to outlast the Reds in a 16-inning marathon. This is, of course, what happens when two teams with not-very-good-right-now offenses meet up...Adrian Gonzalez could probably hit in spots 1-9 and be more effective than the rest of the Padres' offense.

25. Cleveland Indians: They don't have the league's worst record this week, so yay! That was a great move by Eric Wedge on Sunday, waiting for the Rays to take the field before telling the umpire that the Rays had two 3B and no DH, but as the season's gone for the Indians, they still lost that game.

24. Baltimore Orioles: They should call up Wieters. They won't, at least, not yet. The -33 run differential points to the biggest issue-although they can hit like a major league team, they can't pitch like one, and if you can't pitch, there's only so much an offense can do.

23. Chicago White Sox: The palehose are in something of a free fall as no team in the majors-not even the lowly Diamondbacks or Padres-have scored fewer runs. Closer Bobby Jenks broke one of baseball's all-time unwritten rule when he admitted intentionally throwing at a batter.

22. Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates are, once again, playing like the Pirates. Refreshing that some things always stay the same, no?

21. Houston Astros: Somehow, they're only two games under .500. Maybe it's because Oswalt has finally started winning (my fantasy team thanks him), or something.

20. Florida Marlins: Well, thank goodness for that 8-1 start, right? Ricky Nolasco is still not right, which is a big problem when Baseball Prospectus has labeled you as a prospective ace. I wonder how long before they give him the Wang/Perez treatment...

19. Seattle Mariners: Like the Marlins, if you're going to fall from grace, you should, well, fall completely and totally from it. They did walk-off against the Red Sox on Sunday, though, and they aren't on pace to lose over 100 games again, so that's something.

18. Minnesota Twins: I really don't know what you say to your team after losing three in a row via the walk-off. The Twins have played better than their 18-20 record, and could just as easily be 21-17 had their pitching staff not made three bad pitches at precisely the wrong time.

17. Atlanta Braves: A .500 record, a nearly nil run differential...if that doesn't define a non-descript third place team, I'm not really sure what does.

16. Los Angeles Angels: They were beginning to come on and then ran into the Texas Rangers, likely before they were ready. This team's still good, to still be as close as they are despite everything that's happened, and the best news is that they are beginning to get players back.

15. Tampa Bay Rays: They're still under .500, but they're beginning to heat up. When your pitcher ends up batting third because of a manager's error and then has a double and an RBI, you know karma is beginning to shift your way.

14. San Francisco Giants: They're over .500 and have done it all with pitching. The team should consider trading for a slugger at the deadline--if they do and Manny Ramirez is still suspended, things could get interesting for the Dodgers.

13. Kansas City Royals: They've had some struggles lately, as was probably likely they would, but the AL Central is so weak that I'm not sure anyone's really all that worried. Certainly, this is the latest KC has been over .500 in a good, long time, and Zach Greinke is still a stud.

12. New York Yankees: While the three walk off wins (literally) take the cake, let's not forget the team has won five straight, five of six and seven of nine. The starting pitching is truly getting there: of the two losses in the last nine, only one was truly a bad start-Phil Hughes couldn't make it out of the second in Baltimore, but the other loss was simply a good AJ Burnett running into a better Roy Halladay. With the three walk off wins, however, the Yanks have to believe they can win any game no matter what, and that might be more dangerous than the wins themselves.

11. Cincinnati Reds: Being on the wrong end of a 16 inning marathon sucks, but the "Reds" and "over .500" is not something we've heard in the same sentence for a while.

10. Detroit Tigers: What is Justin Verlander eating for breakfast, and where can I get some?

9. Philadelphia Phillies: No, this team isn't as good as last year's and yes, Jamie Moyer may be reaching the end, but it's still a good team that's only a half-game back of the Mets.

8. St. Louis Cardinals: The redbirds are still all sorts of fun, but the Brewers were better this week. Ever notice how the injury bug always seems to bite certain teams? The Angels, the Yankees...the Cardinals, perhaps?

7. Boston Red Sox: It's a tough West Coast swing, but when they're done, they're done. As in, for the rest of the year. Yankees fans are, of course, fuming.

6. New York Mets: Moving Oliver Perez to the DL seems to have worked all sorts of wonders. There have been some Mets moments--like Jose Reyes not running hard out of the batter's box, which theoretically cost the Mets the game--but the team is winning enough to grab a hold of first place in the NL East. If only Johan Santana could get some run sup...He did? Really? Oh.

5. Chicago Cubs: No Zambrano, no Ramirez and almost no problem. Alfonso Soriano is still all sorts of fun to watch, but the Cubs should stop taking lessons from the Yankees' bullpen.

4. Texas Rangers: They sniffed opportunity when the Angels became all sorts of injured and the Seattle Mariners returned to, well, being the Mariners. I'm not sure if there are many more teams that are so much fun to watch, from the incredible offense, still strong, to Josh Hamilton's spiderman-like climbing of the wall to make a play, and even the pitching is holding its own. The Angels have a lot of work to do.

3. Milwaukee Brewers: Five straight wins, and they've taken over the lead in the NL Central. They are 8-2 in their last ten, and beating St. Louis, one of the competitive teams in their division, certainly helps.

2. Toronto Blue Jays: They recovered nicely after having lost two of three to the Yankees, (though the third game could have been won by either team). The Jays still have yet to face the Red Sox or Rays, and have been feasting on the AL Central, but so far, they still have a game or two to play with in the AL East standings.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers: Manny who? The Dodgers keep winning, and they're playing as though Manny Ramirez never was a Dodger. Not only do they have the best record in baseball, a half-game better than the Jays, but they also have the league's best run differential--+70.

MLB Power Rankings Week Five

While the Mets have won seven straight, no doubt partly due to the help of removing Oliver Perez from the rotation, other teams have fallen back to earth. They just aren't named Toronto or Los Angeles.

30. Cleveland Indians: What's this season like for the Indians? All you have to do is watch Curtis Granderson robbing Grady Sizemore of what would have otherwise been a game-winning walk off home run.

29. Baltimore Orioles: Koji Uehara's actually pretty good. The rest of the pitching staff? Not so much. This team would be ranked higher, but all of the other four teams in the division thus far all have a legitimate shot at the division and the wildcard (even if TAM and NYY need to pick up the pace), which Baltimore doesn't really.

28. Washington Nationals: They beat the Dodgers and stopped their home winning streak. That's enough to bump 'em up to 28. Oh, and they're apparently interested in Steven Strasburg. Maybe you've heard of the kid. Pitched a no-hitter with 17 (yes, 17) strikeouts...

27. Oakland Athletics: Is Ryan Sweeney the only Athletic that's ever heard the term "hitting for power?" Granted, losing to the Blue Jays these days isn't the most horrible thing on the planet, but in a year where Anaheim has been severely weakened, the A's have had a golden opportunity and they have not taken advantage.

26. Pittsburgh Pirates: Thanks to Milwaukee, they have come firmly back to earth. Still, life for Pittsburgh fans must be that much easier knowing that a) life's easier the lower you keep expectations, and b) once hockey season's over, football training camp is only a few weeks away.

25. Colorado Rockies: Even San Francisco, which can win two out of three games while scoring only five runs (no, really), has a better record that these guys. Right now it seems like 2007 was just a fluke.

24. San Diego Padres: It's basically a tie between San Diego and Arizona, but since San Diego has lost three in a row...to the Astros...Arizona gets the nod. Let me rephrase in case you didn't quite get that: the Padres lost three in a row. To the Astros.

23. Arizona Diamondbacks: Those of you that had Arizona in the first manager to get fired pool, CONGRATULATIONS! The new manager's tenure hasn't exactly gotten off to a blazing start, either, which would lead one to believe that the problem here might not actually have to do with the manager.

22. Houston Astros: Hey, they swept the Padres!

21. Tampa Bay Rays: Over the Red Sox, they ride rough shod. Over everyone else, not so much. While they took 2/2 from the Yankees, over all the team is still struggling. It's a little weird since Longoria is our new overlord raking, but BJ Upton is only hitting .168, and when your lead off man can't get on base, things tend to not work out so well.

20. Chicago White Sox: I don't know if they actually belong here, but I do know that they're two games over .500 and the scapegoat appears to be (again) José Contreras.

19. Minnesota Twins: No idea what they're up to, except that they've got Mauer back and Slowey doesn't throw anything that's not a strike.

18. Atlanta Braves: Getting McCann back should help, but should is a funny word. The Yankees should be a good team, etc.

17. New York Yankees: Five game losing streaks help nobody. Getting A-Rod back helps the offense, but it doesn't do much for the starters who have been largely under par, or the bullpen. CC on Friday was what the Yankees paid him to be and Joba has to figure out that first inning. At least he's acknowledged that it's an issue: the first step to solving a problem, they say, is admitting you have one.

16. Seattle Mariners: At 16-16, they've come back to earth. It's still not as awful as last season, but it's much more in line with what could be expected from this team. Is it me or does Griffey hit a HR on Mother's Day every year?

15. Philadelphia Phillies: I don't know what the Phillies did this week, except that I thought Cole Hamels was hurt, except, apparently, he's not.

14. San Francisco Giants: So what if they have no offense? A win is a win is a win, right? The interesting part will be seeing how long San Francisco can keep this up.

13. Anaheim Angels: They're finding ways to win, and should be able to get some of their pitching staff back pretty soon. That that team has been able to tread water despite everything that's gone down says a lot about its character. Other injury plagued teams could take notice.

12. Cincinnati Reds: They have a negative run differential, but only three teams in the NL have fewer runs allowed. Anyway, as the run differential is -6, all it takes is one really good game to change that.

11. Florida Marlins: It seems obvious now that Florida's hot start was the responsibility of the Washington Nationals. They have to get Ricky Nolasco right, even if only for the sake of my fantasy teams.

10. Texas Rangers: They've taken over first place in the AL West, and trail only Toronto and Boston in the AL in runs scored. Imagine if they had kept Volquez...

9. Chicago Cubs: Losing two out of three to Milwaukee hurts, but probably not as much as losing Aramis Ramirez and Carlos Zambrano. That just looked painful. The Cubbies are here because of their current record, but the next few weeks may be long ones, indeed.

8. Kansas City Royals: They're riding Greinke's hot streak for all it's worth, and in a division like the AL Central, it can work. Greinke did just lose his first of the year, but with the way he's been pitching those losses will come few and far between.

7. Milwaukee Brewers: I don't know of many teams out there that are more fun to watch right now than Milwaukee. They're putting a slow start behind them, and they took two of three from the Cubs.

6. New York Mets: This is quite a rise, and perhaps the largest ever in the rankings, but dude, it happens when you win seven in a row. Moving Oliver Perez to the bullpen and then the DL has been magic. Now, if only the team could get Johan a little more run support, they'd be golden.

5. Detroit Tigers: I know I'm going to shock some putting the Tigers this high, but let's face it: Verlander, Jackson and Porcello have been on fire. Sabathia's four-hit complete game shut out on Friday was good, but it wasn't the best in the league--that was Verlander's two hit shutout of the Indians. This is the team everyone thought Detroit was getting last year. Only better.

4. Boston Red Sox: Being 5-0 against the Yankees helps here, but that's not to say the wins have been blowouts or anything close to it. The one team Boston seems to have a problem with is Tampa, but they've already played ten times, and after an upcoming west coast trip this month, Boston doesn't go back there the rest of the year. The schedule is on the BoSox side.

3. St. Louis Cardinals: Only 5-5 in their last ten, but still one of the best teams in the league; especially in the NL. Rick Ankiel's date with the wall last week was terrifying--I am sure there are many who are glad to know that he is okay.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers: They're here because a) of the proportion of games they have played against the NL West, and b) they just lost Manny for 50 games. Manny might be an idiot (okay, he is an idiot), but the Dodgers have enough young pitching talent that they should be able to withstand the omission.

1. Toronto Blue Jays: They keep winning, and have shown no signs of slowing down. Playing the Yankees this week for three could be a test, but the Yankees are 5-11 against AL East opponents this year. With the Red Sox and Rays continuing to beat up on each other, and the Yanks stagnating, the Jays could find a way to make this work.

MLB Power Rankings Week Four

A month into the season it's still too early to say which teams are for real for real and which ones are not, but it's been long enough that we've got a fair idea as to where teams are headed.

While the Pirates have regressed to what's more expected of them, the Toronto Jays are still winning, and the Seattle Mariners look like the team they were supposed to be last year.

Here are the totally arbitrary rankings for this week:

30. Washington Nationals Dude, okay, here's the deal. Unless this team can get their winning .pct, say, over .350, they aren't leaving the basement. A month into the season, it's pretty clear that not only are the Nationals the worst team in the league, there's not really any competition.

29. Baltimore Orioles Look whose come back to earth! The Yankees may never be able to beat their kryptonite, but the other teams in the division don't seem to find it much of an issue. Has the Wieters watch officially begun yet?

28. Colorado Rockies Second most losses in the league after the Nationals. Right now it's hard to believe this team went to the World Series just two years ago. They are already 7.5 back of the Dodgers, and while teams have come back from this deficit, they don't tend to do it very often.

27. Cleveland Indians Welcome to the bigs, Matt LaPorta: in his first ML at bat, LaPorta struck out against a Justin Verlander who was throwing gas: 10 K in five innings, and pitches that reached 100 mph in the 7th inning. Some day down the line LaPorta might be able to hit those pitches. For now, he should enjoy being the one exciting thing about the Indians, knocking the Carl Pavano injury over/under bets off the table.

26. Oakland Athletics I have to be honest. They're playing kind of like how I expected the Jays to play, what with the no offense and all. They're the only American League team to have not scored 100 runs, and even in the National League, where there are five teams to have not broken the plateau, two of them--the Reds and the Giants--have the pitching to pull it off.

25. Houston Astros Won a series in Atlanta, but there's still not a whole lot of confidence in this team. The NL Central, however, right now is so bunched together that this team isn't out of it--not in the way some of the other teams are. If management ever knew what they were doing, the team could have a run...but that'd be asking a lot.

24. San Diego Padres Some teams can get away with having, to this point, scored only 100 runs or less. The Padres, as evidenced by the 125 runs allowed, do not. 125 RA is still better than many other teams (I'm looking at you, NY Yankees), but there's a reason the game has an offensive component, as well.

23. Tampa Bay Rays Does winning (another) series against Boston turn it around for the Rays? The Tampa/St. Pete faithful have to hope so. Two games against NY this week should be more telling.

22. Los Angeles Angels Usually, these days, if you're taking a tie game in the Bronx to the later innings, you'll probably beat the Yankees. That is, unless your bullpen happens to be the only one in the majors that's, uh, somehow worse.

21. Arizona Diamondbacks Surprisingly, they have actually scored more runs than the Giants. The problem is, they don't have Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain among their starting pitchers.

20. New York Mets Johan Santana is basically a guaranteed win once ever five days. So when you blow a Santana start, you're really shooting yourself in the foot. Word on the street is Ollie Perez is headed to the bullpen, but unlike Joba Chamberlain crosstown, Perez probably won't be the best set up man in the league.

19. Atlanta Braves There's no way around it: losing Brian McCann hurts. Losing a series to the hapless Astros might hurt even more.

18. Pittsburgh Pirates So they've finally come back to earth, though, for most Pirate fans, going .500 would probably be a cause to celebrate. After so many losing seasons in a row, you can't really shake the air of inevitability.

17. San Francisco Giants I know they have a winning record, but these guys are last in runs scored in the league and it's not really close. I know Lincecum and Cain are good, and Zito hasn't been, well, awful of late, but you do still have to score at least some runs to win on any consistent basis.

16. Chicago White Sox Every time I am reminded that the Yankees got Nick Swisher for the cost of Wilson Betemit, I laugh a little. Okay, I'm lying. I laugh a lot.

15. Minnesota Twins Hey, they got Mauer back, and he hit a HR in his first AB, too. Face of the franchise, or what?

14. Texas Rangers Ranked a little high because I watched the game last night and I liked what I saw. Ian Kinsler grows on me every time I see him play. If only these guys stopped trading their pitchers...

13. Milwaukee Brewers Movin' on up in the world. That tends to happen when you start winning, and the Brewers are now over .500.

12. Philadelphia Phillies What I've kinda noticed, these past couple of years, is that the Phillies kind of amble on for most of the season, and then, at the precise moment that the Mets decide to collapse, they start winning. A ton. Still, losing Cole Hamels is a huge blow, and it remains to be seen how, or even if, this team recovers.

11. Cincinnati Reds This team plays in a bandbox. So where the heck did all of this pitching come from? While Cueto-Volquez-Harang might not be as dominant as Maddox-Glavine-Smoltz, it's still a whole lot of fun to watch.

10. Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander has emerged as Zach Greinke's #1 early Cy Young race challenger. If only the rest of the pitching staff--including the bullpen--could pick it up, these guys wouldn't be looking up at Kansas City for much longer.

9. Florida Marlins So these guys have come back to earth. They're still a different team, but the early season stats were inflated by playing the hapless Nationals six times. They're still in first place in the NL East, and as long as the Mets and Braves continue to struggle, they could pose a significant challenge.

8. New York Yankees In 24 games played, this team has failed to score four or more runs just three times. Despite Teixeira's below-Mendoza-line average, the offense is not this team's problem. If they ever did figure out a way to get the bullpen fixed, the Yankees might very well be unstoppable. The win on Friday evening against the Angels has to be considered one of the best wins all season.

7. Chicago Cubs These guys were probably really happy to stop facing St. Louis. However, Zambrano going down with an injury, for any length of time, has got to be weighing on the Wrigley faithful.

6. Kansas City Royals It's not enough that Greinke right now would win the AL Cy Young by a Cliff Lee-like landslide; the Royals had to go and be the only team, so far, to take a series from the Blue Jays. It's still hard to tell if the team has the offense to be for real for real, but when your runs allowed are tied for the second fewest in the league (by one run), you can get away with it.

5. Boston Red Sox The Yankees can't beat Baltimore; the Red Sox can't beat Tampa in Tampa. There's always one team like that. Right now, David Ortiz looks so done that cooking any more may set the whole grill on fire. Okay, bad pun, but still, when you walk the bases loaded to face Ortiz, there are some issues there that need to be addressed.

4. Seattle Mariners This is the team everyone thought they were getting last year, what with the pitching and the hitting and the young studs...José Lopez has something like two walk off hits in three games. My fantasy teams thank him.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers Best record and best run differential in the league. To be fair, they're getting some help from the rest of the division--the second place Giants (yes, you read that right) are only 12-11. Still, the Dodgers, at least, we knew had the potential to be legitimate. The guys sitting in the 2 slot...

2. Toronto Blue Jays While losing the series in Kansas City--the first time all season that they've lost a series--could be attributed to having to face the unstoppable Zach Greinke, this team looks more and more like it's for real. They're still leading the league in runs scored, and it's not really all that close, and are tied for the second-best run differential (the Dodgers have the best). The question you should be asking, is how did this team come out of nowhere? Did anyone--even Jays fans--see it coming?

1. St. Louis Cardinals They're a game shy of the best record in baseball right now, but if you don't like the way these guys have been playing you are probably not much of a baseball fan. Or you're a Cubs fan. Pujols already has 9 HR and 29 RBI.

MLB Power Rankings Week Three

So of course I hope you all understand why I didn't get to these last week, but hopefully, now, they are back on track!

We didn't learn a whole lot this week, except that the Florida Marlins early success was probably more of a reflection on the pitiful Nationals, and the Toronto Blue Jays are starting to turn heads.

30. Washington Nationals: Yesterday was their first road win since last season. I don't know if any of you caught Saturday's game, but watching Elijah Dukes play CF in the bright sun with the glasses on his cap, instead of on his face, kind of says it all.

29. Arizona Diamondbacks: What happens when you're second to last in the league in the 'runs scored' category and dead last in run differential? You have a 7-11 record, and are really, really lucky it's not any worse.

28. Colorado Rockies: Right now the only other team besides Washington without at least seven wins. Having just played the Dodgers probably didn't help matters, but their run differential is only -6, so the record is perhaps worse than the team is playing.

27. San Francisco Giants: Raise your hand if you're surprised that, at having scored 60 runs, this team is dead last in runs scored. Yeah, me neither. However, some sort of pitching thing (I'm a Yankee fan, I don't understand what this pitching is all about) means that they've only allowed 67 run. If the offense can figure out even a mild hot streak, this team could shoot up the rankings. It's a huge if.

26. Houston Astros: This team just isn't very good. They are third to last in runs scored and have a can't-ignore-it run differential of -19. They're better than they were last week, but this far down the rankings such things are moral victories, only.

25. Cleveland Indians: The offense woke up against the Yankees, and I'm not sure anyone really doubted this team's ability to hit (although, face it, even the Giants would have been teeing off of Chien Ming Wang). However, the pitching is still shallow-and as long as Carl Pavano has a job it'll be hard to get me to say otherwise.

24. Anaheim Angels: Angels fans must be so amused at the cute little Yankee fans talking about being bitten by the injury bug. The Angels haven't just been bitten; they've been mauled by a white tiger, torn to shreds and spit back out again. If I didn't have a deep, ingrained hatred for a team that always beats the Yankees and never beats the Sox when it matters, I'd feel bad for these guys.

23. Oakland Athletics: Chicks dig the long ball. Oakland ain't hitting any long balls. Thus, I do not dig Oakland. Jason Giambi got a very nice reception when he returned to Yankee Stadium, however.

22. Tampa Bay Rays: It's not so much that Tampa Bay is necessarily playing poorly as it is that everything went right last year. Even when things didn't go right-like Crawford getting hurt-they went right, and Tampa didn't suffer at all. Thus far, the bullpen has come back to earth, and trading Edwin Jackson looks like it may have been a mistake.

21. Milwaukee Brewers: It's tempting to say that this is a better team than their record indicates, but with no Ben Sheets and no CC Sabathia, and Jeff Suppan still pitching, I'm not quite so sure that's the case. They're still a ton of fun to watch, however.

20. New York Mets: There's Johan Santana, now with bullpen-proof guarantee (tm), and then there's everyone else. If the team could have Santana pitching every three days instead of every five, this team would do it and I can't really blame them. David Wright is a defensive stud at third. Then again, compared to Angel Berroa...

19. Texas Rangers: Nothing new here-all hitting, no pitching. The Yankees could probably take a real good lesson from the people deep in the heart of Texas. You don't pitch, you won't win.

18. Baltimore Orioles: When the O's decide they want to figure out where it all went wrong, they only have to look to blowing a 7-0 lead at Fenway. Even Matt Wieters can't pitch.

17. Atlanta Braves: Are here because while Minnesota is about to get their superstar back and the Yankees not too far away either, the Braves just lost theirs, and I just lost the starting catcher on two of my fantasy teams. I swear I'm cursed when it comes to fantasy baseball. Really.

16. Minnesota Twins: Here's an analogy for you: Joe Mauer : Minnesota :: Martin Brodeur : New Jersey Devils. They really can't wait to get Mauer back, but they shouldn't have to wait much longer.

15. New York Yankees: The offense is mostly fine--they've scored less than four runs only twice--but the pitching...

It's not so much as that they're pitching as that they're trying to toss the ball somewhere in the basic vicinity of home plate and praying the umpire is kind. Nick Swisher's leading the team in ERA (okay, okay...), but on a more serious note, the best pitching effort this weekend came from Mark Melancon, who, stud or not, was making his MLB debut...at Fenway Park.

14. Chicago White Sox: Are here because they are the last team left on my list. Talk about being (relatively) non-descript, huh?

13. Kansas City Royals: Zach Grienke is a stud, and now 29 other teams all wish they had traded for him in the off season, when the price was still low. He allowed a run on Friday, but it was unearned, so his 0.00 ERA remains in tact. Even Cliff Lee wasn't this good last season.

12. Chicago Cubs: Don't really belong this far down, but they didn't show up in St. Louis until the last game of that series. They're a better team than that, however, so I imagine the double-digit stay is only a temporary thing.

11. Philadelphia Phillies: They've finally seemed to find the stroke they had last season, although Jaime Moyer is still not being Jaime Moyer. Still, while the Mets are struggling, the Braves hobbled by injuries and the Marlins reeling, it's not quite the end of the world if the Phils struggle for a game or two.

10. San Diego Padres: No, I don't know how they're 10-8 either, but they're the only other team with double-digit wins. It still counts. I still wouldn't expect it to last, however.

9. Cincinnati Reds: Hey, well, they are 10-8, and getting great pitching from Johnny Cueto, while Aaron Harang is back to his old self. It still remains to be seen, however, if they'll be able to compete with the Cubs and Cardinals once August rolls around.

8. Florida Marlins: They've come back to earth, gotten swept by the Pirates and lost big to the Phillies yesterday. It's too early to tell which version of the Marlins is more representative, but given how bad the Nationals are, it's more likely the post 8-1 start Marlins that we'll see for the rest of the season.

7. Pittsburgh Pirates: Yeah, you read that right. This team is getting beyond stellar pitching. Everyone's waiting for them to come crashing back to earth, like Toronto, but it hasn't happened yet. How much longer do we wait?

6. Detroit Tigers: Looks like the offense that was supposed to score 1,000 runs last year finally showed up. Armando Gallaraga seems to have been quite the find, that move that's supposed to yield nothing and instead means everything. He must be having the time of his life.

5. Seattle Mariners: Seattle is playing now like everyone thought they would last year, like they do have a $100 million+ payroll. It probably helps that the rest of the division is struggling, leaving room wide open for the Mariners to sneak through, and they are taking all sorts of advantage.

4. St. Louis Cardinals: Two words: Albert Pujols. Last night I suggested that watching Melky Cabrera hit was like watching a rat-infested ship head to Sicily in 1347 (extra points if you get the reference). Watching Pujols is like watching Michaelangelo on his back painting the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel.

3. LA Dodgers: The most impressive thing about the Dodgers is that they are more or less doing this without much help from Manny. Joe Torre, for once, is trusting his young players, and the payoff is an early season division lead.

2. Boston Red Sox: Boston makes quite the jump this week, but that's what happens when you win ten straight games. They should probably not have won Saturday and definitely should not have won Friday, but when a team is on a roll, it's on a roll. Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay are Yankee Killers, apparently. Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home yesterday says it all, really.

1. Toronto Blue Jays: This team won't stop winning. April's still too early to ask if a team's 'for real' -look at what happened to Arizona last season-but the fact is they're doing all this while their starting pitching has been devastated by injuries. Which begs the question, of course, if these guys are this good now, what happens when their starting pitching comes back?

Week One MLB Power Rankings: It's a Topsy-Turvy World

One week into the Major League Baseball season, some things are predictable, like the Nationals being a last-place team, while others, not so much--Toronto and Baltimore out-pacing the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays and last-place (yes, you read that right) Boston Red Sox.

So how to arbitrarily rank the teams thus far?

Please keep in mind that rankings are based on this week's performance in conjunction with their previous performance. Since this is week one and there are no previous weeks to consider, the rankings are entirely based on the performance this week. Trust me, the rankings a few weeks from now will likely look vastly different.

30. Washington Nationals: The only team in the Major Leagues still winless, and the only team with perhaps utterly no shot at winning the NL East.

29. Cleveland Indians: They got their first win today, and the offense *has* been there--they've scored 33 runs, second most in the division behind Detroit--but there are some major issues. For one thing, Cliff Lee is already 0-2 and Carl Pavano couldn't get an out in the second inning. It's hard to believe this team was one game from the World Series in 2007.

28. Houston Astros: The Astros have played one close game and allowed the opposition to score eleven runs twice. Roy Oswalt has not looked like Roy Oswalt.

27. San Francisco: Tim Lincecum may be destroying my fantasy team. Barry Zito...eeesh.

26. Boston Red Sox: They've had a rough opening schedule against the Rays and the Angels after the Adenhart tragedy, but the games against the Rays are really ones they have to win if the AL East plays out as everyone thinks it will. There is no excuse for Josh Beckett to have thrown at Abreu's head like that.

25. Oakland Athletics: They beat the Angels twice, but have hit a bump in the road against Seattle. Really, here it's a toss up between the Athletics and the Red Sox, but Oakland's Cahill impressed in a way the Sox staff hasn't.

24. Arizona Diamondbacks: An injured Brandom Webb, and Arizona fans, unlike Yankee fans, have an actual reason to panic.

23. Philadelphia Phillies: The defending World Series champions have eked out, and I mean eked out a 3-3 record. Moyer looks his age and they have a negative run differential.

22. Cincinnati Reds: A split and losing two out of three will get you about rank 22 in week one power rankings. Especially when you play in a six-team division. Harang looks better, though, and that's a sign of encouragement.

21. Pittsburgh Pirates: Hey, look! The Bucs almost break into the teens! See what playing .500 ball can do for you?

20. Kansas City: With some offense--any offense, really--this team would not be 3-3. Never mind Ponson and Ramirez; Meche and Greinke are legitimate starters and if the offense ever figures out that strike outs are, well, a bad thing, this team could win the AL Central. Alas, it's a big if.

19. Milwaukee Brewers: Newest slugger on the Brew crew? Starting pitcher Yovanni Gallardo! Who saw that coming? I mean, besides Micah Owings?

18. Minnesota Twins: Will be greatly improved once Mauer returns. Mauer : Minnesota :: Brodeur : Devils.

17. Colorado Rockies: Rockies have looked pretty decent and kind of end up here because they kind of fall last on my list of 'teams I follow'. They've scored the most runs in the NL west, but the runs allowed (29) explains the third place.

16. Texas Rangers: Dude, team can score. Just look at what they did to the Indians. Then again, see what the pitchers did to Detroit and understand why this team will be fun to watch, but probably not much more than that for another year or so.

15. Tampa Bay Rays: Looked real good against the Sox, before dropping two of three to the Orioles. Still, BJ Upton is coming back and David Price is only a phone call away.

14. New York Mets: Life is hard when you're an ace. You strike out thirteen down in South Florida and still do not win the game. Methinks by now Santana might be used to it.

13. New York Yankees: The argument can be made that the Yankees are the best of the .500 teams, and given that they should have won yesterday's game, should probably be a 4-2 team instead. They've scored the fourth most runs in the American League, and while they're middle-of-the-pack in runs allowed, it's important to remember 17 of those 27 runs came in games one and two--the Yankees have only allowed ten runs over four games since then. Teixeira's wrist is a legitimate concern, but until the news is made official, there's no real use in panicking. Anyway, the offense has held it's own over the past two games-even when trotting out the D line up yesterday.

12. Los Angeles Dodgers: Slotted here as they're the only other team above .500. Split the four game set with San Diego and took two of three from Arizona. Most teams will take a four game split and series win in a three game set with little complaint.

11. Chicago White Sox: Tied for the league lead in fewest runs allowed thus far. Their starters are, for the most part, legitimate, and if the offense picks up they've got a real shot at the AL Central. Then again, there really isn't any team, except maybe Cleveland, that doesn't have a chance.

10. Detroit Tigers: The only other team to score 40+ runs besides Toronto thus far, the Tigers ran rough shod over the Rangers after being kittens north of the border. Guess someone finally told the offense, "hey, go score 1000 runs!".

9. Chicago Cubs: Holy hell in a handbasket, did you see Reed Johnson steal a grand slam from Prince Fielder? I thought these guys were supposed to be cursed?! Well, if Gregg keeps closing they might be, but that's besides the point.

8. Baltimore Orioles: Taking two out of three from both the Yankees and the Rays is quite an accomplishment, especially back-to-back. Baltimore has a legitimate line up to compete now that will only get better with Weiters...but a lack of pitching behind Guthrie will be their undoing.

7. Atlanta Braves: Good news: at the end of Week One, Atlanta is tied for the league lead in wins. Bad news: Three of those wins came against the Nationals...whom we're not quite sure count as a major league team, anyway.

6. Seattle Mariners: The Mariners have looked good so far, as if the team got up and realized they had a + $100 million payroll. Here's to a speedy recovery for Ichiro-heard he went something like 7-10 in an AAA game, which is just crazy. Then again, he's Ichiro.

5. St. Louis Cardinals: This is a legitimate dark horse team if the pitchers can stay healthy. Big IF, and Motte should be pitching somewhere other than in the highest leverage situations. However, as long as you have Pujols in your line up, you'll always have a chance.

4. Los Angeles Angels: I realize other teams have won more, but given the heart that LA has been playing with since the Adenhart tragedy, I've got to pay some respect to a franchise I normally can't stand (for obvious Yankee-fan reasons). I think the semi-brawl yesterday likely had less to do with Beckett being a, well, thing you use in the shower, as it did a general last-straw in a team that probably has much too emotion to deal with at the moment.

3. San Diego Padres: What is it with the no-ffense teams in '08 suddenly exploding in '09? Certainly don't expect the Padres to stay here long, but they roughed up San Francisco starting, and when you've got Lincecum and Cain in your rotation, that's not that easy to do. Okay, so Zito is a gimme, but that's not the point.

2. Toronto Blue Jays: The Jays have scored 46 runs. Let me repeat that so that it sinks in: the Jays have scored 46 runs thus far, blowing away nearly every other team in the majors. Whose responsible? The big guns on this team are Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, but Adam Lind has simply inspired.

1. Florida Marlins: The Marlins' young rotation has been electric. Josh Johnson out-pitched Johan Santana--and Santana had 13 K. With Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla leading this offense, the Marlins could make a serious challenge for the NL East.

It's Never Too Early for Some Spring Training Power Rankings

One of my favorite articles to read every week for every sport, especially when my team is performing well, is the weekly Power Rankings. ESPN, Sports Illustrated, CBS, Fox Sports, and others all offer their takes. The results of the poll are (usually) not based on standings or any formula, but simply are the author's own take on where each team ranks in the league.

So, since I'm having little luck doing my other work, I thought I'd offer a start-of-Spring-Training Power Poll, because, well, I can.

For the record, I totally make no effort to hide my biases.


30. Washington Nationals

As easy as it would be to lambast a team whose brightest prospects include Elijah Dukes, ex-GM Bowden has a few other illegalDominicansigningscandal-type worries on his mind.


29. Pittsburgh Pirates

They've been bad for most of my life, and that's saying something, since I can now imbibe legally and go to the big person's jail. There are some bright spots—Andrew McCutchen comes to mind—but it'll probably be a season or two before there are any tangible results.


28. Toronto Blue Jays

What happens when you take a team with no offense and blow up the starting rotation? What also happens when you add in the fact that the AAA affiliate of this team had 10 errors in a game I was lucky enough to attend? Yeah, you won't want to put that on your resume.


27. San Diego Padres

It seems like the 2007 team that came up one game short of a playoff spot is a distant memory. The pitching staff will always seem better than it is because of PetCo, and if you finish last in the NL West in 2008—a division where the winner had all of 84 wins—dude, that don't look good.


26. Baltimore Orioles

So the reason the Birds are here instead of back there is that unlike the other birds, the O's have already seen rock bottom. Are they going to be good in 2009? No, probably not. However, Matt Wieters might be the best prospect in all of baseball, Nick Markakis is a solid player, and Adam Jones could become a mainstay in center field. You won't see results this year, but with some legitimate pitching help, the resurgence of the O's is on the horizon. That is, until Angelos gets in the way again...


25. Seattle Mariners

Well, the good news is that Bavasi is gone. The bad news is that the good news kind of ends there. You could consider Felix Hernandez, but a starting pitcher can only win you one game out of every five.


24. San Francisco Giants

The Giants probably shouldn't be this high, but it's hard to root against Tim Lincecum (and, for kicks, Matt Cain). While much of the lineup can be described in one word ("old"), there is some really young talent buried in the farm system, like Angel Villalona, who was born in 1990.


23. Cincinnati Reds

Perhaps the Reds should be higher—with names like Cueto, Volquez, Bruce, and Votto, there's certainly talent—but in a six-team division, it won't be enough. The team's got a lot of youth and waved good bye to Griffey (so now they can find themselves a center fielder who doesn't spend most of the season on the DL), but with youth also comes inexperience. It took the Rays a couple years to be good once they figured out what they were doing, and it'll be the same here.


22. Kansas City Royals

Some are saying that the '09 Royals could be the league's Rays of '08. There's lots of young talent here and if the pitching staff can keep it together, there's certainly an upward trend to look forward to, but this is also the team that thought Jose Guillen was a good idea. Proceed with caution.


21. Houston Astros

Don't be fooled by the 2008 attempt at a miracle run to the playoffs...remember, this is the team that signed LaTroy Hawkins (then again...). Anyway, the point is, in a division with contenders like the Cubs, Cardinals, and perhaps even the Brewers, the Astros don't have a whole lot of upside outside of Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman, and, the team happens to be the oldest in the National League (caveat: the Yankees were the oldest AL team in 2008, so take that as you will).


20. Atlanta Braves

I guess with the departure of John Smoltz for Beantown things won't be quite the same in Atlanta any more. It's not really possible to replace the jackpot the Braves hit with the Smoltz/Maddox/Glavine combo, but they've got some great young talent in Brian McCann and Jair Jurrjens. If they develop the young talent correctly (and it's hard to believe they won't), the latter half of the 2000s will probably, in the grand scheme of things, just look like a fluke.


19. Detroit Tigers

The very first thing I ever learned about baseball, courtesy of my older brother in 1998, was that good pitching will always, in the long run, beat good hitting. The strength of the 2008 Tigers was supposed to be an offense capable of 1000 runs. Well, that's fine and dandy, but when you can't pitch worth a damn, that's not really a good thing, and if your offense doesn't produce like it's supposed to...yeah, you end up in the basement. Some of the Tigers' poor 2008 was simply luck; they should be better in 2009, but it seems more and more like the AL champion of 2006 was a fluke. Especially worrying is the year that supposed ace Justin Verlander had last season—if he can get back on track, things need not look so bleak.


18. Arizona Diamondbacks

It's been argued that the Yankees' faults the past few years all rest on an inability to get off to a fast start. The Diamondbacks, uh, don't really have that problem. They dominated all throughout April and May of last year and seemed a shoo-in for the NL West, but ended up only two games over .500. The easiest argument to make for this is simply that the Snakes are young. Like babies, almost.

There is talent galore in the lineup (I'm looking at you, Justin Upton), but it hasn't quite matured yet. Give it time—when the lineup does mature, no one's going to want to go to the desert.


17. Colorado Rockies

Well, you know, the 2007 Rockies really did come out of nowhere, and pretty much got lucky enough to have one of those seasons where everything went right. Are the 2009 Rockies necessarily a bad team or out of the running in the anyone-can-win-it-except-the-Padres-and-the-Giants NL West? Nope. Seasons where everything goes exactly to plan do happen on occasion, but you can't count on those happening often, if at all.


16. Cleveland Indians

In 2007, the Cleveland Indians rode Sabathia and Carmona to within one game of the World Series. In 2008, Carmona was...well, let's just say his ERA rose by two and a half points, and Sabathia found himself a Brewer by the deadline. If Carmona can rebound and Cliff Lee not have a drastic fall off, there's enough offensive talent to give the Indians a chance. Don't write them off just yet.


15. Texas Rangers

The team had 2008's best offense, and there's no real reason to suspect 2009 will be much different. They have perhaps the best farm system in the Majors and...the curse of not having the pitching to match. When this team figures out how to not lead the Majors in relief innings, they're gonna be scary good. LA and Oakland, watch your backs.


14. LA Dodgers

It might seem low to drop a division winner...well, this low, but one has to remember that the Dodgers won all of 84 games last year, basically rode Manny Ramirez—whom they haven't (yet) resigned—to the division title, and, oh yeah, Torre's book where he betrayed the confidences of a heck of a lot of people in the Yankees clubhouse. You can't believe that's going to sit well with a lot of the Dodgers.


13. Milwaukee Brewers

Again, it feels kind of weird having the Brewers this low, but they lost Sabathia and even if they were to resign Ben Sheets, he will miss much (if not all) of the year with elbow surgery. Granted, Sheets is never exactly healthy and the Brewers were already competitive before they got Sabathia...the issue here might simply be that the Cardinals and the Cubs are the better teams, unless Yovani Gallardo can bring a can of whoop-ass like Baseball Prospectus 2008 had predicted.


12. Florida Marlins

Hanley Ramirez. It's possible to add Jorge Cantu and Dan Uggla here, for sure, but, dude, Hanley. Honestly, if he isn't your pre-ranked No. 1 player, you probably shouldn't be playing fantasy baseball (unless you're me and...well, not very good at fantasy sports). Nevermind that the 2008 Marlins showed some panache and finished with 13 more wins than 2007, and with their youth things are only looking up...dude, Hanley!


11. St. Louis Cardinals

If the pitching staff could just hold it together...I mean, you know Pujols will produce, assuming the elbow doesn't blow up, and if Ludwick is anywhere close to his 2008, and the Cardinals did manage to snag the Molina that can both hit AND catch...


10. Oakland Athletics

I've been reading posts that the Oakland A's could contend for the 2009 AL West, but outside of Giambi and Gonzalez, I have a hard time naming anyone on the roster. Then again, Billy Beane generally seems to know what he's doing. Who knows, enough things go right here, enough things go wrong in LA, and anything's possible, really, and just because I don't know anyone on the roster doesn't necessarily mean a team is good or bad—heck, I could probably give you the O's starting nine from memory (Roberts-Markakis-Millar-Jones-Huff-Mora...eh, 6/9), and the O's aren't exactly supposed to compete...


9. Minnesota Twins

I'll do my best to refrain from posting that now that Carl Pohlad has departed us, perhaps the Twins management won't be afraid to spend a penny, since such a thing would be inappropriate. Then again, if you fall one game short of the playoffs the year after you lose Johan Santana, you might not really need to open the wallet after all...


8. Chicago White Sox: These guys kind of baffle me. I mean, they were competing for the cellar in 2007 and last year made the LDS? Was that because the Sox were good or because they got lucky that the Indians and Tigers were, uh, not very good? It is possible to argue, after all, that the Twins should have won that one-game playoff and been the real AL Central champions, but what's done is done. The simple truth is that I don't know what to expect out of these guys, and there really isn't anywhere else to put them.


7. NY Mets

The 2008 Mets can be summed up in the pun-nish phrase "blow-pen." Knowing this, Minaya went and got not one but two elite closers in K-Rod and J.J. Putz. Assuming the bullpen can now, you know, do their job, this team should (hopefully) be able to avoid the September collapses of late. Caveat: Santana's recent elbow troubles should not be taken lightly.


6. LA Angels

We know this team can and will win in the regular season. We know that they'll always manage to kill the Yankees, especially in LA. We know that they can do all the little things right when needed. What the Angels haven't been able to do, however, is win in the playoffs, at least since 2002. They're still one of the better teams in baseball, and should have no problem at least contending for the AL West title, but Oakland and Texas aren't write-offs as they have been in years past, and the Halos, age-wise, are in their prime. It won't be long before it's now or never with this group.


5. Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies, the easiest way to put this, are a team where the sum is way, way greater than the parts. That's really good for this thing called team chemistry, and, well, the winning that goes along with it. Now, chemistry doesn't necessarily mean everyone loves each other (think "Bronx is Burning" here), but just that, when and where it matters, every part works seamlessly within the whole. That's what the Phillies had in 2008.

Phillies fans I know don't tend to think a repeat is likely—how much longer can Jaime Moyer keep disobeying the laws of human aging? How will the departure of Burrell hurt? However, I'd still consider them the favorites to win the NL East. Even if they don't repeat, they should still be lots of fun to watch.


4. Boston Red Sox

I know, I know, the Red Sox are better than the Yankees...well, they were in 2008...but, dude, the thing about a new season is that it's a new season. The Yankees went out and, to the dismay of the economies of most moderately sized nations, signed Sabathia and Burnett AND Teixeira.

The Red Sox signed John Smoltz and Brad Penny. Now, if and when they're healthy, those signings will be well worth it, but the Sox have some questions that I can't recall them actually addressing in the offseason. Like, for instance, the fact that Daisuke Matsuzaka walks pretty much everything in sight is going to come back and bite him. Anyway, despite their flaws, the Sox do have one of the best farm systems in the league. If the prospects produce anywhere near their full potential, this is a team that *gulp* could be a dynasty to contend with for years to come. Like I said, *gulp*.


3. NY Yankees

Most teams, most years, if they win 89 games with their Opening Day lineup and rotation, well, they've got a very legitimate chance at sneaking in with the Wild Card and thus no one will complain. When the Yankees win 89 games, the world is ending.

However, if you consider that the Yankees won 89 games last year WITHOUT Jorge Posada or Hideki Matsui for most of the year, without a single win from the Opening Day No. 3 and No. 4 starters (hell, the No. 5 starter, Mussina, LED the team in wins), with the No. 1 starter's season coming to an end in June with a freak foot injury, with nearly one-third of starts from Darrell Rasner and Sidney Ponson, with a team so hurt that Carl Pavano made pitching appearances, with Jose Molina in an every day lineup that included a Melky Cabrera who regressed badly enough to be sent to AAA, a Cano who really came and played for about a week in July and a week in September, and a Giambi that had two mustache-fueled good months amidst being more or less a lump in the lineup the rest of the time...yeah, when you consider that despite all that the Yankees still won 89 games, and then you consider that this winter they've added Nick Swisher, AJ Burnett, Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia...

...Uh oh.

(Dude, this is a Yankees blog. Were you expecting objectivity?)


2. Chicago Cubs

After last season's horrid October (for the Cubs, anyway), I've come to believe that there probably is something to the curse of the Billy Goat. Ignoring that, however, this team has talent galore and it's not raw, non-matured talent, either. The team finally has seemed to realize that they will break the curse one of these days. All that's left now is to do it.


1. Tampa Bay Rays

Hands down the best team in the AL last year, there's no reason to think they'll be any worse this year. They've got it all: youth, good offense, good defense, good pitching, a great farm system, and now you can add in playoff experience as well. I don't think I ever really thought I'd be saying this, but you would have to consider the Rays one of the favorites to win the 2009 World Series, assuming they stay healthy and all that. If you think Joba is good, wait till you get a load of Price.