MLB Power Rankings 08/17/07

1. Boston Red Sox
Can't beat Baltimore, but then again, no contenders can. The acquisition of Gagne hurt at first, but he'll be fine. You better score on them in the first six innings because Okajima, Gagne and Papelbon don't give up runs very often. Surprisingly, offense will be the only question down the stretch run.

2. Anaheim Angels
They still really need a bat to protect Vladimir Guerrero, but won't give up any of their prospects. Pitching and the eventual collapse of Seattle will give them a playoff spot, but even without that bat, they're still a serious World Series contender.

3. New York Yankees
Beat up on sub-.500 teams and then swept Cleveland. A tough stretch with 7 against Detroit and a trip to the Angels will determine if they're playoff caliber team. Got rid of Jeff Karstens and the waste of roster space that was Mike Myers. Starting pitching needs to get better and Rivera needs his bite back on his cutter. Joba Chamberlain flat-out nasty.

4. Seattle Mariners
Way overacheiving and they'll fall off eventually. Or will they. Their expected record is 60-58 and they're 66-52. Few teams in history have played more than a couple games over their expected record so logic says they'll fall off. Logic also says Jeff Weaver shouldn't lead the league in shutouts, but he does.

5. Arizona Diamondbacks
Their expected record is 58-63 and they're 68-53. Thirteen times they've lost by double digits and yet somehow they're leading the NL West by 3 games. When they're bad, they're bad. When they're good, they're good. There's not much middle ground with this team.

6. Detroit Tigers
They're falling off even more this year than they did last year. But so is the rest of the AL Central. The starting pitching has been absolutely horrendous and the hitting has slumped. Fernando Rodney is back and Zumaya's almost back. That'll help.

7. Cleveland Indians
The oddense has been absolutely horrendous the past month or so and they just got swept, at home, by the Yankees to fall out of the Wild Card lead. Kenny Lofton hasn't been what they expected and Travis Hafner is having a bad year. Fausto Carmona's still a nice story.

8. Atlanta Braves
Not many teams can match the Smoltz/Hudson duo or the lineup of the Braves. Mark Teixiera has been the protection that Andruw hasn't been all year. Edgar Renteria's coming back sooner than expected and Dotel will solidify the bullpen when he returns. They're getting hot and healthy at the right time

9. San Diego Padres
The Padres are one of the few teams that match the Braves in the pitching department. Young and Peavy are 1-2 in the NL ERA race but the offense is pathetic most nights. They should be able to catch Arizona soon enough to earn a playoff spot again. And they may be able to win a series with Young and Peavy.

10. New York Mets
Just treading water waiting for October. Problem is, they may not be around come October. Moises Alou is coming around, but the Mets are 30-33 since June 1. They've let Philly and Atlanta hang around and it could end up costing them.

11. Philadelphia Philles
Tadahito Iguchi has filled in nicely for Chase Utley and the Phillies are trying to figure out a way to work Iguchi, Utley and Rollins all in the lineup when Utley returns. Kyle Lohse is considered an upgrade for their rotation though. Ouch.

12. Colorado Rockies
They hit really well and actually pitch okay this year. They'll fall short of the postseason though because of injuries to their starting rotation. They've lost Aaron Cook, Rodrigo Lopez and Jason Hirsh to injury and have replaced them with people like Elmer Dessens and Ubaldo Jiminez. Who? Exactly.

13. Chicago Cubs
Right now, they're just keeping pace with Milwaukee. With Milwaukee getting swept by St. Louis, that's not a good thing. They've been concerned only with the Brew Crew all year, but now the Cards are a game and a half back of them. Soriano'll be back eventually.

14. St. Louis Cardinals
Coming off a sweep of Milwaukee puts them ahead of the Brewers. Adam Wainwright starting to look like trading JD Drew was a good move and Izzy's back and closing. They have the highest starters ERA in the NL and have been outscored all year, but the NL Central is the place to win cheap.

15. Milwaukee Brewers
Ben Sheets is still a couple of weeks away from returning and this team is in a complete free fall. They starters are 1-9 in the past two weeks and the bullpen isn't much better. Ryan Braun may win the ROTY, but that's about all Milwaukee will win this year. Finishing over .500 may not be assured anymore either.

16. Toronto Blue Jays
They're still ticked at the Yankees, but they're playing better. Burnett's back (for now) and Halladay's going strong. Marcum has been money and the defense has been solid. Vernon Wells needs to remember he's a $100 million man.

17. Baltimore Orioles
They're a few good hitters and a closer away from being a pretty good team. They just went 4-2 against New York and Boston and are 27-23 under Dave Trembley. Eric Bedard is my Cy Young choice right now and Aubrey Huff is actually hitting some.

18. Minnesota Twins
Torii Hunter will probably leae after this season. Joe Nathan will probably be traded and Johan Santana will probably walk after 2008. The Twins are 7 back in the Wild Card, but they're done.

19. Los Angeles Dodgers
They can't score. The pitching hasn't been horrible, but they're the only team that doesn't have a guy with at least 16 home runs. They thought that their pitching was good enough to mask their lack of offense, but they were wrong. They're not San Diego.

20. Chicago White Sox
At least Bobby Jenks set a record this year.

21. Oakland A's
Dan Haren's been rocked of late and they don't score much either. Steve Phillips cursed them when he picked Bobby Crosby (.226-8-31) to be the MVP at the beginning of the season, though. Good pick, Steve.

22. Kansas City Royals
They're improving. Slowly. Billy Butler, Joey Gathright and Alex Gordon are all hitting and Gil Meche hasn't been as bad as Steve Phillips said he would.

23. Florida Marlins
They need to either shape up or ship out Scott Olsen. Dontrelle needs to hire a nanny to take care of that kid and they too, need a new stadium. And maybe a few fans.

24. Washington Nationals
Not much new here. Mike Bascik served up Barry Bonds' 756th home run, they lost a few more games. But the season is a success becase they're not the worst team in the National League!

25. Cincinnati Reds
Ken Griffey Jr's headed towards 600 home runs and Aaron Harang is dealing. Other than that, not much to smile about in Cincinnati.

26. Houston Astros
Craig Biggio got his 3000th hit and then became the only player to be thrown out trying to stretch their 3000th hit. Typical Houston. Craig Biggio finally is retiring (3 seasons coming) and there will be no magical second half run this year without Pettitte and Clemens.

27. Texas Rangers
Gagne, Mahay and Texiera all gone. At least they now have Jarrod Saltalamacchia, owner of the longest last name in baseball history. But he's only hitting .163-.212-.229 since the trade with zero home runs and three ribbies. But he's got the longest last name in baseball history!

28. Pittsburgh Pirates
Adam LaRoche has contributed more than Mike Gonzalez! Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell have been good (132 and 113 ERA+) the rest of the pitching...not so much.

29. San Francisco Giants
Barry Bonds, new home run king. Only reason to watch Giants now...Tim Lincecum.

30. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Hard to win when the bullpen's best ERA is 4.74. Headed for 100 losses for the fourth time in franchise history. But Carl Crawford's good. And Scott Kazmir is way better than Victor Zambrano.