Normally, a new Power Rankings list is released every other Thursday. Unfortunately, that was not possible this past Thursday, and I apologize to any of you that were disappointed by its absence. In an effort to make up for that, here are the latest Power Rankings. The number in parenthesis after the team name is where that team was ranked in the previous Power Rankings.
1. Philadelphia Phillies (1)
2. New York Yankees (5)- It will be interesting to see how the AL East race turns out as the end of the season nears. Both New York and Boston are almost sure to make the playoffs, but the battle for the division title may come down to the final series of the season.
3. Milwaukee Brewers (8)- The Brewers have been on fire as of late, but have seemingly been pulling St. Louis up the NL Central standings with them. Milwaukee is in not in the clear by any stretch at this point.
4. Boston Red Sox (2)
5. Atlanta Braves (6)
6. St. Louis Cardinals (15)
7. Detroit Tigers (9)- The Tigers need more offensive production if they want to stay ahead in the AL Central. Justin Verlander can’t bail them out every night.
8. Texas Rangers (3)
9. Los Angeles Angels (7)
10. Arizona Diamondbacks (11)- Arizona did a nice job, playing decent baseball while San Francisco was struggling over the past week. They have the chance to continue to give the Giants trouble, as their schedule for the rest of August is favorable.
11. San Francisco Giants (4)
12. Cleveland Indians (13)- Cleveland got their man in Ubaldo Jimenez, and they broke out of their hitting funk last week. Now they just need to win the games they’re supposed to win, and slowly move up on Detroit.
13. Tampa Bay Rays (14)
14. Toronto Blue Jays (12)
15. Cincinnati Reds (19)- One of the more disappointing teams of the season, the Reds are fading fast. With Milwaukee on a tear and St. Louis close behind, Cincinnati is being left in the dust.
16. New York Mets (16)
17. Chicago White Sox (20)
18. Washington Nationals (21)- Steven Strasburg made his first start in Class A ball since undergoing Tommy John surgery last summer. That’s good news, right?
19. Los Angeles Dodgers (22)
20. Chicago Cubs (28)
21. Colorado Rockies (17)
22. Florida Marlins (23)
23. Pittsburgh Pirates (10)- After ten straight losses, it looks like the party is over in Pittsburgh…
24. Oakland Athletics (25)
25. Minnesota Twins (18)- After a strong June and July, it looked as if the Twins were going to make a run in the AL Central after all. However, after a difficult past two weeks, Minnesota may have too much ground to make up.
26. San Diego Padres (24)
27. Seattle Mariners (30)
28. Kansas City Royals (26)
29. Baltimore Orioles (27)
30. Houston Astros (29)- Seattle picked up the slack since the last Power Rankings, so the Astros have resumed their role as the bottom dwellers of this list…
– K. Becks
