MLB Power Rankings: Week 9

MLB Power Rankings: Where MLB FanHouse's editors, writers and bloggers team up to break down the who's who and the what's what in the baseball world.

Sorry for the delay, kiddos, on the Power Rankings. I'm sure you spent the entirety of Wednesday wondering "WHERE IN GOD'S NAME ARE THEY??? WITHOUT THEM I'LL HAVE NOTHING TO BANTER SENSELESSLY ABOUT TO MY CO-WORKERS!!!1" Or something like that. Either way, it's time to debate the worthlessness of your favorite baseball team in numerical form once again. Do enjoy.

1. Dodgers | Previous Week: 1
Here's something that ought to worry the rest of the NL. We all know about their offense, with or without Manny, but their pitching ranks second in the league, even though they have the fourth youngest staff in the league, with an average age of 27.4. Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw are studs in the making. - Jeff Fletcher
2. Yankees| Previous Week: 5
It's a pretty tough run of the schedule: Rangers and Rays this week, Red Sox and Mets next week. But things are going pretty good when you can't find a rotation spot for Chien-Ming Wang. Or is it Phil Hughes? Still, expect a trade for bullpen help sometime before July 31. - Ed Price
3. Brewers| Previous Week: 3
People were surprised when they assumed control of first place back on May 16, but they're still there more than two weeks later. If they're going to keep this up, though, they're going to need someone to step up in that rotation besides Yovani Gallardo, whether it's Manny Parra or whether they go out and get someone before the trade deadline again. - Pat Lackey
4. Rangers | Previous Week: 6
Josh Hamilton's hurt -- possible surgery for a possible sports hernia could be forthcoming -- and Vincent Padilla is on waivers now. The former is a scary move but the latter just indicates that the Rangers are dead serious about making a playoff run. And it might seem a touch crazy, but there are at least two geniuses (me, Snyder, duh) who thought it was possible from the get-go.
5. Phillies| Previous Week: 7
Despite starting pitching problems and despite closer hiccups, the Phils are 15-4 since losing two of three to the Dodgers at home last month. Philadelphia's biggest strength may be resiliency: It has a 7-14 record when trailing after six innings, along with seven wins in its last at-bat. - EP
6. Red Sox | Previous Week: 2
Boston is testing the theory that you can't have too much pitching. John Smoltz is on a minor-league rehabilitation assignment. Clay Buchholz is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in Triple-A. And Justin Masterson would be starting for a lot of teams. - EP
7. Cardinals | Previous Week: 4
Chris Carpenter's been nails (see what I did there?) since his return, so that leaves third base as the big question mark on the Cards right now. Troy Glaus seems to be progressing and might actually return at some point, but the Cardinals are still interested in looking outside the organization for help. If they can shore up the hot corner, they might be tough to beat in the Central. - PL
8. Tigers | Previous Week: 8
Justin Verlander's unreal May (5-0, 1.52 ERA) received plenty of attention, but let's not forget Edwin Jackson, who finally, truly seems to be living up to the hype. The right-hander, who wasn't good enough to beat out Andy Sonnanstine for a spot in Tampa Bay's postseason rotation last year, ranks third in the American League with a 2.30 ERA.- Andrew Johnson
9. Mets | Previous Week: 10
Shortstop Jose Reyes, first baseman Carlos Delgado and right fielder Ryan Church are on the DL. Center fielder Carlos Beltran can't shake a stomach bug. And backup shortstop Ramon Martinez left Tuesday's game with a dislocated pinky. Other than that, Mets are pretty healthy. - EP

10. Blue Jays | Previous Week: 17
Toronto has lost one series all year at Rogers Centre, dropping two of three to the Yankees on May 12-14. Suprising AL runs leader Marco Scutaro had his streak of seven straight multi-hit games halted on Tuesday, the longest such streak for a Jays player since 2003 (Mike Bordick). - EP

11. Reds | Previous Week: 14
This is still hanging around in the standings, but with Joey Votto on the DL and Edinson Volquez slow to come back from his DL trip with another injury, they could find themselves slipping by the wayside quickly. Aaron Harang is slipping a bit after a great start and he's going to have to find his form again to keep that from happening. - PL

12. White Sox | Previous Week: 22
If you believe the rumors, Chicago seems preoccupied with adding a starting pitcher for the stretch run, but maybe GM Kenny Williams should be chasing a bat during trading season. The Pale Hose rank 11th in the American League in runs and have gotten particularly poor performance from second base, third base and shortstop. The recently called up Gordon Beckham could fix some of that, but still ... - AJ

13. Angels | Previous Week: 12
You know you might have a good season when this happens: You bring up a journeyman like Matt Palmer to replace one of your 23 injured starters and he goes 5-0. Palmer is the first pitcher in at least 55 years to have zero major league wins before age 30 and then win his first five starts after turning 30. - JF

14. Rays | Previous Week: 9
Tampa Bay is consitently inconsistent. Yet to get more than one game over .500 and unable to win back-to-back series all year. It doesn't help that the Rays have made seven roster additions in the past two-plus weeks. - EP

15. Braves | Previous Week: 11
That Atlanta was no-hit for 6 2/3 innings Tuesday by Randy Wells tells you pretty much all you need to know about the Braves offense. Of course, Atlanta might be due for a surge shortly here, adding Nate McLouth via trade, cutting Tom Glavine and calling up Tommy Hanson in the hopes of sparking the team.

16. Cubs | Previous Week: 21
We could copy-and-paste from a few weeks ago. They are just treading water at or above the .500 mark and stay within striking range in a tough NL Central. The problem, though, is that now it's June. It's time to stop saying things like "it's early, they'll start playing better" and look for actual, substantive results. One thing we do know: They really need Aramis Ramirez. - Matt Snyder

17. Giants | Previous Week: 18
It seems the Giants finally put together a team that knows how to win at home. San Francisco is 18-9 at AT&T Park. They've been worse than usual on the road, though. It's odd, because the Giants are a team built on pitching, so far five of their road series have been at other pitcher-friendly parks (San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle). Must just be uncomfortable hotel beds. - JF

18. Twins | Previous Week: 20
Is the Francisco Liriano that dazzled us in 2006 ever coming back? It sure doesn't seem like it. Liriano's bloated 6.60 ERA through 11 starts this season means every time he takes the mound could be his last in Minnesota's rotation in the near-term. - AJ

19. Mariners | Previous Week: 19
Small ball anyone? The Mariners lead the league in sacrifices. They are third in percentage of productive outs. They are fifth in moving runners from second to third with no outs. All that great fundamental baseball stuff has added up to .... being last in the league in runs. "Small ball" is for teams that can't hit. - JF

20. Padres | Previous Week: 15
If you're a Padres fan, do you want your team to win? If hanging around .500 and giving the illusion of having a shot prevents your team from making the necessary rebuilding moves, it's the worst thing you can do. The clinical term is Giants Syndrome. No one in this division is catching the Dodgers. The other four teams all should be aimed at 2010 or beyond. - JF

21. Orioles | Previous Week: 23
With its offense and pitching staff (second in homers allowed), Baltimore doesn't do pitching duels. Monday's 1-0 win at Seattle was the franchise's first since May 9, 2007, and first on the road since May 13, 2004. - EP

22. Royals | Previous Week: 13
Kansas City activated Joakim Soria from the disabled list Tuesday, and it should be a welcome return. The Royals closer is the only reliever on the team's active roster with at least five appearances and an ERA below 3.00. - AJ

23. Marlins | Previous Week: 24
Anibal Sanchez came off the DL to start Tuesday, and Opening Day starter Ricky Nolasco could be back from his demotion soon, as he has a 2.40 ERA in two Triple-A games. Is that enough to stop a six-week slide (14-27 since an 11-1 start)? - EP

24. Pirates | Previous Week: 21
Three straight wins over the Mets (a five-run comeback, a win over Johan Santana and a rout of Mike Pelfrey) keeps them out of the cellar for now. Zach Duke actually out-dueled Santana Tuesday night and Matt Capps seems to be re-gaining his stride in the closer's role. This team won't contend for anything, but I'm starting to really believe they aren't as bad as we thought they'd be when this season started. - PL

25. Diamondbacks | Previous Week: 25
Bright spot and beast Justin Upton continues to tear along early in June after a simply sizzling May, but the rest of the lineup is straight up mediocre, to put it nicely. One more bright spot: Brandon Webb is scheduled to return soon. Bad news is that the Snakes are already 13 1/2 games back of the Dodgers at this point.

26. Indians | Previous Week: 26
How long should Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro wait before becoming a seller? The Tribe are buried at the bottom of the AL Central, but the division isn't running away from them. Even so, injuries to Travis Hafner and Grady Sizemore make it seem awfully unlikely that the Indians have a run in them. - AJ

27. Astros | Previous Week: 29
On the bright side, they did defend their honor by taking two of three from the Pirates. On the not so bright side, Cecil Cooper recently got the dreaded "vote of confidence," and if things don't start turning around, the Roy Oswalt sweepstakes will probably begin in earnest. - PL

28. Rockies | Previous Week: 27
The Rox just canned the most-likely-overrated Clint Hurdle recently, and that signals that they're -- finally -- ready to stop looking at 2007 like it might actually happen again. (Although I suppose dealing Matt Holliday earns them a little credit for looking forward.) Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez, you are the children. And that makes you the future.

29. Athletics | Previous Week: 28
The future is officially here for the A's. They recalled right-hander Vin Mazzaro to start against the White Sox on Tuesday night. Mazzaro is the third member of the A's trio of hotshot young pitching prospects, joining Brett Anderson and Trevor Cahill. Now all three are in the big-league rotation. There have been comparisons between this group and Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder and Barry Zito. That's premature, but they are worth watching. - JF

30. Nationals | Previous Week: 30
Washington has gone 15 straight games without a first-inning run. Not a good way to support a young rotation with a flammable bullpen. Soon it'll be time to start scouting for No. 1 overall pick in 2010. - EP

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

6-04-2009 @ 8:15PM

taildog11 said...

God these writers are idiots... Brewers and Rangers ahead of the World Champions who are Road Wariors is ridiculous. Phillies should be Number one until dethroned

6-04-2009 @ 8:55PM

Mark said...

What a joke. Maybe I'm biased being a Red Sox fan but as I see it the Yankees should be #1 with the Sox very close at #2. Ask yourself what kind of record would the Dodgers have if they were in the AL East instead of the terrible NL West

6-05-2009 @ 11:44AM

nuch32lg said...

put the dodgers and phils in the al east and ny and bos are also rans

6-04-2009 @ 10:57PM

billyp01 said...

it should be just as the mlb standings are- dodgers 1 phils 2nd and so on.. this is horrible. does anyone know how can i also post something on aol with my favorite teams in order?

6-05-2009 @ 11:13AM

woodnnicholsla said...

The pirates sweep the mets and they go down 3 spots, Dude you are an idiot

6-05-2009 @ 1:12PM

Odie said...

I know I have been saying this almost every week, but what is with the commenters taking this so seriously.
To all commenters, if you are so angry with these rankings, you should put your rankings in the comments so everyone can call you an idiot too.
Somebody will always have a different order because these are merely (mis)informed opinion. So the comments that go "The (insert favorite team here) are so much better than (insert hated rival team), you guys are such idoits" are coming from the truly stupid.

6-05-2009 @ 5:00PM

mcdowepc said...

Are you kidding with these rankings???? I agree with Taildog - the Phils are kings until dethroned. Didn't Hamels just pitch a shutout complete game against the Dodgers last night?? Haven't they won seven in a row? Give me a break. The Brewers? C'mon you can do better than that. (they also took 2 of 3 from the Yanks and should have swept)

6-09-2009 @ 12:06PM

jonanthony757 said...

When Baltimore ??

6-09-2009 @ 3:23PM

zac said...

you people need to pay attention to the numbers the two hottest teams in the mlb is the yankees and the dodgerss stop bitching

6-09-2009 @ 10:46PM

mdkin01 said...

I would drop the Cardinals down to 11th and move 8 through 11 up 1 spot. Also, I would put the Phillies in at 3 behind the Dodgers and Yankees. The Giants probably deserve to be around 14 or 15.