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.
So last week I was all excited to give the nod atop the rankings to the Los Angeles Angels -- only to have them promptly turn around and lose their next two series. They have won two in a row against a quality opponent in the Tampa Bay Rays, but, meanwhile the New York Yankees have won eight of their last nine and became the first team in the majors to reach 70 wins.
- 1. Yankees | Record: 70-43 | Previous Week: 3
Can we hand the Yankees the division title now? The last time they blew a lead of more than 5 1/2 games was in 1933, when they led the American League by six games on June 7 but finished second, seven back of Washington. - Ed Price - 2. Angels | Record: 67-44 | Previous Week: 1
Failing to re-sign Mark Teixeira worked out OK for the Angels. First baseman Kendry Morales has a .927 OPS and 25 homers, and he's making 3 percent the salary of Teixeira, who has a .942 OPS and 29 homers. - Jeff Fletcher - 3. Dodgers | Record: 69-45 | Previous Week: 2
Thanks largely to Matt Kemp, the Dodgers' No. 8 hitters have hit .329 with a .385 on-base percentage, a .506 slugging percentage and 16 homers, all National League bests. Their .891 OPS is better than the No. 4 hitters for all but three teams in the NL. - Fletcher - 4. Cardinals | Record: 63-52 | Previous Week: 6
With Matt Holliday, the Cards are 11-7. Unfortunately for them, they're not the only team near the top of the National League raising their level of play lately. They're virtually tied with the Rockies, who lead the NL wild card race, and are a game better than the Giants and Marlins. So long as they keep playing well they'll be fine, but there is less room for error for this team than people might realize. - Pat Lackey - 5. Phillies | Record: 62-48 | Previous Week: 4
Philadelphia is 33-19 on the road, a .635 winning percentage, and has a chance to be the first NL team since the 2004 Cardinals with more than 50 road wins. Now if the Phillies can just improve on than 29-29 home mark. - Price - 6. Red Sox | Record: 64-48 | Previous Week: 5
Since June 4, Boston has one road win over an AL team other than Baltimore. Among the Red Sox not getting it done away from Fenway: J.D. Drew (.232), David Ortiz (.201 with three homers in 189 at-bats) and Jason Varitek (.191 with four homers in 157 at-bats). - Price - 7. Rangers | Record: 62-49 | Previous Week: 10
The Rangers are 9-3 against the AL West-leading Angels -- who they still trail by five games. They must be looking around, saying, "a little help, please!?!" They are also 5-1 against the Red Sox, who seem to be their primary concern right now (in the wild card, where the Rangers trail the Red Sox by just 1 1/2 games). - Matt Snyder - 8. Rays | Record: 61-52 | Previous Week: 8
Tampa Bay became Russ Springer's ninth team when it claimed him off waivers from Oakland, and Springer is the ultimate career middle reliever. His eight career saves are fewest ever for a pitcher with 650 or more relief appearances, and his streak of 374 games since his last save (April 24, 2001, for Arizona) is the longest current one in the majors. - Price - 9. Rockies | Record: 62-51 | Previous Week: 9
If we could look only at stats from June 8 and beyond, Troy Tulowitzki would be an MVP candidate (or, I guess we'll say a candidate to finish second behind Albert Pujols). Since then, the smooth-fielding 25-year-old shortstop is hitting .320 with 17 homers, 44 RBI, 11 stolen bases, 13 doubles and a 1.069 OPS. - Snyder - 10. Tigers | Record: 59-53 | Previous Week: 13
The Tigers have been treading water the last few weeks -- fortunately, in the AL Central, that's all you need to do to hold onto your division lead. Though I suppose it's possible Rick Porcello's takedown of Kevin Youkilis, after trying to hop away from him, will inspire the team and send them on a tear. - Tom Fornelli - 11. Marlins | Record: 60-53 | Previous Week: 14
When Houston manager Cecil Cooper had Nick Johnson intentionally walked on Monday, it was the first time ever a runner was put on base to get to Hanley Ramirez. And Ramirez, who was leading the NL in batting, followed with an RBI single. "I was shocked," Jorge Cantu told The Palm Beach Post. - Price - 12. Braves | Record: 59-54 | Previous Week: 18
If pitching is enough, Atlanta has a chance. Since June 28, Javier Vazquez is 5-0 with a 2.59 ERA, striking out 46 and walking only nine in 48 2/3 innings; Jair Jurrjens is 4-2 with a 3.19 ERA; and Derek Lowe is 4-1 with a 3.40 ERA. - Price - 13. Giants | Record: 61-52 | Previous Week: 11
You know about the top of the rotation, with Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain, but you probably didn't realize the Giants also had the best bullpen ERA in the majors (3.36). - Fletcher - 14. Mariners | Record: 59-54 | Previous Week: 17
It's been nearly a year since Ichiro Suzuki went hitless in consecutive games. Since his triple oh-fer Aug. 13-15, 2008, Suzuki has played 146 games without two consecutive goose eggs, the longest such streak since Stan Musial went 174 games in 1943 and '44. - Fletcher - 15. Cubs | Record: 58-53 | Previous Week: 7
Well, let's see ... they can't win on the road, can't win series against teams with winning records, the bullpen has trouble holding leads, the offense can't muster big innings despite stockpiling hits (three runs on 10 hits Tuesday night, five runs on 17 hits Sunday). Oh, and they can't seem to stay healthy. Other than that, things are going just great for the Cubs and us die-hard fans. (I'm gonna go play in traffic -- come get me when the Bears begin regular season play) - Snyder - 16. White Sox | Record: 58-56 | Previous Week: 12
The White Sox followed up their deadline acquisition of Jake Peavy by getting Alex Rios from the Blue Jays for nothing, meaning they've added $150 million to their payroll in two weeks. Unfortunately, while they're spending money like a playoff team, they're still not really playing like one. They've averaged two errors a game in August, and are the worst fielding team in the American League with 87 errors this season. - Fornelli - 17. Blue Jays | Record: 54-58 | Previous Week: 16
Letting Rios go on waivers to the White Sox opens right field for Travis Snider, eventually. Snider, Toronto's top hitting prospect (13 homers in 156 Triple-A at-bats), didn't come up right away, however, perhaps to prevent him from being arbitration eligible until after the 2012 season. "I think we'll probably get Snider back here," manager Cito Gaston said Tuesday. - Price - 18. Twins | Record: 54-58 | Previous Week: 15
Things just haven't been going Minnesota's way lately. They've lost five of six, Kevin Slowey's gone for the year, Glen Perkins just hit the DL, and Francisco Liriano has an 8.14 ERA in his last four starts. Carl Pavano might be their best pitcher right now, and unfortunately he can't pitch against the Tigers every day. If they don't get their rotation turned around quickly, the Twins could be out of the race by September. - Fornelli - 19. Brewers | Record: 55-57 | Previous Week: 19
Six losses in their last 10 have dropped the Brewers more or less out of playoff contention this year. They're 6 1/2 back of both the Cards and the wild card. GM Doug Melvin is allegedly still pursuing a starter but at this point, he might be best served by circling the wagons and waiting until the offseason. - Lackey - 20. Astros | Record: 55-58 | Previous Week: 20
Just a little over two weeks ago they surprisingly found themselves in the middle of both the NL Central and wild card race, but they've dropped 10 of 15 since then, including five of seven against the Cubs and Cardinals. Roy Oswalt is back in the rotation this week, but it's just not going to be enough to get the Astros back into the race. - Lackey - 21. Diamondbacks | Record: 52-62 | Previous Week: 23
The Diamondbacks are still incredibly young, and it appears they are already building momentum for 2010 -- when, remember, they'll have Brandon Webb back atop the rotation. They are 9-4 since a July 28 loss to the Phillies (and that includes a three-game sweep at the hands of the red-hot Nationals). - Snyder - 22. A's | Record: 50-63 | Previous Week: 24
Since the All-Star break, the A's are fourth in the league in hitting and second in runs. That includes what they have done after trading their two hottest hitters, Matt Holliday and Orlando Cabrera. - Fletcher - 23. Indians | Record: 49-63 | Previous Week: 25
Maybe the Indians knew what they were doing by trading away Cliff Lee and Victor Martinez. They're 6-3 since August 1, and have won 12 of their last 17 games overall. It's amazing how much easier the game of baseball gets when there's no pressure -- just like it did last season after they dealt CC Sabathia. - Fornelli - 24. Mets | Record: 52-61 | Previous Week: 22
With David Wright given a day of rest Tuesday, the Mets' lineup had just one player batting better than .262 (Luis Castillo, .300) and Fernando Tatis hitting third for the first time since May 28, 2001, for Montreal. It's amazing that five NL teams are averaging fewer runs per game than this team. - Price - 25. Orioles | Record: 47-66 | Previous Week: 21
Right fielder Nick Markakis is quietly having another excellent year. He's on pace for 193 hits, 52 doubles, 19 homers and 112 RBI and leads the AL in outfield assists. Markakis has reached base safely in 32 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors. - Price - 26. Nationals | Record: 40-73 | Previous Week: 28
Guess Washington doesn't want the No. 1 pick in the draft two years in a row. The Nationals are just 4 1/2 games behind the Royals for the second-worst record in the majors. That gap was 11 1/2 games on the morning of July 21. - Price - 27. Reds | Record: 49-63 | Previous Week: 30
They're just not playing very well right now. The Reds sit three games above the Pirates for last place in the NL Central, and that's even with the Pirates recent eight-game losing streak. Now Scott Rolen is headed to the disabled list and they're facing two series with the scorching-hot Nationals (that sounds weird) and the Giants before they get to face off with the Pirates. - Lackey - 28. Padres | Record: 48-66 | Previous Week: 29
If you haven't been paying attention to the Padres -- and why would you? -- you should take a look next time Mat Latos pitches (Friday at St. Louis). A 21-year-old righty with a fiery temperament, Latos has put up impressive numbers in his first five starts: 4-1 with a 2.43 ERA and an 0.944 WHIP. - Fletcher - 29. Pirates | Record: 46-66 | Previous Week: 26
They've looked awful since the trade deadline, dropping eight straight before a win against Colorado last night. That's bad, but improving their draft position in a year that will include Bryce Harper and maybe even Stephen Strasburg isn't a bad thing, especially for a team that's clearly decided to punt the remainder of the 2009 season. - Lackey - 30. Royals | Record: 44-68 | Previous Week: 27
All the Royals have left to play for at this point is a chance to ruin somebody's season. They're 15 games out of first, but do have 26 games remaining against the Tigers, White Sox and Twins, including each of their next 11 games. So they'll definitely play some role in deciding the AL Central champion. - Fornelli
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Yankees will choke like they always do. They still have AROid right? Maybe next year they can triple their payroll and try again. What a joke
Always? 26 Championships,39 Pennant's 47 Playoff appearances. Missed the playoffs for the first time in 14 years last year. Can't win it EVERY YEAR. The only thing the Yankees ALWAYS do is CONTEND.
I think the JOKE is on YOU. All teams slump and hit peaks & valley's. But to say they ALWAYS choke is just not even close to being true. Seems like the teams that spend money to put winning teams on the field for their fans are ALWAYS in the race. YOU must have the Yankee's mixed up with that OTHER NY team. 70 wins to date they must be playing decent ball to have the BEST record in MLB. Choke huh? Jeter has more rings then say the Red SUX have in the last 100 yrs. NOW who is the team that chokes. AS*HOLE
The jokes on you! In case you were wondering!
If you new anything about baseball you would know that actually the Yankees payroll stayed the same as it was last year. As far as the A-roid comment - Remember what they say about people in glass houses (Manny, Ortiz, and about 106 others from that time). Funny how it always comes down to payroll, How much did the red sox pay just for the right to talk to Dice k?
I have been a Pirates fan since I was a kid. I've always stayed loyal to the same teams. (The Tigers and the Pirates) What a sad state of affairs that the Pirate franchise has become such a laughing stock. How many times are they going to say to their fans they are rebuilding and then as soon as someone does anything they sell them to the highest bidder for the next batch of tomorrows stars. The organization should be ashamed of itself for allowing such a proud and storied major league franchise to become a feeder organization to any and all comers. They may not have the money to compete with the big boys in the grand scheme of things but there don't appear to be any people sitting in the front office who have any pride in the organization. Must they have a fire sale every year. When the trading deadline comes around they get picked over by the richer clubs like a carcass by vultures. They build for their future the same way the Detroit Lions have over the years. What a shame. Perhaps someone should take the Pirate hierarchy a book about the history of the team and see if anyone recognizes names like Clemente, Wagner, Waner, and Mazeroski. Who among their players can feel much pride in being part of this yearly sacrificial lamb act?
26 World Championships and we won't have to wait 86 years for 27!'Always Choke' Funny comment from an obvious moron.
THE YANKMES DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE A TRADE, THEY HAVE NO FARM SYSTEM.....& THEY SPENT 1.1 BILLION DOLLARS ON 5 PLAYERS. THATS WHY THEY WENT FROM A NON PLAYOFF TEAM TO LEADING THE TUFFEST DIV. IN BASEBALL. ALL OF THERE HIGHLIGHTS ARE IN BLACK & WHITE.... & IT DOES MY HEART GOOD TO KNOW THEY HAVE A 10 YEAR BLACK HOLE GOING IN WHICH THEY HAVE WON NOTHING. THEY WILL CHOKE AGAIN...ITS LIKE CLOCK WORK.