MLB Mlb Power Rankings

Finally, the regular season is almost over. Most baseball seasons -- especially since realignment and the addition of the wild card -- have at least three heated races down the stretch. While the Braves, Rangers and Giants have tried to make things interesting at different points in time, there is really only one race that's been in total doubt for the entire month: the AL Central. As the Twins and Tigers get set to play the only interesting game of the day, we're left sorting out what has been a relatively boring final month. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though. A week from Wednesday, the playoffs begin.

Heading into the season, there weren't many who were sure about what team to pick in the AL West. The reason wasn't the same as the arguments about who would take the AL East -- where most believed there were three stellar teams. With the AL West, it was because most believed the four-team division would be a bastion of mediocrity. Yet, here we are. Now that the A's are on fire, the AL West is easily the best top-to-bottom division in the majors.

They probably can't catch their rival Yankees in the AL East, but they don't have to. The Boston Red Sox only need to win the AL wild card to get to the postseason, and their play of late makes them a scary October out for anyone. Since losing two of three at home to the Bronx Bombers, the BoSox have won 15 of 20 and are currently sporting a six-game winning streak. Who wants to mess with them in the playoffs?

Just two years ago, the Rockies took the league by force in September, putting together a seemingly out-of-nowhere run which didn't end until the World Series. In that famous month they went 20-8 -- including a downright insane run of 14-1 to end the season -- which spawned the nickname "Rocktober." This year? Well, they've begun the month winning seven of eight games. Here we go again? Time will tell, but it certainly appears to be Rocktember.

Welcome to the party, Minnesota.

After underachieving for most of the season, in a mediocre division, the Twins find themselves within striking distance. Entering Wednesday, the Twinkies have won 10 of 12 and have finally been getting relatively good starting pitching. If that continues, they are going to be a dangerous team in September. At least they might be relevant enough to get Joe Mauer the MVP award he so greatly deserves. The catcher ranks first in average (.367), OBP (.434), slugging (.611), and, obviously OPS in the AL. He's also in the top 15 in hits, home runs, RBI and plays solid defense at the toughest position on the field.

Is it possible to be angry when your favorite team wins a game 17-3? I can now answer that with an emphatic yes, after last Friday's bloodbath in Wrigley Field. The Cubs haven't won a series against a team with a winning record since their April 30-May 3 set against the Marlins. Yet they stay above .500 by pounding the Pirates into submission? They're like a 14-year-old bully who leaves his peers alone, but he loves to go home and beat up on the 10-year-olds. I dropped them as far as I could in this installment of the Power Rankings, but I'll honestly admit I considered putting them last.

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.

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.

Do you think anyone wants a piece of the Los Angeles Angels right now? They went through a more tumultuous offseason and early season than we've seen in recent memory, between the tragic passing of Nick Adenhart, the decimated-by-injuries starting rotation, the free agency losses of K-Rod and Mark Teixeira and the drastic decline of Vladimir Guerrero. Then they had Torii Hunter fall injured in the middle of a possible MVP campaign. But now, the Angels are rolling.

On June 11, they found themselves right back where they started: .500. Since then? They are 34-12 -- a stretch in which they've dismantled opponents by a total tally of 324-226.

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.

The second half of the season is in full swing and lo and behold if capitalism hasn't reared it's ugly head once again. Billy Beane was spun off Matt Holliday (as expected of course) and the eleventy billion dollar payroll machine that is the New York Yankees are in first place in the AL East. (Of course, that can't explain why the Mets are horrible but that's a whole other thing.)

Will the Yankees' surge be enough to propel them into the critically important No. 1 slot of the FanHouse MLB Power Rankings? Find out after the jump.

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.

Big ups to Prez for taking the PR reigns over while I was off last week. But we're back in the saddle, fresh out of the All-Star break and ready to incite you with our rankings. Also, I should point out that this is, relatively speaking, the "home stretch." Where even the most minuscule of mini-streaks can change a team's fate. Or something like that. Anyway, let's go to the list, where we'll find out if an attack on Jack Nicholson by the Phanatic and the addition of Petey was enough to vault the Phillies into the top spot of the Week 16 MLB Power Rankings. Cue drumroll.