Who were we to knock the Diamondbacks out of the top spot for one week? Obviously The Big-Unit found out and rallied the troops in Arizona for a 5-1 week. I knew we shouldn't have messed with that bowler's mullet. Anyway, the D-Backs are have regained the #1 spot in our rankings.
Did anyone notice that the Rays no longer have a triple A team? The Rays are sitting pretty atop the AL East while the New York Yankees are struggling at the bottom. I think we've just entered the twilight zone: Rays on top! Yankees on bottom! Anyone want to bet me that this will be a bit different come September?
The Cubs continue to play well and they owe a lot of that to Alfonso Soriano. Could this be the year for the Cubbies? They're certainly talented enough to win the grand salami but anything can happen in the windy city, ask Steve Bartman.
Do we owe the Reds an apology for ranking them all the way at the bottom last week? Hell no, they had a 15-23 record! I have more game at the Playboy Mansion than the Reds had last week. Winning 6 games this week brought them to only 2 games under .500 , bloody hell that sucks.
1. 
Arizona Diamondbacks 28-16 (2)
-(5-1) The Big Unit came up big this week notching two wins. The D-Backs just keep on scorching on both sides of the ball as they score 4+ in 5 of six games this week. Maybe their schedule has been one of the easiest in the league or maybe they’re the reason their opponents are considered so weak.
2. 
Chicago Cubs 27-17 (3)
-(5-2) What a week for Alfonso Soriano! .516, 7 HRs & 14 RBIs. He led a potent Cubs attack this past week, as the team hit .304 and scored 44 runs in 7 games, and now they are currently the highest-scoring offense in the majors. Granted, winning 5 of out 7 against the lowly Padres and Pirates isn’t the toughest thing to do, but the Cubs were 1 run away in each loss from having a perfect week.
3. 
Boston Red Sox 27-19 (1)
-(3-3) The Red Sox lost 4 in a row on the road and then came back to sweep the Brewers at home, shocker! The Sox are one of the best home teams in the league. They're going to have to take care of business in the AL East better if they want to reclaim the # 1 spot in our rankings again. On another note their ability to draft and develop players through their farm system is paying huge dividends in Youkilis, Papelbon, Pedoria, Ellsbury, Buchholz, and Lester.
4. 
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 26-20 (4)
-(4-3) –The Angels have scored a run less a game since their leadoff hitter and offensive catalyst Chone Figgins went on the disabled list. Erick Aybar is also starting to cool off after batting .318 (28-for-88) in April but is only batting .203 (13-for-64) in May.
5. 
New York Mets 22-19 (6)
-(3-3) The Mets made up for bad showing at home (losing 3 of 4 to the Nationals) by sweeping their cross-town AL rivals at the Stadium. The Jekyll and Hyde show that the Mets have been playing is probably starting to grow old with their fans, but this team could easily get hot and assume control of the NL East any day now.
6. 
Tampa Bay Rays 25-19 (9)
-(4-3) -The Rays team .ERA is nearly down two runs per game this year as it was the same time last year. The bullpen is also coming through strong, leading MLB with an opposing batting average of .213. Edwin Jackson, Andy Sonnanstine, and Matt Garza are becoming more and more consistent with each outing.
7. 
St. Louis Cardinals 26-20 (7)
-(3-4) Ryan Ludwick has 12 HRs and 32 RBIs and more importantly is giving much needed protection to Albert Pujols. At this point I’m still convinced that the Cards are going to need Chris Carpenter down the stretch to compete for 162 games. Adam Wainwright has let up 10 earned runs in his past 2 starts, ouch, but don’t worry this is a bump in the road and not a trend.
8. 
Philadelphia Phillies 24-21 (10)
-(3-3) When are the Phillies going to realize that Brett Myers is not their ace? The starting pitching staff’s numbers are all below average, with the exception of the team’s true ace Cole Hamels. The bullpen has been terrific, but the offense needs to start firing on all cylinders to take the pressure off of the starters.
9. 
Chicago White Sox 23-20 (14)
-(5-2) Here come the White Sox again! I would give all the credit to manager Ozzie Guillen for this turnaround but then I would have to slap myself in the face, twice. How about instead I give props to Carlos Quentin. Quentin leads the team in runs (29), RBIs (37), and home runs (11), although Ozzie does lead the club in incomprehensible tirades.
10. 
Houston Astros 25-20 (16)
-(4-3) Oswalt is turning the corner and Berkman is blasting through the wall. It’s amazing how competitive a team can be when the team leaders step up to the proverbial plate.
11. 
Oakland Athletics 24-21 (5)
-(1-5) The A’s finally came back down to earth. They’re much better than a 1-5 week record but having them in the top 10 was making me queasy. Rich Harden is back just in time to give hope to A’s fans before he goes back on the DL and rips their hearts out once again. Harden reminds me of Mark Prior, such talent wasted on such a brittle body.
12. 
Atlanta Braves 22-21 (11)
-(3-3) A maddening week of “lose one, win one” for the Braves. Chipper Jones heated up again to drive his average soaring over .400, and as May passes us by, the more and more you will be hearing about Chipper’s quest for .400. But can a career .309 hitter pull off this elusive feat?
13. 
Cleveland Indians 22-22 (18)
-(4-4)
Question
How cool was that consecutive scoreless innings streak?
Answer
Cooler than two strippers snorting coke off Pedro Cerano’s Jobu doll.
14. 
Florida Marlins 24-19 (8)
-(1-5) The team is impossible to figure out. The Marlins are the streakiest team in baseball. One minute you can’t touch them and the next minute they’re playing like a bunch of rookies. I mean they lost to the Royals and the Reds…blah! At least Jacque Jones signed a minor league deal to hopefully play CF.
15. 
Toronto Blue Jays 23-23 (19)
-(6-2) A 6 win week is just what the Doc Halladay ordered. IT was enough to get the Jays out of the basement in the East and propel them into the realm of mediocrity. BJ Ryan was also released out of his strict pitching rules of no more than one appearance a month as he notched 4 saves and a win!
16. 
Los Angeles Dodgers 22-21 (15)
-(3-3) -Nomar who? Blake DeWitt is filling in nicely for the injured Mr. Mia Hamm, and will certainly see more playing time when Nomar returns from his routine trip to the DL. Speaking of playing time, Juan Pierre’s recent success will make the decision to bench Andruw Jones a bit easier to swallow.
17. 
Baltimore Orioles 23-20 (20)
-(4-1) How long can I continue to bash the O’s in these power rankings? I’ll tell ya, as long as it takes. I will give the O’s some credit. They’re 14-7 playing in Camden Yards! (Although, if you do the math you’ll see a horrific road record.) I’ll make a deal with O’s fans. If your coveted Orioles aren’t at least 10 games back by the All-Star break then I’ll take back all the nasty things I’ve said about them, until then the O’s are average at best.
18. 
New York Yankees 20-24 (12)
-(1-5) Simply put: The Yankees are not playing like a team with a $200 million payroll. They desperately need the defense and bats of Arod and Posada to return to this lineup. The Yankees find themselves in last place and even the damn Orioles are laughing at them. Hey, at least we'll have some comical material to read the next time Hank Steinbrenner speaks.
19. 
Texas Rangers 22-23 (23)
-(4-2) Josh “The Natural” Hamilton, continues to swing a very hot bat. He is currently leading all of MLB with 49 RBI’s. When he comes back from the disabled list, Hank Blaylock is making a position change across the infield to first base.
20. 
Minnesota Twins 21-22 (13)
-(2-5) The week started off promising with a win over the Red Sox, but it was all downhill from there. The Blue Jays came into the Metrodome and swept them before they went to Colorado and came home with only 1 more win. The offense wasn’t too bad, the pitching was pretty good, yet it just didn’t add up to wins for the Twins.
21. 
Cincinnati Reds 21-23 (30)
-(6-0) Just when you want to write off the Reds they sweep the week and turn a few heads in doing so. The comp. wasn’t a push over as they took care of business against the first place Marlins and “Rival” Indians. Now if they could just get it going on the road, where they lost 7 of their last 7.
22. 
Kansas City Royals 21-22 (25)
-(5-1) Jose Guillen has become en fuego over the past week, going 11-24 with 5 doubles 2 home runs and 13 RBI’s. Supported by Grudzielanek and his hefty .331 AVG. Their offensive production has been a godsend to the pitching staff that has seen little to no run support.
23. 
Pittsburgh Pirates 21-23 (22)
-(4-4) Nate McLouth, Xavier Nady and Jason Bay have some pop in their bat! It must be exciting for Pirate’s fans to see their team hovering around .500. It’s really unfortunate that Ryan Doumit (broken thumb) will be out until the end of June because if the Pirates hope to keep this magical .500 season alive they’re going to need everyone healthy.
24. 
Milwaukee Brewers 20-24 (17)
-(2-5) The Brew Crew continues to disappoint as they now find themselves in the NL Central cellar. It’s true; they are below the Pirates and the Reds in the standings. Ryan Braun tried to carry the team (6 HR in the past week) and Prince Fielder finally started hitting (9 for his last 20) but the pitching continues to stink it up.
25. 
Seattle Mariners 18-27 (27)
-(3-3) The M’s had a nice week, except they lost 2 of 3 to division rival Texas and won 2 out of 3 against league punching bag San Diego; not exactly an ideal match-up for them to only go 3-3. J.J. Putz finally looked like his old self, getting a win, 2 saves and no allowing a run in 4 innings of work; but he had to win or save each game the M’s won, so you could consider him to be kind of a big deal.
26. 
Washington Nationals 19-26 (28).
-(4-3) Tim Redding tossed another gem, going 6 1-3 scoreless innings over Philadelphia. He is truly showing that he is the much-needed ace of the Nationals staff.
27. 
Colorado Rockies 17-27 (24)
(2-4) The Rockies piss me off and I’m not even a Rockies’ fan. They got swept by the Diamondbacks, which ultimately sealed their fate this season. If the Rockies make the playoffs now I’ll eat my face. If they trade Matt Holliday for some young prospects be ready for the Rockies to come roaring back in 2010! Awful, just awful.
28. 
Detroit Tigers 17-27 (21)
-(1-5) A sweep at the hands of the Royals isn’t going to do anything for the team’s confidence. Manager Jim Leyland said he doesn’t have any answers, I do……f’n play ball!
29. 
San Francisco Giants 17-28 (26)
-(1-6) Well things couldn’t get too much worse in the city by the bay, but there is a competitive spark on this team. They didn’t have a good week, but every game was close (each one decided by 3 or less runs), and perhaps with another year to develop and some offensive infusion the Giants could be a force next year.
30. 
San Diego Padres 16-29 (29)
-(2-5) Take a guess at what killed the Padres this week? In a shocking turn of events, their offense was terrible yet again! It’s getting to the point where you’re not sure if the Padres know that scoring runs is a good thing or not. And lately their usually good pitching has been terrible too; it’s like the caught a suckiness virus from the offense. And with Peavy headed to the DL, only darker days are ahead.
MLB Power Rankings
MLB Power Rankings - Week 7
MLB Power Rankings - Week 6
MLB Power Rankings - Week 5
MLB Power Rankings - Week 4
MLB Power Rankings - Week 3
MLB Power Rankings - Week 2
MLB Power Rankings - Preseason
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Why are the Braves ranked above the Marlins?? I know the Marlins had a bad week but they're still better than the damn Braves!
The Marlins are in first in the NL East. They're also 12-5 in the East while the Braves are 12-12... What gives?
The Braves and the Marlins suck balls. We all know the Yankees are not going to be in last place for very long. 26 Championships!!!! Having them ranked at 18 is just stupid. You have no idea what you're talking about and these rankings suck.
Horribly inaccurate. FSN's power rankings are much better and makes more sense. Braves, Mets, AND Phillies all above the Marlins? Blasphemy.
Go FISH!
The Marlins are below their 3 main NL rivals because they just had a 1-5 week and they are playing way over their heads. Just like the Orioles. Both teams will find themselves in 3rd or lower before the All-Star Break. Mark it down. Even your precious FSN rankings has this to say about the Marlins: "It's hard to believe the Marlins will stay afloat in the East with an offense that leads the NL in strikeouts and a pitching staff that has accumulated the fewest. It is numbers like these that lend credence to the notion that Florida is the surprise team most likely to fade." See?!? The Marlins are not that good. We're just skipping a few steps and prepared for their eventual downfall!
The Yankees are lucky to be ranked 18th the way they've been playing. The 26 World Championships have nothing to do with the 2008 Power Rankings, you f-ing dumbass. If it did, the Yankees would be permanently entrenched at #1. When they start winning (which I believe they will), they will move up. But until that happens, they will continue to be ranked like the last-place team that they are.
Can you give me an explanation as to why the Orioles are below the Blue Jays... The Orioles have a better record against the East than the Blue Jays and they have a better overall record!
How are these rankings calculated? Ummmm..... I like this team so let's rank them in the top 10!
Nice article.I like your website.
I like these rankings. I like how some parts are factual and some parts funny. Good mix.
GO BREWERS! Gagne Sucks!