MLB Power Rankings: June 30, 2008

All records accurate as of 11:30 PM EST on 6/30/08.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (50 – 32) (Last week: #5): The Rays climbed to the top of the MLB Power Rankings for the first time ever! The Rays are looking more like a legitimate contender with every series they play.
2. Los Angeles Angels (49 – 33) (Last week: #2): The Angels are playing (almost) .600 baseball. With that type of solid play, the Angels will be tough to catch in the upcoming months for the other NL West teams.
3. Chicago White Sox (47 – 35) (Last week: #10): The White Sox managed to jump a whopping 7 spots in the Power Rankings…and they passed the crosstown Cubs in the process. Which do you think White Sox fans are happier with?
4. Chicago Cubs (49 – 33) (Last week: #1): The mighty have fallen. The Cubs, thanks to a 4 game losing streak, fall out of the top spot…and now sit behind three other teams.
5. St. Louis Cardinals (48 – 36) (Last week: #6): I’ll fully admit I’ve been waiting for the wheels to fall off of the Cardinal bus all season long…yet it hasn’t happened. I’m still not convinced they are for real (based on their pitching staff mostly), but I won’t hold my bias against them as they slowly inch up the rankings.
6. Boston Red Sox (50 – 35) (Last week: #3): Losers of three straight, the Red Sox are now being advertised on ESPN as the “weaker” team compared to the Rays. My Power Rankings agree with that assessment (for this week anyhow)…
7. Minnesota Twins (45 – 38 ) (Last week: #9): The Twins have won 8 of their last 10 games, which has put them on the cusp of a top 5 position in the weekly Power Rankings.
8. Milwaukee Brewers (44 – 37) (Last week: #4): The Brewers have won 6 of their last 10 games, yet they have been outscored on the season by 2 runs. That type of run differential suggests the Brewers are overachieving currently; will this week’s slide be the beginning of the end for the Brewers?
9. Oakland Athletics (44 – 37) (Last week: #8 ): Oakland has outscored their opponents by 59 runs…but I’m not sure anyone (outside of California perhaps) has any idea how.
10. Detroit Tigers (42 – 40) (Last week: #18 ): Winners of 6 straight, the Tigers have begun “prowling” up the standings…of course, they are still 9 positions behind the spot where most of the pundits assumed they’d be at this point in the season.
11. New York Yankees (44 – 39) (Last week: #7): The Yankees have lost 2 in a row…and sit behind two other AL East teams in the standings. Oh yeah, they also don’t like their pitchers running the bases.
12. Florida Marlins (43 – 39) (Last week: #11): The Marlins are hanging around still, which means that it’s July and baseball is still relevant for BOTH Florida baseball teams. Who would have imagined that at the beginning of the season?
13. Philadelphia Phillies (44 – 39) (Last week: #12): The Phillies have only won twice in the last 10 games, which has dropped them considerably in the rankings. Perhaps a return to National League ball will help the Phillies.
14. Texas Rangers (43 – 41) (Last week: #15): I picked the Rangers as my surprise team, and thus far they haven’t completely debunked the validity of my pick.
15. Baltimore Orioles (41 – 40) (Last week: #13): The Orioles fell to one game over .500 this week, which is only good enough to keep them ahead of the Blue Jays in the tough American League East.
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (41 – 41) (Last week: #14): The Diamondbacks lead their division by three games, yet they are in the bottom half of ALL Major League teams. If this were European Soccer, the entire NL West would be demoted to second tier status.
17. Houston Astros (40 – 43) (Last week: #25): The Astros jumped up 10 spots in the rankings, thanks mostly to a three game winning streak (and by winning 7 out of their last 10 games overall).
18. New York Mets (40 – 42) (Last week: #17): The Mets are 3.5 games behind the division leading Phillies, but they are already 10 games behind the Rays for the best record in baseball…
19. Cincinnati Reds (39 – 45) (Last week: #24): The Reds managed to climb out of the NL Central basement on the last day of June. Ken Griffey Jr. has now hit 603 homeruns.
20. Toronto Blue Jays (40 – 43) (Last week: #20): Most teams don’t strive for consistency when they are ranked #20, but that’s where the Blue Jays find themselves.
21. Atlanta Braves (40 – 43) (Last week: #16): The Braves are currently in fourth place in the NL East, which may make them the most surprising underachiever so far this year (especially now that the Tigers are playing better ball).
22. Kansas City Royals (38 – 45) (Last week: #23): The Royals eeked up another spot, thanks to a sweep of helpless Colorado earlier this week.
23. Pittsburgh Pirates (38 – 44) (Last week: #22): The Pirates fell into last place with their most recent loss to the Reds…but they would be in second place if they were in the NL West. Take that for what it’s worth.
24. Los Angeles Dodgers (38 – 44) (Last week: #21): The Dodgers have scored exactly as many runs as they’ve given up, which suggests they are (slightly) better than their record indicates.
25. San Francisco Giants (36 – 46) (Last week: #27): The Giants played .500 ball over their previous 10 games, which “catapulted” them up two spaces…such is the life for low-level Power Ranked teams.
26. Cleveland Indians (37 – 46) (Last week: #19): The Indians were outscored by 10 runs over the past week…and managed to drop 7 spots at the same time. Coincidence?
27. Seattle Mariners (31 – 50) (Last week: #30): The Mariners are still better than the NL West…
28. Washington Nationals (33 – 51) (Last week: #29): The Nationals have been outscored by 115 runs on the season!
29. Colorado Rockies (32 – 50) (Last week: #26): The NL West is lousy (see #30).
30. San Diego Padres (32 – 51) (Last week: 28 ): The NL West is lousy…and the Padres and Rockies are on a combined 15 game LOSING streak going into their titanic clash this week.

So there you have it, another edition of my MLB Power Rankings. As always, let me know what you think.

Until next time, keep readin’
-fanofreds