Here are my MLB power rankings.
1. San Francisco Giants (84-46, No. 1 last week): The Giants have maintained the top spot in my power rankings for several weeks now. But now they get the Brewers for four and the Dodgers for three at Oracle Park. The good news is they have a 42-19 mark at home.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (82-49, No. 3): The Dodgers are a strong 18-6 the past four weeks. Stronger would be taking care of business against the rampaging Braves at Dodger Stadium and then going to San Francisco and wrestling the No. 1 spot away from the Giants in the NL West and Stan The Fan’s MLB power rankings.
3. Tampa Bay Rays (82-48, No. 4): The Rays acquired Nelson Cruz July 22. Since July 23, Randy Arozarena has the following stat line: .351/.425/.574 with four home runs. Is it possible Cruz is serving as a mentor?
4. Milwaukee Brewers (79-52, No. 2): The Brewers start a four-game series in San Francisco, which may tell the tale of just how good they are. They’ll win the NL Central regardless, but this series will reveal a lot about whether they belong with the big boys.
5. Houston Astros (77-53, No. 7): This is Dusty Baker’s 24th season as a manager in the big leagues. If the Astros hold on to win the AL West, this would be the seventh division crown he’ll have won. Baker has finished second seven times as well.
6. New York Yankees (76-54, No. 6): The Yankees were on a 13-game winning streak after winning the first two of a four-game set in Oakland, but they let the struggling A’s off the mat in 3-2 and 3-1 losses this weekend. That’s not going to cut it if they intend to wrestle AL East lead away from the Rays, who they now trail by six games.
7. Chicago White Sox (76-56, No. 5): Lance Lynn went off the rails the other day, allowing seven runs in five innings against the lowly Cubs. Dallas Keuchel has a 7.43 ERA in five August starts. Luckily, Carlos Rodon looked good after a brief stay on IL for shoulder fatigue. Lucas Giolito has been good but not great. Dylan Cease just keeps on rolling.
8. Boston Red Sox (75-57, No. 10): Back in the wonderful days of the Red Sox summer, they had control of the AL East. That is no longer the case, as they now trail the Rays by eight games. Sure, they can still catch the Yankees. They are two games behind the Yanks for the first wild-card spot. But the Athletics, a wounded animal of a team right now, are just 2.5 games behind the Sox for that last wild-card spot.
9. Atlanta Braves (70-59, No. 8): The Braves hold a 4.5-game lead in the NL East against the second-place Phillies. The Braves host the Phillies in the last three games of the regular season. The Braves play 27 more games before then, with 17 of those games coming against teams with sub-.500 records. The Phillies have 26 games remaining before then, with an amazing 20 of them against sub-.500 teams. So, this still could be a wild month between these two teams.
10. Oakland Athletics (72-59, No. 9): A 5-11 stretch has the A’s clinging to the wreckage of a season possibly lost. They trail Astros for first place in the AL West by 5.5 games and only hold a two-game lead over the Mariners for second in the division. Their best chance may be the last wild-card spot, where they are just 2.5 games behind the Red Sox. The A’s do have three more games left with the Astros to possibly make up ground in the division, but of their other 25 games, 16 are against plus-.500 teams.
11. Cincinnati Reds (71-61, No. 11)
12. San Diego Padres (69-62, No. 12)
13. Seattle Mariners (70-61, No. 13)
14. Toronto Blue Jays (68-61, No. 9)
15. Philadelphia Phillies (66-64, No. 15)
16. St. Louis Cardinals (66-63, No. 16)
17. Cleveland Indians (64-64, No. 17)
18. Los Angeles Angels (64-67, No. 18)
19. New York Mets (63-67, No. 19)
20. Kansas City Royals (59-71, No. 21)
21. Detroit Tigers (62-69, No. 20)
22. Colorado Rockies (60-70, No. 22)
23. Minnesota Twins (57-73, No. 23)
24. Miami Marlins (55-76, No. 26)
25. Washington Nationals (55-74, No. 24)
26. Chicago Cubs (57-75, No. 25)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (48-83, No. 27)
28. Arizona Diamondbacks (44-88, No. 28)
29. Texas Rangers (45-85, No. 29)
30. Baltimore Orioles (40-89, No. 30)