With a short week coming out of the All-Star break, there isn’t a lot of movement in my power rankings. The Phillies and Orioles remain at Nos. 1 and 2. The Royals make their way back into the top 10 for the first-time in three weeks. The Mariners and the Braves have slipped out of the top 10. The Mariners struggled to score runs in the first two games against the Astros, but the Mariners won the final game to pull back even in the American League West.
Meanwhile, the Braves lost two important players. Second baseman Ozzie Albies fractured his left wrist and lefty starter Max Fried went on the IL with forearm neuritis. These two injuries make it tougher and tougher to imagine the Braves making a run in October.
I’ll be back later this week with a take on the Orioles ahead of the trade deadline.
Before I reveal this week’s power rankings, a word about the All-Star Game — or, rather, when the hell will it be back in Baltimore?
Camden Yards hosted the Midsummer Classic in July 1993, the second year of the ballpark’s existence. Columnists were so impressed with Camden Yards back then that they wrote effusive words about our ballpark in Baltimore. Some even started the drumbeat to make Camden Yards the permanent yearly site for the All-Star Game.
Camden Yards is now in its 33rd season. We hadn’t heard a peep about Baltimore hosting the All-Star Game again until last week, when commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the Orioles are interested in hosting a future game.
Word was that Bud Selig and his successor Manfred held the All-Star Game out as a kind of carrot to the late Peter Angelos to end his litigation over the MASN deal that MLB had essentially reneged on. The network was always supposed to exist to cushion Angelos for presumed losses in attendance and revenue with a National League team just 35 miles away.
MLB and the Nationals assumed Angelos would be easy to talk to about renegotiating the rights fees way up to match deals in bigger markets, but the huge explosion of cable rights costs made it impossible for MASN to afford huge yearly payments to two teams.
However, the Angelos family is no longer a major investor in the team. So, when will Baltimore next host the game?
The 2025 game is slated for Truist Park outside of Atlanta. The 2026 game has been promised to Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park as part of the 250th anniversary of American independence, mirroring what MLB did by awarding the 1976 game to old Veterans Stadium as part of the bicentennial celebration.
No other All-Star Games have been awarded yet, but USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported in February that the Orioles are the favorites to host in 2029. By then, a good portion of those $600 million in upgrades will be completed.
What a perfect time to show off a refurbished ballpark and woo the national media all over again.
Here are my power rankings.
1. Philadelphia Phillies (63-36, No. 1): The Phillies are healthy now that J.T. Realmuto is back off the injured list. They can coast the rest of the way with the Braves beat up, but they won’t.
2. Baltimore Orioles (60-39, No. 2): Anthony Santander is raising his game big-time with 18 homers since June 1.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (59-41, No. 4): They’re still missing Mookie Betts, but the Dodgers appear poised to try to pull off a blockbuster with the White Sox. Apparently, the club has discussed bringing in Garrett Crochet, Michael Kopech and Luis Robert for a gaggle of prospects. In the meantime, the rotation will welcome back Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw soon.
4. New York Yankees (59-42, No. 3): The Yankees are now apparently willing to part with outfield prospect Spencer Jones, who was previously untouchable. They honestly seem to be springing leaks all over the place.
5. Milwaukee Brewers (57-42, No. 6): Skipper Craig Counsell’s old squad comes to Wrigley for three games. This club apparently loves playing for new manager Pat Murphy. The Brewers are 10 games ahead of Counsell’s Cubs. The Brewers then return home for three against the hapless Marlins next weekend.
6. Cleveland Guardians (59-39, No. 5): Going through the first real stumble of the Stephen Vogt era of Guardians baseball. They won’t hit themselves out of it.
7. Houston Astros (52-47, No. 10): The Astros are mimicking Buckpasser, a famous racehorse from the ’60s that would bide his time and jump up out of nowhere to run down his toughest rivals at the wire. Houston is a relentless 26-12 in their last 38 games. The Astros picked up 10 games on Seattle during that time to draw even in the AL West.
8. Boston Red Sox (53-45, No. 7): The Red Sox did not look at all ready for primetime in being swept by the Dodgers this past weekend in Los Angeles.
9. Kansas City Royals (55-45, No. 12): The Royals have been better of late, pulling even with Twins this past weekend. The pickup of hard-throwing reliever Hunter Harvey is solid, but they are at least one big bat shy. Adam Frazier has been a bust in trying to duplicate his one season in Baltimore.
10. Minnesota Twins (54-44, No. 8): While they try to run down the slumping Guardians, the Twinkies have gone 3-5 in the past eight to allow a hot Royals squad to pull into a virtual dead heat for second place in the AL Central.
11. St. Louis Cardinals (52-47, No. 14)
12. Atlanta Braves (54-44, No. 9)
13. Seattle Mariners (53-48, No. 11)
14. San Diego Padres (52-50, No. 13)
15. Pittsburgh Pirates (50-49, No. 17)
16. Arizona Diamondbacks (51-49, No. 15)
17. New York Mets (50-48, No. 16)
18. Tampa Bay Rays (50-49, No. 19)
19. Texas Rangers (47-52, No. 18)
20. Detroit Tigers (49-51, No. 21)
21. Washington Nationals (47-53, No. 25)
22. Cincinnati Reds (47-53, No. 20)
23. San Francisco Giants (48-52, No. 23)
24. Chicago Cubs (48-53, No. 22)
25. Toronto Blue Jays (45-54, No. 24)
26. Los Angeles Angels (42-57, No. 26)
27. Oakland Athletics (39-62, No. 28)
28. Colorado Rockies (36-64, No. 27)
29. Miami Marlins (35-64, No. 29)
30. Chicago White Sox (27-74, No. 30)