The past week proved to shake up my power rankings. The Tigers have dropped to sixth, the Dodgers to seventh and the Yankees to 14th. Also, the Rays have slipped all the way back down to 17th with their work in the past four weeks. The other side of the coin saw the Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets and Phillies all make nice moves up the rankings.
Additionally, the Reds and Rangers have heated up and are closing in on the top 10. How this finishes up could be decided by the 10-12 buyers this week.
Without further ado, here are my latest power rankings:
1. Toronto Blue Jays (63-43, No. 3 last week): The Jays are 32-15 since June 2. Back then, they trailed the Yankees by 5.5 games in the American League East. They have picked up 11 games on the Bombers since then and now lead by 5.5 games.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (62-43, No. 4): The Brewers trailed the Cubs by 5.5 games on June 2. They now have moved into a tie with the Cubs for the National League Central title.
3. Chicago Cubs (62-43, No. 2): Rookie Cade Horton has been more effective of late, but look for the Cubs to add a veteran starter like Zach Eflin, Zac Gallen, Mitch Keller or Merrill Kelly. They are also looking to add one more significant late-inning guy. Could they match up with the Orioles for Seranthony Domínguez and Charlie Morton?
4. New York Mets (62-44, No. 7): The Mets made a nice small move in acquiring lefty relief pitcher Gregory Soto from the Orioles. It’ll be interesting to see if they add another starter. I think they will. They are heavily invested, so I think they’ll pull off something significant.
5. Philadelphia Phillies (60-45, No. 8): The Phillies have great starting pitching, even without Aaron Nola and their left-handed thump is powerful. Still, they could use a right-handed bat and maybe two late-inning arms, including a real closer. Jordan Romano can’t be trusted. José Alvarado will return from a PED suspension this season but will not be eligible for postseason play. Andrew Kittredge could be a nice fit here.
6. Detroit Tigers (61-46, No. 1): The Tigers are 4-12 in their last 16 games dating back to before the All-Star break. Tarik Skubal is still amazing, but the rotation is leaking badly heading toward the deadline. Could they be the team that the D-Backs pair up with for a big deal? Eugenio Suárez would add some thump for the Tigers, who could pluck off a starter, too.
7. Los Angeles Dodgers (61-45, No. 5): This will be the most fascinating team to watch at the deadline. They definitely need bullpen arms with Michael Kopech, Evan Phillips and Tanner Scott all hurt and Blake Treinen just coming back. Word is they could dangle starter Dustin May.
8. Houston Astros (60-46, No. 6): Like so many teams that made huge pushes to get into contention, the Astros suddenly have gone ice cold (5-11 in their last 16 games). GM Dana Brown needs to acquire some offense in light of the injury to third baseman Issac Parades. A platoon bat in left field wouldn’t hurt, either. Some combination of Charlie Morton, Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Urías makes sense to me.
9. San Diego Padres (57-49, No. 10): President of baseball operations A.J. Preller always seems to be able to pull prospects from a deep farm system to get what he needs. Not sure he has the cards this time around. Michael King has been out since late May with a pinched nerve in his shoulder, and while he thinks he’ll be back, there’s no clear timeline in place. That makes me think it’s late August. In the meantime, Yu Darvish has been able to only toss 16.2 innings to the tune of a 9.18 ERA. To me, it just doesn’t add up for a late run.
10. Boston Red Sox (57-50, No. 12): Alex Bregman is back. He isn’t Rafael Devers, but he’ll drive in plenty of big runs. With the Yankees sliding ahead of the deadline and Aaron Judge on the IL, can the Red Sox be another team that can slip past the Yankees? Remember, they won 12 of 13 before the break.
11. Cincinnati Reds (56-50, No. 14)
12. Seattle Mariners (56-50, No. 11)
13. Texas Rangers (56-50, No. 16)
14. New York Yankees (57-48, No. 9)
15. St. Louis Cardinals (54-53, No. 18)
16. San Francisco Giants (54-52, No. 13)
17. Tampa Bay Rays (53-53, No. 15)
18. Cleveland Guardians (52-53, No. 20)
19. Kansas City Royals (52-54, No. 22)
20. Miami Marlins (50-54, No. 23)
21. Los Angeles Angels (51-55, No. 19)
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (51-55, No. 17)
23. Minnesota Twins (50-55, No. 21)
24. Baltimore Orioles (47-58, No. 24)
25. Athletics (46-62, No. 26)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (44-62, No. 28)
27. Atlanta Braves (44-60, No. 25)
28. Washington Nationals (43-62, No. 27)
29. Chicago White Sox (38-68, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (27-78, No. 30)