After the first few days of the post-deadline portion of the 2025 MLB season, we again have quite a few changes in the power rankings. With a 5-1 week, the Brewers leapfrogged the Jays, who went just 2-5 and dropped all the way back to No. 8.
The Mets, who a week ago jumped back to No. 4, went 2-4 and fell backwards to No. 9. The Padres and Red Sox, however, went 5-1 and jumped up to Nos. 6 and 7, respectively. This coming weekend, the Red Sox travel to San Diego for a huge three-game series.
The top 12 teams in my rankings all have 60 or more wins.
Here are my latest MLB power rankings:
1. Milwaukee Brewers (67-44, No. 2 last week): The great irony here is that the small-market Brewers couldn’t keep David Stearns happy and didn’t appear to be able to give Craig Counsell the groceries he thought he needed to win it all (and pay him enough). Stearns is now running the Mets, while Counsell is the manager of the rival Cubs.
2. Detroit Tigers (65-48, No. 6): The Tigers added significant back-end arms in Kyle Finnegan, Paul Sewald and Rafael Montero. The last-minute swap to get Charlie Morton helps solidify their rotation and gives them a proven postseason arm.
3. Chicago Cubs (65-46, No. 3): It’s a huge surprise the Cubs didn’t pick up more of an impact starter than Mike Soroka, though he pitched better in D.C. than his surface numbers suggested. I love additions of veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge and utility guy Willi Castro.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (65-47, No. 7): I was underwhelmed by the Dodgers’ deadline additions. However, Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are all pitching at a high level. Blake Snell is back and will be pitching in a dominant fashion from here on out.
5. Philadelphia Phillies (63-48, No. 5): President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and GM Preston Mattingly had a solid deadline, adding Harrison Bader and a dominant closer in Jhoan Duran. The Phillies have created an electrifying entry show for Duran that will amp him up at home.
6. San Diego Padres (62-50, No. 9): I have to say I am now a fan of president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. He seems to always be playing chess while other general managers are playing checkers. It also helps that he brings in so much young talent that he always has the cards to make stuff happen.
7. Boston Red Sox (62-51, No. 10): Roman Anthony probably won’t win American League Rookie of the Year, but he is doing a second-half imitation of 1975 Fred Lynn. The top three in the rotation — Bryan Bello, Garrett Crochet and Lucas Giolito — are really hitting on all cylinders, and if you read this space you know I’d give GM Craig Breslow very high marks for his pickup of Dustin May. Boston loves a good redhead.
8. Toronto Blue Jays (65-48, No. 1): I didn’t love all that the Jays did at the deadline, but if Shane Bieber is as ready as they appear to think he is, they may have made one of the best moves of the deadline. That’s a big if, but club president Mark Shapiro and GM Ross Atkins were bold. If it pans out, maybe they win a World Series. If not, maybe both are looking for new jobs.
9. New York Mets (63-49, No. 4): With 50 games left, the only games the Mets have against below-.500 teams are against the Nationals and Braves (six apiece). Tough gauntlet. Cedric Mullins will help a lot in center field, even with a BB gun arm.
10. Houston Astros (62-50, No. 8): The Astros were 55-35 on July 6 following an extended hot streak. They have gone 7-15 since then. They’ll be very tough if Carlos Correa can lead the way again, but I’m not sure he has that much gas in the tank. Clearly, owner Jim Crane and GM Dana Brown are gambling he does.
11. Seattle Mariners (60-53, No. 12)
12. New York Yankees (60-52, No. 14)
13. Texas Rangers (58-55, No. 13)
14. Cincinnati Reds (58-54, No. 11)
15. Cleveland Guardians (56-55, No. 18)
16. Miami Marlins (55-55, No. 20)
17. Kansas City Royals (56-56, No. 19)
18. San Francisco Giants (56-56, No. 16)
19. St Louis Cardinals (56-57, No. 15)
20. Los Angeles Angels (54-58, No. 21)
21. Tampa Bay Rays (55-58, No. 17)
22. Baltimore Orioles (51-61, No. 24)
23. Athletics (49-65, No. 25)
24. Arizona Diamondbacks (53-59, No. 22)
25. Minnesota Twins (52-59, No. 23)
26. Pittsburgh Pirates (48-64, No. 26)
27. Atlanta Braves (47-63, No. 27)
28. Washington Nationals (44-67, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (42-70, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (30-81, No. 30)