Happy Labor Day to everyone reading my MLB power rankings. Seems like just yesterday I was readying my notebook that I use to chart the outcomes of every game every week for the full ride from late March to late September.
That we are entering the last four weeks of my 14th season doing this labor of love is staggering. It seems the seasons just go by faster and faster the older I get.
Before you take a look at this week’s power rankings, I wanted to make note that the Orioles will take part in the MLB Draft Lottery for the first time during the winter meetings in December. Baltimore, now 61-76 and losers of 9 of 11, lands at No. 26 in my rankings.
Clearly, the bottom three in my rankings are:
Washington Nationals (53-83)
Chicago White Sox (49-88)
Colorado Rockies (39-98)
The lottery determines the order for the top six spots in the draft. All eligible non-playoff teams take part. The Angels, Nationals and Rockies can’t pick higher than No. 10 in the 2025 draft due to anti-tanking measures related to the lottery.
The White Sox, Braves, Pirates, Twins and Athletics are sure to be in the lottery along with the Orioles, though. That gives the Orioles a fairly decent chance at a top-three pick next July.
The Orioles also had a solid draft this past July and picked up a bevy of prospects ahead of this year’s deadline. It all bodes well for the Orioles’ near-term ability to rebuild their prospect pipeline.
Here are this week’s rankings, without comments on the top 10:
1. Milwaukee Brewers (85-53, No. 1 last week)
2. Detroit Tigers (80-58, No. 3)
3. Toronto Blue Jays (79-58, No. 2)
4. Philadelphia Phillies (79-58, No. 8)
5. Los Angeles Dodgers (78-59, No. 6)
6. Chicago Cubs (78-59, No. 4)
7. New York Yankees (76-61, No. 12)
8. Boston Red Sox (76-62, No. 7)
9. New York Mets (73-64, No. 11)
10. San Diego Padres (76-61, No. 5)
11. Houston Astros (75-62, No. 9)
12. Seattle Mariners (73-64, No. 10)
13. Texas Rangers (71-67, No. 15)
14. Kansas City Royals (70-67, No. 14)
15. Cleveland Guardians (68-67, No. 16)
16. San Francisco Giants (68-69, No. 19)
17. Cincinnati Reds (69-68, No. 13)
18. St. Louis Cardinals (68-70, No. 19)
19. Arizona Diamondbacks (68-70, No. 18)
20. Tampa Bay Rays (67-69, No. 20)
21. Miami Marlins (65-72, No. 21)
22. Los Angeles Angels (64-72, No. 22)
23. Athletics (63-75, No. 24)
24. Pittsburgh Pirates (61-77, No. 26)
25. Atlanta Braves (62-75, No. 25)
26. Baltimore Orioles (61-76, No. 23)
27. Minnesota Twins (62-74, No. 27)
28. Washington Nationals (53-83, No. 28)
29. Chicago White Sox (49-88, No. 29)
30. Colorado Rockies (39-98, No. 30)