Here are my MLB power rankings:
1. New York Yankees (69-34, No. 1 last week): Yankees have been baseball’s best team throughout the 2022 season. Yet, call it a regression to the mean or whatever you want, the Yankees are 11-12 since the Fourth of July. What do they need? Have to add a real starting pitcher. Surprised they didn’t get Castillo from the Reds. Perhaps they can pick off Tyler Mahle. Want to win a World Series? Jordan Montgomery won’t cut it.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (68-33, No. 2): Manager Dave Roberts really has his squad fully focused. The Dodgers are 19-4 in the last four weeks, and they could have an epic last couple of months. Tyler Anderson has been a lifesaver for a team that knew Trevor Bauer wouldn’t be allowed back and that Clayton Kershaw would have at least one health scare. What do they need? Andrew Heaney is back, joining a rotation that also includes Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urias, Anderson and Kershaw, but it wouldn’t hurt to acquire a starter. They clearly need a solid setup guy who could help if Craig Kimbrel runs out of gas. This would be a great landing spot for Jorge Lopez or Dillon Tate. Rumor has it the Dodgers are one of the last three teams in on Juan Soto, with the others being the Padres and Cardinals. Not shocked that the Dodgers want to at least come in and force the competition to give up as much as possible.
3. Houston Astros (67-36, No. 3): Back on June 13, these Astros were a very respectable 37-23. The Yankees were 44-16 at the time. Since then, the two teams have met seven times, with the Astros winning five. Maybe more to the point — since that date in June, the Astros have gone 30-13, and right now, with a little more than two months left in the season, the Astros are just two full games behind the Yankees. Both teams have played 103 games. What do the Astros need? Well, with them being knee-deep in starting pitching (Justin Verlander, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia, Christian Javier, Jose Urquidy and Jake Odorizzi), there are rumors that Odorizzi can be had. I seriously doubt that. What they need is a bullpen arm or two. Could the rehabbing Lance McCullers Jr. (due back in the next 8-10 days) be one of those key arms out of the ‘pen?
4. New York Mets (64-37, No. 4): So far, GM Billy Eppler has tinkered with his squad, adding Tyler Naquin and Daniel Vogelbach thus far. The Mets are 15-7 in their last 22 games, but I have been saying for the past couple months that they need a creative and bold move. We’ll see how much they really want to win it all now. In the meantime, they do get Jacob deGrom back in Washington Aug. 2. That’s bolder than anything Eppler can do. If deGrom is deGrom immediately, then all bets are off as to how far Buck Showalter can take this squad.
5. Atlanta Braves (62-41, No. 5): The Braves got out of the gate slowly and were very patient. On Memorial Day, the Braves were just No. 15 in my power rankings at 23-25. Since then, these Braves are 39-16. They hunted the Mets down but didn’t pass them and now New York has gotten Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom back. This is an important week as they host the red-hot Phillies for two and then head to Citi Field for a five-game series against the Mets. The Braves are very shrewd team. With Adam Duvall out for the year, they may get a guy like Brandon Drury, who is having a great season for the Reds. This is an affordable and highly-motivated player.
6. Milwaukee Brewers (57-45, No. 7): After back-to-back 2-3 weeks — when the Brew Crew looked like they may have been running on empty — they come back with a 7-2 mark in the past two weeks of play. What do they need? Like anyone, another starter and another bullpen arm would be huge for this team. They also could really use a Brandon Drury, but the competition could be fierce. A more likely needle to thread for GM David Stearns is to somehow be the leader in the Joey Gallo sweepstakes. Gallo has been a total bust in New York for the past year. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has to swallow his pride and try and obtain one decent prospect and maybe a second lottery ticket for a guy batting .159. Gallo could get some of his pep back in his step in Milwaukee.
7. San Diego Padres (57-46, No. 6): I know GM A.J. Preller desperately wants Juan Soto so he can get everyone excited about his new shiny object. I also hear his backup plan might be Ian Happ and Willson Contreras from the Cubs. Preller is very lucky the Oakland situation allowed for him to come away with a terrific manager in Bob Melvin. Preller didn’t even have to compensate the A’s. The Padres are just 10-12 in their last 22. They’re still waiting on Fernando Tatis Jr. He did start to take batting practice and is about four or five days away from starting a rehab assignment. It’ll still be a few more weeks before Tatis makes his season debut with the Padres.
8. Toronto Blue Jays (57-45, No. 9): It almost looks identical to the Phillies’ situation. The Jays were 46-42 just before the All-Star break when they pulled the plug on the Charlie Montoya era. Since then, the club has gone 11-3, looking a lot more formidable in all aspects of the game. The Jays are said to be in on Pirates lefty Jose Quintana. Matt Chapman is on a tear. On Memorial Day, the Jays’ third baseman was batting an anemic .200 with six homers and 20 RBIs. In 47 games since then, Chapman is hitting .293/.362/.598 with 14 homers and 37 RBIs.
9. Seattle Mariners (55-48, No. 11): GM Jerry Dipoto went all-in for the 2022 season when he traded a very high-level package of prospects for Reds ace Luis Castillo on Friday night. Twenty-four hours later, it might have all come tumbling down when prized rookie Julio Rodriguez was batting. He fought off three pitches, then the next pitch viciously swerved in on Rodriguez’s hands and hit him on the wrist as he swung. He is now on the injured list, even though initial X-rays showed no break. Unfortunately, he’s been joined on the IL by Dylan Moore and Ty France. Robbie Ray has been bombed in back-to-back starts against Houston.
10. Philadelphia Phillies (55-47, No. 12): The other shoe dropped on Joe Girardi in early June after a 132-141 run as Phillies skipper. The Phillies were just 22-29 in their first 51 games of this season. Since then, even without Bryce Harper, they are 33-18 and have moved into the “danger zone,” where they just might be good enough to be dangerous. They badly need one more impactful starting pitcher — say Tyler Mahle? They also could use a solid veteran bullpen arm like Michael Fulmer from the Tigers. Alec Bohm has been a revelation in July. In his first 74 games of this season, Bohm batted .262/.297/.356. But in July, check out these numbers: .434/.457/.632.
11. Tampa Bay Rays (54-48, No. 8)
12. Minnesota Twins (53-48, No. 10)
13. Cleveland Guardians (52-49, No. 13)
14. St. Louis Cardinals (54-48, No. 14)
15. Baltimore Orioles (51-51, No. 17)
16. Chicago White Sox (51-50, No. 18)
17. San Francisco Giants (51-51, No. 16)
18. Boston Red Sox (51-52, No. 15)
19. Miami Marlins (47-55, No. 19)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (45-56, No. 21)
21. Colorado Rockies (46-57, No. 22)
22. Texas Rangers (46-55, No. 20)
23. Detroit Tigers (41-62, No. 26)
24. Los Angeles Angels (43-59, No. 27)
25. Chicago Cubs (41-60, No. 25)
26. Oakland Athletics (39-65, No. 29)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (40-62, No. 23)
28. Cincinnati Reds (40-61, No. 28)
29. Kansas City Royals (40-62, No. 24)
30. Washington Nationals (35-68, No. 30)