With the trade deadline being Tuesday at 6 p.m. EST, my MLB power rankings will be put out as usual but my accompanying column will be written Tuesday evening for a Wednesday morning release.
1. Atlanta Braves (67-36, No. 1 last week): You never really hear the Braves attached to anyone at the deadline in large part because they are 30-plus games over .500. But GM Alex Anthopoulos is shrewd and he knows that he must find the weak link and improve it because the other teams he is competing against will be better. I’m guessing they swoop in for more bullpen arms.
2. Baltimore Orioles (64-41, No. 2): GM Mike Elias looks to have made a very intriguing pickup in Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami, but he needs to come away with two more pitchers –a starter and a reliever. But with two outfielders on the IL, there is some speculation that they have checked in with the Cardinals on outfielder Dylan Carlson. I know there are a ton of pitchers still on the market, and Elias has the ammo to pull a Blake Snell or a Justin Verlander. But I see smaller moves around the edges. Michael Lorenzen (Detroit) and Steven Matz (St. Louis) may be more in line with Elias’ thinking. While Scott Barlow fits the bill in the bullpen, the other Royals reliever coming on strong is Carlos Hernández.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (59-45, No. 3): First place in the NL West hasn’t stopped the Dodgers from executing their plan to marginally get better in many spots. They have added the versatile Kiké Hernández, who comes back to where it all started. They also pulled an infield version as well, plucking Amed Rosario from the Guardians. Then they picked up some pitching in the portly Lance Lynn and reliever Joe Kelly.
4. Tampa Bay Rays (64-44, No. 5): The standings say the Rays are just 1.5 games behind the Orioles, even with a 13-20 record in their last 33 games. You have to figure they are all-in on Justin Verlander, but nothing against Tampa/St. Pete, but he and wife Kate Upton would probably need quite a sales job for Verlander to wind up there.
5. Houston Astros (59-47, No. 6): Even though they trail the Rangers by one game, I think the Astros getting José Altuve and Yordan Álvarez back trumps what the Rangers have added in Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery. They also have added a useful arm in their ‘pen in Kendall Graveman. I still think the Astros will figure out a way to buy a starting pitcher. They have seven home games this week — four against the Guardians and three against the Yankees.
6. Texas Rangers (60-46, No. 4): The Rangers are all-in, and with their wounded and ineffective starting rotation, they have picked up the legendary Max Scherzer. They also wasted no time in picking mid-rotation help in lefty Jordan Montgomery. The Scherzer deal did come at the cost of a near top Rangers farmhand Luisangel Acuña, the baby brother of Ronald Acuña. I’m still not sure how Rangers GM Chris Young convinced the Mets to give back to the Rangers $35 million of the $53 still owed to Scherzer through 2024. The club also lost All-Star catcher Jonah Heim (strained tendon in his wrist) to the 10-day IL. Heim has 70 RBIs as a key part of this lineup.
7. Toronto Blue Jays (59-47, No. 9): Like the Red Sox, the Jays have gone 20-13 in their last 33 games. They wasted little time when closer Jordan Romano hit the injured list with lower back inflammation by picking up Cardinals hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks. Their other potential big addition to their staff comes from within, as starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu makes his season debut against the Orioles on Aug. 1. He returns after a 14-month absence (Tommy John surgery).
8. Cincinnati Reds (58-49, No. 7): The Reds just extended manager David Bell for three more seasons. I am expecting them to buy some pitching by the deadline. They have four at Wrigley against the Cubs, followed by four at home against the lowly but spunky Nationals.
9. Philadelphia Phillies (56-49, No. 10): When the Phillies beat the Orioles two out of three in Citizens Bank Park last week, it seemed as though that might fuel a much-needed hot streak. Then they go into Pittsburgh and drop two of three. Their week starts with four tough games in Miami, their closest in-division rival for a wild-card spot. Their week ends back in Philly against the hapless Royals.
10. Boston Red Sox (56-49, No. 11): I happened to be listening to the Red Sox-Giants game on July 30 with Jon Miller on the call. He noted that Boston’s better play in July was fueled by five or six players batting over .300 during the month. That’ll work.
11. San Francisco Giants (58-48, No. 13)
12. Milwaukee Brewers (57-49, No. 8)
13. Arizona Diamondbacks (56-50, No. 12)
14. Miami Marlins (57-49, No. 17)
15. Los Angeles Angels (55-51, No. 18)
16. Seattle Mariners (54-51, No. 16)
17. New York Yankees (55-50, No. 20)
18. Minnesota Twins (54-53, No. 14)
19. Chicago Cubs (53-52, No. 21)
20. Cleveland Guardians (53-53, No. 15)
21. San Diego Padres (52-54, No. 19)
22. New York Mets (50-55, No. 22)
23. Detroit Tigers (47-59, No. 23)
24. Pittsburgh Pirates (47-58, No. 28)
25. St. Louis Cardinals (47-60, No. 24)
26. Washington Nationals (44-62, No. 25)
27. Chicago White Sox (43-64, No. 27)
28. Colorado Rockies (41-64, No. 26)
29. Kansas City Royals (32-75, No. 30)
30. Oakland Athletics (30-77, No. 29)