Here are my latest MLB power rankings.
1. Philadelphia Phillies (81-56, No. 3 last week): While the Dodgers probably deserve the No. 1 spot based on their record, I cannot yet figure how they’ll continue to win in October with a rotation in shambles. Meanwhile, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are aces and healthy.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (82-55, No. 2): Guess the Dodgers have made their bed, which consists of plenty of back-end relievers and bats. Still, I have never seen a rotation so flimsy ever win anything but a consolation prize.
3. Baltimore Orioles (79-59, No. 4): GM Mike Elias has been getting grilled about his trades, but take a look at the new Gregory Soto, who has allowed zero runs and one hit in his last nine appearances (8.1 innings). He has walked two and struck out 11 during that time. Zach Eflin is 5-0. However, the Trevor Rogers deal looks like a bomb.
4. Milwaukee Brewers (80-57, No. 6): The Brewers had a nice 5-2 week against San Francisco and Cincinnati. DL Hall finally returned, firing seven big-time innings as a starter.
5. San Diego Padres (78-61, No. 8): While the playoffs could be off the charts in terms of competitiveness this year, the three hottest teams in baseball are Houston, Arizona and this San Diego team. Don’t be surprised if the World Series has two of those three in it.
6. New York Yankees (79-58, No. 1): I have to be totally honest. GM Brian Cashman has had at his disposal awfully large payrolls and development budgets, but there’s not really a whole lot to show for it of late and Juan Soto is about to hit the open market. They’ll make the playoffs, but with the shape of their bullpen, I wouldn’t bet a monopoly-sized house on them to go very far … again.
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (77-60, No. 5): The D-Backs added Josh Bell at the deadline to fill in for Christian Walker, but around the same time they made two other additions in the form of players already on the roster. The real Corbin Carroll and Eugenio Suárez have powered this offense to another gear.
8. Houston Astros (75-62, No. 11): Now that they have put the Mariners in the rearview, the Astros have a head of steam and are still doing it without Kyle Tucker and only a percentage of the real Yordan Alvarez. Lots of their young kids have added something to the mix.
9. Cleveland Guardians (78-59, No. 7): Like a lot of the top-10 teams this year, the last five to six weeks have been a challenge for the Guardians. But they won the fourth game against Kansas City last week to avoid a sweep and it sent the Royals into a five-game losing streak.
10. Atlanta Braves (74-63, No. 12): I’m not really sure how, but the Braves were 13-6 in their last 19 heading into the Sunday night loss in Philly. Their baseball folks spun into maximum overdrive in picking up Ramón Laureano, Whit Merrifield and Gio Urshela to patch some big holes.
11. Kansas City Royals (75-63, No. 10)
12. New York Mets (73-64, No. 14)
13. Minnesota Twins (74-62, No. 9)
14. St. Louis Cardinals (69-68, No. 15)
15. Chicago Cubs (71-66, No. 19)
16. Boston Red Sox (70-67, No. 13)
17. Detroit Tigers (70-68, No. 18)
18. Seattle Mariners (69-68, No. 16)
19. Toronto Blue Jays (67-72, No. 21)
20. San Francisco Giants (68-70, No. 17)
21. Tampa Bay Rays (67-69, No. 20)
22. Texas Rangers (65-72, No. 24)
23. Cincinnati Reds (65-73, No. 23)
24. Pittsburgh Pirates (63-73, No. 22)
25. Washington Nationals (61-76, No. 25)
26. Oakland Athletics (59-78, No. 26)
27. Los Angeles Angels (57-80, No. 27)
28. Miami Marlins (51-86, No. 29)
29. Colorado Rockies (51-87, No. 28)
30. Chicago White Sox (31-107, No. 30)