MLB Power Rankings for August 31st- 2006

Another old and crafty left-hander has been shipped from a pretender to a contender, but does the three-time All-Star, two-time Cy Young candidate, one-time 20 game winner, still have anything left in the tank?

Will Ryan Howard chase after the Ruth/Maris homerun mark in his first full major league season?

Will Delmon Young’s work with the bat in his hand be enough to erase the memory of his classless act of throwing one?

And how about those Marlins? Their entire team should just be awarded one huge Rookie of the Year Award to share, but will they have enough talent to keep them close in the Wild Card race? I can guarantee that if they make it to the postseason, they’ll be the number one team nobody wants to face.

And, oh, yeah, I almost forgot, we have new top dog.

Rank (Pv)	Team	Record	Comments
1 (2)		82-50	Every week it seems the Mets are riding another massive winning streak. Granted their opponents have been primarily the Phillies and Rockies, but they’ve won 12 out of their last 13, and snuck into the #1 slot. We’ll see how long it lasts with the Yankees nipping at their heels.
2 (3)		79-53	Without a doubt the Yankees have the most talented team in baseball. Their pitching staff owns five Cy Youngs and six runners-up. Their offense owns three MVPs, four runner-ups, and a Rookie of the Year. However, they can’t seem to put together much of a consistent winning streak: they’ve only won half of their past ten games.
3 (1)		83-51	At the top of the overall standings for most of the season, the Tigers now look to be in danger of losing their lead in the Central, as well. The Sox and Twinkies are both within five games.
4 (4)		78-55	After what he did in the postseason last year, it’s easy to forget that this is really Big Bad Bobby Jenks’ first full season as a closer, and he’s tackled it with Hoffman-esque numbers. In 40 chances he’s converted 38 saves (1st in the AL).
5 (5)		77-55	With Papi hospitalized and missing action and the Red Sox floundering, Justin Morneau should garner some more serious consideration for MVP. He’s in the top ten in the AL in homeruns (32), RBI (110), and OPS (.949), while hitting a solid .315.
6 (6)		77-56	The A’s have stretched their AL West lead to 7.5 games, despite lacking a single .300+ hitter.
7 (8)		71-61	It surprises me that three veteran starting pitchers have been moved in the past month or so, and the Cardinals haven’t really made a play for any of them (Maddux, Moyer, Wells). That’s 700+ career wins out of three arms, and it seems convenient that St. Louis needs pitching.
8 (9)		70-64	The Angels are starting to remind me of the Runnin’ Redbirds of the mid-80’s, with a lineup chock-full of speedsters (Chone Figgins, Howie Kendrick, Reggie Willits).
9 (12)		71-62	I think the Dodgers should win the NL West. I even think they should beat their first round opponent in the playoffs, unless it’s the New York Mets. But, one stat that should worry Dodger fans is that the team leader in homeruns is Nomar Garciaparra, with only 14.
10 (7)		72-62	The question has to be asked. Is Theo Epstein really the guy to lead the Red Sox out of the mediocrity of New York’s shadow? Or was he just labeled with the savior tag because of the ’04 World Series? Right now his moves look iffy, at best. He gave Beckett a contract extension, without much of a case sample, and remember that he gave up Hanley Ramirez to get him.
11 (10)		69-65	Vegas odds against John Gibbons managing the Blue Jays next year: 3:1.
12 (13)		68-65	Boomer is back in Cali. The big fella was sent to San Diego in exchange for a minor league catcher. Last season he had a 3.73 ERA for the Padres.
13 (14)		69-66	In a recent poll, Buck Showalter was voted the worst manager in the AL, by 470 major league players. He was followed closely by Seattle’s Mike Hargrove.
14 (15)		67-66	Ryan Howard broke the Phillies single season homerun mark set by Mike Schmidt, with his 49th jack on Thursday. It might be a more offensive game now than it was when Schmidt played, but the fact remains: Howard passed one of the greatest hitters of all-time, and he’s only 26-years old.
15 (11)		67-67	Has anybody noticed that Ryan Howard swing is almost an exact duplicate of Ken Griffey Jr.’s? With as good as Griff was in his younger days, he’s not a bad power hitter to emulate.
16 (16)		64-69	The D-Backs are, in reality, only 7 games back in the NL West, but they’d have to leapfrog three teams to take the lead. That won’t happen.
17 (17)		66-68	Omar Vizquel is having the best offensive year of his career, leading the team in average (.311), stolen bases (24), and runs (78). And he’s in the hunt for another Gold Glove with only 3 errors in 517 chances.
18 (18)		66-68	Roy Oswalt has set the bar for starting pitchers in the off-season, signing a five year extension worth $73 million.
19 (21)		65-68	The fish are smoking hot, winning nine in a row, before dropping the last two to St. Louis. They also became only the third team since 1920 to get 13 wins in a month from rookies. The others were the ’24 Athletics and the ’56 Dodgers.
20 (19)		62-72	The Brewers will have an interesting battle up the middle next year with Rickie Weeks, JJ Hardy, and Bill Hall all playing games at short and second. Bill Hall is the most offensively talented of the three, but he’s also the most versatile defensively, playing games at short, second, third, and center field..
21 (20)		63-69	With all the focus on Joe Mauer, Brian McCann often gets overlooked. His .341 average is only six points behind Freddy Sanchez, but because of early injuries, he probably won’t get enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title.
22 (22)		62-71	In the 13 years of franchise existence, the Rockies have only made it to the postseason one time. Expansion cousin Marlins have already won two rings.
23 (23)		63-70	On Wednesday night, Mariner fans gave Jon Huber a standing ovation for making his major league debut and striking out the only batter he faced. It’s been that kind of season for Seattle.
24 (24)		63-69	The Tribe has increased their standings in each of the last three seasons. In ’03 they were 4th place (22 games back); ’04, third place (20.5 games back); last year, 2nd place (6 games back). This year, however, they’ve regressed back to 4th place (19 games back).
25 (25)		60-73	The good news for the Orioles, at this point, is that Bruce Chen will be a free-agent next year. He is 0-7, with an ERA well over 6.00.
26 (26)		56-77	For the second year in a row, Frank Robinson was voted the worst manager in the Major Leagues, by the players.
27 (27)		53-81	Delmon Young made his first splash of the season by throwing a bat at an umpire. He made his second splash in his major league debut, taking a hit-by-pitch in his first at-bat, and hitting a homerun in his third plate appearance.
28 (28)		54-79	Vegas odd against Dusty Baker returning as the Cubs manager next year: 4:1.
29 (29)		53-81	Ian Snell’s record looks good at 12-8, but the 24-year old has given up 22 homeruns in 27 games.
30 (30)		49-86	As expected, Kansas City will be the last team in baseball to reach the 50 win plateau. They need to win four more games to avoid a 110-loss season.