Here are the power rankings after the 12th week of MLB play this season, as always questions and comments are appreciated.
Rank(Pv) |
Team |
Record |
Comments |
| 1(1) |  |
51-24 | The White Sox are 16-7 this month, good enough to hold onto the league lead. I’m sure they’d like to lock up homefield advantage throughout the playoffs though, so Buehrle and Garland will have some extra motivation to pitch well in Detroit for the All-Star game. |
| 2(5) |  |
47-29 | The Angels were a perfect 6-0 last week; I think Vlad’s return has helped them mentally as well as in the obvious ways. |
| 3(2) |  |
48-28 | The Cardinals are 19-7 against the Pirates since the start of last season, but only split the series with them last week. |
| 4(6) |  |
45-31 | The MLB still hasn’t narrowed the list of eight candidates looking to buy the Washington Nationals, but Congress Republicans have threatened to take away the MLB’s antitrust exemption if the extremely liberal George Soros buys the team. So not only do they want to dictate the drug policy, now they want to basically run the teams too? Give me a break. |
| 5(12) |  |
43-34 | Tim Hudson is expected to come back before the All-Star game and Chipper Jones could be back soon too. The rest of the NL East really missed a chance to bury the Braves under all their injuries, as Atlanta has won their last five games. |
| 6(4) |  |
44-32 | The Red Sox could get Gabe Kapler, Japanese Superstar, back soon. He’s hitting .153 in Japan, but he’s shown a lot of upside, just like the Euros that get drafted in the first round of the NBA averaging 3.3 PPG |
| 7(3) |  |
43-34 | Baltimore finally relinquished their lead in the AL East, they need to make one of those rumored trades pretty soon to keep close. |
| 8(11) |  |
42-33 | After a small losing skid the Twins are looking to trend upwards again, winning their last three games. |
| 9(7) |  |
43-35 | There are rumors of the Padres acquiring Bret Boone from the Mariners, which would indicate that Mark Loretta could be out for quite a while or move to third base upon his return. |
| 10(8) |  |
41-34 | Kyle Denney just has horrible luck. You may remember him as the guy who dressed up as a cheerleader and was shot on the Indian’s team bus. He was recently nailed with a line drive by D-Rays prospect Joey Gathright, prompting a trip to the hospital (he has a concussion). |
| 11(14) |  |
39-36 | I hope Derek Lee surpasses Albert Pujols in All-Star voting. Lee is just having one of those memorable years, and starting the All-Star game seems like a pretty good way to top off a great first half. |
| 12(16) |  |
38-36 | It’s a smart move to trade A.J. Burnett if they can’t resign him, especially if they get what they’re asking (a young starter, a quality reliever and a left-handed hitting outfielder). |
| 13(10) |  |
39-38 | Now the rumors are that the Yankees could get Preston Wilson to play CF. Like I’ve said before, I don’t like Preston Wilson that much, but he’s certainly a huge upgrade from Tony Womack. I definitely don’t like the idea of trading Gary Sheffield for Mike Cameron. |
| 14(17) |  |
39-39 | You have to feel good for Roy Halladay after that tough year he went through last season. |
| 15(14) |  |
39-39 | The D-Backs have managed to stabilize themselves at .500 after that massive losing skid and they’re still only four games back from the Padres. |
| 16(19) |  |
38-38 | Carlos Beltran has been underperforming horribly this year, but after having fluid drained from his leg Monday, Beltran has said that he’s feeling the best he has all year. |
| 17(13) |  |
37-32 | Kenny Rogers broke a bone in his non-pitching hand beating up a water cooler and has to miss at least one start, not good news for the slumping Rangers. |
| 18(9) |  |
39-38 | The Ugeth Urbina trade hasn’t worked out at all for Ed Wade. Urbina has allowed a HR in half his appearances, while Placido Polanco is hitting .420 this month. The Phillies have also lost ten of their last 13 games. |
| 19(22) |  |
36-40 | Don’t be surprised if you see Oakland playing for a division title late in the season. While their offense isn’t fantastic, it’s certainly improving and they still strike out the least of any team. For whatever reason Oakland has always been a markedly improved team in the second half, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see that continue this year. |
| 20(15) |  |
36-37 | Carlos Guillen returned Saturday, likely displacing Omar Infante from that lineup. |
| 21(25) |  |
35-41 | Rickie Weeks has lived up to his billing, despite hitting .286 he has an OBP of .412. |
| 22(21) |  |
36-41 | The Dodgers have lost 12 of their last 15 games. |
| 23(23) |  |
34-41 | After getting swept by the Orioles on June 15, the Astros are 8-3. |
| 24(20) |  |
34-41 | Oliver Perez has been placed on the DL after assaulting a laundry cart only to have the cart break his big toe. He had been improving a lot from his poor start, but I guess he’ll miss a few now. |
| 25(22) |  |
33-42 | Ichiro leads the Mariners’ regulars in batting average as expected, but he’s only hitting .298. |
| 26(26) |  |
31-44 | Surprisingly, San Fransisco picked up Alex Sanchez. I thought they only signed free agents over 35. Maybe they have a steroid to improve his defense out there. |
| 27(27) |  |
30-46 | There have been rumors of the Reds trading Eric Milton if they agree to pay half his salary. They should definitely do that as soon as possible. |
| 28(30) |  |
22-47 | Jamey Wright tied the Rockies’ club record for most hits allowed in one outing, giving up 15 to the Astros. |
| 29(29) |  |
27-51 | Lou Piniella should just resign if he really doesn’t want to manage Tampa Bay. If money’s an issue, I’m sure there are plenty of other teams that would be willing to hire him. |
| 30(27) |  |
25-51 | It’s hardly surprising, but the Royals are slumping with just one win in their last eleven, including a current eight game losing streak. |