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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for June 7- 2007

What is it with the American powers-that-be and their long, obsessive, and expensive pursuits of pointless conflicts? Golf, the War in Iraq, the Mitchell Investigation, etc.

In the year or so that the Mitchell Investigation has been conducted, it has cost Major League Baseball $2 million per month, and has yielded little or no evidence concerning the current or past state of illegal performance enhancing substances in the game. And more, it has done nothing to solve the problem of former “cheaters” or how to eliminate “cheaters” from the game today.

Rank (Pv)
Team
Record
Comments
1 (1) 37-20
JD Drew: $14.4 million, .224 average, .311 slugging percentage.
2 (4) 38-23
The Angels will be in a good predicament when Garret Anderson returns. Reggie Willits has been playing very well in his absence, hitting .324 with a .420 on-base percentage and leads the team with 14 stolen bases.
3 (2) 35-21
In 2005 Oliver Perez had an ERA of 5.85, in 2006 it was 6.55. This year he leads the Mets with a 2.80 ERA and 66 strikeouts.
4 (3) 35-21
Although Jake Westbrook hasn’t been impressive in his six starts this season, the Indians will benefit by his return, which could be close. Westbrook has won at least 14 games in each of the past three seasons and at this point would probably replace Jeremy Sowers as the team’s fifth starter (6.63 ERA). Last year he induced 36 ground-ball double plays, most in the Majors. Westbrook threw a bullpen session on Tuesday.
5 (6) 34-24
Randy Wolf comes out looking like the steal of the off-season at $7.5 million, leading the Dodgers in wins (7) and strikeouts (74).
6 (7) 34-23
Anybody notice how people in the NL West get traded around like a drunken sorority girl at a frat party? Greg Maddux went from Los Angeles to San Diego; Jason Schmidt went from San Fran to Los Angeles; Ryan Klesko went from San Diego to San Fran; Dave Roberts went from San Diego to San Fran; even Bruce Bochy went from San Diego to San Fran.
7 (5) 32-25
Gary Sheffield: For once in your life, Shut Up! If you think your comments are going to help black athletes in baseball, you are wrong… if anything, they will only make things worse.
8 (9) 35-24
Arizona has been the hottest team in baseball over the past 16 games, winning 13.
9 (8) 33-27
The Soriano-Ramirez trade looks great for the Braves. Rafael Soriano has 10 holds, five saves and a 2.42 ERA, while Horacio Ramirez is currently taking a disabled-list vacation with a 6.47 ERA.
10 (10) 33-27
The Brewers are slumping, but Prince Fielder is not. He leads the team in average (.294), runs (38), and leads the league in homeruns (21). Over the past seven days he’s slugged .857 with three homeruns.
11 (13) 30-27
The A’s pitching staff leads the league in ERA, batting average against, OPS against, and WHIP, yet they sit 6.5 games out in the West.
12 (17) 30-26
Surprisingly, the Mariners have scored more runs since May 1 (197) than all but two teams (the Indians and Tigers). They lead the league in runs in June with 36.
13 (12) 29-29
It seems the Phillies can’t get a break. They now have two closers on the disabled list.
14 (11) 26-28
Not many people figured the White Sox would have a hard time scoring runs this season, but take a look at these American League rankings: average (14th), runs (14th), on-base percentage (14th), slugging (14th), and stolen bases (12th).
15 (14) 29-29
Torii Hunter is making the most of his free-agent season. He is on pace for career highs in homeruns, RBI, and batting average.
16 (15) 27-30
I hate to say, “I told you so,” but I’m going to anyway. I predicted a big season from Benjie Molina in my 2007 Power Rankings Preview, and he’s coming through for me. He leads the team in hitting and also has 6 homeruns and 33 RBI.
17 (16) 25-31
Too little, too late. When the Rocket re-signed (May 6) they were only 5.5 games back. Now, one month later, they 11.5 games out and only one game ahead of the Devil Rays.
18 (19) 30-31
With the departure of Joe Borowski, the Marlins have struggled to close out the end of games, blowing 10 saves in 24 chances.
19 (20) 28-29
Toronto’s top prospect Adam Lind was awful in May, hitting well under .200, but he’s started to heat up lately, hitting .385 over the last seven days with an OPS of .967.
20 (23) 29-32
As surprising as the Mariners’ offense has been, so too has the Orioles starting pitching. The O’s starting pitching has an ERA of 3.76 (3rd in the AL) and a .238 average against (2nd in the AL).
21 (25) 27-31
With a .466 winning percentage the Rockies are the winningest last place team in the Majors. If they played in the Central they would only be six games back.
22 (18) 25-32
Derrek Lee’s batting average has dropped about 50 points in 14 games. Just two weeks ago he was chasing .400, now he has lost the ML lead to Magglio Ordonez.
23 (21) 24-33
Luke Scott, who drives around with a loaded gun in his car at all times, has done an about face from last year, when he lead the National League in hitting against right-handed pitching (.366). This year he’s hitting a meek .203 against righties.
24 (22) 25-33
Adam LaRoche is not proving to be the player the Pirates thought he was when they acquired him. He’s only hitting .220 (47 points below his career average) and only has six homeruns.
25 (24) 25-30
Albert Pujols looked like the most unstoppable force in baseball over the past six seasons. This year, he’s on pace for career lows in batting average, homeruns, and RBI. Somehow HGH and steroids accusations have slid off him like Teflon.
26 (26) 24-32
All reports are that Tampa Bay will take Vanderbilt’s David Price with the #1 overall pick.
27 (27) 23-35
With his little brother emerging in Tampa Bay, Dmitri Young is experiencing his own re-emergence. The elder Young is leading the Nationals in hitting (.317) and OPS (.876), and looks like a bargain at $500,000.
28 (29) 22-37
Last week I said it was time to see Homer Bailey. Obviously the Reds management has been reading my weekly column, because they have announced that he will make his Major League debut on Friday.
29 (30) 21-37
It has been a big week for people named Victor. Victor Diaz of Texas knocked in 11 runs while hitting .462 over the past seven days, and Cleveland’s Victor Martinez drove in 9 and hit .429 over the same stretch.
30 (28) 21-38
Well, it turns out success wasn’t long-lived. The Royals are back in their familiar spot, with the worst record in baseball.

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