Welcome to week 12 of the Sportscolumn.com MLB Power Rankings. The big movers and shakers of this week are the Braves and the White Sox, who both dropped four places, and ironically, both have coaches moving in opposite directions in their own power rankings. Ozzie Guillen is unquestionably on the hot seat, even though general manager Kenny Williams in noncommittal either way, while Bobby Cox set the new statistical standard for… well, let’s just call it like it is… he set the statistical standard for bitching, moaning, and acting like a horse’s ass. Congratulations.
As always, questions, comments and complaints are encouraged.
Rank (Pv) |
Team |
Record |
Comments |
| 1 (1) |  |
48-27 | Bartolo Colon, just two years removed from his Cy Young season, is only 1-3 with a 9.29 ERA over his last five starts. |
| 2 (2) |  |
49-28 | Remember last year when people were calling for Theo Epstein’s head over the Josh Beckett-Hanley Ramirez trade? You certainly aren’t hearing those people now, with his 11-1 record and 3.07 ERA. |
| 3 (4) |  |
45-30 | After a shaky season last year, Todd Jones continues to be a rocky ride at the end of the game for the Tigers. His four blown saves is tied for worst among AL closers and his 5.46 ERA is about a run and a half higher than his career average. I figured this would be the year that Joel Zumaya would step into that role, but that obviously won’t happen. |
| 4 (3) |  |
44-31 | One thing I find interesting, in light of the past NBA season, in which people would refer to the Cavaliers as the Cleveland LeBrons, is that Cleveland actually has a precedence for naming their team after its biggest star. They were the Cleveland Naps from 1903 to 1914, named after Hall of Famer Nap Lajoie. They became the Indians in the non-politically sensitive year of 1915. |
| 5 (6) |  |
44-33 | With all the talk of the Padres’ and Dodgers’ meek offenses, the Diamondbacks are almost as bad off. They’ve scored 329 runs, compared to San Diego’s 328, and Los Angeles’ 326. |
| 6 (5) |  |
42-32 | We all know the Padres have a fantastic pitching staff, but will they have enough offense to make a playoff run? One answer could in Brian Giles, who is set to return this weekend. He only had one homerun when he got injured, but has a career on-base percentage of .407 and a career slugging percentage of .520. |
| 7 (7) |  |
43-33 | Of course it’s too early to really start talking about the playoff race, but the Dodgers have an important series coming up with the Padres this weekend, as they’ve slipped behind Arizona and only have a half game lead over San Diego. |
| 8 (8) |  |
42-32 | The Mets certainly drew the short end of the interleague straw, having to face all seven of the other playoff teams from last season. |
| 9 (11) |  |
44-32 | The Brewers seem to have righted the ship after a couple week slide. They’ve now won eight of their last ten. The two constants have been Prince Fielder, who leads the league in homeruns, and Francisco Cordero leads the league in saves with 27. |
| 10 (9) |  |
39-36 | Oakland is famous for their late season heroics, but if they can’t start hitting, they might find themselves too far back to make a run after the all-star break. They’re trailing the red-hot Angels by 9.5 games and the schizophrenic Mariners by a game and a half. |
| 11 (13) |  |
40-33 | I wonder how people outside of Seattle view JJ Putz. His ERA, opponent average, on-base, and slugging have improved in each of his four full major league seasons, and he currently has the lowest ERA, average against, and WHIP of any closer in baseball. |
| 12 (14) |  |
39-36 | The Phillies have snuck into second place in the NL East. Next stop, hoisting the banner, while the Metropolitans watch the playoffs on television. |
| 13 (12) |  |
36-37 | At the beginning of the season, I thought Kei Igawa could have a chance of trumping Matsuzaka’s monster posting fee, and look like a bargain for the Yankees. However, it hasn’t turned out that way. He’s spent most of the year in the minors, only appearing in seven Major League games with an ERA of 7.88. |
| 14 (10) |  |
39-38 | The Braves have never really been the type of team that makes trade-deadline deals, but could this be the year they make a few moves to get back to the playoffs? Their biggest question mark is obviously Andruw Jones- whether they will be able to re-sign him in the off-season, or if they will even want to re-sign him. If the answer is no, they might be better off without him sooner, rather than later. |
| 15 (15) |  |
38-36 | The Twins, along with the Athletics, Astros and Phillies, are one of the teams that have played significantly better in the second half of the season, over the past couple years. |
| 16 (16) |  |
38-37 | Even though the 500-homerun club lacks the exclusivity that it once had, ESPN is still cutting in to a live telecast of all of Frank Thomas’s at-bats, as he sits at 499. |
| 17 (18) |  |
38-38 | The Rockies have scored the most runs in the NL West. However, with the thin air in Denver, it’s not surprising that they’ve also allowed the most. |
| 18 (21) |  |
36-39 | The Cubs are the only franchise that has been around since the beginning of Major League Baseball that has always played in the same city. They began their existence as the Chicago Orphans in 1876. |
| 19 (17) |  |
36-40 | Miami is obviously not a baseball town, so the Marlins might someday make a play to move out of Florida. If they do, I hope baseball doesn’t offer Jeffrey Loria the same sweetheart deal they did on when he owned the Expos. |
| 20 (19) |  |
33-42 | Most pitchers improve when they move from the American League to the National. However, Barry Zito is following up his monster contract signing with the worst year of his career. He has never finished a season with a record under .500 or an ERA over 4.50. Right now he is 6-8 with a 4.83 ERA. |
| 21 (22) |  |
32-44 | Although Josh Hamilton and Chris Young are having solid seasons, Hunter Pence clearly looks like the NL Rookie of the Year, hitting .353 with 8 homeruns, and a National League rookie best 35 RBI. |
| 22 (23) |  |
33-41 | Always one of my favorite players, Rocco Baldelli has had a rough two years. He missed a large portion of last season, due to a torn ACL, and has had several DL stints this season. He was hitting just .204 when a hamstring injury sent him to the 60-day DL. |
| 23 (24) |  |
32-43 | I keep a pretty close eye on statistics, but I never would have been able to tell you who had the second best ERA in the AL. Santana? No. Wang? No. Verlander, Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka? No, No, No, and No. Jeremy Guthrie of the Baltimore Orioles? Yes! |
| 24 (20) |  |
30-42 | Kenny Williams has now flip-flopped and has said that major changes will be happening with the Sox. First on the trading block… Mark Buerhle, who, at just 28 years of age, could begin a major bidding war with as many as ten teams having some degree of interest. |
| 25 (26) |  |
33-40 | I think the Cardinals made a great pickup with Mike Maroth. He reminds me a bit of a poor-man’s Mark Buerhle- fairly young, left-handed. And the fact that they got him for a player-to-be-named-later sounds like a steal. |
| 26 (25) |  |
31-44 | Last year Freddy Sanchez won the batting title. This year his average looks decent at .294, but his .674 OPS (combined with Jack Wilson’s .674) gives the Pirates one of the weakest middle infields in the game. |
| 27 (27) |  |
32-44 | Until he went back to the DL, Cristian Guzman had been a pleasant surprise for the Nationals, hitting .329 with six doubles, six triples, and two homeruns. Now, he’s out for the season. |
| 28 (28) |  |
31-46 | Rookie Alex Gordon is finally starting to find his swing after dismal months in April and May. In June he hit .338 and knocked in 10 runs, more than April and May combined. |
| 29 (30) |  |
31-45 | Another interesting number regarding the Rangers and their homerun hitting, is that they still lead the AL, despite hitting only 21 in June, third worst in the majors. |
| 30 (29) |  |
29-47 | The Reds and Rangers lead their respective leagues in homeruns, and also have the worst records, as well. |