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MLB General

MLB Power Rankings for July 4- 2007

Fourth of July is a time for fireworks, barbecues, apple pie, and of course, the National Pastime, so enjoy week 13 of SportsColumn’s MLB Power Rankings.

As always, questions, comments, and complaints are welcome.

Rank (Pv)
Team
Record
Comments
1 (2) 52-31
22% of Boston’s remaining games are against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
2 (1) 51-32
The Angels have a comfortable 4.5 game lead over Seattle, but they’ve lost five out of their last seven games.
3 (4) 51-32
The Indians are just one of two teams in the league whose three highest paid players are pitchers (Sabathia, Byrd, Westbrook).
4 (3) 47-34
Ivan Rodriguez caught his 2000th career game this week, becoming the fourth catcher in history to achieve the feat. He is 56 games shy of passing Gary Carter for third all-time.
5 (5) 47-38
Arizona is the second team in the league with its three highest paid players being pitchers (Johnson, Hernandez, Davis).
6 (6) 47-35
With the position that the Padres are in, would they be willing to move Cla Meredith to pick up a bat? The Pads have the best bullpen in baseball, so Meredith is not exactly vital. The question is, how much would he be worth? Last year he had a microscopic ERA of 1.07. This year it sits at about 3.70, but he’s only 24.
7 (7) 48-36
Jake Peavy is having a fantastic season, but I have to consider Brad Penny to be the Cy Young frontrunner, with a 10-1 record and 2.00 ERA.
8 (9) 48-36
Aside from the Red Sox, who are just running away with the AL East, the Brewers have the most comfortable division lead in baseball, at 6.5 games.
9 (8) 46-36
The Mets starting pitching is just four games over .500. Fortunately, their bullpen has 12 wins and 17 saves.
10 (11) 45-35
Strange goings-on in Seattle. If you’ve been a weekly reader of my column you’d know that I was not a fan of Mike Hargrove, however, his recent departure is very, very odd. The team had won seven games in a row, and had its best record in his tenure at 12 games over .500. Very suspicious.
11 (10) 43-40
You’ve got to feel for Chris Snelling, an unquestionably talented outfielder who has had a ton of bad luck with his body. For three consecutive years he was considered one of the top 100 prospects by Baseball America, but has just recently had his eighth surgery on his left knee, and a total of 11 overall.
12 (12) 43-42
The Phillies are one of three teams with a winning record that has given up more runs than they’ve scored. Arizona and Atlanta are the others.
13 (14) 43-41
Check out what former Red Sox shortstops are doing this season: Edgar Renteria is hitting .323 with 10 homeruns for the Braves (traded for Andy Marte); Hanley Ramirez is hitting .321 with 12 homeruns for the Marlins (traded for Josh Beckett); Orlando Cabrera is hitting .333 (granted free agency). The only exception is Nomar Garciaparra, who is hitting under .280 with just two homeruns.
14 (13) 39-42
July 4th: The birthday of America and the most famous owner in America’s National Pastime, George Steinbrenner.
15 (15) 43-40
Over the past three years, Johan Santana has been the best pitcher in baseball, but he has been at his most dominant after the All-Star break, which means bad news ahead for opposing hitters. Since 2004 he has an ERA of 1.78 after the break and a winning percentage of .914.
16 (18) 42-41
People in Chicago don’t care much about Lou Piniella at this point, but he is still such a beloved character in Seattle that a local sports talk radio show does a recap of the things that Sweet Lou said over the past week. Of course, this is the same radio show that Jim Mora Jr. told he’d like to be the head coach of the Huskies, so think what you will.
17 (17) 41-43
Jason Hirsh hasn’t been as effective as the guy he was traded for, Jason Jennings, but consider that he’s only 25. When Jennings was 25 he had an ERA of 5.51, while Hirsh, in his first Major League season, is currently at 4.90.
18 (16) 40-43
Frank Thomas did succeed in hitting his 500th homerun, but the most impressive thing about him is his ability to get on base, the exact model of the Moneyball philosophy. Thomas is hitting just .247, but his on-base percentage is .377.
19 (19) 39-45
Kevin Gregg has actually been a solid stopper at the end of the Marlins `pen, closing out 16 of 17 chances. The problem has been getting to him.
20 (20) 36-46
With all the hubbub surrounding Zito’s contract, it’s not often pointed out that Matt Morris is slated to make $37,283 more. However, Morris is earning his paycheck, with one more win and four less losses.
21 (21) 37-48
Congratulations to Craig Biggio on getting No. 3000. A true class act and a first ballot Hall of Famer.
22 (23) 36-46
The Orioles have to be happy June is over. Over the past five years, they’ve been the worst team in the league in June.
23 (24) 36-44
I’m so tired of following the “What will Kenny Williams do” storyline, that I’m not going to write about it or speculate until something is official.
24 (25) 37-43
I said at the beginning of the season that Ryan Franklin would be a surprisingly solid pickup for the defending World Champs. So far, he has a 2-0 record, with a 1.32 ERA in 32 appearances.
25 (26) 37-47
The Pirates stink, but their .987 fielding percentage is second best in the NL.
26 (22) 33-50
The Rays are really beginning to show their true colors, losing their last ten in a row.
27 (28) 36-48
June was the Royals first winning month in four years.
28 (27) 34-50
It’s funny to think that Dmitri Young made $8 million last year when he played in 48 games and hit .250, but will make $500,000 this year while hitting .337.
29 (29) 35-48
Say what you will about what he did or did not do in the past, or even what he may still be doing, but Sammy Sosa was snubbed from the All-Star Game. Michael Young is a great player, but he is having a sub-par season, while Sosa leads the team in homeruns and RBI, and is second in total bases.
30 (30) 32-52
I’m not sure if he technically qualifies, but Josh Hamilton should win the NL Comeback Player of the Year (or else be a co-winner with Dmitri Young). Hamilton is hitting .273 with 13 homeruns, and a .902 OPS.

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