USA Today Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The Yankees had a rough week this past week as the team had to play two tough road series against two red hot American League teams in the Texas Rangers and the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees split the four game series with Texas and won two games out of three against the White Sox to go 4-3 on the week, would that be enough to keep their #6 position from last week’s rankings? Would the St. Louis Cardinals continue their dominance at the top of the list? Keep reading.

The biggest rise of the week goes to the Toronto Blue Jays who rose five slots to the #8 position while the biggest fall went to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim who fell five slots to the #10 position. Meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals took home the #1 spot while the worst team in the rankings went to the Philadelphia Phillies at #30. After the tough week for the Yankees the team remained at the #6 position signifying them as the third best team in the American League this season and the best team in the AL East.

To round out the rest of the American League East you have the Toronto Blue Jays finishing at the #8 position while the Baltimore Orioles finished the week ranked #14 overall. The Tampa Bay Rays came in at the #18 position while the Boston Red Sox find themselves in familiar territory at the #24 position.

The Top five teams according to the rankings are the #1 St. Louis Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros. The five worst teams according to the rankings are the #26 Oakland Athletics, #27 Colorado Rockies, #28 Milwaukee Brewers, #29 Miami Marlins and the #30 Philadelphia Phillies.

The July 31^st trade deadline has come and gone and many of the teams listed above made major moves to improve their ball club. It may take a week or two, or longer, for these teams to gel and fully reap the benefits of the trades so be sure to watch these rankings closely over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully the Yankees rise or at least stand pat, like they did at the trading deadline, so they can hold off the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays.