USA Today's Weekly MLB Power Rankings

We’re getting down to the nitty gritty now and not to quote the band Europe or anything but we are in the final countdown. The end of the 2015 regular season is looming just off in the distance as many teams prepare for the postseason while the 20 unlucky teams that won’t make it prepare to go home. The New York Yankees are all but guaranteed a playoff spot this season and played like a playoff contender this week with a series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays and the first place New York Mets. Was it enough to improve their spot in the rankings though?

I won’t keep you in suspense for too long. Last week the New York Yankees dropped a spot to the #9 ranking on the list and with a strong week the team finished this week at the #9 spot remaining stagnant despite a strong week. To round out the rest of the American League East Division we have the Toronto Blue Jays still surging at the #4 spot while the Boston Red Sox finished the week #15 overall. The Baltimore Orioles came in on the rankings in the #17 spot while once again the Tampa Bay Rays were last seen bringing up the rear in the #18 position.

The biggest rise of the week goes to the Chicago Cubs who rose four spots to the #3 position while the biggest fall of the week went to the Milwaukee Brewers who unfortunately fell three spots to the #27 position. The Top Five teams in the league according to the rankings are the #1 overall St. Louis Cardinals followed by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Chicago Cubs, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Kansas City Royals. The five worst teams in the league according to the ranking are the #26 Miami Marlins, the #27 Milwaukee Brewers, the #28 Colorado Rockies, the #29 Atlanta Braves and the #30 Philadelphia Phillies.

With right around two weeks left of baseball left in the regular season these rankings may or may not be set in stone at this point. The change from the trading deadlines and September call ups have fluctauated the rankings a bit but those sample sizes have since corrected themselves. This is it, look at the Top 10 teams in the rankings… all going to the playoffs. The rankings don’t lie, it’s going to come down to who is the hottest, who wants it the most and who pulls a Yogi Berra and would rather be lucky than good. Stay tuned as to who that team is when the playoffs start on October 6^th.