USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Cue the music, “coming for that number one spot.” And the New York Yankees did just that this week as the USA Today released their newest set of weekly power rankings over on their site. The Boston Red Sox slipped to second as the Yankees went from a .500 ball club to the best team in baseball, according to these rankings, in just three weeks’ time. Imagine what will happen when the team gets a healthy Brandon Drury and Greg Bird back. The sky is the limit with this team, I have said that from day one.

The Red Sox slipped to second place while the Houston Astros (3^rd), Arizona Diamondbacks (4^th) and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (5^th) round out the Top 5. The five worst teams in the league according to these rankings are the Kansas City Royals (26^th), the Baltimore Orioles (27^th), the Cincinnati Reds (28^th), the Miami Marlins (29^th) and the Chicago White Sox (30^th).

Surprises? The Milwaukee Brewers are back in the Top 10 and climbing, so are the Atlanta Braves as well with a huge +56 run differential. Meanwhile the New York Mets and the Toronto Blue Jays are in a free fall out of contention and off the board. You have to think the biggest surprise though is the Los Angeles Dodgers who not only got swept by the Cincinnati Reds recently but have also fallen to 21^st overall in the rankings. Will the Dodgers even make the postseason at this point?

The Cincinnati Reds are 6-0 to start the Matt Harvey era. Have a great day everyone.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

There won’t be many more of these MLB Power Rankings left this season because there aren’t many weeks left in the 2017 season, regular season and the playoffs included. As we enter the final swing of the season and as the marathon that became a spring that has now become an all-out run comes to a close we can use these power rankings to judge how things will be for each team going forward. Remember, it isn’t necessarily always the best teams that win playoff series in October but the hottest teams generally do extremely well overall. If you’re hot your team will be high on the list, if not then they won’t be so let’s take a look at the list and prepare for the postseason that begins this October.

The Cleveland Indians won 29 of their last 31 games at the time of the release of the power rankings by the USA Today which officially makes them not only the hottest team in Major League Baseball right now but the best team as well. The Los Angeles Dodgers have occupied that top spot for the longest time this season but have since nestled in at the #2 position overall since the Indians became untouchable on-and-off the field. To round out the Top 5 teams we have the 3^rd overall Houston Astros, the Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox. It is worth noting that Justin Verlander has a 4-0 record with a 0.64 ERA as a member of the Houston Astros this season. Who wants to face that team right now in the postseason?

The New York Yankees might if it means they didn’t have to face off with the Cleveland Indians which goes to show you just how deep the American League playoffs could be here in 2017. Speaking of the Yankees the Bronx Bombers remained steady this week at the #8 position overall. The way Aaron Judge is hitting, the way Luis Severino is pitching and the way Aroldis Chapman is closing again though I think this team may sneak up on a few teams in the postseason if they get past the Wild Card Round. Maybe I’m a homer, or maybe I know a little bit about what I am talking about.

Stay tuned to find out.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week down and another week bites the dust. Pretty soon we won’t have these MLB power rankings to look at and pretty soon all we’ll have left is playoff baseball. Then nothing. Before we get too ahead of ourselves though let’s take one week at a time and look at the latest set of MLB Power Rankings brought to you by the USA Today.

The Cleveland Indians remained at the top spot this week, winning 22 games in a row will do that to a team I guess, while the Los Angeles Dodgers remained in unfamiliar waters at the second spot. The Houston Astros climbed a spot to the #3 position overall while the Washington Nationals relinquished that spot falling to the fourth position. Rounding out the Top Five we have the Arizona Diamondbacks who also occupied that spot on last week’s set of rankings.

This is a Yankees blog though so I know you came to see where the Yankees fell so let’s get to it. The Yankees have been hot as of late and are winning games at a steady pace which left the team at the 8^th position overall, surprisingly one spot lower than they were last week. The Chicago Cubs are red hot though and they leapfrogged the Yankees this week so I guess I get that thought logic, even though the fan in me doesn’t necessarily agree with it. Oh well.

To round out the American League East the Boston Red Sox are 6^th overall followed by the 17^th overall Tampa Bay Rays, the 18^th overall Baltimore Orioles who fell four spots and the Toronto Blue Jays who are 19^th overall.

Oh and the San Francisco Giants still suck. Goodnight everyone.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week of Major League Baseball down the drain here in 2017 and pretty soon we won’t have any baseball left to talk about. We as a fan base need to enjoy the good times while they are here and that includes these weekly MLB Power Rankings brought to you by the USA Today. After the Yankees took three-of-four from the Boston Red Sox over the weekend was that enough to propel them up the rankings? Keep reading to find out.

The Red Sox dropped one spot out of the Top 5 to the 6^th position overall after the Yankees pummeled them over the weekend while New York also fell a spot to the #8 position. Tough crowd. The question the USA Today asked in their rankings post was whether Chad Green was the next closer. While I should probably make that another post for another day I’d just like to interject and say that I hope not. With a team that has David Robertson, Aroldis Chapman and Dellin Betances on it I am not sure how I feel about having Green as the closer. He has pitched well, don’t get me wrong, but the playoffs are what I have my eyes on and the playoffs are a whole new animal. I’m cautiously pessimistic, I can’t help it. It is in my nature.

The Top 5 consists of the Los Angeles Dodgers, duh, followed in order by the Houston Astros, the Cleveland Indians who rose a spot from last week, the Washington Nationals who fell a spot from last week and the Arizona Diamondbacks who won’t even win their own division. It is amazing what the Los Angeles Dodgers have done this season. The Cubs took the Yankees #7 position while the Colorado Rockies remained 9^th overall in a stacked National League West Division.

Don’t look now but the Minnesota Twins are red hot as they jumped three spots this week to the #11 position. Here is an interesting note on the Twins while we are on the subject, Minnesota is the only team in the league with a winning record on the road and a losing record at home. Maybe winning the second Wild Card in the American League was in the plans all along. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the team I chose to win the second Wild Card in the AL, tripped up against the Oakland Athletics and fell one spot to the #12 position.

Madison Bumgarner has as many home runs (3) as wins (3) as a starting pitcher this season and we wonder why the San Francisco Giants are 29^th overall. 

USA Today’s Week One MLB Power Rankings

Ladies and gentleman we are barely three games into the 2017 regular season and the USA Today is already updating their weekly MLB Power Rankings. This is the first official set from the actual season as the first batch was a preseason ranking and the New York Yankees are on the way up.

The biggest rise of the week went to the New York Yankees who rose two spots from the 18^th spot overall in the league to 16^th overall. Good job Baby Bombers! The biggest fall of the week went to the Miami Marlins who fell two spots from a week or so ago dropping to the 21^st spot from 19^th overall. Obviously this early in the season these mean little to nothing, remember people… sample size, but it’s still good to see the Yankees trending in the right direction regardless.

The Top Five teams in the league according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs at the #1 spot followed by the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals. The New York Mets are 9^th, the Toronto Blue Jays are 10^th, the Baltimore Orioles are 12^th, the Seattle Robinson Cano’s are 14^th, the Tampa Rays are 19^th and the San Diego Padres currently occupy the 30^th spot in the league. For the complete rankings head over to the USA Today to check out their post. 

USA Today’s First Set of Preseason MLB Power Rankings

You know the 2017 Major League Baseball season is inching closer and closer when the USA Today releases the first of their weekly MLB Power Rankings. Now while they won’t be weekly for a month or so the preseason rankings are usually a good indicator of what is to come as we get closer to Opening Day. These rankings are subject to change and as we know they will change but here they are as everything stands today.

1.       Chicago Cubs

2.       Cleveland Indians

3.       Boston Red Sox

4.       Los Angeles Dodgers

5.       San Francisco Giants

6.       Washington Nationals

7.       Houston Astros

8.       Texas Rangers

9.       New York Mets

10.   Toronto Blue Jays

11.   St. Louis Cardinals

12.   Baltimore Orioles

13.   Detroit Tigers

14.   Seattle Mariners

15.   Kansas City Royals

16.   Pittsburgh Pirates

17.   Colorado Rockies

18.   New York Yankees

19.   Miami Marlins

20.   Tampa Bay Rays

21.   Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

22.   Philadelphia Phillies,

23.   Atlanta Braves

24.   Milwaukee Brewers

25.   Arizona Diamondbacks

26.   Chicago White Sox

27.   Oakland Athletics

28.   Minnesota Twins

29.   Cincinnati Reds

San Diego Padres 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

If you’ve been reading these check in posts you know that lately I have been speaking of a bias against the New York Yankees in these rankings and this week we finally get to test my theory. In case you missed it or you’re new to the blog, welcome by the way if you are, I have said many times that it feels like the folks over at the USA Today are simply waiting on the Yankees to fail. The team has a 6-1 week or a 5-2 week and they barely move up the rankings or don’t move at all while the New York Mets can have a similar week and be the week’s “biggest rise.” Well the Yankees finally had a bad week, and at the worst possible time mind you, so now we get to put my theory to test. Let’s see if the Yankees free fall out of the Top 15 after the Red Sox series.

After taking a butt whooping at the hands of the Boston Red Sox over the weekend before giving a couple games away to the Los Angeles Dodgers the Yankees dropped one spot to the 15^th position. Not bad actually given the week the team had. Meanwhile in the rest of the American League East the Boston Red Sox occupy the 4^th spot while the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays occupy the 7^th and 8^th spots respectively. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays finished the week where they began it, 24^th overall on the rankings.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Seattle Mariners who rose four spots to finish the week #12 overall while the biggest fall of the week went to the Cleveland Indians who fell just one spot (along with a few other teams including the Yankees) to the #5 position at possibly the worst possible time to do so. Oh well.

The Top Five teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Texas Rangers, the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians. Meanwhile the five worst teams in the league according to these rankings are the #26 Cincinnati Reds, the #27 Arizona Diamondbacks, the #28 San Diego Padres, the #29 Atlanta Braves and the #30 Minnesota Twins. Pretty predictable, these ten teams have been on opposite sides about all season long it feels like.

If you want to see the complete list and/or see your team and where they rank up head over to the USA Today and check out the complete list and power rankings. Oh and by the way, about my theory I talked about in the first paragraph of the blog post, maybe I was wrong. Just dropping one spot isn’t the worst thing in the world. Frankly, I expected more to be honest.  

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week of exciting pennant race baseball is in the books and while some teams are beginning to make their moves in their respective divisions and playoff chases some teams are slumping at the worst possible time. The Yankees are one of those teams stuck in the middle as they are winning games, and most of their series to be frank, but they just aren’t making up as much ground as you would like. But as I’ve started saying during game threads and such, they need a win and they have been getting a win. Can’t argue with that logic but has it made a difference in the USA Today’s weekly MLB power rankings list they release every week? Let’s find out.

The Yankees finally got a little bit of respect this week as the team was able to climb two spots to the #14 position on the list. Maybe they are for real after all, huh? To round out the rest of the American League East who also find themselves in a dog fight atop the division and in the Wild Card races in the AL you have the Toronto Blue Jays at #5, the Boston Red Sox at #6, the Baltimore Orioles at #10 and the Tampa Bay Rays at the #24 position.

The biggest rise of the week went to the New York Mets who rose five spots to the #13 position while the biggest fall went to the Seattle Mariners who fell three more spots and finished with the #16 position.

The Top 5 teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Texas Rangers, the Washington Nationals, the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays. Meanwhile the five worst teams in the league according to these rankings are the #26 Cincinnati Reds, the #27 Arizona Diamondbacks, the #28 San Diego Padres, the #29 Atlanta Braves and the #30 Minnesota Twins. But I guess you already knew who was 1^st although #30 may have shocked you. Or not if you have been watching the games lately.

The season is no longer a marathon or a light jog, it’s a sprint. Start sprinting and make the postseason and or lag behind and be left playing golf in October. You decide. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week of baseball down and another week closer to the August 31^st trade deadline, which comes and goes tomorrow in case you don’t have a calendar handy, and another week closer to the playoffs. Whether the New York Yankees will be there in October remains to be seen but the team is doing everything they have to do in order to get there, but will it be enough? The Yankees are winning series, almost every series in fact, but at some point they have to start making up ground on the 900 (slight exaggeration) teams in front of them in the AL Wild Card chase and they do that by sweeping teams. Well that and by rising a bit in these rankings.

The Yankees despite have another great week of baseball rose just one spot in the rankings to the #16 position. I know I’ve said this a couple weeks in a row now but I think the crew over there is being cautious with this team and the first time they go on a three or four game losing streak they will drop them like they are hot in the rankings. Oh well, only way to prevent that is to keep winning I guess. The Yankees best bet to make the postseason may be to leapfrog the teams ahead of them in the division and win and to do that they would have to hunt down the #4 ranked Toronto Blue Jays, the #6 ranked Boston Red Sox and the #9 ranked Baltimore Orioles while holding off the #23 ranked Tampa Bay Rays.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Oakland Athletics who rose four spots to the #22 position while the biggest fall went to the Miami Marlins who are streaking in the wrong direction at the worst possible time. Miami slid five spots this week down to the #17 position in the rankings. Ouch.

The Top Five teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Texas Rangers, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cleveland Indians in order while the five teams that nobody wants to be in the league right now are the #26 Cincinnati Reds, the #27 San Diego Padres, the #28 Arizona Diamondbacks, the #29 Minnesota Twins and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

It will be interesting to see how tomorrow trade deadline affects the playoff chases and these rankings. Stay tuned for that and stay tuned to see if the Yankees continue to stockpile talent for their minor league teams and their future. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees basically gutted any chance of winning and competing in 2016 after trading away many of their soon-to-be free agents and veteran players, or did they? The team has done nothing but win and compete in the games that they didn’t win since the August 1^st trade deadline and not only against weaker teams. New York gave the New York Mets a run for their money and they are fresh off taking their second consecutive series against the first place Cleveland Indians as well but you couldn’t tell it by their ranking in the USA Today’s Weekly Power Rankings. Keep reading.

The Yankees remained stagnant despite a strong week and remained at the #18 position overall while the rest of the American League East saw a ton of movement. The Baltimore Orioles moved up three spots to the #4 position while the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox occupy the 7^th and 9^th spots respectively. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays are still in the basement of the division and still near the bottom of these rankings after coming in this week #26^th overall.

The Top five teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Texas Rangers, the Baltimore Orioles who were also the biggest risers of the week after climbing three spots and the San Francisco Giants. The five worst teams in the league according to the rankings are the #26 Tampa Bay Rays, the #27 Minnesota Twins, the #28 Cincinnati Reds, the #29 Arizona Diamondbacks who were also the biggest fall of the week after falling two spots and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

The August 1st trading deadline has come and gone and all signs, thus far anyway, point to it being a slow month of August in the trading department as well. That means these rankings should go stagnant, sample size has a way of doing that to you. Enjoy the rankings and the rest of your day!

USA Today’s Post-Trade Deadline Power Rankings

The USA Today released their weekly power rankings after the trade deadline a couple days back but the content on the site has been so jammed packed we are just now getting to it. Don’t get me wrong that’s a great problem to have as a blogger and a writer, plenty of things to talk about and plenty of prospects to introduce you to, but I know some people enjoy these posts so I do apologize for the delay. New York started the week on a streak but a sweep at the hands of the last place Tampa Bay Rays kind of cemented their season, cemented their decision to sell and may have ultimately cemented a drop in these standings and a Top 10 protected draft pick in the 2017 MLB Draft.

The Yankees fell a bit in the AL East and fell in the rankings as well after the Tampa Bay sweep falling one spot back to the #18 position. I can see this team falling a few more before everything is said and done but you never know when it comes to (presumably) the youth that is on the way to the Bronx. Speaking of the AL East the Baltimore Orioles finished the week ranked 7th overall while the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays were 8th and 6th respectively. What did sweeping the Yankees get for the Tampa Bay Rays who moved Matt Moore, but not Chris Archer, before the deadline? The Rays finished the week 26^th overall not making any movement in the standings. So much for that.

The Top 5 teams according to the rankings were the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Cleveland Indians, the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The five teams that nobody really wants to be or envies right now according to the rankings are the #26 Tampa Bay Rays, the #27 Arizona Diamondbacks, the #28 Cincinnati Reds, the #29 Minnesota Twins and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Detroit Tigers who rose five spots to the #11 position while the biggest fall went to the Houston Astros who fell four spots to the #12 position. Congratulations are in order for the Tigers while the Astros will look to do better this week.

The non-waiver trade deadline is over and now we are beginning to see the truth behind these rankings. Now more than ever these rankings are what they say they are. You will start to see the biggest “rise” be not so big and the biggest fall not really be all that much of a fall. It’s called sample size and we have a large one now ladies and gentleman.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees have been playing some of their best baseball recently with impressive series victories in Cleveland before the All-Star break and series victories over the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants since while playing the Houston Astros tough before tonight’s finale. Will that affect the team whatsoever in the USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings? It didn’t last time so let’s find out what the crew thinks about the rising Yankees this time around.

With the Yankees recent string of success the team was able to climb a bit in the rankings from the #19 spot all the way to the #17 spot. Baby steps are baby steps but progress is progress. Everyone knows the Yankees have a long way to go in the American League East Division and in the playoff hunt but they have to start somewhere. Speaking of the AL East the rest of the division looks like this. The Baltimore Orioles finished the week 4^th overall while the Boston Red Sox remained in the #7 slot. The Toronto Blue Jays are not far behind in the #9 spot while the Tampa Bay Rays are bringing up the rear in the division and in the rankings with the #26 ranking.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Oakland Athletics who are coming back from the dead seemingly without their ace Rich Hill after climbing three spots to the #23 position. Meanwhile the Chicago White Sox are in a free fall and they are now considering selling pieces off at the trading deadline after falling three spots to the #19 position overall.

The Top five teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals, the Baltimore Orioles and the Texas Rangers. Meanwhile the five teams that nobody wants to be right now are the #26 Tampa Bay Rays, the #27 Arizona Diamondbacks, the #28 Cincinnati Reds, the #29 Minnesota Twins and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

Take these rankings with a grain of salt because the August 1^st trading deadline is now less than a week away. Get excited everyone, I feel a lot of player movement coming very, very soon. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The 2016 season for the New York Yankees has been a bust. Despite what Randy Levine and Hal Steinbrenner are saying on the outside this team is not making a run at the playoffs, not even as a second Wild Card, and they aren’t going past that round even if they do make it to October-ish. Brian Cashman, the team’s General Manager, asked the team to define themselves in a recent interview so the organization could make up their minds whether to sell or to buy and I think struggling against the San Diego Padres and the Chicago White Sox counts as defining themselves, don’t you? If that’s not enough let’s see what these rankings have to say about it.

The Yankees came into the week stuck at the #18 position but by week’s end the team had dropped a position to the #19 position. The Baltimore Orioles sit atop the American League East Division and they sit near the top of the rankings as well with the #6 position while the Boston Red Sox have slid back a bit both in the standings and in the rankings lately as they finished 9th overall. The Toronto Blue Jays are right on the heels of the Red Sox in the division and their #10 ranking in these rankings shows Boston that they are not going to go away quietly while the Tampa Bay Rays are the Tampa Bay Rays again finishing with the 26th ranking overall in Major League Baseball.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Detroit Tigers who shot up the list like a firework four spots to the #11 position while the Miami Marlins got wet before the festivities and failed sliding all the way to the #15 position three slots down from last week. The Top 5 teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Texas Rangers, the San Francisco Giants, the Washington Nationals and the Cleveland Indians. The five worst teams according to the rankings are the Tampa Bay Rays, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins.

We’re in July now ladies and gents. These rankings mean something now and they mean the Chicago Cubs are untouchable in the National League, the Rangers may run away with it all when they get Yu Darvish back and healthy and most importantly it means that the Yankees should sell at the August 1^st trade deadline. Sell if you know what’s good for you, and FYI Randy Levine does not know what’s good for him or the team either. Sell.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Breaking News out of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball’s office as apparently the New York Yankees are petitioning the league to change the name of Minnesota’s Target Field to “Little Yankee Stadium” based on their win/loss record there since it’s opening. Obviously I joke about the petition and the potential name change but the rest of the statement was accurate, the Yankees have owned the Twins for quite some time now and the team always seems to pick up their game a bit more when playing on the road inside Target Field. New York is fresh off taking three-of-four from the Twins in a weekend series but how would this affect them in the USA Today’s weekly power rankings? Well you’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

I won’t leave you in suspense for too long. The New York Yankees finished the week ranked 17^th, right where they were when they began the week unfortunately. Is that kind of like no news being good news? The rest of the AL East had a good week as well as the Boston Red Sox finished 6th while the Baltimore Orioles finished 5^th at the top of the rankings and the division. The Toronto Blue Jays finished the week at the #7 position while the Tampa Bay Rays finished another week towards the bottom of the rankings at #21.

The Top 5 teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Texas Rangers, the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants and the Baltimore Orioles. The five worst teams according to the rankings are the San Diego Padres, the Oakland Athletics, the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves and the Minnesota Twins.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Kansas City Royals who rose five spots from the #15 position to finish with the #10 while the biggest fall of the week went to the New York Mets. The Mets fell three positions to finish the week where they didn’t want to at the #11 position.

Another week in the books and another week closer to the August 1^st Trade Deadline. This deadline will shape this rankings this year much like they do every year, especially if the heavy hitters continue to add talent from the teams that are in the middle of the pack. For instance, can you see the Cubs relinquishing the top spot if they acquire one of Andrew Miller or Aroldis Chapman from the Yankees? Better yet can you see it if they acquire both? Can you see the Washington Nationals making a push if they acquired both? I sure could. It will be interesting to say the least and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out this season.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees came out of the gates this week like a team possessed. New York rode the waves of good karma and even better baseball to start the week out on a 5-0 stretch including a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim only to fall short in their final two games of the week against the Detroit Tigers. Would the Yankees fall again in the rankings or would a sweep of Mike Trout and Albert Pujols be enough to propel the team closer to the Promised Land? Keep reading and find out.

New York did not fall this week and in fact they rose two spots from the #19 position to the #17 position after a strong week. You have to think that pulling out either the Saturday night or Sunday afternoon game against the Tigers would have helped propel them another slot or so higher but I guess we’ll never know. Speaking of series victories, sweeps and rising in the standings a weekend series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates had a large bearing on this week’s rankings as well. The Cardinals swept the Pirates over the weekend giving St. Louis the biggest rise of the week while Pittsburgh had the biggest fall of the week. St. Louis rose five spots to the #9 position while Pittsburgh finished down four spots at the #13 position.

The Top Five teams according to the rankings were the Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox in that order. Meanwhile the five worst teams according to the rankings were the #26 San Diego Padres, the Oakland Athletics, the Cincinnati Reds, the Minnesota Twins and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

The American League East boasts three teams in the Top 10 with Boston claiming the fifth spot, Baltimore the sixth and Toronto the 10^th spot on the list. New York, as we stated earlier, was 17^th while the Tampa Bay Rays are bringing up the rear in the division with the #20 ranking overall.

Teams have already begun buying and selling off players with much more either being discussed or to come so expect a shakeup of these rankings pretty soon. The more the Yankees rise in these rankings the less likely they will be to sell but if they slip into the 20’s again we may see the first selling off period in the Bronx since 1989. Oakland thanks you for Rickey Henderson once again by the way. Stay tuned every week as we figure this thing out and watch to see if New York can climb and claw their way back into this thing.

USA Today Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees up and down roller coaster season continued this week leaving their fans and the rest of the league more confused than they were last time we checked these rankings out. The Yankees play the tough teams tough and they lay down against the mediocre teams, unless it’s Toronto they just lay down against them no matter what, leading to another likely fall in the rankings and a fall in the standings. Let’s check out just how far the mighty are falling again this week.

This is a Yankees blog so I won’t keep you waiting long, the Yankees fell zero spots from the 19th position last week to finish 19th overall. Not good but could have been a lot worse in my opinion. Speaking of falling the biggest fall of the week overall went to the Kansas City Royals who fell three spots from the 10th position to finish 13th overall. Again, not good. One team did pretty well this week though and garnered the honor of the biggest rise this week, the Houston Astros. The Astros rose a whopping seven spots this week from the #25 position to finish the week ranked 18th overall.

There are other teams that continue to do well this season and in the rankings and the Top 5 of that bunch are the #1 Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants, the Texas Rangers, the Washington Nationals and the #5 Boston Red Sox. For every good though we have to go back to the bad and the five worst teams according to the rankings are the #26 Oakland Athletics, the #27 San Diego Padres, the #28 Cincinnati Reds, the #29 Atlanta Braves and the #30 Minnesota Twins.

It’s June and the rising and falling of positions are getting smaller and smaller. We’re not seeing as many teams rising eight or nine spots in a week nor are we seeing teams free falling from the top of the rankings either. It’s called sample size and it’s beginning to become a thing this season. It’s becoming a thing just in time to be shook up a bit anyway by the August 1^st trade deadline but until then you can now start trusting in these rankings. They are starting to paint the picture that is the 2016 regular season. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

My apologies in advance if you’re a fan of these posts but with my buddy coming in from the Navy and the whole Memorial Day holiday I am a day or two behind on my news and blog posts. Have no fear though as we are getting caught back up today with another weekly edition of the USA Today’s MLB Power Rankings. The Yankees had another good week, although it’s getting to the point where the team needs great weeks to get back into this thing, and it showed in the rankings.

Another team that had a good week this week was the San Francisco Giants who were the week’s biggest risers as they jumped eight spots in the rankings all the way to the #2 position. The Washington Nationals had held the #2 position for basically the entire season but they had to know it was an even year meaning the Giants would be in the thick of things when the season was all said and done. With every rise you must have a fall and the Chicago White Sox roller coaster season continued this week with the team dropping from the #3 slot all the way to the #13 spot. In case you didn’t bring a calculator or lost a finger in Vietnam that is a 10 spot drop for the Chi Sox.

With all the shakeups in the Top 5 the new Top 5 list is the Chicago Cubs, the San Francisco Giants, the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Nationals and the New York Mets. The five teams you don’t want to be on this list, also known as the five lowest teams in the rankings, are the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Padres, the Minnesota Twins, the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves.

The Yankees? The Yankees rose three spots all the way to the #19 position. It’s not where you want to be in the immortal words of manager Joe Girardi but it’s a trend in the right direction and I guess you have to take what you can get at this point. Rising equals winning so keep on winning and keep on rising. That’s the plan.

USA Today Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Two weeks ago I made a pretty bold prediction at the time. I said the New York Yankees would have a 6-1 record that week and I also said that they would be the USA Today’s MLB Power Ranking’s “biggest rise” of the week. I was wrong and the Yankees actually fell a spot that week but this week the Yankees may have finally opened some eyes with series victories over the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago White Sox. Was my prediction correct and just delayed by a week or will the Yankees still not do enough to claim the biggest rise spot? Keep reading….

I won’t keep you waiting too long. The New York Yankees finished the week at the #22 position which is four spots higher than their ranking last week and technically tied for the highest rise of the week as well. The rest of the American League East had little movement as well with the Baltimore Orioles finishing 5th, the Boston Red Sox finishing 4th, the Toronto Blue Jays finishing 14th with one less pair of Jose Bautista sunglasses to carry around and the Tampa Bay Rays finished the week ranked 19th.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Boston Red Sox who rose four spots from the #8 position to the #4 position while the biggest fall of the week went to the Pittsburgh Pirates who unfortunately fell four spots all the way to the #11 position. Missing AJ Burnett yet?

The Top 5 teams according to the rankings are the Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Chicago White Sox, the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. The bottom five teams you don’t want to be according to the rankings are the #26 Oakland Athletics, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Cincinnati Reds, the Minnesota Twins and the Atlanta Braves. Get used to it Atlanta!

We’re inching closer to June baseball and these rankings actually meaning something other than a small sample size and a peak into the future. It’s starting to get fun, check in every week for the latest power rankings from the crew over at the USA Today.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees likely fall in the USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings will continue this week after the team struggled to put together a win for much of the week. New York did finish the week strong with a series win against the Tampa Bay Rays at home inside Yankee Stadium but overall it was another disappointing week in the land of the Yankees. The Chicago Cubs remained dominant while the Braves continued to struggle but there is sure to be a whole lot of change with the other 28 teams in between so let’s get caught back up.

The biggest rise of the week usually goes to the best team for the week and this week that distinction and those honors go to the Arizona Diamondbacks who rose nine spots to the #12 position. Theoretically for every rise there must be a fall, gravity says so and so does Newton’s law of motion if you use a rough translation, and the biggest fall of the week went to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants fell seven spots all the way to the #11 position. Ouch.

The New York Yankees fell four spots to the #21 position after a rough week and will look to turn that around this week against the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox. Speaking of the Red Sox they finished the week #15 while the Toronto Blue Jays finished 10th. Baltimore continues to dominant the AL East Division right now despite offseason predictions that they would be in the cellar and they are doing well in the rankings as well coming in at #6 this week while the Tampa Bay Rays took a bit of a step back with a pair of losses to the Yankees finishing the week at #22.

The Top 5 teams in the league according to the rankings are the #1 Chicago Cubs, the Washington Nationals, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. Meanwhile the five worst teams in the league according to the rankings are the #26 Cincinnati Reds, the Miami Marlins, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Minnesota Twins and the #30 Atlanta Braves.

Sample sizes ladies and gentleman. We can only use that excuse for so long. It’s almost May, then it will be June and then the league will be scrambling in July to improve or sell before the August 1^st trade deadline. It goes in the blink of an eye some seasons but that’s usually only if you’re winning. We’re not right now, but we need to start. 

USA Today's Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The USA Today released their penultimate set of power rankings for Major League Baseball this week as the 2015 regular season comes to a close. In the rankings the New York Yankees once again struggled against the Toronto Blue Jays losing two of the three games while picking up the pace against the Chicago White Sox in a four-game series in the Bronx. Was it enough to jump those pesky New York Mets who they beat in the final series in last week's rankings?

I won't make this post suspenseful, the Yankees offense is doing enough of that lately, so we'll start with New York's ranking. After a very Yankees-like week the New York Yankees finished the week ranked 8th overall according to the USA Today. To round out the rest of the American League East the Toronto Blue Jays finished the week with the #3 position while the Baltimore Orioles finished the week ranked #16. The Boston Red Sox took the spot they lost to the Tampa Bay Rays last week back finishing with the #17 position while the Tampa Bay Rays were last seen in a familiar place, the last place spot in the division and the 18 ranking.

The Top Five teams according to the rankings are the #1 St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs. The five worst teams according to the rankings are the #26 Colorado Rockies, the #27 Oakland Athletics, the #28 Cincinnati Reds, the #29 Atlanta Braves and the #30 Philadelphia Phillies. The biggest rise of the week goes to the Miami Marlins who rose three spots to the #24 position while the biggest fall goes to the Cincinnati Reds who fell four spots to the #28 position.

One more set of rankings in a full week before the postseason, although I'm sure the USA Today will post an end of season set of rankings, and one more set of rankings before the rankings mean nothing. The postseason is a new season, a second season, and you can throw these rankings out the window. Cherish them until then, Go Yankees!