USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

To be the best, you have to beat the best. Not many teams want to be the best lately because not many teams have beaten the Yankees lately. To be fair the team hardly played last week due to scheduled days off, slumber parties inside of airports, and Mother Nature, but the team has picked back up where they left off during last week’s rankings. On top and winning.

The New York Yankees are in the top spot this week followed by the Boston Red Sox, Houston Astros, the Atlanta Braves (not a typo!), and the Milwaukee Brewers (also not a typo!). Wow, what a Top 5. Who had that Top 5 before the season? Nobody. Not even me, and I go way out there with my predictions sometimes.

The Philadelphia Phillies rose an impressive eight spots to the #7 position while the Washington Nationals are in danger of falling out of the Top 10 after falling five spots this week to tenth. The Cleveland Indians (16^th, down three spots) are behind the New York Mets (14^th, up three spots) in the rankings this week while the Oakland Athletics continue to defy the odds and climb the rankings. And then we have the Arizona Diamondbacks who fell eight spots to the #12 position, ouch.

The American League East looks weak right now aside from the Bronx Bombers and the Boston Red Sox with the Toronto Blue Jays ranked 20^th, the Tampa Bay Rays ranked 21^st and the Baltimore Orioles ranked 29^th overall.

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 5/6 – 5/12

Another week of Major League Baseball in the history books here in 2018, and what a week it was for the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers are red hot and they are coming for that number one spot, Boston better be put on notice. The most impressive part about this run by the Yankees, a run that matched that “omg it is so magical and wicked awesome” start by the Boston Red Sox to start the 2018 campaign, is that they, unlike the Red Sox, are doing it against great teams. The Yankees have all but caught up to the Red Sox in the American League East Division race, could the USA Today weekly MLB Power Rankings be next?

The New York Yankees were 4^th in last week’s rankings, up from the #9 position, and were able to rise another two spots to the second position overall. The only team in front of the Baby Bombers right now? Unfortunately, the Boston Red Sox. Chris Sale is good at baseball and so is Mookie Betts, it is a long season though so color me “not worried.” The Top 5 includes the Boston Red Sox, the New York Yankees, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The rest of the American League East shapes up with the Toronto Blue Jays finishing the week 8^th overall after jumping eight spots from last week, the Tampa Bay Rays finishing 21^st and the Baltimore Orioles finishing the week 29^th overall.

Surprises? Both the Baltimore Orioles and the Cincinnati Reds were on pace to finish the season with a 38-124 record heading into the week, that’s surprising. The Seattle Mariners climbed into the Top 10 quieting those people who sent hate mail to my personal email after I predicted the Seattle Cano’s would win the second Wild Card in the American League. Meanwhile the Mets dumped Matt Harvey and are in a free fall after dropping 12 (TWELVE) spots from last week’s Top 5 finish. The Los Angeles Dodgers fell seven spots to 19, and things aren’t looking better for them any time soon while the Texas Rangers could lose 100 games and become important sellers at the July 31^st trade deadline. Cole Hamels come on down.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

If you were a betting man I bet you wouldn’t have bet on the New York Yankees rattling off nine wins in a row to cut a huge deficit between them and the Boston Red Sox to just two games at the beginning of the week. If you were a betting man I bet you also didn’t have the Red Sox in a free fall during the same time. If you did, kudos to you. You’re betting prowess has won you the internet, but the rest of us humans definitely didn’t see it coming. How did the Yankees strong week and a tough week for the Red Sox translate into the weekly power rankings released weekly by the USA Today? Keep reading to find out…

I won’t make you wait for long, the New York Yankees climbed five spots this week back into the Top 5 with a fourth-place finish overall. The Boston Red Sox kept the top spot on the rankings and were closely followed by the Houston Astros and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The fifth best team in the league according to the rankings are the New York Mets.

To round out the rest of the American League East we have the Toronto Blue Jays at 16^th after falling six spots, the Tampa Bay Rays who are 21^st after climbing two spots, and the Baltimore Orioles who are 28^th after falling two additional spots on the rankings.

Surprises? The Philadelphia Phillies are 10^th after climbing four spots while the Atlanta Braves are 11^th overall after climbing five spots. The Seattle Mariners, who are no surprise to me as I had them making the postseason in 2018 when no one else did, rose six spots to the lucky #13 position while the Washington Nationals fell five spots to the #18 position behind a slumping Bryce Harper.

Think Mike Moustakas is regretting going back to Kansas City yet? Because I do. I bet you didn’t see that one coming either. Here’s another one you definitely didn’t see coming I bet. Mike Francesca’s return to WFAN. Boom.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Let me start this post by saying that I am not happy to bring you this set of weekly MLB Power Rankings by the USA Today. Why? I think we all know why, because I think we all know who will be on top of the list. UGH. Oh well, carrying on now. Maybe this is all a dream like that 2004 season was, I hate that Major League Baseball cancelled that season. The Yankees were doing so well too…

In all seriousness though the Boston Red Sox are at the top of the Weekly Power Rankings list this week, and ultimately, they should be. Right now, they are the best team in Major League Baseball and all I can do is tip my cap to them and move on towards brighter, greener and better days. Following the Red Sox and rounding out the Top 5 in descending order are the Houston Astros (#2), the Arizona Diamondbacks (#3), the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (#4) and the New York Mets (#5).

The Yankees were 7^th in the last set of rankings and the team fell two spots to the 9^th spot on this set. That is not the direction you really want to trend if you’re the Yankees, but despite what you read on various Facebook groups around the web it is STILL early. Plenty of time to make up ground, and the team seems to be finally turning things on now. I’m not worried.

The Milwaukee Brewers were the biggest risers of the week winning six straight games and moving up five spots to the #11 position while the Colorado Rockies were the biggest fallers on the list dropping eight spots to the #18 position. Better luck next time kids.

To round out the American League East we obviously have the Red Sox in the top spot and the Yankees have the 9^th spot while the Blue Jays give the AL East a third team in the Top 10 at tenth. The Tampa Bay Rays are 23^rd while the Baltimore Orioles are 26^th. Womp, womp.

You guys want some early surprises to the list? How about the Arizona Diamondbacks who have won each of their first seven series to start the season, the first team to do so in 15 seasons? Not impressed? How about the Dodgers and Nationals being 12^th and 13^th respectively? These both looked to be Top 10 teams easily, but again it is early. They better watch their backs though because the Philadelphia Phillies, yes, those Phillies, are within striking distance of them both at the #14 position. The Atlanta Braves are 16^th… Not a typo. The Miami Marlins aren’t last either!! But they are 29^th…

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week down in the 2018 Major League Baseball season and the first set of weekly MLB Power Rankings brought to you by the USA Today here on the blog. I sorta, kinda, maybe missed the first set of power rankings that were released before the season and sorta, kinda, maybe every set released ever since. Work has been busy, and so has life. You have my apologies. Let me make up for it now, though, by getting on with this week’s set of rankings.

I won’t make you wait long for what you came here for, the ranking for the New York Yankees. The Yankees were ranked 7^th overall this week by the publication, dropping two spots from last week and out of the Top 5. A tough week against the Baltimore Orioles will do that to a team I guess. Rounding out the rest of the American League East Division the Boston Red Sox are ranked 2^nd overall while the Toronto Blue Jays (#17), the Baltimore Orioles (#20) and the Tampa Bay Rays (#29) fall behind the Yankees in succession.

The top five spots in the rankings belong to, in order, the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox, the Arizona Diamondbacks, some team that rhymes with New York Jets, and the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile the five worst teams in the rankings, ranked from 26-30, are the Oakland Athletics, the San Diego Padres, the Cincinnati Reds, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Miami Derek Jeter’s.

The Pittsburgh Pirates had the biggest rise in the rankings this week climbing 12 slots from the 24^th ranking to the #12 spot while the biggest fall went to the Los Angeles Dodgers who fell 11 slots all the way to the 13^th spot overall after being ranked 2^nd in last week’s rankings. Ouch.

For the complete list and write-ups associated with this set of power rankings head over to the USA Today Sports section and read it in its entirety. Thanks everyone. 

26 New Free Agents Enter the Fold, Any of Them Interest the Yankees?

The deadline to tender or non-tender contracts to players has come and gone this offseason and while the New York Yankees tendered contracts to all their arbitration eligible players there were 26 players who were not as lucky. These 26 players now enter the free agent pool, should the Yankees be interested in any of them for the 2018 season?

Here is the complete list of new free agents thanks to the USA Today:

AMERICAN LEAGUE

CHICAGO (4) — Al Alburquerque, rhp; Alen Hanson, ss; Jake Petricka, rhp; Zach Putnam, rhp.

DETROIT (1) — Bruce Rondon, rhp.

HOUSTON (1) — Mike Fiers, rhp.

KANSAS CITY (1) — Terrance Gore, of.

SEATTLE (2) — Shae Simmons, rhp; Drew Smyly, lhp.

TAMPA BAY (1) — Xavier Cedeno, lhp.

TEXAS (4) — Hanser Alberto, ss; Alex Gonzalez, rhp; A.J. Griffin, rhp; Nick Martinez, rhp.

TORONTO (2) — Ryan Goins, 2b; Tom Koehler, rhp.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA (2) — J.J. Hoover, rhp; T.J. McFarland, lhp.

ATLANTA (3) — Matt Adams, 1b; Jace Peterson, inf-of; Danny Santana, of.

CHICAGO (2) — Taylor Davis, c; Hector Rondon, rhp.

CINCINNATI (1) — Kyle Crockett, lhp.

MILWAUKEE (1) — Jared Hughes, rhp.

SAN FRANCISCO (1) — Albert Suarez, rhp.

Obviously the most notable names on the list are Hector Rondon formerly of the Chicago Cubs, Ryan Goins formerly of the Toronto Blue Jays, Mike Fiers of the Houston Astros, Matt Adams formerly of the Atlanta Braves and Bruce Rondon formerly of the Detroit Tigers. Honestly I feel like it is highly unlikely that the Yankees add any sort of relief pitching this offseason automatically taking the Rondon twins, they aren’t really twins just as an FYI, off the list leaving Fiers, a right-handed starting pitcher, Adams, a first baseman/designated hitter and Goins, a second baseman by trade who needs to work on his hidden ball trick. You’re killing me smalls!!

I want to focus on Adams in depth and give him his own post so for the sake of that I will leave him out of this post, look out for the Adams post later on today if you’re interested!

The Yankees need for a second baseman, or a middle infielder in general, is probably pretty small with Starlin Castro manning the position, Ronald Torreyes on the bench and Gleyber Torres knocking at the door but Fiers may be an interesting one to look at for New York. Fiers was part of the World Series champion Astros last season posting an 8-10 record with a 5.22 ERA. If the pitching starving Astros don’t want you, isn’t that your sign if you are Brian Cashman? Could CC Sabathia not give you that and more for a presumable fraction of the cost? The answer is yes to both questions, so it looks like the newly added free agents won’t make an impact for the Yankees this season. It is nice to look around, but just don’t buy. My opinion only, leave yours below in the comments section. Thanks in advance.

By the way, I am well aware that Terrence Gore has since signed a minor league deal with his former club but I wanted to include him on the list anyway since he was one of the 26 that were technically non-tendered by their former teams. Thanks again. 

2017 Final Set of USA Today Power Rankings

The 2017 MLB regular season is over, 162 games down and depending on what team you root for your team either has 11 or 12 games left to win before they can call it a season. The USA Today doesn’t release power rankings for the postseason though so here is the final set of rankings from the publication for the 2017 season. Where did the Yankees finish and how do the standings directly correlate with the 2017 postseason? Keep reading.

The Cleveland Indians are probably the best team in Major League Baseball and the team finished at the top spot in the final set of standings which is a great sign for Andrew Miller and company. The Houston Astros took the second spot from the Los Angeles Dodgers who finished third overall while the Washington Nationals and the Boston Red Sox rounded out the Top 5.

The Chicago Cubs climbed to the sixth spot overall knocking the Arizona Diamondbacks to seventh while the New York Yankees finished 8^th to end the season securing the top Wild Card slot in the American League Playoffs. The 9^th best team in the league according to these rankings were the Colorado Rockies while the Minnesota Twins were 10^th overall and the final team in the American League playoffs this season.

The Milwaukee Brewers had the best record of any team that didn’t make the postseason and finished 11^th overall on the rankings followed by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Tampa Bay Rays who were 15^th.

The Texas Rangers broke ground on a new $1.1 billion stadium recently but the on-the-field product was only good enough to secure the 16^th spot on the rankings while the Seattle Mariners, the Baltimore Orioles, the Toronto Blue Jays and the Miami Marlins who were 20^th overall.

The bottom ten teams are not where you want to be but the future is usually bright for all of these teams as these organizations rebuild their farm systems and teams from within. In sequential order from 21-30 the rankings had the Oakland Athletics, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Atlanta Braves, the San Diego Padres, the Cincinnati Reds, the New York Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago White Sox, the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers. Detroit, you’re officially on the clock. 

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 Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week down and another week down and another week bites the dust. Queen reference, sorry, but really another week of baseball has just bit the dust and the Yankees had a good week overall. After sweeping the New York Mets in a four game series the Yankees ended the weekend losing two-of-three to the Boston Red Sox to finish the week on a 5-2 climb. How many spots would the team climb in the USA Today’s set of weekly MLB Power Rankings though? Keep reading.

Okay, I could have some fun with this but I won’t and I won’t keep waiting for long. The Yankees climbed an impressive three slots this week back up to the #6 position overall.

The Top 5 teams according to the rankings are the Los Angeles Dodgers (duh), the Washington Nationals, the Houston Astros, the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians. The Arizona Diamondbacks were in the Top 5 until the team slid four spots to the #9 spot overall while the St. Louis Cardinals fell four spots to the #13 position and out of the Top 10. Ouch.

Don’t look now but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are 12^th overall on the rankings and climbing while the Seattle Mariners are 15^th after all their July 31^st trade deadline acquisitions. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays are 5-13 since the All-Star Break after some writers and journalist had them winning the AL East Division, because journalism.

Oh and the San Francisco Giants are the only and the first team to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention…. With two weeks left in August. Let that sink in.

Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Another week done in the 2017 MLB season and another set of weekly MLB power rankings released by the USA Today. Will the Boston Red Sox be able to chase down the Houston Astros and take the best record in the American League away from them? Will the Yankees be able to hang around in the American League East Division race? Can anyone catch the Dodgers? While these rankings don’t have the answers to any of those questions for sure you can bet that they can be used as an indicator of things going forward so let’s check them out.

This is a Yankees blog so we’ll start there. Last week the Yankees were 9^th overall on the rankings and falling fast and that is exactly where the team remained this week after another lackluster week. The team is hovering around the .500 mark over the last three months of the season and a Top 10 finish for the team seems pretty suitable for the team. I wish it were higher but what can you do? Brian Cashman did all he could and all that Hal Steinbrenner would allow, now it is up to manager Joe Girardi and the players to collectively get it done. So do it.

The Top 5 on the list are the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Nationals who rose one spot, the Boston Red Sox who rose two spots, the Houston Astros who dropped two spots and the Arizona Diamondbacks who fell one spot. It’s crazy to think that the Dodgers haven’t lost a series in almost three months and may clinch the division this month, the Astros were once being compared to the 1927 Yankees before losing nine of their first twelve games to start the month of August and the Diamondbacks may have the NL MVP in Paul Goldschmidt and somehow still no one is noticing outside of Arizona. You can’t predict baseball.

Don’t look now but the St. Louis Cardinals are back in the Top 10, the Kansas City Royals were once completely written off and are now 12^th overall according to the list and the Tampa Bay Rays, who many publications said would win the AL East this season, have fallen off back to the #13 position. But hey, think of all those click baits they benefited from when the Rays went on their little run. It’s okay though, at least they aren’t the Phillies.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

This has got to be the most disgusting thing I think I have ever seen and I just had to share....

Boy we haven’t done one of these in a while, have we Yankees fans? There may be a good reason for that. First and foremost the USA Today, where I get these power rankings from, haven’t exactly been doing the best job in keeping their rankings up to date but also the Yankees haven’t exactly been killing it on these rankings either to be completely honest. How far have the mighty fallen you ask? Keep reading to find out.

At one point this season the New York Yankees were ranked as high as high as second overall in the league while the team at one point fell all the way to 18^th. This week though the Yankees were ranked still in the Top 10 with the 9^th overall position, falling one spot from their ranking last week. Gary Sanchez apparently can’t play defense, which is not a new development if you have followed him since being signed as an international free agent, and CC Sabathia’s knee is hurt. Bring back Jordan Montgomery and/or continue the youth movement with Chance Adams. Don’t fret, the team is playing with house money here in 2017.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Baltimore Orioles who rose three spots to the #16 position overall while the biggest fall of the week goes to the Texas Rangers who fell three spots to the #19 position. In the immortal words of Joe Girardi, that’s not what you want.

The American League East shakes up like this. The Boston Red Sox are ranked 5^th overall and leading the division followed by the Yankees who are 9^th overall in the rankings and the Tampa Bay Rays who are 11^th in the rankings here by the USA Today. Baltimore rose to 16^th this week while the Toronto Blue Jays are 21^st overall on the rankings.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Washington Nationals, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox round out the Top 5 while the Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers round out the Top 10.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

You can always tell when a small sample size starts to become a large sample size, especially on something like these weekly MLB Power Rankings released by the USA Today, when you see little-to-no movement across the board. Some teams jumped and some teams fell but for the most part most teams stood pat this week on the rankings including the New York Yankees. Let’s check out the list from another week of MLB play.

As I said before the New York Yankees stood pat in the 6^th position overall while the Boston Red Sox remained right on their heels at the #7 position. In fact the #8 Cleveland Indians and #9 Milwaukee Brewers also stood pat behind Boston while the Minnesota Twins snuck up three spots into the #10 position. The Tampa Bay Rays fell one spot to the #12 position while the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays fell one and two spots respectively to the #16 and #17 positions.

Meanwhile the Top 5 also remained pretty much the same with the Houston Astros remaining at the top spot followed by the Dodgers (climbed one spot), the Arizona Diamondbacks (climbed two spots), the Washington Nationals (unchanged from the 4^th spot last week) and the Colorado Rockies (fell three spots).

Based on these rankings and my pure speculations I have come up with this potential list of sellers and buyers at the July 31^st trade deadline. Enjoy, criticize and debate in the comments section.

Sellers: Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Miami Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Chicago White Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Buyers:  Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, Washington Nationals, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers.

Undecided: Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Baltimore Orioles, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees took an airplane out west and they came back home to the East Coast bruised, battered and beaten. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Oakland Athletics absolutely laid the smack down on the Bronx Bombers last week and the USA Today rubbed some salt into their wounds with their weekly release of MLB Power Rankings. The Yankees fell and fell hard.

The Yankees were a season-high second overall on the list last week but the team fell all the way out of the Top 5 this week falling four spots to the #6 position overall. Entering their series with the Angels yesterday the team held just a 0.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox for first place in the American League East and with the injuries beginning to pile on and mount the team needs to turn it around. Now.

With the Yankees out of the Top 5 the new structure is as follows. The Houston Astros are still first followed by the Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Nationals and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

To round out the rest of the American League East on the rankings you have the Boston Red Sox at the #7 position, the Tampa Bay Rays 11^th overall, the Baltimore Orioles 14^th and the Toronto Blue Jays smack dab in the middle at #15 overall.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Kansas City Royals who rose a whopping seven spots to the #16 position while the biggest fall of the week went to the Cincinnati Reds who bailed out the Yankees here dropping six spots to the #27 position overall.

The July 31^st trade deadline is looming. Expect mass change here on the rankings and around the league.

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

Look out baseball world because the New York Yankees are coming! The USA Today has released their weekly MLB Power Rankings and the New York Yankees are slugging their way all the way to the top. Again, watch out because they are coming. Just how high did the Bronx Bombers and this modern day Murderer’s Row climb? Keep reading.

I won’t be mean and leave you in suspense for long, the Yankees climbed all the way to the second position on the rankings trailing only those pesky Houston Astros. The Astros remained in the top spot while the rest of the Top 5 was rounded out with the Colorado Rockies who also climbed two spots to the third position, the Washington Nationals who fell two spots to fourth and the Los Angeles Dodgers who also fell two spots to fifth.

The Yankees have 28 more teams behind them in these rankings and four teams chasing them in the American League East Division race and those teams show up on this ranking list as follows. The Boston Red Sox are hanging around at the #6 position while the Baltimore Orioles fell three spots to the #12 position overall. Getting hammered by the Yankees has a way of doing that to a team I guess. Meanwhile the Tampa Bay Rays are right behind the Orioles at lucky #13 after climbing one spot this week while the Toronto Blue Jays are still quietly hovering around the .500 mark and the 14^th spot on the rankings.

The Minnesota Twins are 9^th, the Milwaukee Brewers are 10^th, the Chicago Cubs are 11^th and the Miami Marlins are 27^th? What year is this again? There’s a few more surprises thrown in there too including the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals but wow. What a season and it’s only June. Stay tuned as these rankings continue to form and take shape only to be flipped on their heads again by the July 31^st trading deadline. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

"What you talkin' bout Austin?"

Another week in the books for the 2017 Major League Baseball season and teams are still jockeying for position in their respective divisions. The New York Yankees are still at the top of the American League East Division but they may have plateaued a bit, which by the way is not a bad thing because the postseason is a second season and their plateau is still pretty damn good, which is reflected in these standings. In fact the American League East was all over these rankings this week so let’s dive right into them.

First and foremost the reason you are all here is for the Yankees. New York dropped two slots this week from their #3 overall position to the 5^th position. Top 5 is still “a-okay” with me. Meanwhile the Boston Red Sox were the biggest risers this week rising six spots to the #7 position while the Baltimore Orioles were the biggest fall of the week dropping five spots to the #10 position. Three AL East teams in the Top 10 though, and remember when everyone was saying how weak the division was before the season started?

The Houston Astros still occupy the top spot followed in order by the Washington Nationals, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies with obviously the Yankees coming in fifth on the rankings. The five teams nobody wants to be in the league right now are the #26 ranked Kansas City Royals followed by the Atlanta Braves, the Miami Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres.

The Yankees could drop to 10^th for all I care, just stay on top of the division and keep playing well. The trading deadline is coming and so are the playoffs, I’ll worry about it more when those dates draw closer. Not today. Enjoy the rest of your day everyone. 

USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings

The New York Yankees are holding strong at the top of the American League East Division after another week of baseball being put in the record books and they are holding strong at the top of the USA Today’s Weekly MLB Power Rankings as well. For the third straight week the New York Yankees remained steady at the #3 position in all of Major League Baseball with only the Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals ahead of them. Let’s check out the rest of the standings.

You have the Top 3 teams on the list and the fourth and fifth slot look relatively the same as last week with only the Dodgers and Orioles swapping spots finishing 4^th and 5^th respectively. The Cubs held steady at the 9^th position overall while the Milwaukee Brewers crept into the Top 10. The Boston Red Sox dropped to 13^th while the Tampa Bay Rays climbed to 14^th after taking two-of-three from the Yankees over the weekend. Also keep an eye out on those Toronto Blue Jays who find themselves suddenly 21^st overall. The rankings don’t suggest it but I still think they are much better than they have shown thus far this season.

The biggest rise of the week went to the Texas Rangers who rose five spots, a ten game winning streak has a way of doing that to a team, to the #11 position while the St. Louis Cardinals were the biggest fall this week dropping five spots back to the #12 position. These two teams have been all over the rankings this season both falling in the 20’s while both teams have also been in the Top 10 at points during the year.

Oh and let me state that I absolutely love the fact that the New York Mets are 20^th. Okay, gloating done. Have a great day everyone and enjoy the game tonight. I always love watching Luis Severino pitch and I can remember back in 2015 heading down to Atlanta’s Turner Field and watching him pitch during his rookie campaign and being impressed as hell. Impress me again, please?

So it Seems We Could Have MLB Games in Europe by 2019

So it seems we could have Major League Baseball games in Europe as soon as 2019? According to Rob Manfred and the USA Today that is the plan anyway! How exciting is that?

MLB had hoped to have games at least in London by the 2018 season but that doesn’t seem to be a realistic option at this point. At one point last season and this winter it was being discussed that the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox would play inside London’s Olympic Stadium but it seems like there is not enough team for that to be feasibly possible.

Even if it doesn’t happen in 2019 it looks like it will happen eventually so at least that’s progress. Enjoy the weekend Yankees family… and hey you. Good morning. I can’t wait to be your alarm clock.