In this week's Major League Baseball Power Rankings, the AL West is the home for the two best and two worst teams in baseball. The bottom ten teams appear to be settling in to their positions as baseball's worst with little change in the past few weeks. The teams appearing in the top 10 stayed the same except for the St. Louis Cardinals, who have fallen to #11 while the Toronto Blue Jays have once again made it into the top 10 at #10.
At the top: The Oakland Athletics remain the top team in the rankings and the team with the best record in baseball for another week. The Athletics spent the week playing the bottom-feeders of the American League, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. The Athletics took two out of three against their AL West opponents and maintained their hold on the division by two games over the Los Angeles Angels.
Biggest rise: The Toronto Blue Jays have gotten off to an excellent start following the All-Star Break to stop their slide in the standings and retake second place in the AL East from the New York Yankees. The Blue Jays limped into the All-Star Break, losing 8-of-10. Since the break they are 7-3 in the last week, winning three out of four games at home against the Boston Red Sox and two out of three on the road against the Yankees. The Blue Jays currently sit three back of the first place Baltimore Orioles.
Biggest Fall: The Cincinnati Reds fell four spots in the rankings to #16 after a rough week against division leaders Milwaukee Brewers (NL Central) and Washington Nationals (NL East). The Reds were swept in a three game series in Milwaukee and then dropped two out of three to the Nationals at home. The Reds currently sit six games back of the Brewers in the NL Central race.
At the bottom: Once again it's the Texas Rangers sitting at the bottom of the rankings. The Rangers are just 3-10 since the All-Star Break and were roughed up in the last week by the Yankees and Athletics, going just 2-5 against them.
Rank | Prev. Week | Team | Record | L10 |
1 | 1 | Oakland Athletics | 65-39 | 7-3 |
2 | 2 | Los Angeles Angels | 63-41 | 6-4 |
3 | 4 | Washington Nationals | 57-45 | 7-3 |
4 | 5 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 59-47 | 6-4 |
5 | 3 | Detroit Tigers | 57-45 | 4-6 |
6 | 8 | Baltimore Orioles | 58-46 | 6-4 |
7 | 10 | Milwaukee Brewers | 59-47 | 6-4 |
8 | 6 | San Francisco Giants | 57-48 | 5-5 |
9 | 7 | Atlanta Braves | 57-48 | 5-5 |
10 | 14 | Toronto Blue Jays | 56-50 | 7-3 |
11 | 9 | St. Louis Cardinals | 56-48 | 5-5 |
12 | 13 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 55-49 | 6-4 |
13 | 11 | Seattle Mariners | 54-51 | 3-7 |
14 | 16 | New York Yankees | 54-50 | 7-3 |
15 | 17 | Kansas City Royals | 53-51 | 5-5 |
16 | 12 | Cincinnati Reds | 52-52 | 2-8 |
17 | 15 | Cleveland Indians | 52-53 | 4-6 |
18 | 19 | Tampa Bay Rays | 51-54 | 9-1 |
19 | 22 | Miami Marlins | 51-53 | 7-3 |
20 | 18 | New York Mets | 50-55 | 5-5 |
21 | 20 | Chicago White Sox | 51-55 | 6-4 |
22 | 21 | Boston Red Sox | 48-57 | 5-5 |
23 | 23 | Minnesota Twins | 47-57 | 3-7 |
24 | 24 | San Diego Padres | 46-58 | 5-5 |
25 | 25 | Philadelphia Phillies | 46-59 | 4-6 |
26 | 26 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 45-60 | 5-5 |
27 | 28 | Colorado Rockies | 43-61 | 3-7 |
28 | 27 | Chicago Cubs | 42-61 | 2-8 |
29 | 29 | Houston Astros | 42-63 | 2-8 |
30 | 30 | Texas Rangers | 41-64 | 3-7 |