7/16/07 Power Rankings: Junior Circuit Dominance
1) Tigers
Still plowing along, the Motor City juggernaut is tearing through the American League like an unruly mob of Pistons fans, setting ablaze anything in their path. Justin Verlander and Jeremy Bonderman are a combined 21-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 206 Ks in 229 innings.
2) Indians
Manager Eric Wedge will never be able to convince me that Joe Borowski (a “Proven Closer”) should be pitching the most important relief innings while Rafael Betancourt is available. The difference in effectiveness between these two guys is quite large.
3) Mariners
The most surprising team in baseball reaches their highest point in the rankings thus far, as it should be now considered that their success goes beyond early-season luck. J.J. Putz is the best relief pitcher in baseball right now, and Ichiro is engraving his plaque.
4) Red Sox
The next two teams have been at the top of their divisions for quite some time, but have been playing .500 ball recently. The Sox get the edge because of their large division lead and even Pythagorean record, while…
5) Angels
…the Angels lack those things. Reggie Willits has begun to cool down, and I fear Orlando Cabrera (a name more controversial in Boston than Planned Parenthood) will soon follow. Still, their rotation might be able to carry them to a division title.
6) Twins
Justin Morneau is trying to reclaim his MVP award, as the slugger went 9-26 with 5 HRs in his last 7 games. Minneasota also sports one of the best bullpens in the game, as their top 3 options (Joe Nathan, Pat Neshek, and Matt Guerrier) have ERA+ figures of 215, 274, and 264, respectively.
7) Dodgers
The top National League team pops in at #7, which appropriately describes the rift between the AL and the NL. How about our old drinking buddy, Derek Lowe? 4th in the league in innings pitched (133) and 6th in ERA (3.05).
8) Brewers
Don’t Be Afraid of the Guy in Shades: Corey Hart is coming into his own as a valuable cog in the Brewer machine, hitting .300/.369/.515 and swiping 16 bases in 19 attempts.
9) Yankees
New York has the 3rd best Pythagorean record in the AL, and they certainly have the guns to mount a second half surge, but they will need to do some serious uphill climbing: they are 8 games back in the wildcard chase, and 9.0 games back in the division.
10) Cubs
Those lovable losers make their Power Rankings debut at #10, after going 15-5 in their last 20 games and inching within 3.5 of Milwaukee. The ace of their staff thus far? Ted Lilly (who else)!
Really? The Sox are fourth? Look, I think the Tigers are probably the best team in MLB at the moment, too. Hard to argue with. And I think you could even make a terrific case that the Sox are third, behind the Tigres and maybe the Halos. But putting the Mariners ahead of the Olde Towne? Already? Not sure I’m willing to go that far.
Still, I’m a big fan of the blog. We’ve got you linked over at soxnest.com. It’d be awesome if you linked to us on your Sox blogs list, too.
Either way, good luck with the next week. I’ll be interested to see the Power Rankings v. 7/23!
Thanks for the comments, I enjoy your blog as well.
I agonized over that, and maybe I tried too hard to be a little too objective there. The Sox are certainly in a stagnant period, and every starting pitcher beyond Beckett is a bit of a question mark right now.
I think the rating says more about Seattle’s excellent play than it does for the Sox slump.
The AL is very top-heavy right now, those top 5 teams are all in very good shape. An argument could be made to put the Sox anywhere from 4th to 2nd.
You dope, Music City is Nashville. Motown is Detroit. =)
Great work as usual.
That’s right…I think I had the Kiss song “Rock City” on my mind there.
I need to hire you as my full time editor.
That’s a solid song and worthy of a blog like this.