Doin MLB Power Rankings

With two and a half full weeks gone in the MLB season we find ourselves about 10% of the way through the season. It’s time for some waaay too early power rankings! I’ve seen way too many baseball games thanks to the free MLB package preview those first two weeks. Thankfully that’s over, so I don’t find myself watching a Marlins vs. Astros game anymore (which is probably for the better). For some reason I’ve been more focused on baseball more than the opening games this weekend of the NBA playoffs. Anyways, this might be the most accurate power rankings I’ll have all year because I’ve actually seen almost all the teams play. There are some shocking teams already in this young season, and for now this is how the top 16 shakes out!

#1 Colorado Rockies (12-4) – Whoa, I thought they’d be pretty good this year, which is why I picked them to win the NL West, but didn’t see this torrid start coming. Tulo is on pace to hit over 80 homers this year. If he keeps that pace up, they might be able to stay atop these rankings for awhile.

#2 Cleveland Indians (12-4) – Mceezy’s pick to win the World Series. I was very skeptical of this team and his pick, but they’ve got some swagger and confidence early in the year. Also, one guy who always seems to be in the playoffs, Orlando Cabrera is on their team. Wherever he goes, they make the playoffs except when he was on the A’s for half a year and didn’t make it… Grady is back, and that’s only going to help them.

#3 New York Yankees (9-5) – Is there starting pitching ever not a question mark? It doesn’t seem to matter that much when you put up runs like this lineup can. AJ Burnett is off to a good start, so maybe he doesn’t suck after all. Would I move Jeter down in the lineup? Yes!

#4 Texas Rangers (11-5) – They’ve lost two straight series (one to the Yankees), but keep on mashing the ball with or without Hamilton in the lineup. Anytime you are scoring as much as them you have a chance to win in every game. Their starting rotation is a concern, and the bullpen is even more of a concern, we’ll see what happens with that. Hopefully it will spell their doom.

#5 Philadelphia Phillies (10-5) – Not an exciting offense anymore, but you only need to score a few runs with that pitching staff. I might have underestimated how good they are with or without Chase Utley and Jayson Werth. I guess I should’ve probably picked them to win the NL East… 

#6  Kansas City Royals (10-6) – Yup, the Royals are in the top ten for the first time in who knows how long. They are battling it out with the Indians for the AL Central. Words I never thought I’d write. I gave them the nod over the Angels, because well, they swept them earlier this year. Alex Gordon seems hell bent on proving he wasn’t the most disappointing player drafted in the top 10 picks of 2005, and what a list it is.

#7 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (10-6) – Pre-season, I was actually more worried about the Angels than the Rangers in the A’s division, but was hoping it wasn’t both. Unfortunately it has been both so far, and they’ve been the team that we saw dominate the division over the last few years.  If they could get over the fact that Brandon Wood sucks, they’d be even better off. Haren and Weaver are about as dominating a duo as you’ll find.

#8 San Francisco Giants (9-7) – The champs starting pitchers seemed to have picked up where they left off, and that would be dominating opposing hitters. Doubt they’ll miss Zito that much as he heads to the DL. The resurgent Panda could pay huge dividends sooner than later.

#9 Cincinnati Reds (9-7) – Comeback wins are their MO, and they are sticking with that with multiple come from behind wins already in the young season. It was troubling to see my mancrush Arlondis Chapman losing velocity by being overworked by Dusty Baker, but that aside, this team is sailing. They might set some of those runs scored records that the Red Sox were supposed to do this year.

#10 Florida Marlins (8-6) – This team is hard to figure out since they have a lot of young guys that don’t have a ton of experience, just upside. They seem to have power and pitching, but at the same time you don’t feel like they should be the favorite in any game.

#11 Los Angeles Dodgers (8-9) – Even with McCourt trying to ruin this team they are still playing some great baseball. Matt Kemp looks like he wants to shed those rumors that he sucked last year, and is doing it by hitting everything he sees. Kershaw has been outstanding. They are a solid team all the way around, and it may have been a mistake to count them out before the season started.

#12 Oakland Athletics (8-8) – Maybe a little high, but their starters are no fluke rolling out a 2.13 ERA to lead all of baseball. Still not much hitting to speak of, but it’s been mildly better than last year.

#13 Tampa Bay Rays (7-9) – Hopefully Johnny Walkoff’s injury isn’t too serious. It’s crazy the second place team in the all mighty AL East is actually under .500. That probably won’t last too long, but as of now I can’t give much love to anyone in that division so I may as well plug the Rays petition for a new stadium. Sign it if you care…

#14(A,B,C,and D) Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Chicago Cubs. (8-8)  I couldn’t decide which one of these teams to put on the top 16 and which to leave out, so I picked all four. The Brew Crew I feel has the best chances of breaking away from the pack. Braun is destroying the ball, and they get Greinke back soon. The Cards are second, because of their track record even though they have plenty to worry about they always seem to be in contention. The Pirates are third, because they never are this high in rankings. The Cubs are last of the 8-8 teams because they are straight up cursed…