MLB Power Rankings: Winners and Losers Edition

Although it has been a while, I am officially back. Since it is the day of the trade deadline, I am doing my current power rankings for the MLB season thus far. I will be releasing them towards the end of each month and as it gets closer to playoff time, each week. I will do weekly MLB updates that will come out on Mondays. In this month's edition, I am covering the winners and losers of the current state of the league. The criteria for me is somewhat simple, maybe a little more than just over-achievers and under-achievers and how they have performed over the past month. I am going to do three winners and three losers.

1. San Francisco Giants

2. Houston Astros

3. Boston Red Sox

4. LA Dodgers

5. Tampa Bay Rays

6. Chicago White Sox

7. San Diego Padres

8. Oakland Athletics

9. Milwaukee Brewers

10. New York Mets

11. Cincinnati Reds

12. Toronto Blue Jays

13. Seattle Mariners

14. St. Louis Cardinals

15. Philadelphia Phillies

16. Atlanta Braves

17. New York Yankees

18. Cleveland Indians/Guardians

19. Los Angeles Angels

20. Detroit Tigers

21. Washington Nationals

22. Chicago Cubs

23. Miami Marlins

24. Kansas City Royals

25. Colorado Rockies

26. Minnesota Twins

27. Baltimore Orioles

28. Texas Rangers

29. Pittsburgh Pirates

30. Arizona Diamondbacks

WINNERS

(1) San Francisco Giants - If you haven't been paying attention to baseball this year, this team has the best record in baseball. It somewhat shocks me that the Dodgers are in that Wild Card spot for now, but these Giants just keep winning. Most people coming into the season including myself, thought there was no way in hell they were even making the playoffs. They are in this position because their pitching, starting rotation and bullpen has stepped up immensely. They have the most saves in the league and are top three in opponent's ERA (earned run average). It must be stated though, that their offense is not too shabby, as a whole their slugging percentage is top five in the entire league (.433) and their OPS (.758) is top five as well. Where they win games though, is in the field where they have the best fielding percentage in the National League.

They are the best all around team in the league right now, with veterans like Brandon Crawford, Kevin Gausman and Buster Posey leading the push for October. They have some big games coming up next, playing both the Astros and Milwaukee over the next two weeks, having to go visit Milwaukee for the series. They do face the Diamondbacks two times over that same period which I am sure they will take full advantage of, but need to because the Padres and the Dodgers are both hot on their heels. After this it will get no easier, facing only four teams with losing records the rest of the way and the Braves and Cubs still have something to play for so I doubt they will stay under .500. Let's see if they can hold on to that NL West Lead and stay on top of the league.

(2) Boston Red Sox - This is a team I strongly believe right now will win the American League and has a great chance to win the World Series. They have beaten up on the entire AL East and there is a really good chance that they will be number one on my rankings list next month. They are in the best division in baseball and still are two and a half games up on the Rays and at least eight games ahead of the other teams. Their stats speak for themselves, they are top five in almost every hitting category you can find and top three in the majority of statistics. Their batting average is tied for third (.257) and their OPS is (.764), pitching-wise they are okay but their hitting makes up for that given they average scoring a run more than they average giving up. Xander Boegarts and JD Martinez are putting this team in a position similar to the one they were in in 2018 headed into the playoffs.

The rest of the season schedule for them is not anywhere near as hard as the Giants is, getting most of the hard series' out of the way already. Although they will have to play the Blue Jays once more, the Yankees twice more and the Rays three times, none of which will be easy but I strongly believe the Red Sox can power their way through the rest of the schedule and finish up with the best record in the American League.

(3) Milwaukee Brewers - This is a team that has just a good a chance to win the National League as the Dodgers and Giants. They are one of the few teams in this league that are living up to the hype. They have found a way to pass both the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals to have the best record in the NL West and put themselves in a position to make a deep postseason run. They have a rotation very similar to the one the Giants had when they won those three World Series' in five years. They have three starters with under a 2.3 era which is incredible on its own but when you compare it with the fact that as a team they have the most strikeouts in the league and a 3.3 ERA, you get a team that is primed for a major postseason breakthrough.

All that being said, if they want to catch the Giants to earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs, they are going to have to step up their hitting. 28th in batting average. Not even hitting .230 as a team means they are going to have to really rely on their amazing pitching as October gets closer. There is no question that a roster like theirs can win a ring but they are going to have to get that average above .240 for me to believe they will. They play Atlanta, Pittsburgh and get a real test when they face San Francisco next week.

LOSERS

New York Yankees - This team, is a team that is getting blown out as I am writing this, a team I thought for sure was going to beat the Rays and go on to the World Series last year. A team that I thought was going to the world Series for each of the last four years. I can't believe with the talent they have that they have not won a World Series since 2009. They have by far had the best pitching rotation in the American League and the best hitting lineup in the entire league coming into the season. The fact that they are two games out of the Wild Card spot gives any Yankee fan a real reason to be concerned. To make matters worse, getting crushed by their division rival Rays a day before the trade deadline is a huge red flag for any fan especially for one that's team is expected to at the very least reach the American League Championship Series.

As of late they have been doing okay, but to reach the playoffs they are going to have to do better than okay. They had a real rocky start and haven't really been able to recover. A game over .500 in the last ten, twenty and thirty games will not get you in the playoffs in the modern day American League. They have quite an easy schedule over the next two weeks, facing the Marlins, Orioles, and Royals. They need to capitalize with the playoffs approaching and face the fact that it's crunch time for this team right now because after these next four series' the schedule gets a whole lot more challenging. Time for this team filled with stars up and down the roster to prove themselves because if they can't even make the playoffs there will be real questions about the way this team moves forward.

Chicago Cubs - This is a team I was convinced by a friend of mine would go deep and maybe see my Mets in the playoffs. With good reason they had won I believe 8+ in a row at the time and we both considered them a real contender to win the NL Central. Then came Milwaukee and with that came a hole that they fell into with one of the worst records in their last ten and twenty games played. In the last thirty they have the worst record in baseball. I think most experts consider this team sellers at the trade deadline. They are a whole lot like the Nationals except they actually had a lead in their division.

It is easy to call them losers at this point of the season and say its because they lost eleven in a row but I think it comes down to pitching. Losing Kyle Schwarber was a real blow to this team, so coming into this season I would have said their pitching would have to be dominant for them to make the playoffs. It is not awful but its average and for a team with awful hitting, pitching average will not make you contenders for anything but sellers at the trade deadline. Should be interesting to see where or if Anthony Rizzo Khris Bryant leaves and where they go. Also a question of can this team somehow recover from this awful stretch, this weekend they will a chance to start against a team that is in a very similar position to them.

Atlanta Braves (16) - This won't be as long as the others but this team is a definite loser in my book at this point in the season. To be behind an injury plagued Mets by four games is pitiful with the talent they have up and down the roster. They remind me of the Yankees except they can actually right this ship which will have to do starting this weekend. A series win against the Brewers would be an excellent start. Granted, they did have a series win over the Mets in a rare five game series but with two of the best hitters in the league they should be on top of this division. Being .500 over the past ten, twenty and thirty games will not get you to a division championship. It will be a must watch series against the Brewers, a series where we'll find out if the Braves belong on this list.

- Note: I wanted to put the Nationals as losers but they have not had as big a downfall as the Cubs and I think they have time to recover. In addition the Cubs are a team that has no reason to be in the place it is whereas the Nats are excused due to injuries. The Nats also have been competitive in the majority of the losses, I am not able to say the same for the Cubs. Cannot get big leads with your bats and blow them with your gloves, that will not get you in position to make the playoffs or make your team sellers as they normally are. I personally think they should do nothing and then try to make a push for the playoffs like they did in 2019. If any team can turn their season around, it is the Washington Nationals. This series with the Cubs is a must watch for any baseball fan. Also, the Mariners and Blue Jays are teams that have real good futures and teams if they don't make the playoffs this year I have no doubt they will be real contenders in their respective divisions next year. They are going to be places free agents will want to go.