5/5 Power Rankings

Here’s the first, but hopefully not last, first place fish "I watch too much baseball" MLB power rankings list:

1. Tampa Bay Rays

The most athletic team in baseball, and it’s not even close.

2. New York Yankees

Robinson Cano (MLB leading .376 average) is trying to make a case that, on a team loaded with stars, he might be the most overlooked.

3. St. Louis Cardinals

They’re 8-2 in their last ten, 10-1 at home and they have the best player in baseball. Things look pretty good in St. Louis.

4. Minnesota Twins

The new M&M boys (Mauer and Morneau) are laying waste to the AL Central. When Mauer (1 homer) really kicks into gear, this could become a laugher.

5. Philadelphia Phillies

Think Roy Halladay (5-1, 0.88 WHIP) misses the AL East? Yeah, me neither.

6. San Diego Padres

The surprise team of baseball’s first month. Their strong pitching and their home ballpark mean this may be more than a one month mirage.

7. San Francisco Giants

Nobody can match their foursome of Lincecum, Zito, Cain and Sanchez. The problem is, most teams can boast a better middle of the order.

8. New York Mets

Their series loss to Philadelphia could not be more deflating – they lost to Halladay and watched Santana implode – but they still got off to a needed hot start. That has everyone in Queens feeling, and playing, a little looser.

9. Detroit Tigers

With the way 2009 ended, no player needed a demon exorcising start more than Miguel Cabrera. Good thing he got it (1.066 OPS).

10. Washington Nationals

Break up the Nats! Their negative run differential (-17) suggests this may be smoke and mirrors, but the talent they’ve been collecting is finally starting to shine (even if they’re being carried by the ageless Livan Hernandez and his 0.99 ERA).

11. Toronto Blue Jays

The Vernon Wells renaissance (.321/.387/.660) has everyone north of the border buzzing. The emergence of 25 year old Ricky Romero has some thinking this could be the start of something big.

12. Chicago Cubs

Don’t let the loosing record fool you, they have scored 131 runs (more than the 1st place Cardinals). They just need pitching, which slowly seems to be rounding into form as they get healthier.

13. Texas Rangers

Can anyone make sense of the AL West? Good, I can’t either. The Rangers, 7-3 in their last ten, seem to be the only team that actually wants to win this thing.

14. Cincinnati Reds

My pick to drop quickly in the standings. Their home park doesn’t make it easy to pitch, and losing Edison Volquez for a banned substance suspension won’t help much either. They’re also a tremendous smoke-and-mirrors team as they’ve allowed 29 more runs than they’ve scored, not a good bet to keep hanging around .500.

15. Florida Marlins

Bad bullpen, untimely hitting and a propensity to swing for the fences has a lot of people wondering how much longer the Marlins coaching staff is going to remain in Miami.

16. Colorado Rockies

Ubaldo Jiminez has 6 wins, causing some to wonder if 25 is in play. The rest of the staff combines for 5 wins, causing me to wonder if a .500 is even in play.

17. Boston Red Sox

For all the doom and gloom about how the pitching and defense isn’t working, they’re 6-4 in their last ten without much offense to speak of, at least by American League standards.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks

Brandon Webb is about a month or so from returning. That’s good news for the team that has allowed the most runs in the NL West.

19. Los Angeles Dodgers

Matt Kemp’s clashing with the front-office. Manny and Rafael Furcal are on the disabled list. It looks like, for the first time since 1996, Joe Torre won’t be managing in the playoffs.

20. Atlanta Braves

Pathetic production from the top of their order has the Braves wasting a prodigious start from much hyped Jason Heyward, who is absolutely worth watching.

21. Kansas City Royals

Zach Greinke (0-3; 0.98 WHIP) has to be the unluckiest man in baseball. If the Royals keeps struggling – and really, who expects otherwise – Joakim Soria (14.33 K/9) could find himself as the most desirable player on the trade market.

22. Milwaukee Brewers

Did any player have more to gain from Ryan Howard’s ridiculous contract extension than Prince Fielder? The man may have played his way out of Milwaukee’s budget.

23. Chicago White Sox

The amalgamation of talent hasn’t worked, yet. Juan Pierre and Jake Peavy are off to incredibly slow starts. At least Peavy leads the team in strikeouts (31).

24. Cleveland Indians

Has any “star player” fallen more in the last two years than Grady Sizemore? Coming off a .788 OPS 2009, I don’t know what’s worse, the .284 OBP, his zero homers, or that the team still has $21.5 million remaining on his contract.

25. Oakland A’s

3-7 in their last 10 and staring at .500. Oakland is notorious for turning it on once the summer starts, but with Brett Anderson on the DL, you wonder who will lead the charge.

26. Los Angeles Angels

I think it’s safe to say the Angles miss former staff ace John Lacky. They have an AL worst 5.25 team ERA.

27. Pittsburgh Pirates

It looks like another long summer for Pirates fans. The offense is anemic and the pitching is atrocious. On the bright side, Pedro Alvarez is off to a solid start in AAA Indianapolis (.260/.333/.500)

28. Seattle Mariners

The Mariners don’t like runs. They have the second best team ERA in the AL (3.28), the second lowest team OBP (.309) and the fewest runs scored 88. If the pitching keeps up, eventually an offense with Ichiro in it has to come around, right?

29. Houston Astros

A team that should have been torn down at least a year ago looks to limp towards a 70 win finish, which, coincidentally, might be the average age of their players.

30. Baltimore Orioles

Fear not Orioles fans, Brian Matusz and Matt Wieters look like the kind of battery you want to build around for a long time.