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MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals and Angels climbing

By Joshua Sadlock

BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 19: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim celebrates with third base coach Ron Roenicke #10 as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 19, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD - AUGUST 19: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim celebrates with third base coach Ron Roenicke #10 as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 19, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 5: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves hits a seventh inning three-run home run against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on August 5, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA – AUGUST 5: Freddie Freeman #5 of the Atlanta Braves hits a seventh inning three-run home run against the Miami Marlins at SunTrust Park on August 5, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images) /
24

Detroit Tigers 54-69

Last week: 2-8
Last rank: 24

Barring a miracle, the Tigers will not be trading Justin Verlander this season — too many moving parts to get a deal done on a pitcher owed close to $60 million over the next two years. That being said, finding a trade partner this winter should be at the top of their list of priorities. The Tigers need to go through a full-scale rebuild. They will not be able to spend their way out of the ill-constructed roster Mike Ilitch built out of desperation to win a World Series in the last few years of his life.

Verlander has been a great Tigers pitcher, and could eventually go into the Hall of Fame as the first player born in the state of Virginia. There are still no guarantees the Tigers move him, but the idea was kicked around last winter before the team decided to try and go for it one more time.

23

Atlanta Braves 55-68

Last week: 4-6
Last rank: 23

Nick Markakis is in line to go down as one of the most underrated players in MLB history. The right fielder recently picked up his 2,000th career hit and is still going strong at the age of 33. He has an outside shot at becoming one of the few modern MLB players to surpass 2,500 hits and 1,000 RBI without ever making an All-Star team.

Just as Joey Votto is having an MVP-caliber season for a bad team in Cincinnati, so too is Freddie Freeman in Atlanta. A wrist injury will limit him to around 120 games, but Freeman may still get enough plate appearances to qualify for the league leaderboards. His current slugging percentage of .627 is not far off the pace set by Giancarlo Stanton. The 46 extra-base hits that Freeman has picked up in only 79 games this year is nothing to sneeze at.

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