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MLB power rankings: Giants, Cardinals, Indians surging before trade deadline

By Sean Sears

PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 25: Paul Goldschmidt #46 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on July 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 25: Paul Goldschmidt #46 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on July 25, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /
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MLB Power Rankings
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JULY 24: Cody Bellinger #35 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his run with Matt Beaty #45, to trail the Los Angeles Angels 3-2, during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium on July 24, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

MLB power rankings as teams have to determine if they are buyers or sellers ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

30. Detroit Tigers, 30-68, last in the AL Central (ranked 30th last week)

Winning just two games since the All-Star break, the Tigers are playing some of their worst baseball right now. The trade deadline is about a week away and there is plenty of interest in players like SP Matthew Boyd, RP Shane Greene and Nicholas Castellanos, meaning that the Tigers are going to be truly devoid of talent by Aug. 1.

Newly signed reliever Trevor Rosenthal has pitched well in his 3 innings of work as a Tiger with three K’s and no earned runs to his name yet. A former closer with the Cardinals, Rosenthal stands to get a shot at closing games in Detroit if GM Al Avila does move current closer, Shane Greene. The other side of the Tigers moving their MLB talent is it allows prospects like Daz Cameron, Willi Castro, and Issac Paredes plenty of playing time in the second portion of the season, which should excite Tiger fans. But beyond that, the Tigers are still years away and will slink back to being irrelevant in 2019 once the trade deadline passes.

29. Baltimore Orioles, 33-69, last in the AL East (ranked 29th last week)

The Orioles remain No. 29 on this list for another week after another tough week of games featuring the Nationals, Red Sox, and are currently finishing up a series with the Diamondbacks. The O’s did manage to win a series against the Red Sox, their first since 2018, but the focus for Baltimore is the trade deadline at the moment.

They recently designated Keon Broxton for assignment and it sounds like he will clear waivers and end of playing for another team, according to Orioles manager Brandon Hyde. Despite Broxton’s brutal season at the plate, the 29-year-old could still catch on with a contender looking to add speed and defense in the outfield. Baltimore is also getting more interest in closer Mychal Givens, who has eight saves on the season with a 4.23 ERA, but his 12.2 K:9 has a few teams intrigued by Givens. There isn’t much sought after talent on the Orioles at the moment, especially with Andrew Cashner playing for Boston now, but expect Baltimore to be in conversations until the deadline passes.

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