MLB Power Rankings: Sizzling Braves, ice-cold Brewers
By Tim Boyle
20) MLB Power Rankings: Arizona Diamondbacks
Early success keeps the Arizona Diamondbacks from falling on this list. The long season has caught up with them, though. They are handing out wins to many teams on their schedule.
Arizona has one of the better starting rotations in baseball without the offense to help them out. Because of this, they have a chance to hang around as a wild card contenders but are more likely to finish with a .500 record at best. They will be an interesting team to watch at the trade deadline. They have the makings of being pretty good as long as they don’t oversell.
19) MLB Power Rankings: Seattle Mariners
Remember when the Seattle Mariners looked ready to end their playoff drought? It feels like a different team is showing up to the field each day. The valiant effort to improve the roster over the offseason has not paid off.
The best way to describe Seattle would be “just all right.” There’s really nothing special about them this year. Robbie Ray looks like a poor buy while the trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Jesse Winker and Eugenio Suarez can be described the same way. The Mariners have enough young talent to be very good again soon. This season, playing spoiler might be the best they can hope for.
18) MLB Power Ranking: Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers have a lot of the same problems as the Mariners. The only difference is they started off poorly and are only now beginning to play some better baseball. Martin Perez has been fun to watch. Aside from him, many players have been hit or miss or no hit and a lot of miss.
The team finally has Marcus Semien and Corey Seager hitting over .200 which feels like a low standard to set for two high-priced free agents they signed to change their fortunes. Center fielder Adolis Garcia has quietly been a run-producer and is among the leader in RBI this year. The Rangers would be wise to continue to build upon what they did last offseason. Another bad and some focus on their pitching staff could make a major difference.
17) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago White Sox
A No. 17 spot isn’t so bad for certain clubs. It’s just on the other side of the halfway mark. Some Chicago White Sox clubs from the past might accept this. This year’s club absolutely cannot. They are easily the biggest disappointment of the season right now. Their manager has no clue what he’s doing and the season feels like it’s headed toward disaster.
Despite all of the negative things to say about the White Sox, they remain one of those teams caught in the middle. There are too many good players on their roster for them to fade out of the race entirely. It also helps that they play in the American League Central. If they get hot, this team can be dangerous.
16) MLB Power Rankings: Los Angeles Angels
Speaking of disasters, the Los Angeles Angels fired Joe Maddon last week and it didn’t give them the spark needed. Clearly, he wasn’t the problem. But what exactly is their issue?
Shohei Ohtani hasn’t been quite as good this year at the plate or on the mound. Blame shouldn’t fall on him. Nor should it go to Mike Trout who is yet again in the MVP race. A poor performance from the bullpen of late should hold the responsibility for this team fading from a top ten club to one on the dark side of the MLB Power Rankings. The American League has some really good teams. The Angels, over the last two weeks, have shown they aren’t one of them.