MLB Power Rankings: Yankees are brilliant, Mariners are resilient
By Tim Boyle
The midseason MLB Power Rankings are in with the New York Yankees looking brilliant and the Seattle Mariners showing the most resilience.
The unofficial halfway point of the MLB season has arrived. The All-Star Break is here but there is no rest for the best teams and players. So if your club finds itself at or near the number one spot in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, don’t fall too deeply asleep. There’s still a lot of season left to play. Take a breather but no naps.
The most shuffling in this week’s MLB Power Rankings takes place in the middle. The worst teams seem to be permanently chained at the bottom with slumps usually causing the most reason for a change. At the top, there are far fewer differences.
Which clubs are looking swollen at the All-Star Break and which ones need a little more protein in their diets?
30) MLB Power Rankings: Washington Nationals
The Washington Nationals get an automatic last-place sport in the MLB Power Rankings merely because they can’t keep their superstar outfielder happy. Juan Soto has turned them down for an extension. He’s going to flee as soon as he can.
The story with the 2022 Nationals remains the same with this new official acknowledgment that Soto’s future is elsewhere. The team is an absolute mess. Expect a trade deadline bloodbath with players like Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz landing in other cities.
29) MLB Power Rankings: Oakland Athletics
Although it’s the Nationals looking the weakest right now, the Oakland Athletics already showed the world what it looks like to subtract all hope from your roster. Their bloodletting took place in the offseason. We’ve seen the results for months now.
The Athletics players are trying but the front office certainly isn’t. With a few pieces left to trade, let the Frankie Montas sweepstakes highlight the next two weeks for this club as the rest of the team auditions for roles next season and hopes they can join him somewhere else.
28) MLB Power Rankings: Chicago Cubs
Why is it that the teams that didn’t really try find themselves at or near the bottom of the MLB Power Rankings? It’s no coincidence. The Chicago Cubs are right there with the Nationals and Athletics. Their sale began last summer. Despite a weak attempt at building a more reputable roster in the offseason, they remain a far less powerful ball club than they have been in recent years.
The Cubs did have Willson Contreras and Ian Happ selected to the All-Star rosters. Next up for each of them could be a new uniform. The Cubs are having a savagely sad season. If there’s any good news for them, they still have a lot of day games which means there’s plenty of time to sulk after losses before bed.
27) MLB Power Rankings: Cincinnati Reds
The theme continues on this week’s MLB Power Rankings with longtime sellers finding their way to the bottom. The Cincinnati Reds fall into this category as well. They subtracted a bunch of players from their roster in the offseason. They could be selling even more.
The Reds got off to such a rough start that they may never crawl out of this pit they’re in. However, they do look ahead of some other clubs. At least they’ve begun to audition exciting young players like Hunter Greene. This is the perfect season for him to work out any rookie jitters. He should be good. He doesn’t have to be this year.
26) MLB Power Rankings: Kansas City Royals
Whit Merrifield made a powerful statement when he suggested he might get vaccinated if he played for a contender. In other words, playing for the Kansas City Royals is pointless. They aren’t going anywhere.
It’s hugely disappointing. Only a few years ago, the Royals built up a fun team of mostly draft picks and a few pieces brought in through trades and free agency. The glory years of 2014 and 2015 seem like a distant memory. The Royals only make the news when their players refuse to get vaccinated or have a player the good ones actually want to trade for. The morale is obviously low with this ball club and only getting worse.