MLB Power Rankings: Cardinals seek and destroy, Red Sox fade to black
By Tim Boyle
10) MLB Power Rankings: Toronto Blue Jays
It may not seem so but the Toronto Blue Jays are built somewhat similarly to the Phillies. They have a potent offense, some good pitching, and a lot of questions. To say they’ve underperformed is more than fair. It’s this ball club the Orioles could catch for a wild card seed.
The Blue Jays are capable but sitting on their hands for far too long this season could come back and bite them. Several key additions such as Whit Merrifield and Mitch White haven’t paid off. The Blue Jays are clinging to a wild card spot right now hoping they can outlast the miracle Orioles.
9) MLB Power Rankings: San Diego Padres
Climbing ahead of the Phillies gives the San Diego Padres a better spot in this week’s MLB Power Rankings. Faulty themselves, they are yet another one of those clubs who seem to have made a lot of trade deadline errors in judgment.
The Padres remain capable of winning a championship. It’s their starting rotation that will need to carry them. Although several of those key pieces like Joe Musgrove have looked unspectacular compared to where they were in the beginning of the season, the Padres can be really good. All they need to do is figure out the closer situation. Yikes!
8) MLB Power Rankings: Seattle Mariners
Another good story to come out of baseball this season is the resurgence of the Seattle Mariners. This team is good. Their record proves it. They’ll need to do a lot in the postseason early on to get people on board to believe they can do more than make a guest appearance.
Seattle has actually become a team with better pitching than hitting. The rotation and bullpen are about as solid as can be. While Luis Castillo is now the team’s ace, he has good company with Robbie Ray. If someone is going to spoil the Houston Astros from winning the pennant, it could be them.
7) MLB Power Rankings: Tampa Bay Rays
Now that all of the gushing over the Mariners is out of the way, let’s give the Tampa Bay Rays a nice hardy pat on the back. How do they do it? New York Yankees Kryptonite, they are looking like the spoiler of all spoilers this year.
What else is new? The Rays never seem to have the same talent as many of the other serious World Series contenders and yet they always find a way into the race. Tampa Bay might not feature a roster of players with posters on bedroom walls. And yet here they remain—right there with the best teams in baseball.
6) MLB Power Rankings: New York Yankees
Thank the Rays for pushing the New York Yankees back down into the number six spot. They were given the benefit of a doubt last week. This time, we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room. While they did win Sunday to avoid a sweep, fans can’t feel too good right now.
It seems the struggles the Yankees are going through have gotten into their head. Not only are they dropping in the MLB Power Rankings, their lead atop the American League East is shrinking. It’s not panic mode yet for the first-round bye. However, with the team playing this poorly down the stretch, one has to wonder if they’ll get knocked out early and the Aaron Judge era will end the a whole lot of tears.