MLB Power Rankings: A new No. 1 emerges thanks to Dodgers free fall

It would seem that the demise of the 2026 MLB season has been greatly exaggerated. After the Los Angeles Dodgers won the Tarik Skubal sweepstakes ahead of last week's trade deadline, most fans outside of Southern California were about ready to sim to the end of the year. But a funny thing has happened since: L.A. lost its first five games with Skubal on the roster and seven in a row overall, with an offense stuck in neutral and a bullpen that can't be trusted with a late lead.

And suddenly, the NL was flung wide open again. In fact, the Dodgers are no longer No. 1 in our weekly MLB power rankings — heck, they didn't even crack the top two. As the dust settles from the deadline, we're learning more and more about which teams put themselves in perfect position and which are wishing they'd done a little bit extra. Where does your team stand as the stretch run gets going? Let's get to it.

30. Los Angeles Angels

• Last week's ranking: 30

To the surprise of absolutely nobody, the Angels kickstarted their long-awaited rebuild at the deadline and promptly lost their next two series. But hey: At least there seems to be a willingness to blow things up and start from scratch, even though there's no guarantee that what comes next will be any better unless Arte Moreno and Co. are willing to make serious changes to their player development apparatus. Zach Neto and Reid Detmers are almost certainly gone come the winter, so it's going to get (much) worse before it gets better.

–Chris Landers, FanSided.com sports editor

29. Colorado Rockies

• Last week's ranking: 29

Colorado has lost a few games in incredibly exciting fashion of late, which is better than losing ugly. There are some real boppers in the Rockies lineup, from breakout rookie T.J. Rumfield to Jake McCarthy and Mickey Moniak, both of whom have revived careers that were on life support before their tenures in Denver. Hunter Goodman stuck around past the deadline and gives Colorado a theoretical foundation upon which to build the next step on the ladder to contention. If you want to look past the still-middling MLB results for a moment, top prospects Charlie Condon and Zac Veen are giving fans a lot to anticipate. 

–Christopher Kline, FanSided.com staff writer

28. Athletics

• Last week's ranking: 28

If anyone had the A's halting their collapse long enough to take two of three at Fenway Park this weekend, no you didn't, stop lying. It's been a disappointing season in Sacramento in just about every way imaginable, one that's already cost long-time GM David Forst his job. But the pieces remain in place for a very good lineup — especially with top prospect Leo De Vries set to debut next season. Pay up for a functional pitching staff (Gage Jump's stellar start in Boston is a promising sign), and the rebound could be swift.

–CL

27. San Francisco Giants

• Last week's ranking: 26

The Giants were shut out a couple times this week as the lineup continues to fall dramatically short of the expectations associated with such a high payroll. San Francisco has reasons for optimism, though: Rafael Devers has rediscovered his swing, while Bryce Eldridge is a clear centerpiece of the future. Carson Whisenhunt and recent call-up Blake Tidwell can at least give the Giants something to dream on pitching-wise.

–CK

26. Kansas City Royals

• Last week's ranking: 25

The Royals are what they are at this point. They aren’t the worst team in the sport, especially after holding onto Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo past the deadline, but they’re not any good either. They’re bound to finish in last place in a remarkably weak AL Central, and waste a year of Bobby Witt Jr.’s prime. That’s not great.

–Zach Rotman, FanSided.com staff writer

25. New York Mets

• Last week's ranking: 27

New York swept the postseason-hopeful Guardians in Cleveland, picking up real momentum as we barrel toward the season’s final month. The postseason is effectively out of reach for these Mets, but it’s hard not to be encouraged about what the future holds. Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton, Carson Benge, AJ Ewing and New York’s young core looks phenomenal. Jefry Yan is sick. Better things are on the horizon. At least, that’s the hope in Queens.

–CK

24. Baltimore Orioles

• Last week's ranking: 23

Baltimore going 3-3 since trading Adley Rutschman and Taylor Ward at the deadline feels oddly fitting. This is a deeply mediocre team that will likely remain so for the rest of the year, at least unless homegrown talents like Gunnar Henderson, Jackson Holliday, Coby Mayo and Colton Cowser can stat playing consistent baseball. But moving Rutschman felt like a tacit admission that this core isn't good enough, and that serious retooling in the offseason will be needed.

–CL

23. Seattle Mariners

• Last week's ranking: 15

Has there been a more disappointing team in baseball so far this season than the Mariners? Okay, I get it, the Mets exist, but still: Seattle brought back just about all of a team that got within a game of the World Series last year but continues to fall further and further below .500. They've lost eight of their last 10 series, and acquiring Ward from Baltimore at the deadline doesn't appear to have fixed what remains a frustratingly moribund offense. There's still time to get this together — lord knows the AL West is a forgiving division — but the longer this goes on, the more it seems like it's just not the M's year.

–CL

22. Toronto Blue Jays

• Last week's ranking: 22

As for the other team in last year's ALCS, the Jays have actually played some pretty plucky baseball since waving the white flag at the deadline. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. even homered in his home ballpark! Granted, it's almost certainly too little too late, but there's still reason to watch in hopes that Toronto shows signs of a 2027 turnaround. With Jose Soriano on board, next year's rotation should be a good one; now, if they can just figure out the lineup with Daulton Varsho gone and George Springer likely following him this winter.

–CL

21. Cincinnati Reds

• Last week's ranking: 19

It looked like the Reds had found their groove, winning four of their first five series after the All-Star break leading into the trade deadline. That streak caused Nick Krall to hold onto all his rentals other than Nathaniel Lowe and do practically nothing of note overall, so there was no selling or buying in Cincinnati. But while they were able to sweep the A’s immediately after the deadline, they lost all that ground by getting swept in Washington this weekend. Hunter Greene is out until sometime next season at the earliest, Spencer Steer doesn’t have a timetable for a return and the team is 5.5 games back of a playoff spot. It feels like this organization is in the middle of nowhere given how this season and their deadline wound up playing out, and with an exciting core in place, that’s a major shame.

–ZR

20. Washington Nationals

• Last week's ranking: 20

Washington tipped its hand at the trade deadline and basically bowed out of the postseason race. There’s still plenty of star power concentrated atop the lineup, but it’s hard to even feign competitiveness with a pitching staff this bad. Miles Mikolas is still getting starts, somehow. The bullpen is a meatball serving line. The Nats are probably focused on retooling for next season, with CJ Abrams’ future hanging in the balance.

–CK

19. Minnesota Twins

• Last week's ranking: 16

The Twins continue to prove they can’t be counted out. After a disappointing series in Kansas City right after the deadline, the Twins went toe-to-toe against the Brewers in Milwaukee even without Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton. Their path to the postseason will only get tougher the longer those two stars are out of action, but after improving their bullpen at the deadline, this team is in the thick of this thing.

–ZR

18. Pittsburgh Pirates

• Last week's ranking: 11

The Pirates improved their bullpen at the trade deadline, but what good does that do when their starting pitching and lineup continue to underwhelm? Paul Skenes has been in a rut for a while, and Jared Jones had two brutal starts this week. On the hitting side, injuries haven’t helped, but guys like Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Lowe, Esmerlyn Valdez and Nick Gonzales have not done their part of late. Ben Cherington only adding to the bullpen when other holes were prevalent could doom this team in the end, and this brutal 2-5 week only adds fuel to that fire.

–ZR

17. Cleveland Guardians

• Last week's ranking: 14

The Guardians seemed to crush the trade deadline, only to ... get swept at home by the lowly Mets and split the first two games of a key weekend set against the first-place White Sox. Things might look rocky right now, but there’s every reason to believe Foster Griffin will find his groove and Jo Adell will provide the power they’ve been aching for. With a soft upcoming schedule, though, results need to come quickly.

–ZR

16. Texas Rangers

• Last week's ranking: 18

Texas had its four-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, but this remains a tantalizing team now that Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford are both back healthy. There's a pretty formidable heart of the order here, and no team wants to face Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and MacKenzie Gore in a short series. The Rangers have had a hard time putting it all together for any length of time, but if the bats are finally starting to warm up, don't count them out.

–CL

15. St. Louis Cardinals

• Last week's ranking: 21

As disappointing as it’s been to see the Cardinals' slide in recent weeks, their rough patch allowed Chaim Bloom to trade veterans like Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar for exciting prospects. Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale both look awesome, adding to an already deep farm system. And MLB-wise, St. Louis had a pretty good week thanks largely to the guy they (smartly) held onto, Alec Burleson, whose three-homer game at Yankee Stadium helped the Cardinals win a series in the Bronx.

–ZR

14. Miami Marlins

• Last week's ranking: 17

The Marlins, to their credit, mostly held the line at the trade deadline, which now puts Miami in position to play spoiler in the NL Wild Card race. They needn’t even look beyond the division: Philadelphia is awfully vulnerable, and the Marlins proved last season that this team can sprint through the finish line. Miami’s lineup is still sneaky stacked with exciting young talent. The rotation and bullpen leave much to be desired, but Sandy Alcántara appears determined to drag this team to the playoffs by sheer force of will if he has to.

–CK

13. Detroit Tigers

• Last week's ranking: 24

Trading Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize might’ve been Scott Harris waving the white flag, but don’t tell the Tigers’ roster that, as they continue to play well even without those two All-Star hurlers. Detroit went 3-2 in its first five games post-deadline, outscoring the opposition 31-9 in those contests. Are the Tigers worse without Skubal and Mize? Undoubtedly, but they just got Jackson Jobe (who excelled in his season debut) back and held onto Gleyber Torres and Kenley Jansen when they could’ve traded them for prospects. This team is still plenty talented in a weak AL (and weak AL Central, in particular), and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them make the playoffs even after selling. They’ve done it before, after all.

–ZR

12. Chicago White Sox

• Last week's ranking: 13

The White Sox had one of the most disappointing trade deadlines in the league, bypassing the opportunity to seriously improve their roster and instead going the cheap route (i.e., not trading high-end prospects) to upgrade their pitching staff. That rough deadline snowballed into this week of games, as they were swept in an ugly series in Boston and returned home only for Will Venable to commit one of the worst managerial blunders I have ever seen in a key loss to a Guardians team on their tails. The White Sox are still good, but they had a chance to really take charge in the AL Central. Refusing to do that could come back to haunt them.

–ZR

11. San Diego Padres

• Last week's ranking: 9

The Padres have snuck up on Arizona and Philadelphia in the NL Wild Card race, led by a resurgent Fernando Tatis Jr. and a newly fortified rotation. Casey Mize and Robbie Ray are still finding their footing on the mound, but San Diego suddenly has the rotation depth — and the deep, impenetrable bullpen — to support even a modestly successful lineup. We’ve seen this group threaten major noise in recent postseasons past. Ironically, this could end up being the year it all comes together.

–CK

10. Arizona Diamondbacks

• Last week's ranking: 12

Arizona gave the Dodgers everything it could handle over the weekend and appears well-positioned in the NL Wild Card race. This Diamondbacks lineup has always stacked up nicely on paper. Now that Geraldo Perdomo has found his footing, there’s little preventing Arizona from mounting another out-of-nowhere run as heavy underdogs. That is, except for the abysmal rotation, which is basically on life support beyond Eduardo Rodriguez. The Zack Littell signing won’t move the needle, folks: Unless Corbin Burnes can play the hero in miraculous fashion, the D-backs will be a little too reliant on their bats, which might not translate to October. 

–CK

9. Houston Astros

• Last week's ranking: 10

The AL West now feels like Houston's to lose, with Yordan Alvarez's historic tear continuing to pace a dangerous offense and the pitching ... well, it's still not "good," but it's at least been working its way toward "good enough". Ronel Blanco, Cristian Javier and Hayden Wesneski are all finally back to provide much-needed depth, even if there are signs of rust after long layoffs. Houston is mixing and matching and hanging around, and when you've got the sort of offense firepower the Astros do — and the AL is as wide-open as it is — you've got a pretty good shot.

–CL

8. Philadelphia Phillies

• Last week's ranking: 8

Luis Arráez brought the positive vibes and he should feast in the cleanup spot, but five through nine in the Phillies’ lineup remains a huge problem. Don Mattingly has zero command on how to roll out this bullpen, while winning with Aaron Nola or Andrew Painter on the bump continues to prove elusive. Philly is still elite when Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler or Jesús Luzardo take the mound, but it’s hard to trust three aces to patch over all these holes come October — if the Phils can even get there.

–CK

7. Boston Red Sox

• Last week's ranking: 6

Boston finally cooled off a bit over the weekend, dropping two of three to the lowly A's at home. But that should only momentarily dampen what's been a truly historic tear over the last few weeks, with a resurgent offense finally offering support to what's been a dynamite pitching staff even without Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox have now just about caught the Yankees in the standings, and while it remains to be seen whether Rutschman will be the offensive addition they still desperately need, it's hard not to feel like this is a legit pennant contender.

–CL

6. New York Yankees

• Last week's ranking: 7

How lopsided can a team be and still contend for a division title? On the one hand, the Yankees' offense has been mired in a months-long slump at this point, with scoring runs seemingly like an almost Herculean task some days. On the other, their rotation has been so overwhelmingly awesome that they've managed to stay afloat regardless. Cam Schlittler, Max Fried, Gerrit Cole and Ryan Weathers are all throwing the ball really, really well right now, and Carlos Rodon has begun a rehab assignment. Even if they can't catch Tampa in the East, that pitching will play in the playoffs — and with any luck, Aaron Judge can get this lineup back on track.

–CL

5. Tampa Bay Rays

• Last week's ranking: 5

The Rays just keep on doing, scoring just enough to let their pitching and defense shine. That formula is looking increasingly rickety with injuries to both Shane McClanahan and Griffin Jax, but Tampa has defied the odds so far. Yandy Diaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero are dynamite, as is this bullpen, and they've shown they can find ways to win games.

–CL

4. Chicago Cubs

• Last week's ranking: 3

The Cubs were as aggressive as any team at the deadline and they’ve seen immediate results. They went 6-1 this week, including a three-game sweep over the Dodgers at Wrigley. I’m not here to say Chicago is better than the Dodgers by any means, but if Kevin Gausman pitches as well as he did in his Cubs debut and Clay Holmes finds his footing, I would not be surprised to see them make things very interesting in a possible postseason series against Los Angeles.

–ZR

3. Los Angeles Dodgers

• Last week's ranking: 1

The Dodgers ended a seven-game losing streak on Saturday, but the vibes in Hollywood are more precarious than one might expect considering the two-time reigning champs just added Tarik Skubal, the consensus best pitcher in baseball, at the trade deadline. Nobody can question L.A.'s overall talent, but this is an older lineup that has not produced up to its reputation all season, while the strength of the rotation remains suppressed by injuries. The Dodgers snapped into form and bulldozed teams last October. Los Angeles will hope for a similar aligning of the stars this fall.

–CK

2. Atlanta Braves

• Last week's ranking: 4

The Yankees ended an eight-game Braves win streak, but Atlanta has cemented its claim as the best team in the NL East — and, quite possibly, Los Angeles’ top challenger in the National League. The Dodgers sure look beatable, and this lineup is stacked with enough pop for a deep run in October. It’s unclear if the rotation can hold up beyond Chris Sale, but Bryce Elder, Grant Holmes and a ragtag bunch keep on answering the call. Plus, the Braves’ bullpen is a total buzzsaw, which helps.

–CK

1. Milwaukee Brewers

• Last week's ranking: 2

Say what you want about the Brewers not being aggressive enough at the trade deadline, but in true Brewers fashion, they won their homestand immediately afterward. Dustin May pitched well in his Milwaukee debut, and Antonio Senzatela has two holds in his first three appearances with the team. I’m skeptical they did enough to overcome the Dodgers when it really counts, but for now, it’s hard to say much that isn’t nice about the Brewers when they keep winning regular season games.

–ZR

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