Power Rankings

[papps]

Thanks but the same could be said for the '10 Brewers or your Phillies last year. It's a marathon and the playoffs are crapshoot.

Very true.  But right now I am the Dodgers whipping boy! 

[Dan Wood]

1)  Los Angeles Dodgers  (40-8) - Damn...and Giancarlo don't call me Mike is starting to heat up
2)  Philadelphia Phillies  (37-11) - An elite team but the NL East is starting to creep up.
3)  St. Louis Cardinals  (36-12) - Keep doing what they do. Paul has become the TLR of FGM roster management.
4)  Texas Rangers  (41-7) - Might be the first AL team to clinch a playoff spot
5) Boston Red Sox  (39-8) - Excellent pitching staff...Just enough hitting 
6) Atlanta Braves  (32-16) - Breathing down the Phils necks.
7)  Kansas City Royals  (31-17) - D.Wright continues to lead the charge
8)  Cincinnati Reds  (35-13) - Hamilton; nuff said. At some point Ike, Duda, and Belt will have to contribute in order for this team to maintain this ranking.
9) Cleveland Indians  (33-15) - Votto is going to have to carry this team on his back. Kipnis will have to carry what ever Votto can't handle. 
10) New York Yankees  (27-21) - Good week from healthy players, but key word being healthy 
Chicago White Sox  (31-17) - First hiccup of the season scoring under 700 pts
11)  Pittsburgh Pirates  (26-22) - 7-1 week...really needs a CI
12)  Washington Nationals  (29-19) - Can Jake keep it up (I hear no) while the Nats wait for reinforcements in Howard and Thole?
13) Chicago White Sox  (31-17) - First hiccup of the season scoring under 700 pts 
14) Tampa Bay Rays  (23-25) - Longo's injury has proven to be difficult to come back from. 
15)  Oakland Athletics  (21-27) - Here comes Cano...is Texas too far ahead for the A's to make a run. Lost two players to injury this past week.
16)  Colorado Rockies  (20-28) - If Upton was hitting the injuries wouldn't hurt as much.
17)  Chicago Cubs  (15-33) - Team still needs a few pieces. In a lesser division he might have a winning record.
18)  Seattle Mariners  (26-22) - Team decided to take a week off. Davis showing his true colors.
19)  Milwaukee Brewers  (17-31) - .500 week and the Puma is back for the time being. Can this team rally?
20)  Houston Astros  (22-26) - Tough week. I still have high hopes for this team.
21)  Toronto Blue Jays  (18-31) - Seems the magic is wearing off. Set himself up for the future.
22)  Minnesota Twins  (23-25) - Morneau injured, Pronk coming back to earth...maintaing respectability while waiting on Gardner, Drew, and Morneau
23)  New York Mets  (20-28) - Hitting the snot out of the ball, when will the Furcal and Beltran show run out of Geritol?
24)  Miami Marlins  (15-33) - Has gotten the most out of all of his players.
25)  San Francisco Giants  (18-30) - Big trade this past week to land a future stud for their line-up
26)  Detroit Tigers  (16-32) - Loss of Ianetta and trade of Scutaro will hurt.
27)  Arizona Diamondbacks  (11-37) - Offense continues to give him a tough time.
28)  Los Angeles Angels  (6-42) - Needs pitching...offense is showing life
29)  San Diego Padres  (11-37) - Loss of Gamel hurts
30)  Baltimore Orioles  (1-47) - Dozier starts the youth movement

[Corey]

23)  New York Mets  (20-28) - Hitting the snot out of the ball, when will the Furcal and Beltran show run out of Geritol?


You could say when will Prince join them in hitting the ball... look out

[Eric]

Just cant catch a break

[h4cheng]

Top 5 Minor league system (I am only considering players who have not made appearances in the majors):

1) Offence leadby Sano and Myers, arguably the the top two hitters in minor league baseball. Bonifaco and Bradley has also broke out, and system can become better when Rendon gets healthy. Pitching is lead by Miller / Lee / Banuelos and the recovery Matzek. Big names here but none of them have started extremely well.  Best system in the league by far and could get better with the upcoming draft and trade deadline.
Sleeper: Rougned Odor - 18 y/o holding his own in A ball.

2) Those BA superscriptions are paying off. Could have been in the running for no. 1 if Middlebrooks didn't get called up. Arenado is going to be a monster at Coors. Schoop / Liriano / Cron are also very interested fantasy wise. Pitching is probably the best in the game with Walker (nice trade) / Harvey / Peacock / Pomeranz / Rosenthal / Matias. The ammunition is definitely there for Roy to make a big move for the playoff run.
Sleeper: Trevor Rosenthal: probably ends up in the top 100 prospect list by the end of the year...might even push for top 50.

3) Credit goes out to Ben for having such good system well making virtually no moves. Offensce is lead by Machado but there are so many other good players like Marisnick / Sanchez / Norris / Hedges/ Siwart /  Castellanos / Choice / Gyorko / Nimmo. Unlike most teams, Ben's top prospects are in EDR which is arguably make these players more valuable as they are not taking up major league roster spots. With another 7 or so picks coming up in the first round of this year draft, the system will get even stronger.
Sleeper: Jesee Biddle - bit of a forgotten man as he does not get as much hype as others. The pedigrees are there and he has cut down on the walks and increased his strike outs this year.

4) Would have been ranked higher if Harper is still in the minors. Profar / Simmons should keep the MI position stable for a long time. After struggling last year, Sale has hit a lot better this year and with more patience while moving up a level. Not too many interesting name on the pitching side besides Bauer and Gilmartin but both of them can help starting next year.

Sleeper: Ryan Brett: he is hitting very well this year and I have heard some good things.

5) I am probably biased but I like my system. On the hitting side, Goodwin / Williams have tremendous upside and have performed very well this year. In season pick ups of Hanson and Lake have also done well. There are a lot of interesting names that could break out here. The pitching is lead by the big 4 of Hultzen / Skaggs / Nicolino / Paxton. Another name worth noting is Brett Mooneyham who will probably get drafted in the supplementary round of the (real) MLB draft.
Sleeper: Nicky Delmonico - first round talent but got pushed down to the 4th round due to bonus demand. Has an OPS close to .800 in A ball while playing 2B.

Just missed the top 5:

[Colby]

Wow.  What happened to my Pirates last week? First off, it appeared that they lost just about every match and fell to 28-28, but now they show as 30-26.  Either way, they need to start winning.

NL Wildcard Standings
1) (41-15)
2) (33-23)
(31-25)
(30-26)
(25-31)
(25-31)
(24-32)
(22-34)
(22-34)

[Eric]

Finally a good week for my

[papps]

I'm gambling this year trading Konerko and Zobrist to try and stay competitive this year and build for the future.  The Phils are walking that fine line this year.  Time will tell if I made the right moves or not! 

[Colby]

I'm gambling this year trading Konerko and Zobrist to try and stay competitive this year and build for the future.  The Phils are walking that fine line this year.  Time will tell if I made the right moves or not! 

All you have to do is keep the Braves and Nationals off your back.  So far so good for your Phils.

[NickF]

my braves had a pretty rough week... gonna have to step it up to keep up with cincy and stay close to philly