Week 6 Power Rankings; Tampa Bay Rays own 2010 Baseball Season

Another week in the books for the 2010 baseball season and another dominating week for the Tampa Bay Rays. This team is not going anywhere despite the fact they will have a target on their back all season that the Red Sox and Yankees will try to hit. The NL West is the unsung division in baseball, boasting four legitimate threats to make the playoffs. The Cincinnati Reds are this week's biggest mover though, taking first place away from the St. Louis Cardinals.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (26-11): Their biggest question is who is the ace between Matt Garza, David Price and James Shields. They have all been fantastic this season.
2. New York Yankees (24-13): Phil Hughes might be the Cy Young through the first month and a half (5-0, 1.65 ERA).
3. Philadelphia Phillies (23-13): Shane Victorino is third in the NL with 32 RBIs.
4. Minnesota Twins (23-14): The best defensive team in baseball. Probably the best coached too.
5. San Diego Padres (22-15): 2.64 team ERA. Incredible. Get to know Mat Latos- he has given up three hits and no runs over 17 innings in his last two starts.
6. San Francisco Giants (21-15): Juan Uribe's 23 RBIs are five more than any other Giant.
7. Cincinnati Reds (21-16): Won 8 of 10 and look like a real threat to the Cardinals in the Central.
8. St. Louis Cardinals (21-17): They had led the NL Central every day since last July until back-to-back losses to the Reds.
9. Toronto Blue Jays (23-16): This offense ceases to amaze me. Their 60 homers and 102 doubles easily outpace the rest of the majors.
10. Detroit Tigers (22-16): An incredible 5-2 week against Boston and New York.
11. Los Angeles Dodgers (20-17): Seven game win streak despite an injury to Andre Ethier.
12. Texas Rangers (20-18): The class of the West. A three game losing streak yet still lead the division by two games.
13. Florida Marlins (20-18): Starting to put together with a 6-1 week including a four game sweep against the Mets.
14. Colorado Rockies (19-18): Ubaldo Jimenez Cy Young update: 7-1, 1.12 ERA.
14. Washington Nationals (20-18): Ran into a Rockies buzzsaw, but still see themselves over .500 in the middle of May.
16. Boston Red Sox (19-19): Who would have thought this team is second to last in the American League with a 4.83 ERA, better than only the Royals.
17. Atlanta Braves (18-19): The Braves are playing better lately, but have only four saves in 37 games.
18. Oakland Athletics (18-20): Their freefall may not be over even with a five game losing streak already in the books.
19. Los Angeles Angels (18-21): They could really have used Vlad Guerrero for another year after seeing him light it up for the Rangers.
20. New York Mets (18-20): If this season continues to be a roller coaster, Jerry Manuel might not be around for much longer.
21. Pittsburgh Pirates (16-21): An impressive 5-1 against the Cubs. Not much else to brag about this year.
22. Chicago Cubs (16-22): Carlos Zambrano has to pitch like a Cy Young when (if) he returns to the rotation for this team to have a prayer of a good season.
23. Cleveland Indians (15-20): Mitch Talbot has been a bright spot this season (5-2, 3.23 ERA).
24. Chicago White Sox (15-22): Jake Peavy looks like he has turned around. Now only if Gavin Floyd and Mark Buehrle could figure it out.
25. Milwaukee Brewers (15-22): I can't stress it enough, the Brewers need so much more pitching to contend (5.20 team ERA).
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (15-23): Speaking of bad pitching. The D-Backs team ERA of 5.80 ranks dead last in the majors.
27. Seattle Mariners (14-23): Has to be frustrating to be a Mariners fan. They just can't put a winning club out there regardless of the talent on the field.
28. Kansas City Royals (14-24): Zack Greinke watch is over. He finally collected his first win even with one of his outings of the year.
29. Houston Astros (13-24): 110 runs rank last in the NL.
30. Baltimore Orioles (12-26): Ty Wiggington's having a career year (.320, 12 homers, 24 RBIs).

Week 5 Power Rankings; Even a perfect game can't derail Rays

The AL East continues to be the class of the MLB even with the Boston Red Sox still hovering around .500. A surprising mainstay in the top-10 continues to be the San Diego Padres while the hard charging Giants continue to impress with their dynamic starting pitching.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (22-9): A two game losing streak and the second perfect game thrown against them in a year makes the Rays only 13-3 on the road now.
2. New York Yankees (21-9): Mark Teixiera could be coming out of his shell following that three homer game.
3. Minnesota Twins (21-11): Joe Mauer's return should keep this team in first for a long time.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (20-12): Adam Wainwright picked up right where he left off last year (5-1, 2.08 ERA).
5. Philadelphia Phillies (19-12): Jayson Werth has been unheralded this season (.349, 7 homers, 26 RBI).
6. San Francisco Giants (18-12): As if Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain weren't enough. Barry Zito is 5-0 with a 1.49 ERA.
7. San Diego Padres (19-12): Have allowed a league low 97 runs this season, tied with the Giants.
8. Texas Rangers (18-14): Elvis Andrus could be the latest young star in this league.
9. Oakland A's (17-15): Dallas Braden's perfect game leaps his team into the top 10 for the week.
10. Toronto Blue Jays (19-14): Good young pitching and hitting. This team is better than I ever thought.
11. Detroit Tigers (17-14): They have played only 12 homes games this year.
12. Washington Nationals (17-14): I was tempted to put them in the top 10. Scott Olsen and Livan Hernandez have been one of the best 1-2 punches this year. Incredible.
13. New York Mets (17-14): Incredible their record is this good with their well-documented bullpen struggles.
14. Cincinnati Reds (16-15): Still need to pitch better, but might be the second best team in the weak NL Central.
15. Boston Red Sox (16-16): This team of great pitchers leads the league in runs allowed at 177.
16. Colorado Rockies (15-16): No consistency outside of Ubaldo Jimenez.
17. Milwaukee Brewers (15-16): A sweep of the Diamondbacks always helps. But they need to beat teams with good pitchers.
18. Los Angeles Dodgers (14-17): All of a sudden Andre Ethier is a triple crown contender (.383, 10 homers, 32 RBI).
19. Florida Marlins (14-17): Josh Johnson has 47 strikeouts in 43 innings.
20. Anaheim Angels (14-19): Another team known for good pitching in the past is tied with the Red Sox with 177 runs allowed, worst in the AL.
21. Pittsburgh Pirates (14-17): Swept the Cubs last week and that's about all they have done this season.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks (14-18): It's a shame Dan Haren doesn't play for a better team.
23. Atlanta Braves (13-18): A troubling 5-14 road record.
24. Chicago White Sox (13-19): Bobby Jenks' closing days could be over after a disastrous weekend against the Blue Jays.
25. Chicago Cubs (14-18): 1-5 trip against the Pirates and Reds could be a very bad sign for the Cubs this season.
26. Seattle Mariners (12-19): Just when you thought this team was figuring it out, they lose 8 of 9.
27. Cleveland Indians (11-18): At least Cleveland fans still have LeBron and the Cavs.
28. Kansas City Royals (11-21): I will keep lamenting Zack Greinke's bad luck until he picks up a win (0-4, 2.51 ERA).
29. Houston Astros (10-21): The worst part of this start is that 22 of the 31 games have been played at home.
30. Baltimore Orioles (9-23): Rank in the bottom five in six top offensive AND pitching categories.

Week 4 Power Rankings, Balanced Rays remain at top

Teams no longer have the "It's only April" excuse as the baseball season moves into the month of May. The AL East and NL East look like the best divisions in baseball so far, but it looks like there will be plenty of competition out west in both leagues. The central divisions? I'm not too sure about them after one month of baseball.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (18-7): Another solid start for Evan Longoria: .347, 6 homers and 19 RBIs.
2. New York Yankees (16-8): Robinson Cano might be the MVP in the AL so far.
3. St. Louis Cardinals (17-8): Four wins apiece for Carpenter and Wainwright. This division should be theirs in a runaway.
4. Minnesota Twins (16-9): Still only played nine games at their new home Target Field (6-3).
5. Philadelphia Phillies (14-10): Huge contract for Howard and another week atop the NL East...barely.
6. San Diego Padres (16-9): Third in the majors with a team 2.76 ERA.
7. Detroit Tigers (16-10): Could D-Train be back after posting six shutout innings?
8. New York Mets (14-11): Just lost two straight and Santana was shelled, but have to be impressed by their short-lived surge to first place.
9. San Francisco Giants (14-10): Pablo Sandoval is going to be asked to do a lot for the Giants to contend...and he will answer.
10. Florida Marlins (13-12): Big matchup tomorrow with Anibal Sanchez going up against Tim Lincecum.
11. Texas Rangers (13-12): Three straight wins finds the Rangers atop the AL West.
12. Chicago Cubs (13-13): When this team hits, they really hit. When they don't, not so much.
13. Washington Nationals (13-12): Next nine are against division rivals.
14. Toronto Blue Jays (13-13): I feel bad for this team playing in front of some very, very small home crowds.
15. Oakland A's (13-13): Ben Sheets career looks over and it's a true shame.
16. Colorado Rockies (12-13): The Rockies need a healthy Jorge de la Rosa.
17. Cincinnati Reds (12-13): One game under, but a -29 run differential.
18. Los Angeles Angels (12-14): Same story as the Reds, Minus-28 run differential.
19. Los Angeles Dodgers (11-14): Opposite side for the other LA team. Three games under with just a -2 run differential.
20. Boston Red Sox (11-14): Each week they find themselves this low is each week their deficit to the Rays and Yankees grows.
21. Seattle Mariners (11-14): Can't ask for much more from Cliff Lee in his seven inning shutout debut.
22. Atlanta Braves (11-14): Snapped their nine game losing streak with a current three game winning streak.
23. Arizona Diamondbacks (11-14): They lead the NL with 144 runs scored and 155 runs allowed. Yikes.
24. Chicago White Sox (10-15): Worst batting average in the league as well as highest ERA from starting pitchers. Double Yikes.
25. Milwaukee Brewers (10-15): They need better than a 5.09 team ERA to compete for the Wild Card.
26. Kansas City Royals (10-15): I feel for Zack Greinke. The Cy Young winner is 0-3 with a 2.27 ERA and even tinier 0.98 WHIP.
27. Cleveland Indians (10-14): They have a major league low 85 runs scored.
28. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15): Their -89 run differential is the worst in the majors...by 45 runs, more than double.
29. Baltimore Orioles (7-18): Climb out of the cellar with a sweep of the Red Sox.
30. Houston Astros (8-16): After a promising climb, the Astros failed to win a game last week.

American and National League Players and Pitchers of the Month

Friday marked the final day of April and the end of the first month of baseball. We have seen all-star players slump while young athletes ascend the tower of baseball stardom. There have been plenty of Cy Young and MVP performances through April, but only one player in each league will be awarded as the best player or pitcher in baseball for April. This is not part of the segment, but my teams of April have to be the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Diego Padres. The Rays went 17-6, beating the Yankees 2 of 3 and sweeping the Red Sox in Boston in a four game series. The Padres, who I picked to finish last in the NL West, has been the surprise of the 2010 baseball season along with the Washington Nationals. The Padres went 15-8 in April and I still can't name an All-star on the team outside of slugger Adrian Gonzalez.

American League Player of the Month: Robinson Cano, New York Yankees second baseman. With Mark Teixeira hitting under the Mendoza line in April and Alex Rodriguez only off to an average start, Cano has carried this team. He is lead the American League in hitting at .400 and hit 8 home runs and drove in 18 runs in April. He leads the league with 23 runs and is second in on-base percentage, slugging and on-base plus slugging. And all of this from a second baseman. Once Mark Teixeira comes around, this Yankees team is really going to push the Rays for American League supremacy.

American League Pitcher of the Month: Matt Garza, Tampa Bay Rays. I wanted to pick Francisco Liriano here, but I couldn't resist with Garza. I've been waiting the last few years for Garza to fully reach his potential and he has showed it this year. He went 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA in April and 34 strikeouts in five starts. Aside from his start against Toronto when he allowed five runs in five innings, Garza only allowed three runs in 30 innings pitched in his other four starts. Along with another pitcher of the month nominee, David Price, the Rays are in this for the long haul. They have the pitching and certainly have the lineup. Garza on his game makes the Rays a top three World Series contender.

National League Player of the Month: Jorge Cantu, Florida Marlins third baseman. A lot of good choices here including Ryan Braun, Matt Kemp and of course, Albert Pujols. But I'm going to go with Jorge Cantu. I think the Marlins are a real wild card contender if Cantu continues his hot April. Cantu hit .311 in April with five homers and 23 RBIs. He opened the season with 10 straight games with a hit and RBI and the Marlins went 11-12 in the first month. They could have found themselves in a much bigger hole if not for Cantu. The National League East is very competitive and Hanley Ramirez needs help on the Marlins offense. Cantu has been that answer so far.

National League Pitcher of the Month: Ubaldo Jimenez. Again, there are a lot of contenders including former Cy Young winners Roy Halladay, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito. But there is no doubting Jimenez's dominance in April. Not only did he throw a no hitter against the Braves, but he went 5-0 in April with a minuscule 0.79 ERA. He's given up just three runs in 34.1 innings and batters are hitting just .186 against him. Jimenez ended April by running off three scoreless starts spanning a total of 22.1 innings. The Rockies were just 6-12 when Jimenez did not pitch in April.

Week 3 Power Rankings

Nothing in the last week has swayed my opinion that the Tampa Bay Rays have been the best team in baseball this April. They have some close competition this week from their division rival, the New York Yankees. A couple surprise teams surge in this week's rankings while the Astros continue to spite me for trashing them after the first week with their current hot stretch.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (14-5): David Price showed how good he is with his first, of what should be many more to come, shutout on Sunday.
2. New York Yankees (12-6): Andy Pettitte still has plenty left evident his league leading 1.29 ERA.
3. Minnesota Twins (13-6): Morneau and Mauer. It doesn't get much better. You'll find their names splattered across all the statistical leaderboards.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (11-7): Halladay looking for a quick 5-0 start to his season.
5. St. Louis Cardinals (11-7): We almost forgot about Albert Pujols until he jacked two homers over the weekend.
6. San Diego Padres (11-8): I know, I can hardly believe it myself. Too bad they only have the third best run differential in their division (+12).
7. Florida Marlins (11-9): Josh Johnson will lead this team to the wild card. Book it.
8. Oakland A's (12-8): Still don't see an offensive player I can really count on, but the pitching has been great.
9. San Francisco Giants (10-8): The return of Barry Zito! He is 3-0 with a 1.32 ERA. Now if they could only give Matt Cain some run support.
10. Colorado Rockies (10-9): Ubaldo Jimenez is simply a star. He's a Cy Young contender this year. Can't say it enough.
11. Detroit Tigers (11-9): Cabrera is mashing with 5 homers and 24 RBIs while hitting .363.
12. Los Angeles Angels (10-10): I think we are way past any great hopes for Scott Kazmir. He just walks too many hitters and throws way too many pitches.
13. New York Mets (10-9): The Ike Davis factor must be contagious in the Big Apple.
14. Toronto Blue Jays (10-9): As potent as this offense can be, the Jays actually have -5 run differential on the year.
15. Chicago Cubs (10-9): No distraction for the Cubs moving Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen. They just swept their neighbors to the north in Milwaukee.
16. Washington Nationals (10-9): Please bring up Steven Strasburg (0.73 ERA in double-A). This team could legitimately be fun to watch this year.
17. Seattle Mariners (9-10): Tough sweep in Chicago, but they have King Felix going for them tonight.
18. Los Angeles Dodgers (8-10): Manny Ramirez on the DL hurts, but stay tuned on Matt Kemp. This guy is the next big thing.
19. Milwaukee Brewers (8-10): That last Matt Kemp comment? It goes double for Ryan Braun. They are the two most exciting players in the NL not named Pujols.
20. Cleveland Indians (8-10): Have to love the resurgence of Fausto Carmona, 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA.
21. Boston Red Sox (8-11): Why wouldn't you be worried about David Ortiz with.164 average and 4 RBIs?
22. Chicago White Sox: Three straight wins in their final at bat and another gem from new staff ace John Danks (3-0, 1.55 ERA).
23. Atlanta Braves (8-10): Tough weekend against the Mets finds this team in last place after three weeks.
24. Houston Astros (8-10): The return of Lance Berkman and an impressive 8-2 record since starting the season 0-8.
25. Cincinnati Reds (8-11): This team just needs a hot streak. They have been perfectly mediocre for years now and need to make the next step now.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (8-10): Mark Reynolds sure does strike out a lot, but he's been awful productive again this season when he does make contact.
27. Texas Rangers (8-11): Same as the Reds comment except this team probably has more talent.
28. Kansas City Royals (7-11): The offense has actually been good so far led by Jose Guillen and hitting machine Scott Podsednik.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (7-11): So much for being over .500. The Pirates have lost six straight since that historic feat.
30. Baltimore Orioles (3-16): Oh, don't worry, the schedule gets much easier with their next two weeks against the Yankees, Red Sox, Yankees and Twins. Good luck to all you Orioles fans this season.

Chicago Cubs move Carlos Zambrano to bullpen

In a surprising move today, the Chicago Cubs moved "staff ace" Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen, to apparently serve as the 8th inning setup man. This is the same Carlos Zambrano that made his sixth opening day start for the Cubs just over two weeks ago, a franchise record. His demotion is to make room for Ted Lilly, who is slated to make his first start of the year this Saturday in Milwaukee.

Zambrano has struggled this year, but so has most of the Cubs team. The pitching has received no support and the team sports a 5-9 record, only half a game better than the last place Houston Astros in the NL Central. And to make matters worse, the Astros took two of three from the Cubs over the weekend. So while it may not be fair to single out Zambrano, the Cubs do have a point.

Their bullpen is 1-6 with four blown saves and an ERA over 6. An 8th inning setup guy to get to Carlos Marmol is essential. Zambrano is really the only guy from the rotation they can turn to. Lilly has arguably been their best pitcher the last four years, Dempster has had a strong start to this season as have Carlos Silva and Tom Gorezelanny, who probably wouldn't improve this bullpen anyways. Randy Wells could not be an option, but he has showed he's a promising starter for the Cubs.

Zambrano has a power arm and bad stats while in the rotation. He is the perfect "solution" to the disaster that is the Cubs bullpen. Zambrano is 1-2 in four starts with a 7.45 ERA and 1.86 WHIP. So while Zambrano might deserve to be in the bullpen, he has a proven track record and is one of the highest paid players on the team. He is making 18.75 million this season and has more than $71 million left on a six year contract extension he signed in 2007. The Cubs can't really get any value for him at this point, but they need to do something to get a spark in him or make him valuable to the team, something he hasn't been this year.

But I wouldn't hit the panic button yet. He could succeed in the bullpen, acting as a stopgap in the 8th inning before the Cubs can acquire another reliever. Maybe he would return to the rotation with more motivation and earn his astronomical paycheck. Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzelanny can't possibly hold up through the entire season. I mean Silva has only given up one run in two starts. Zambrano is still only 28 and has a 106-70 career record with a 3.56 ERA.

Cubs fans should be worried, but they should've been worried already. This team needs a lot of help and not just in the bullpen.

Week 2 Power Rankings, Rays surging

After two weeks I still feel confident in saying the American League East has two elite teams. Unfortunately for Red Sox Nation, Boston is not of those two teams. The Rays and Yankees will not only battle each other for a division title, but now power rankings supremacy as well.

1. Tampa Bay Rays (10-3): 7-0 on the road and just polished off a four-game sweep in Fenway. This team looks scary good.
2. New York Yankees (9-3): Once Mark Teixiera picks it up, watch out for the Yanks.
3. Philadelphia Phillies (8-4): They can hit, pitch and play defense. They also have this guy named Halladay on their team.
4. Minnesota Twins (9-4): You gotta love the new Target Field. The Twins lineup isn't too shabby either.
5. San Francisco Giants (8-4): Two weeks into the season and I can't think of any pitcher that will prevent Tim Lincecum from his third straight Cy Young.
6. St. Louis Cardinals (8-4): 20 innings of craziness just to lose. Tough game, but the Cardinals need Matt Holliday to return to form.
7. Florida Marlins (8-5): The end of Jorge Cantu's streak, but two straight wins against the Phillies make this Marlins a team a serious wild card contender.
8. Oakland A's (9-5): Oakland pitching has only allowed 47 runs in 14 games.
9. Colorado Rockies (6-6): Two blown saves for Franklin Morales, but the Rockies will have Huston Street when it really counts.
10. Detroit Tigers (7-5): This team can hit, but can they pitch?
11. Atlanta Braves (7-5): The NL East is just as competitive as the AL. Jason Heyward update: 3 homers and 15 RBIs. Wow.
12. Pittsburgh Pirates (7-5): They're either blown out or winning a close game. Don't know if they'll get this high again the power rankings.
13. Seattle Mariners (6-7): A nice four game winning streak has the team in the thick of it again.
14. Texas Rangers (5-7): All four teams in the AL West could be in it in the final weeks. Nelson Cruz is a beast.
15. Anaheim Angels (6-7): Balanced team top to bottom. Just worried there might not be enough starpower.
16. Toronto Blue Jays (7-6): Vernon Wells keeps raking. Six homers and 11 RBIs.
17. Cleveland Indians (6-6): This could be the best team in the league if they only play the White Sox all year (5-1).
18. Chicago Cubs (5-7): Disarray throughout this team, but Carlos Silva has pitched unbelievably for the Cubs in two starts.
19. Washington Nationals (6-6): Can anyone score on Livan Hernandez?
20. Boston Red Sox (4-9): This team is in trouble fast if Ortiz and Drew's bats don't wake up. Swept at Fenway in a four game set?
21. Milwaukee Brewers (5-7): I just don't see any pitchers you can count on day in and day out.
22. Los Angeles Dodgers (6-6): Manny Ramirez needs to build off that pinch hit home run.
23. San Diego Padres (6-6): I don't know how they did it, but the Padres are .500 through two weeks.
24. Chicago White Sox (4-9): Hard to believe a team with a rotation as good as their and a bullpen that's even better is this bad through two weeks.
25. Cincinnati Reds (5-8): I wanted to see a big start from this Reds team and it's just not happening.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks (5-7): Chris Young is off to a hot start with three homers and 15 RBIs.
27. New York Mets (4-8): Francisco Rodriguez estimated he threw more than 100 pitches in the bullpen warming up for about 10 innings straight in the Mets 2-1 victory.
28. Kansas City Royals (5-7): Scott Podsednik leads the AL hitting at an astounding .457 clip.
29. Houston Astros (3-9): Out of the cellar thanks to two wins against the Cubs over the weekend.
30. Baltimore Orioles (2-11): Hey, at least they have one win each week after knocking off Oakland on Sunday.