Week 1 Power Rankings

Well we made it through the opening week of the baseball season and I think there is only one team that I feel confident in saying can stop dreaming of the playoffs. Astros fans, you know who I'm talking about. The teams we expected to win division titles have played well for the most part and a couple surprise teams earn a higher ranking in this week's edition of Power Rankings. Who would have thought the Oakland A's would be 5-2 or the Toronto Blue Jays at 5-1? The rankings should even out to what I expect in the next few weeks, but for week one, let's give the underdogs some praise.


1. Philadelphia Phillies (6-1): The offense is unstoppable and Doc Halladay is better than advertised.
2. San Francisco Giants (5-1): The league's last unbeaten has hit surprisingly well.
3. New York Yankees (4-2): Series wins against Boston and Tampa is a great start for the champs.
4. St. Louis Cardinals (5-2): Albert Pujols hit his 5th homer today. Enough said.
5. Minnesota Twins (5-2): 5-2 on the opening road trip with 10 home runs and about to knock off the Red Sox in Target Field debut.
6. Toronto Blue Jays (5-1): Vernon Wells needs more than just a hot start for the Jays to sustain this.
7. Oakland A's (5-2): The pitching should continue to be good, but I really worry about this lineup.
8. Tampa Bay Rays (3-3): Have to pleased with David Price's outing vs the Yankees (7 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 7 strikeouts, win).
9. Boston Red Sox (3-3): This team will hit and pitch this year, but their pitching hasn't really impressed me yet.
10. Detroit Tigers (5-2): Miguel Cabrera while drinking was special. Now that he's not, he's on another level (.481 BA,.588 OBP, 1.292 OPS, 8 RBI).
11. Florida Marlins (4-2): This is going to be a wild year for this young team. Four wins in six games, yet a minus-5 run differential.
12. Atlanta Braves (3-3): Get used to hearing about Jason Heyward. He's the real deal.
13. Colorado Rockies (3-3): Troy Tulowitzki is going to have a monster year, mark my word.
14. Texas Rangers (4-3): Over .500 yet a disappointment with two 9th inning blown save losses for now ex-closer Frankie Francisco.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks (4-2): Doesn't hurt to have the Pirates to beat up. Although ask the Dodgers about that.
16. Cincinnati Reds (3-3): This team should contend for the wild card if they get more efforts from rookie Mike Leake (6 2/3 innings, 1 run).
17. Chicago White Sox (2-4): The starting pitching looks like a top five team. Too bad the offense is nonexistent outside Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko.
18. Pittsburgh Pirates (3-3): A split on the first week of the season is something to celebrate in Pittsburgh.
19. Chicago Cubs (3-4): Same story in Chicago as the South Side, quality starting pitching with no offensive support.
20. Milwaukee Brewers (3-4): Boy, Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf need to pitch better if this team has any chance.
21. Seattle Mariners (2-4): I still dare any team to go up against Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. It's just that Lee needs to get on the mound for the M's.
22. New York Mets (2-4): +5 run differential, but I'm not thrilled about Johan Santana's last outing (5 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks).
23. Washington Nationals (3-4): Steven Strasburg looked good in his debut...in the minors.
24. Los Angeles Dodgers (2-4): It's become extremely evident the Dodgers needed some starting pitching help in the offseason.
25. Los Angeles Angels (2-5): Looks like a completely different team with some familiar faces gone.
26. Kansas City Royals (3-4): Not a bad week considering Zack Greinke hasn't won a game yet.
27. Cleveland Indians (2-5): Lost four in a row winning the opening series against the White Sox.
28. Sand Diego Padres (2-4): I love to watch Adrian Gonzales play and not much else with the Padres.
29. Baltimore Orioles (1-5): A couple blown saves has the Orioles close to desperation. At least they're not the...
30. Houston Astros (0-7): Not much to say about this team. Outscored 42-13 in first seven games.