Welcome to the inaugural MLB Power Rankings here on Bleacher Report. You may have seen other rankings lists come through over the past week or so, but this is different because it comes straight from your community leaders. It is an attempt to put together these great minds and mold together some semblance of what is happening around Major League Baseball through its first month of play.
We each submitted our votes, which were then tabulated to come to a final ranking of the teams and all major awards including the MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year.
For the team rankings, points were given based on how each team was ranked on individual ballots. If a team was listed first, they received 30 points on down to if a team finished last, they received one point.
Same for the players, we each voted on a top three and the top player was awarded three points, second place two points and the third place finisher one point.
I want to again thank this month’s participants, Marty Andrade, Nino Colla, Patrick Gallen, Dan Seigel, JJ Stankevitz, and Bob Warja for participating.
This will be a repeated monthly series throughout the season. Enjoy and please feel free to leave your rankings below or comment on ours.
BR MLB Team Rankings
Team Record Points from voting
1. Arizona Diamondbacks 18-7 (210 points)
2. Chicago Cubs 16-9 (201)
3. LA Angels of Anaheim 16-10 (190)
4. Boston Red Sox 15-12 (187)
5. Oakland Athletics 16-10 (178)
6. St. Louis Cardinals 16-10 (172)
7. Chicago White Sox 14-10 (159)
8. Milwaukee Brewers 14-11 (154)
9. Philadelphia Phillies 14-12 (143)
10. Baltimore Orioles 14-11 (138)
11. Florida Marlins 15-10 (138)
12. Atlanta Braves 12-13 (134)
13. NY Mets 13-11 (132)
14. Tampa Bay Rays 14-11 (127)
15. Cleveland Indians 12-13 (124)
16. NY Yankees 13-13 (106)
17. Seattle Mariners 12-14 (103)
18. Houston Astros 12-14 (90)
19. LA Dodgers 12-13 (80)
20. Detroit Tigers 11-15 (76)
21. Toronto Blue Jays 11-15 (74)
22. Colorado Rockies 10-15 (66)
23. Minnesota Twins 11-14 (57)
24. Kansas City Royals 11-14 (44)
25. Cincinnati Reds 11-15 (42)
26. San Francisco Giants 11-15 (31)
27. San Diego Padres 10-16 (29)
28. Pittsburgh Pirates 10-15 (28)
29. Texas Rangers 9-17 (21)
30. Washington Nationals 9-17 (15)
AL MVP
1. Manny Ramirez (20)
2. Joe Crede (7)
3. Casey Kotchman (5)
Others receiving votes: Raul Ibanez (3), Jusin Morneau (2), Josh Hamilton (1), Nick Markakis (1), A.J. Pierzynski (1), Grady Sizemore (1)
NL MVP
1. Chase Utley (19)
2. Chipper Jones (7)
3. Derek Lee (6)
Others receiving votes: Pat Burrell (4), Hanley Ramirez (4), Lance Berkman (1), Conor Jackson (1)
AL Cy Young
1. Cliff Lee (20)
2a. Zack Greinke (4)
2b. Felix Hernandez (4)
2c. Joe Saunders (4)
Others receiving votes: Chien-Ming Wang (3), Ervin Santana (3), Roy Halladay (2), Daisuke Matsuzaka (1), Scott Baker (1)
NL Cy Young
1. Brandon Webb (14)
2a. Ben Sheets (7)
2b. John Smoltz (7)
Other receiving votes: Tim Lincecum (6), Jake Peavy (2), Mark Hendrickson (2), Carlos Zambrano (2), Micah Owings (1), Edinson Volquez (1)
AL Rookie of the Year
1. Jacoby Ellsbury (15)
2. Greg Smith (7)
3. Evan Longoria (6)
Others receiving votes: Nick Blackburn (4), Joba Chamberlin (3), David Murphy (3), Clay Buchholz (2), Masa Kobayashi (1), Randor Bierd (1)
NL Rookie of the Year
1. Kosuke Fukudome (17)
2. Geovanny Soto (9)
3. Jair Jurrjens (5)
Others receiving votes: Johnny Cueto (3), Justin Upton (3), Hiroki Kuroda (2), Joey Votto (2)
Defend Your Picks
Nino Colla: Right now some of the more talented teams are floating near the middle of the pack, while some of the more overachieving teams are huddled in the top ten. I think the Dodgers and the Padres are two of the teams near the bottom that should be moving up when they start winning more. Baltimore, Oakland and Florida are all prime to fall down once they come back down to earth. The AL MVP race really is a toss up, but Manny has been the most consistent for the best team, while the NL race is clear-cut with Chase Utley. Brandon Webb and Cliff Lee are the definite Cy Young leaders at this point.
Patrick Gallen: Really excited about this Diamondbacks team. If they stay healthy, they could win 100 games in a less than stellar NL West. John Smoltz gets my pick over Webb in the NL Cy race because he is just amazing. He is an ageless wonder who has fought through shoulder trouble to be as dominant as ever. Justin Upton is hands down the best rookie in baseball right now. Burrell and Utley are 1 and 1a for MVP so far, really crushing the baseball. I hope Cliff Lee can keep this up all year, that would be great to see.
Dan Siegel: Hard to not go by the numbers this early on the season…It will be interesting to see if all of Arizona's young talent (Drew, Upton, Jackson, Reynolds, Owings) will be able to produce at a high level for the entire season. Currently, the rest of the NL West is sputtering, so they should have a smooth ride in the first half...The Cubs have a scary amount of offense, which will only get scarier when Soriano joins them. Fukudome, of course, shouldn't be considered a rookie, as he seems to already have National League pitching figured out...I wouldn't expect the likes of St. Louis, Florida, or Baltimore to hang around the top 10 much longer, while Pittsburgh, Texas, Minnesota, Washington, and Kansas City should be bottom dwellers for the entire season...If it wasn't for Manny, the Red Sox would be behind Tampa Bay, and if it wasn't for Utley (and Pat Burrell) the Phillies would be behind the Mets and Atlanta...Don't expect Cliff Lee to be performing this well for the entire season. The same goes for Mark Hendrickson and the Florida Marlins (although the Marlins can hit with any ML team).
JJ Stankevitz: It may seem like a homer pick, but nobody has meant more to their team than Joe Crede. Without him, the White Sox likely would be battling with Detroit, Kansas City, and Minnesota at the bottom of the division. He's already cranked two grand slams this year and has come up with numerous big hits that either have sparked rallies, tied games, or given the Sox the lead. The AL Cy Young was a no-brainer, as was NL MVP. The NL Cy Young was tough, as I left John Smoltz off despite the fact he's leading the league in ERA. The rookie-of-the-years were tough, and I threw Longoria on the AL list pre-emptively.
Michael Taylor: I see the awards being pretty straightforward, with the NL Cy Young being the really only debatable one. I like Ben Sheets there even with his arm problem, but there is no denying the start of Tim Lincecum and Brandon Webb. The NL MVP race is really exciting as well with Utley and Jones crushing the ball all over the field, the player to watch here in the long-term is Derek Lee. He is now healthy and putting up the numbers like he did a few years ago. As for the teams, Oakland was the one real surprise team that shows promise. I was one who thought they had no chance before the season, but they have put some great performances together both at the plate and on the mound. For my disappointing team, there is none other than the Tigers. They are having a tough time with injuries and inconsistency. Lucky for them, the rest of the AL Central has not been that great either.
Bob Warja: Rookies: Joey Votto was a close call over John Lannan of Washington. Lannan looks impressive and may move up but it's hard to disregard an everyday player hitting .300. Fukudome probably won't win it due to writer bias but I listed him anyway. In the AL, Ellsbury is listed #1 right now, but I expect Longoria to win it.
MVP: I have D-Lee at #1 right now because the Cubs are in first place the other guy's teams aer not. In my book, you have to have a pretty special season to win MVP from a non-playoff club. In the AL, however, I fully expect Boston to win their division and Manny to have a monster season so that they'll pick up his option.
CY: Hard to argue against several in the NL, and I didn't even end up with Peavy in the top 3 which surprises me. And Sheets is only not listed 'cuz he's always hurt. But if he ever does stay healthy, he belongs with a 3-0 record and an ERA of less than one! This Volquez looks good - might be one of the best trades for both clubs ever, with Josh Hamilton pounding the ball for Texas. In the AL, Saunders or Santana would have equally been solid choices for LAA, but I took the guy with more strikeouts (26-15). Wang is 5-0 and good thing Cleveland hung onto Cliff Lee, eh? What a turnaround so far.
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5 months ago
Great stuff here, guys. Glad to know I wasn't the only one who pre-emptively voted for Longoria.
5 months ago
John Smoltz might be done, as in done, as in he'll be in Cooperstown in 2014. If that is the case, the Braves are done too.
5 months ago
I didn't give any defense for how I voted the power rankings but I'll make mention of Nick Blackburn. Thanks to the horrific state of the Twins offense nobody is really seeing how Blackburn and some other Twins pitchers are really doing this year. It's something to look out for.
5 months ago
Patience is more than a virtue in April. anybody remember Tuffy Rhodes - for one week he was the NEXT home run king.
It's sooo easy to fall in love with a guy who gets off to a fast start, BUT REALLY ... Cliff Lee for Cy Young! That kind of thinking got Zito a long term contract ( I really hope he gets his groove back) but starting tomorrow he's going to be spitting sunflower seeds in the bullpen.
And your power rankings are based on records from the first month ... how many horses win a Triple Crown race from start to finish. Do you guys really believe that BALTIMORE is a TOP TEN team. As John Kruk would say, "Nah."
I like Tampa Bay, really do, but after 162 games I gotta bet the farm that they won't be fighting the Orioles for a wild card spot.
It's interestng and all fodder for discussion and argument. I look forward to next month's rankings and see who's names will be listed.
from 5 months ago
I'm glad they're doing it for the first month though because everyone loves to look back and see what stories lasted and which ones didn't. Plus they acknowledge the fact that both the team and player rankings are based off the first month.
5 months ago
I can guarantee none of us really think that Cliff Lee will win the Cy Young, but if we ended the season yesterday, when this was published, who would win it. That is what we were basing this on.
It is a running tally of how the season goes. We will see if he or the Orioles can stay high on the list.
5 months ago
Pretty much how It shook out is how I had it, give or take a few teams in spots.. I didn't have the A's that high.
Yeah Cliff won't win the Cy Young, but right now he is head over heels the best pitcher in the AL.
Totally overlooked Justin Upton on the rookie pick, still would have given it to Fukudome but I would have put Upton in my top three.
5 months ago
Cy Young in the NL will go to Webb. The guy is ridiculous. He will probably have 24 wins and maybe 5 losses with a 2.5 ERA! Being a Cubs fan, I hope big Z wins it, but it'll be Webb in a land slide.
from 5 months ago
I don't know if Justin Upton is eligible. I know he had 140 ABs last year. If he is eligible, then I agree he should have not only been listed, but he should have been first.
5 months ago
I think people misunderstand how power rankings work. They change as each month goes by, so of course a vote for Cliff Lee in April doesn't mean he'll win the Cy Young award. But it means that if the season ended right now, he'd be a strong candidate.
5 months ago
You're right Bob. I didn't catch that. Upton just missed rookie eligibility for this season. He was 10 at-bats over the limit. Thanks for bringing that up.
5 months ago
Anywhere we can get a definite list of rookies? I struggled finding one or putting together my top 3..
from 5 months ago
I went to ESPN's stat page. It has a filter that shows just rookies.
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