MLB Power Rankings: Week 19 | In Haiku, Here Come Those Pesky Rays

Team (Record|Last Week's Ranking)

1. New York Yankees (77-46|1)

Captain is on-fire
The non-CC starters stunk
Tex for MVP?

2. Los Angeles Angels (74-47|2)

Vladimir is back
All are hitting three hundred
Fuentes is iffy

3. St. Louis Cardinals (71-54|3)

Molina's sizzling
A second Cy Young for Carp?
Three/Four are slumping

4. Philadelphia Phillies (70-50|4)

Lee's the best pickup
What happened to Ibanez?
Howard's amazing

5. Los Angeles Dodgers (74-50|5)

Wolf's underrated
Manny is being garbage
Some bullpen changes?

6. Boston Red Sox (70-52|7)

Big Papi is hot
Turned the table on the Yanks
Beckett got roughed up

7. Colorado Rockies (69-54|8)

Jimenez still rocks
Fowler's a triple-machine
What is up with Cook?

8. Tampa Bay Rays (67-55|13)

Niemann's a great rook
Bartlett's better than Jeter
Pena is so clutch

9. San Francisco Giants (67-56|9)

Rowand is scorching
Zito shines without a win
Velez cooled down

10. Texas Rangers (68-54|6)

Young has been the best
Wild Card chase is slimming
Starters look awful

11. Atlanta Braves (65-58|11)

Lowe finally lost
LaRoche was a great pickup
Where is Larry Wayne?

12. Florida Marlins (65-58|10)

Hanley's just a beast
Johnson fell out of Cy race
Must win easy games

13. Detroit Tigers (65-57|12)

Miggy has been clutch
Granderson's hurting the team
Jackson's dominant

14. Seattle Mariners (63-60|14)

King Felix for Cy?
The offense needs to show up
Fister has looked great

15. Chicago White Sox (63-60|15)

Quperman looks good
The offense has been awful
Whose the fifth starter?

16. Houston Astros (61-62|22)

They are not dead yet
Wandy's the team's best starter
El Caballo's hot

17. Minnesota Twins (60-63|20)

Mauer's got power
Morneau has an ear problem
Starters have looked bad

18. Chicago Cubs (61-60|16)

D-Lee's all they got
The Cubs have closer issues
Harden has looked great

19. Milwaukee Brewers (60-62|17)

Pitching has looked bad
Seriously, the Pirates?
Lopez is scorching

20. New York Mets (57-66|21)

Pelfrey's looking good
Castillo has been on-fire
Sheffield problems?

21. Oakland Athletics (54-68|24)

Starters have been good
Duchscherer will not return
Suzuki is clutch

22. Cleveland Indians (53-69|23)

They like to spoil
Masterson mastered LA
Sizemore's heating up

23. Toronto Blue Jays (56-65|18)

Halladay's human
Lind continues to be great
Crushed by the Red Sox

24. Pittsburgh Pirates (51-70|30)

Duke dazzles again
Jones is an unsung rookie
Won five in a row

25. San Diego Padres (52-73|26)

Blanks is cranking it
Richard's been a good Padre
This offense is bad

26. Arizona Diamondbacks (54-70|19)

Reynolds is slumping
They've lost seven in a row
Goodbye Jon Garland?

27. Baltimore Orioles (50-73|27)

Roberts is slugging
What is wrong with Adam Jones?
Starters have been bad

28. Cincinnati Reds (51-71|25)

Votto's been slumping
Can't even beat the Pirates
Arroyo's looked great

29. Kansas City Royals (47-75|29)

Butler's all they got
Starting pitching's been awful
"Greinke Days" have stopped

30. Washington Nationals (43-80|28)

The Nationals stink
Back at home: bottom-dwelling
Poor poor Adam Dunn

Previous Power Rankings: |1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|

Breakdown (PA means Post-All-Star break):

Biggest climb: The Houston Astros climbed six spots from No. 22 to No. 16 after going 5-1. The Pittsburgh Pirates also climbed six spots from No. 30 to No. 24 after going 5-0.

Biggest fall: The Arizona Diamondbacks fell seven spots from No. 19 to No. 26 after losing all seven of their games last week.

Best team average PA: The Los Angeles Angels have the best team average (2) since the All-Star break by being ranked second every time.

Worst team average PA: The Washington Nationals have the worst team average (29.2) since the All-Star break by being ranked 30th three times and 28th twice.

Teams that have yet to fall out of the top-ten PA: Yankees, Angels, Cardinals, Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Rockies, Rangers

Teams that have yet to climb out of the bottom-ten PA: Nationals, Royals, Reds, Orioles, Padres, Pirates, Indians, Athletics

Prediction of the Week: The Cubs will get a confidence boost by sweeping the Nationals. That's not bold. But what is bold is predicting a Milton Bradley walkoff.

Division Rankings (Record|Last Week's Ranking)
*Rankings are done by taking the average ranking of every team in each division.

1. AL West (259-229|1): (2) Laa, (10) Tex, (14) Sea, (21) Oak
2. AL East (320-291|2): (1) Nyy, (6) Bos, (8) Tbr, (23) Tor, (27) Bal
3. NL West (316-303|3): (5) Lad, (7) Col, (9) Sfg, (25) Sdp, (26) Ari
4. NL East (300-312|4): (4) Phi, (11) Atl, (12) Fla, (20) Nym, (30) Was
5. NL Central (355-379|5): (3) Stl, (16) Hou, (18) Chc, (19) Mil, (24) Pit, (28) Cin
6. AL Central (288-324|6): (13) Det, (15) Cws, (17) Min, (22) Cle, (29) Kcr

If the playoffs started today...

(1) Yankees v. (3) Tigers
(2) Angels v. (4) Red Sox

(1) Dodgers v. (3) Cardinals
(2) Phillies v. (4) Rockies

If awards were handed out today...

American League MVP: Joe Mauer
1. Joe Mauer (Min): .378 avg/25 HR/77 RBI/1.088 OPS
2. Mark Teixeira (Nyy): .288 avg/31 HR/92 RBI/.944 OPS
3. Miguel Cabrera (Det): .335 avg/24 HR/73 RBI/.953 OPS
4. Justin Morneau (Min): .298 avg/28 HR/94 RBI/.941 OPS
5. Jason Bartlett (Tbr): .343 avg/57 RBI/23 SB/.930 OPS

National League MVP: Albert Pujols
1. Albert Pujols (Stl): .316 avg/39 HR/105 RBI/1.100 OPS
2. Prince Fielder (Mil): .305 avg/33 HR/110 RBI/1.017 OPS
3. Hanley Ramirez (Fla): .358 avg/19 HR/85 RBI/23 SB/.989 OPS
4. Chase Utley (Phi): .301 avg/26 HR/81 RBI/.961 OPS
5. Pablo Sandoval (Sfg): .333 avg/19 HR/72 RBI/.939 OPS

American League Cy Young: Felix Hernandez
1. Felix Hernandez (Sea): 12-4, 2.66 ERA, 167 Ks, 1.18 WHIP
2. Roy Halladay (Tor): 13-6, 2.78 ERA, 151 Ks, 1.11 WHIP
3. Justin Verlander (Det): 13-7, 3.29 ERA, 205 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
4. Josh Beckett (Bos): 14-4, 3.38 ERA, 149 Ks, 1.13 WHIP
5. Zack Greinke (Kcr): 11-8, 2.44 ERA, 182 Ks, 1.14 WHIP

National League Cy Young: Chris Carpenter
1. Chris Carpenter (Stl): 14-3, 2.16 ERA, 111 Ks, 0.96 WHIP
2. Tim Lincecum (Sfg): 12-3, 2.37 ERA, 207 Ks, 1.04 WHIP
3. Adam Wainwright (Stl): 14-7, 2.61 ERA, 152 Ks, 1.25 WHIP
4. Dan Haren (Ari): 12-8, 2.74 ERA, 167 Ks, 0.93 WHIP
5. Matt Cain (Sfg): 12-4, 2.43 ERA, 129 Ks, 1.15 WHIP

American League Rookie of the Year: Andrew Bailey
1. Andrew Bailey (Oak): 18 saves, 1.99 ERA, 75 Ks, 0.93 WHIP
2. Gordon Beckham (Cws): .287 avg/7 HR/44 RBI/.830 OPS
3. Jeff Niemann (Tbr): 11-5, 3.71 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
4. Nolan Reimold (Bal): .273 avg/11 HR/36 RBI/.814 OPS

National League Rookie of the Year: J.A. Happ
1. J.A. Happ (Phi): 10-2, 2.59 ERA, 93 Ks, 1.17 WHIP
2. Randy Wells (Chc): 9-6, 2.84 ERA, 74 Ks, 1.20 WHIP
3. Colby Rasmus (Stl): .254 avg/13 HR/41 RBI/.739 OPS
4. Casey McGehee (Mil): .300 avg/10 HR/38 RBI/.861 OPS

American League Manager of the Year: Mike Scioscia
1. Mike Scioscia (Laa)
2. Don Wakamatsu (Sea)
3. Jim Leyland (Det)

National League Manager of the Year: Jim Tracy
1. Jim Tracy (Col)
2. Tony La Russa (Stl)
3. Bruce Bochy (Sfg)

American League Comeback Player of the Year: Aaron Hill
1. Aaron Hill (Tor): .290 avg/29 HR/81 RBI/.833 OPS
2. Justin Verlander (Det): 13-7, 3.29 ERA, 205 Ks, 1.15 WHIP
3. Victor Martinez (Bos): .292 avg/20 HR/83 RBI/.856 OPS

National League Comeback Player of the Year: Chris Carpenter
1. Chris Carpenter (Stl): 14-3, 2.16 ERA, 111 Ks, 0.96 WHIP
2. Javier Vazquez (Atl): 10-9, 3.14 ERA, 186 Ks, 1.07 WHIP
3. Todd Helton (Col): .322 avg/12 HR/68 RBI/.903 OPS

American League Relief Man of the Year: Mariano Rivera
1. Mariano Rivera (Nyy): 36 saves, 1.90 ERA, 57 Ks, 0.92 WHIP
2. Joe Nathan (Min): 31 saves, 1.66 ERA, 62 Ks, 0.84 WHIP
3. David Aardsma (Sea): 28 saves, 2.43 ERA, 65 Ks, 1.26 WHIP

National League Relief Man of the Year: Ryan Franklin
1. Ryan Franklin (Stl): 31 saves, 1.13 ERA, 31 Ks, 0.86 WHIP
2. Trevor Hoffman (Mil): 27 saves, 1.95 ERA, 31 Ks, 1.03 WHIP
3. Heath Bell (Sdp): 30 saves, 2.17 ERA, 55 Ks, 1.05 WHIP