MLB: Week Three Power Rankings (April 28)

1.) Toronto (14-7)(Last Week: No.2)

They are the best in the American League so far this season. The pitching has been excellent. Roy Halladay already has four wins. Ricky Romero has been bit of a surprise only giving up four earned runs in three starts.

However he will be on the disabled list for the next two weeks. Plus their stud second baseman Aaron Hill has been lighting up the plate.

He is currently on an 11-game hitting streak, for all you fantasy nerds. If Aaron Hill is available in your league, you'd be nuts not to pick him up.

2.) St. Louis (14-6)(LW: No.4)

They won five of six this week, including a sweep of the New York Mets. The one player I'm highlighting on their team this week is Skip Schumaker. He bats in the top of the order for the Cardinals.

He isn't big in the stolen bases category, but he is consistently batting above .300. He is a great hitter, learning from one of the best, as his hitting coach is none other than Mark McGwire.

He doesn't get a lot of RBI's, doesn't hit many home runs. But when La Russa needed someone to fill the void at second base this season, Schumaker took over at second and even though he has made two errors so far, he is replacing Adam Kennedy well. Kudos to Schumaker.

3.) Los Angeles Dodgers (13-7)(LW: No.1)

This week the Dodgers had some games against the struggling Houston Astros and couldn't get the wins. Chad Billingsley is still pitching lights out, and up to four wins (still my early favorite for the National League Cy Young Award).

Clayton Kershaw however has been a bust so far this season. Currently 0-2, with a 7.29 E.RA. He lasted four innings against the Rockies on Sunday giving up nine, and gave up six runs in four innings on Tuesday.

Not the sharpest effort, however lets think positive. The Dodgers are the best in the National League Not-so-Best.

Jonathan Broxton is 6-for-6 in save attempts to start the season. And Manny Ramirez has been, well, Manny Ramirez. Things are looking good in Los Angeles (at least for the Dodgers)

4.) Pittsburgh Pirates (11-8)(LW: No.12)

I wanna keep this one on the down low. This team is for real. They have been building up talent for the past four seasons, and the talent is finally showing. They have my second favorite set of young arms in the Major Leagues (I like the Marlins' arms first).

They yield the league's best Earned Run Average, the only team giving up less than three runs per game, doing so with the leagues least amount of strikeouts. They aren't the biggest "power" team, but have a "whatever it takes" philosophy about them.

They are in the top ten in stolen bases, and in the top ten in sacrifice bunts. Let's think on this, young arms, young talent, and doing whatever it takes. I don't wanna hop the train early, but didn't the last team that had this kind of team go to the World Series?

5.) Boston Red Sox (13-6)(LW: No.13)

They have won 10 games in a row. That's always the best way to shut up the critics. When their bullpen needed to step up Saturday for Josh Beckett, Delcarmen, Okajima, Ramirez, and Papelbon answered the call, only giving up one run to the Yankees in three innings of work.

They had to work with rain on an early game Monday, rain Tuesday, a double-header Wednesday, and the Yankees on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They swept the Yankees, and won all five games.

I hate to say it for the Blue Jays, but the Jays got a lot of work to do if the Red Sox keep playing like this.

6.) Seattle Mariners (12-7)(LW:No.9)

The Mariners are playing good baseball as of now. They are in the American League West, and are the only team above .500 in the American League West.

To win this division they got to win their in division games. This weekend they won two out of three against the Angels.

That is exactly what the Mariners need to do to win the division. The only disappointment for the M's so far is the lackluster bat of Ken Griffey.

In 15 games, he has three RBI and a batting average of .192. As much as they might not want to do it, the Mariners must let Mike Sweeney get some at bats at Designated Hitter.

Sweeney is a career .300 hitter, and is always a power threat. He doesn't need to play the field in Seattle, so the injuries he seemed to always have in Kansas City should be gone. Get Sweeney some at bats.

7.) Detroit Tigers (11-8)(LW:No.8)

The Tigers are the front runners in the American League Central at the moment. For the Tigers I am gonna highlight a player I've grown to like since last season. His name is Brandon Inge.

Last season, Miguel Cabrera came in and took Brandon Inge's starting position at third base. He started the season in center field. He would then become catcher, and played anywhere else where needed.

However, 2009 a new season, Brandon Inge opens the season as the starting third baseman for the Tigers, and starts of red hot, batting .323, with seven home runs and 17 RBI.

8.) Florida Marlins (11-8)(LW:No.3)

I said it last week, and it came true. The Marlins met some decent competition in the National League this week, and they did not do so well. They lost every game they had this week.

The Marlins were swept by the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies with ease. They were swept by the Pirates as well.

The Marlins may have done well against the Nationals early, but it looks like we might have to further examine this Marlins team before we give them an early case of "Favorite Fever."

9.) Chicago White Sox (9-9)(LW:No.6)

The White Sox have some rotation problems that they need to get situated. Their top three starters of Mark Buehrle, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd are pitching pretty decently.

But there are some woes with Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon. Look for the White Sox to attempt to get a fifth starter in the rotation. D.J. Carrasco or Kyle McCulloch are two names that could be getting some spot starts for the White Sox.

10.) Chicago Cubs (9-9)(LW:No.7)

The Cubs had nice pitching efforts from Harden and Lilly this week, but the bats were dead this week. The Cubs scored 13 runs in five innings until they finally woke up and scored ten against the Cardinals Sunday.

The injury bug is hurting the Cubs at the very least and it shows. Milton Bradley, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee out of the Cubs lineup is losing the Cubs some serious runs. The starting pitching is doing great, but the bullpen is struggling.

The Cubs are converting only 50 percent of their save opportunities. They could easily be 12-6 instead of 9-9. The Cubs need to get their bullpen problem solved or this division will slip away from them.

POSITIVE and NEGATIVES ON THE NEXT FOURTEEN

11.) Kansas City Royals (10-9)(LW:No.10)

Positive: Zack Greinke the early front runner for the American League Cy Young Award.

Negative: Without Greinke, the Royals would be 6-9.

12.) Atlanta Braves (9-10)(LW:No.14)

Positive: They took two of the three games against the Reds last week.

Negative: They lost two of the three games against the Nationals.

13.) Cincinnati Reds (10-9)(LW:No.20)

Positive: Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Joey Votto is batting .371 with 19 RBI while Jay Bruce has five home runs so far for the Reds.

Negative: They have the league's 27th-ranked batting average of .233

14.) San Diego Padres (10-9)(LW: No.4)

Positive: Adrian Gonzalez is off to a great start. He was a Gold Glove Winner last year, and this year he leads pretty much every First Baseman in every offense category that matters, hitting .323 with seven home runs and 15 RBI's.

Negative: After Heath Bell their bullpen is a little on the sloppy side. The Padres are among the leagues lowest in Innings Per Start with an average of 5.5 innings per start. After that they have converted 7-of-11 save opportunities. Heath Bell, he's 7-for-7. The rest of the Padres, 0-for-4.

15.) Philadelphia Phillies (10-8)(LW:No.24)

Positive: The quickest rising team on the list. A very slow start, but they are on pace to be in the top ten by next week, with their fourth straight win. By the end of the week could be in first in the National League East.

Negative: Last Year's World Series MVP Cole Hamels is fighting the injury bug. 13 innings of work and he is 0-2 so far. If healthy he will face the Nationals this week though. A very favorable matchup.

16.) New York Yankees (9-10)(LW:No.21)

Positive: Nick Swisher has been a real team role model. He has offered to pitch. He is hitting .286, with 13 RBI's and four home runs so far this season.

Negative: Currently hold the league's worst Earned Run Average (6.26), and they were just swept by the Red Sox. The injuries are piling up, and there is a laundry list of problems in New York. They will figure it out though. They always do.

17.) Baltimore Orioles (9-11)(LW:No.18)

Positive: Nick Markakis is batting .389 with 21 RBI.

Negative: Struggling in the pitching category.

18.) New York Mets (9-10)(Lw:No.11)

Positive: Johan Santana, and Carlos Beltran are playing lights-out baseball.

Negative: Francisco Rodriguez has only had four save opportunities thus far for the Mets in 19 games. Last season he made 62 saves, this season he is on pace for 35 saves. I know it's early, but math is power.

19.) Tampa Bay Rays (8-12)(LW:No.16)

Positive: Evan Longoria.

Negative: They are 2-5 at home, and once again at the bottom of the American League East.

20.) Los Angeles Angels (7-11)(LW:No.17)

Positive: Torii Hunter still playing hard, with seven home runs, and batting .338.

Negative: Playing in the easiest division, the Angels are 3-6.

21.) Texas Rangers (9-10)(LW:No.15)

Positive: Playing just under .500 baseball, and haven't even played Oakland, Seattle, or the Angels yet.

Negative: Josh Hamilton still struggling, and now he is battling an injured rib cage.

22.) Minnesota Twins (9-11)(LW:No.19)

Positive:Kevin Slowey, 3-0 in four starts. The leader of the Twins Rotation.

Negative: The rest of the Twins, 6-11.

23.) Cleveland Indians (7-13)(LW:No.22)

Positive: Since getting called up from the Minors, pitcher Aaron Laffey is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA, the lowest of the Indians Rotation.

Negative: In the top five in these pitching categories: On Base Percentage, home runs allowed, Earned Run Average, Runs Allowed, Walks, and worst of all, Losses.

24.) San Francisco Giants (9-9)(LW:No.27)

Positive: Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, one of the best duo of young pitchers in the Majors.

Negative: Hard to judge with Giants team you are gonna get every day. The pitching is almost always decent, but the hitting is either on, or not.

They have talent to hit, but nothing to show for it. They are in the last in the majors in Runs Scored. They need to start hitting the ball, to show off their excellent pitching.

THE FINAL SIX:

25.) Milwaukee Brewers (9-10)(LW:No.28)
26.) Houston Astros (8-12)(LW:No.29)
27.) Arizona Diamondbacks (8-11)(LW:No.26)
28.) Colorado Rockies (7-11)(LW:No.23)
29.) Oakland Athletics (7-10)(LW:No.25)
30.) Washington Nationals (4-14)(LW:No.30) (on pace to finish 41-141) <--- I'm keeping track!