Cubicle GM MLB Power Rankings: July 28

Jacob NitzbergJul 28, 2009

The Cubicle GM Power Rankings remain unanimous at the top and at the bottom, with the Dodgers still in first and the Nationals still in last. The coasts dominate the rankings, with the first Central Division team from either league coming in at No. 7 in the form of the Tigers.

The top of the rankings is pretty straightforward from our end, with only 12 different teams receiving votes in the Top 10. The biggest mover was the St. Louis Cardinals, who despite trading for Matt Holliday fell out of first place and consequently dropped five spots in the rankings.

The Tigers made the biggest jump, as they moved up four spots to reclaim a place in the top 10 after taking three of four from the second place White Sox. In the same division, the Twins lost five of six last week and as a result dropped four spots in the ranks.

TOP NEWS

Washington Nationals v Los Angeles Angels

Bleacher Report1w

Bleacher Report1w

We had a shift in the divisional rankings, as the Angels’ jump to No. 3 vaulted the AL West into first with an average of 11.56, just barely edged out the AL East which came in with an average score of 11.60.

Cleveland and Kansas City combined to keep the AL Central at the bottom with a score of 18.65, just lower than the NL East which averaged an 18.10 rating.

If you’ll take a look at the backup data here, you’ll notice a few outliers in some of the rankings, i.e. the order of the NL Central teams in Gideon’s. Gid’s rankings put an emphasis on strength of schedule (and of course opponent winning percentage).

As a result, the Brewers best the Cubs, Cards and Astros because their upcoming schedule includes the Nationals (twice), Padres (twice), Pirates (twice) in the next four weeks. If the Brew Crew can take advantage of their upcoming opponents, his rankings will be justified, and if not, his super-scientific formula will adjust and drop them appropriately. From my perspective, I’m hoping it’s the latter. Other such examples include the Cardinals at No. 20, Mariners at No. 6 and the A’s at No. 19.

Surprisingly, it is not Gideon, but our pal Joey who was involved in the six largest rankings disputes this week.

St. Louis Cardinals (14)—Gideon 20, Joey 6

Seattle Mariners (10)—Gideon 6, Joey 16

Oakland Athletics (10)—Gideon 19, Joey 29

Milwaukee Brewers (9)—Jacob 19, Joey 10

Toronto Blue Jays (9)—Gideon 13, Joey 22

Baltimore Orioles (9)—Jacob 27, Joey 18

Without further ado, onto the rankings. As always, last week’s ranks are in parenthesis.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1)—The Dodgers remain unanimously in the top spot with the best record in baseball (62-37), the biggest division lead (eight games over Colorado) and the largest run differential in the majors (+105). The Dodgers have a tough road ahead, traveling to St. Louis and Atlanta for a big test on the road.

2. New York Yankees (3)—The Yankees have won nine of their last 10 to open up a 2.5 game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East and jump them in the Rankings. A big portion of this is their ability to continue to score runs, as they lead the MLB with 554. Not all is well with the Yanks, however, as they lost Brett Gardner to the DL with a broken thumb.

3. Los Angeles Angels (5)—The Angels just keep winning, taking eight of their last 10 and 15 of their last 20. In doing so, the Halos have opened up a 2.5 game lead on the second place Rangers. One issue has been Ervin Santana, who lost again on Sunday and hasn’t looked right since returning from injury.

4. Boston Red Sox (2)—The Red Sox drop to their lowest spot in the CGM Power Rankings yet. Having lost five of eight, the Sox have an important two weeks upcoming, as they go on the road to Baltimore, Tampa and New York following their current four-game homestand with Oakland. According to Boston.com, the Sox appear to plan to be very active at the deadline.

5. Philadelphia Phillies (4)—After taking two of three from the Cardinals, the first-place Phils embarked on an eight-game West Coast swing with a win over Arizona. While the Phillies are still in the mix for Roy Halladay, according to Jayson Stark the talks are not going well.

6. Texas Rangers (7)—In my opinion, the surprise team of the year is the Texas Rangers. Sitting at 13 games over .500, the Rangers will be tested next month, facing the Angels, Red Sox, Twins (twice), Rays and Yankees in August. Starting pitcher Vicente Padilla has found an interesting way for teams to want to avoid facing him.

7. Detroit Tigers (11)—The Tigers jump back into the Top 10 after hosting the White Sox with the teams in a first-place tie on Friday, and promptly taking the wind out of their sails with a sweep of their doubleheader. Detroit has a two game lead, but needs to play better on the road to maintain it, as they are just 21-30 away from Comerica Park.

8. Tampa Bay Rays (6)—The Rays sit at eight games over .500, but remain 7.5 games out of first and five games out of the Wild Card. After being perfected on Thursday, the Rays didn’t get down and had a record comeback win on Saturday against Toronto.

9. Colorado Rockies (10)—The Rockies still hold a slim one-game lead in the Wild Card race after taking two of thee from the Giants, their closest competition, over the weekend. The Rockies lost the first game on an important 10-game road trip, and will need to beat the Mets and the Reds because the Phillies and Cubs loom after that. With the injury to reliever Manny Corpas, the Rockies are actively looking for bullpen arms at the trade deadline.

10. Chicago Cubs (13)—The Chicago Cubs finally make their first appearance in the CGM Rankings Top 10. The Cubs have won five in a row and nine of 11 since the All-Star Break, and have jumped the Cardinals in both the standings and the Power Rankings. After seeing a perfect game on Thursday, this writer was lucky enough to be in attendance for Alfonso Soriano’s walk-off grand slam on Monday.

11. San Francisco Giants (9)

12. Seattle Mariners (14)

13. St. Louis Cardinals (8)

14. Chicago White Sox (16)

15. Milwaukee Brewers (15)

16. Minnesota Twins (12)

17. Atlanta Braves (18)

18. Houston Astros (19)

19. Toronto Blue Jays (17)

20. Florida Marlins (20)

21. New York Mets (21)

22. Baltimore Orioles (24)