MLB Power Rankings: Where All 30 Teams Stand at the Start of Trade Season
As the calendar turns from June to July and the trade market kicks into action, teams on the fringe of contention are faced with a tough decision about whether to buy, sell or stand pat.
That makes the next few weeks crucial for determining who the legitimate contenders for a playoff spot will be down the stretch and who will fall by the wayside.
With that in mind, the shuffling taking place at the middle of the pack in this week's MLB power rankings is just as intriguing as what's going on at the top.
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It's important to remember these rankings are a fluid process. Teams will rise and fall based on where they were ranked the previous week. If a team keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it's as simple as that.
Here are the rankings:
| 1 |  New York Yankees (54-28) |  1 |
| 2 |  Los Angeles Dodgers (57-29) |  1 |
| 3 |  Minnesota Twins (53-30) |  |
| 4 |  Houston Astros (53-32) | |
| 5 |  Atlanta Braves (50-35) | |
| 6 |  Tampa Bay Rays (48-36) | |
| 7 |  Texas Rangers (46-38) | 1 |
| 8 |  Chicago Cubs (45-39) | 1 |
| 9 |  Cleveland Indians (45-38) | |
| 10 |  Colorado Rockies (44-40) | 1 |
| 11 |  Oakland Athletics (46-39) | 3 |
| 12 |  Milwaukee Brewers (45-39) | |
| 13 |  Washington Nationals (42-41) | 2 |
| 14 |  Boston Red Sox (44-40) | 1 |
| 15 |  San Diego Padres (42-41) | 1 |
| 16 |  St. Louis Cardinals (41-41) | 6 |
| 17 |  Philadelphia Phillies (44-40) | |
| 18 |  Cincinnati Reds (38-43) | |
| 19 |  Arizona Diamondbacks (43-43) | 1 |
| 20 |  Los Angeles Angels (42-43) | 1 |
| 21 |  Pittsburgh Pirates (39-43) | |
| 22 |  Chicago White Sox (39-42) | |
| 23 |  San Francisco Giants (36-47) | 1 |
| 24 |  Miami Marlins (32-50) | 1 |
| 25 |  New York Mets (38-47) | 2 |
| 26 |  Seattle Mariners (37-51) | 1 |
| 27 |  Kansas City Royals (29-55) | 1 |
| 28 |  Toronto Blue Jays (31-53) | |
| 29 |  Baltimore Orioles (24-59) | 1 |
| 30 |  Detroit Tigers (27-52) | 1 |
Teams That Impressed
The New York Yankees (5-0) have taken over the No. 1 spot in the rankings after a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays and back-to-back wins over the rival Boston Red Sox in the London Series.
They are now 13-1 with a plus-44 run differential in their last 14 games, and that was by no means an easy stretch of the schedule, with series wins over the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays during that span. Their lead in the AL East standings is now seven games, and if they can add one more quality starter before the deadline, they might be the team to beat.
Further down the rankings, the Oakland Athletics (5-1), Washington Nationals (5-1) and San Diego Padres (4-1) all put together strong weeks in critical spots on the fringe of contention.
The A's have looked very much like contenders since a 10-game winning streak in May effectively erased a disappointing 19-25 start to the season. They have not lost consecutive games since dropping both ends of a doubleheader to the Texas Rangers on June 8.
Likewise, the Nationals stumbled to a 24-33 start and looked like potential sellers before authoring an 18-8 month of June that has thrust them back into contention. So much for Max Scherzer and Anthony Rendon potentially hitting the trade block.
The young Padres started off the season strongly, but they've slowed down a bit with a 26-27 record over the past two months. This was always expected to be a transitional year of sorts as they make the move from rebuilding to contending. After losing 96 games a year ago, it's clear this is already a vastly improved team.
Those four were the only teams to win both of their series last week.
A tip of the cap to the Baltimore Orioles (2-3), who became the first team in MLB history to have back-to-back shutouts while scoring 13 or more runs in both games, according to MLB Stats. It's a nice feather in the cap of a team that is well on its way to another 100-loss season, and it's a tough look for a contending Cleveland Indians team.
Teams That Disappointed
It's been a wild ride for the St. Louis Cardinals (1-4) this season.
They followed up an 18-7 month of April with a brutal 9-18 month of May. A five-game losing streak prior to a win Sunday meant they had to settle for a .500 record in June, with their minus-16 run differential for the month leaving them in the red (minus-one) on the year.
Paul Goldschmidt (.181 BA, .582 OPS), Matt Carpenter (.208 BA, .667 OPS) and Paul DeJong (.218 BA, .655 OPS) all struggled mightily at the plate in June, and that trio will need to get things on track. The same goes for Jack Flaherty (5 GS, 7.01 ERA) on the mound.
Meanwhile, the New York Mets (1-6) continued their free-fall.
After hovering around .500 for much of the year, they've gone 5-13 in their last 18 games to fall to nine games below .500 and 12 games back in the NL East with a minus-35 run differential on the year that is fourth-worst in the National League.
If the slide continues, it will be interesting to see how they approach the trade deadline after such a busy offseason in the buyer's seat.
The Kansas City Royals (2-4) and Detroit Tigers (1-5) were the only other teams to lose both of their series last week.
Players of the Week
AL Hitter: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Toronto Blue Jays
Stats: 11-for-25, 1 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was a popular breakout candidate heading into 2019 after he showed some promise in his MLB debut last season.
Expected to serve as the everyday second baseman, he instead struggled to a .175/.250/.275 line with zero home runs in his first 44 plate appearances before he was optioned to the minors.
He returned on May 24 a different player, and he has since taken over as the primary left fielder and the No. 3 hitter in the batting order. Since the start of June, he's hitting .337/.381/.683 with 10 home runs and 20 RBI.
"He's been fun to watch," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters. "We always knew he could hit. And now that he's having better at-bats, we are seeing the results."
All told, the 25-year-old is hitting .308/.355/.634 with 12 doubles, 14 home runs and 33 RBI in 47 games, establishing himself as a long-term piece for the rebuilding Blue Jays.
AL Pitcher: Lance Lynn, Texas Rangers
Stats: 1 GS, W, 8.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K
One of the biggest surprises of the offseason came when a Rangers team not expected to contend shelled out $30 million over three years to sign Lance Lynn in free agency.
The 32-year-old posted a lackluster 4.77 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 156.2 innings in 2018 while splitting the year with the Minnesota Twins and Yankees. And in a slow-moving free-agent market, that represented a solid multi-year guarantee.
Three months into the season, it looks like a stroke of genius.
With eight shutout innings on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays, he has now gone at least six innings in each of his last 12 starts, logging 10 quality starts during that span while posting a 3.14 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.
"That's as good as we've seen from him, for sure," manager Chris Woodward told reporters after Lynn struck out 10 Rays batters.
While his 4.00 ERA on the year doesn't look like anything special, it's backed by a 2.91 FIP that ranks sixth among all qualified starters. Globe Life Park in Arlington is not a fun place to pitch, and he's handled it well in what is shaping up to be a quietly excellent season.
NL Hitter: Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs
Stats: 8-for-23, 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 6 R
We're slowly starting to see the player the Chicago Cubs thought they were getting when they signed Jason Heyward to a massive eight-year, $184 million deal.
After hitting .252/.322/.367 while averaging nine home runs in 521 plate appearances during his first three seasons on the North Side, he has finally stepped things up a notch offensively this year.
The 29-year-old already has 14 home runs in 315 plate appearances, and he's hitting a far more respectable .271/.362/.473 in the process.
When you throw in his stellar defense in right field—he robbed Nick Senzel of a home run Sunday—and his invaluable presence in the clubhouse, you have a player who is getting dangerously close to earning his $20 million salary.
"His whole game [has been impressive]," manager Joe Maddon told reporters. "The catch yesterday, today, his at-bats—against righties and lefties—it doesn't matter. He's just playing really good baseball right now."
With four years and $96 million left on Heyward's contract after this season, the Cubs will be hoping this recent trend continues for the foreseeable future.
NL Pitcher: Max Scherzer, Washington Nationals
Stats: 2 GS, 2 W, 16.0 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 24 K
Max Scherzer continues to be arguably the best in the world at throwing small white balls past burly men holding large wooden clubs.
Since posting a downright human 4.45 ERA over his first five starts of the season, he's has ripped off 13 consecutive quality starts. During that span, he's posted a 1.70 ERA and 0.91 WHIP with a dominant 126-to-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 90 innings.
He worked eight innings of one-run ball against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, then he did the same against the Tigers on Sunday.
"He's been really good this month, but I'll say this again, he's been good all year," manager Dave Martinez told reporters. "He's been unbelievable, he really has. The work that he puts in daily, as you can see pays off for him every fifth day."
As the cherry on top of a great week, the 34-year-old was named to his seventh consecutive All-Star team.
Must-See Upcoming Matchup
Texas Rangers vs. Minnesota Twins (Friday-Sunday)
A strong case can be made that the Rangers and Twins are the two most surprising teams of 2019.
The Rangers went 67-95 last year and then waived goodbye to future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre, who rode off into retirement at season's end. The Twins finished second in the AL Central in 2018, but that was more an indictment of the division as a whole than anything else. They closed out the season with a 78-84 record that left them a full 13 games out of first place.
Now they sit at Nos. 3 and 7 in our weekly power rankings, respectively. If the season ended today, they would both earn a playoff berth.
This will be their first head-to-head clash of 2019 after the Rangers took the season series 4-2 with a staggering plus-22 run differential a year ago.
Rangers ace and first-time All-Star Mike Minor will likely take the hill Saturday, while Twins standout and fellow first-time All-Star Jake Odorizzi should get the ball for the series finale Sunday.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted and accurate through Sunday's games.
