Power rankings are nearly useless at this point because, in little more than a week, the top eight teams will be clear-cut and entering a race to prove the REAL power rankings. But, with games still to play and pennant races to be won, the projections can come in handy.

Take the Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers, neither of whom is guaranteed a playoff berth but take sound leads into their last handful of games. Meanwhile, the Arizona Diamondbacks are just two games over .500 (79-77) and sitting at No. 16 in our rankings, but could still make a surprising push and knock the Dodgers off their playoff perch. Anything can still happen. Read more »

This edition of our power rankings sees the Los Angeles Angels in the top spot. And, with baseball’s best record, an 11.5 game division lead and a lineup featuring Mark Teixeira, Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter, it’s hard to argue.

Xavier Nady has helped bump the New York Yankees into the top five, the Arizona Diamondbacks are taking advantage of a favorable schedule and historically weak division, and the Minnesota Twins, behind a soft-tossing but strike-throwing rotation, have climbed back atop the AL Central and into our top 10. Read more »

The lengthy hiatus between our weeks of power rankings has allowed the steady Los Angeles Angels to claim the major’s best record and our top spot. The Cubs, Red Sox and entire AL East continue to struggle on the road while traditional doormats such as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals have been nonpartisan losers.

The four teams from New York and Chicago are firmly entrenched in the upper third of our rankings and the enigmatic, consistently inconsistent Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers haven’t been able to break into the top 10. Read more »

The Tampa Bay Rays sit atop this week’s power rankings, the last before the All-Star break. Only four teams, the Yankees, Cardinals, Phillies and Angels, have winning road records through 80 games, and only the Chicago Cubs have won more games at home than Tampa Bay.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, after brief glimpses of solid play, have retreated to familiar positions looking up at the NL Central and our power rankings while the Minnesota Twins have used interleague dominance to sneak into the top 10. Read more »

Another week, and not much change atop our weekly power rankings. The Cubs and Red Sox continue to roll despite injuries to key players while the Astros have begun to lose ground in a competitive NL Central.

The Phillies and Marlins are riding prolific offenses; the defense of the Tampa Bay Rays has carried an inconsistent, untested lineup; and don’t look now, but the Detroit Tigers have won seven in a row. Read more »

Sixty-seven games into their season and the Chicago Cubs must face a little adversity, at least for the next six weeks. They have won 4 straight games and remain atop our power rankings, but the injury to Alfonso Soriano lessens their offensive punch and flexibility, not to mention the confidence of the Wrigley faithful.

The Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins, despite the expected occasional sputter, remain in the top 10, while the once promising Blue Jays and Indians have slipped. Read more »

Excepting a climb from Tony LaRussa and the consistent Cards, the top of this week’s power rankings remains relatively unaltered. The Rays and Red Sox continue to, literally, battle atop the AL East, while unproven pitching has slowed the Marlins and Astros.

Bottom dwellers like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds are beginning to show promise while preseason favorites Seattle and Detroit have fizzled. Read more »

Memorial Day has come and gone and as predicted, without surprise, the lovable loser Chicago Cubs share baseball’s best record with, judging by attendance figures, the unlovable Tampa Bay Rays.

The surprises at the top of this week’s power rankings, stunning as they are, are matched by the disappointing teams littering the bottom half. The New York Yankees and New York Mets continue to struggle while the preseason favorite Seattle Mariners became baseball’s last team to 20 wins. Read more »

Nearly 50 games have been played in the Major League Baseball season and the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox again sit atop our power rankings.

Teams such as the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals have flirted with the elusive .500 mark only to fall back, two surprising Florida contenders, the Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins, have become fixtures in the top 10, while the New York Mets and New York Yankees have slipped into the mediocrity mudpit. Read more »

The Baby ‘Backs sit atop our baseball team power rankings, as we make a belated debut to the 2008 season. Across the country, the upstart Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins have climbed to the top of the mighty AL and NL East divisions and into our ever-important top 10.

Underachievers are sprinkled throughout the bottom half of the rankings, with the 17th-ranked Milwaukee Brewers and 22nd-ranked Seattle Mariners heading the class. Kansas City and Pittsburgh again reside near the cellar, but are both showing signs of hope and improvement. The same can’t be said in Washington, where there is too little talent to dream of a sudden turnaround. Read more »