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 »

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 »