MLB Power Rankings: Texas Rangers on top
The Call to the Pen staff assembled their power rankings and brought them together for another addition of our weekly rankings. Each writer ranked every team from 1st to 30th, with the 1st place vote being worth three points and the last place team earning 0.1 points. The numbers were crunched, and below are your official Call to the Pen power rankings.
I would like to say that the good thing about this method is that accounts for all of the different ways to view a power ranking system early in the season. Some people like to give more weight to teams that are doing well, while the “regression model guys” (self-dubbed, by the way) give more weight to the talented teams.
1. Texas Rangers– Once again, each writer agreed that the Texas Rangers are the team to beat in the MLB. I mean, that offense is just loaded.
“Seven hitters who could easily hit 30 bombs, and eight if you’re bullish on Mitch Moreland. Best lineup in baseball complimented by a rotation that has certainly impressive, if unproven in starting roles (Feliz) or on this continent (Darvish).”- Doug Wachter
“They just keep chugging; doesn’t seem like anyone can stop them right now” – Matt Musico
2. Tampa Bay Rays– The No. 2 team in our power rankings will likely be the second place team in their division, and there is a better chance that they will win the AL East than come in third.
“Joe Maddon is in the Manager of the Year conversation each year”- Chris Carelli
“Losing Longoria is a big blow. Tampa Bay will turn to Ben Zobrist and others to pick up the slack” – Blaine Blontz
“Longoria’s injury hurts, but count on Joe Maddon to find a way to patch the holes and use the team’s excellent pitching to keep them in contention until their star returns.” – Doug
“The recent Evan Longoria injury is a serious cause for concern. Losing an MVP caliber player is a big deal for any team, but even more so for the low-payroll Rays who have little to no margin for error in the loaded AL East.” – Kyle Davis
3. St. Louis Cardinals
“Can Lance Lynn keep this up? The Cardinals are certainly hoping so.” – Blaine
4. Detroit Tigers– As his name indicates, Drew Smyly is one interesting pitcher.
“Detroit’s been playing bad baseball, but realistically who else in the central can stick with them?” – Blaine
“2-8 over the last 10 days, including getting swept at home by the Mariners. Bright side: The Royals were my pick to come the closest to challenging Detroit’s supremacy in the central, but Kansas City’s busy being one of the worst teams in baseball thus far.” – Doug
“Detroit has been struggling since their fast start, and I doubt Jim Leyland needed the Delmon Young fiasco right about now.” – Matt
5. Arizona Diamondbacks
6. Washington Nationals– Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg on the same team? That’s a recipe for must-see baseball when both are playing. They have a great nucleus of young talent, and I can’t wait to see what they do when Michael Morse comes off the shelf.
“They look great, but now they’ve lost four straight and their schedule finally has some challenges, so we’ll see how long they can stay on top of the division” – Matt
“Bryce Harper is up, and the Nationals are hoping the teenager is here to stay” – Blaine
“Harper’s callup spurred by the team’s excellent pitching and anemic offense; without Zimmerman and Morse even The One can’t save this lineup.” – Doug
7. New York Yankees– Before you trash the Pineda deal, why don’t you wait until Pineda actually pitches? Sure he’s missing this year, but he’s a great, young talent and this injury isn’t one that will carry with him.
8. Los Angeles Dodgers– Hopefully, Andre Ethier can keep the hot start going without getting a pesky injury.
“Matt Kemp is unbelievable. So is the Dodgers’ start, which simply isn’t sustainable, as the supporting casts for superstars Kemp and Clayton Kershaw leave something to be desired on both sides of the ball. Things are looking up for the Dodgers, however, as they’ve officially entered the Magic Johnson Era.” – Doug
9. Toronto Blue Jays
10. Atlanta Braves– Nestled in the top ten, the Braves are looking to overtake the Nats in our power rankings next week.
11. Baltimore Orioles– Count Doug as a Jason Hammel skeptic, who had two good seasons before being terrible last year. How good do you guys think Hammel is?
“Congratulations to Baltimore on an excellent April. Enjoy it while it lasts. Adam Jones and Matt Wieters might be for real, but Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen certainly aren’t.” – Doug
“Baltimore continues to impress as we move into May. People figured they can hit, but their pitching has stood up very well over the first month of the year. Let’s see how they do as newcomers to the rotation, such as Jason Hammel will fare once he gets around the league once or twice” – Matt
“They’ve got to show they can turn on the magic against elite competition” – Blaine
“Buck has the team believing” – Chris
12. San Francisco Giants
“Tim Lincecum‘s last start was promising. Giants fans are hoping the real Freak has finally stood up” – Blaine
13. New York Mets
“They’re on a nice run, but pitching needs to step it up if they want to keep things going. I thought they upgraded their bullpen this offseason?” – Blaine
14. Milwaukee Brewers
“Ryan Braun is trying to do his best beast mode impression without his buddy Prince behind him in the lineup.” – Matt
“Ryan Braun is beast, but where’s the pitching?” – Blaine
15. Colorado Rockies
16. Cincinnati Reds– 10,000 wins was the easy part, but now comes the tricky part; winning the division. What Kyle said is one the money; Latos needs to step up. He’s also making people like me look bad for saying that the package was worth it.
“The Reds really need Mat Latos to start pitching like himself. As current, he’s issuing too many walks and allowing far too many flyballs to be successful. Cincinnati gave away an ace-level package of players to bring Latos in, and they need an ace-level performance in return if they want to make the postseason.” – Kyle
“Trying to keep up with the Cardinals” – Chris
17. Cleveland Indians– After last year’s tease, I’m never taking these guys seriously again until July.
“They’re leading the AL Central, but I have a hard time taking them seriously.” – Blaine
18. Philadelphia Phillies– Counting off the days until Ryan Howard gets back. We call him overrated all the time, but I miss the big fella’. He isn’t as overrated as we say he is, and the Phils could use all that power.
“Howard and Utley inching back towards return” – Chris
19. Miami Marlins– Yeah, some change. Did they name the word “schneid” after Brian Schneider in the same way that “wilt” is named after Wilt Chamberlain?
“Can’t seem to get off the schneid.” – Blaine
20. Los Angeles Angels
“Albert Pujols will hit a home run this season. Bank it. Heck, I’ll even go out on a limb and say he’ll hit one in May.” – Doug
21. Chicago White Sox
“Philip Humber got smashed the game after his perfect, reminding the White Sox that they’re just a .500 team.” – Matt
22. Seattle Mariners
23. Pittsburgh Pirates– A.J. Burnett is doing so much better on his new team, but will it last?
24. Boston Red Sox– Man, why all the hate against the Red Sox? Good regression is just starting to take place in Beantown. The pitching will get better, but this team isn’t near the top half because of the pitching thus far.
“They look more like the team many expected entering the season. Still, Daniel Bard remains the only starter with an ERA south of 4.00.” – Blaine
25. Oakland Athletics– As Kyle said, Yoenis Cespedes has such a hard name to spell but is already doing well.
“Yoenis Cespedes sure is fun to watch. The fact that I just spelled his name correctly on the first try means I have problems.” – Kyle
“Bartolo Colon has been a god send for Oakland. Yes, Bartolo Colon.” – Matt
26. Kansas City Royals
27. Minnesota Twins
“Teams are looking forward to playing them now.” – Chris
28. San Diego Padres
29. Houston Astros
“Astros still my frontrunner in the chase for the first overall draft pick in 2013, although Minnesota and the Cubs appear to be well-positioned to give them a run for their money.” – Doug
30. Chicago Cubs
You can follow Call to the Pen on Twitter at @FSCalltothePen or like us here on Facebook.