Joe Chacon's Blog
We've hit the most exciting part of the season. Once the teams crack the 100 game mark we can take a closer look at the standings and get the feeling of urgency that these games count a little more than the ones prior.
Five of the six division leaders have leads of five games or less.
Rankings are not based off of W-L records alone. Other factors include strength of schedule, recent injuries, and overall team statistics.
Please note: These rankings were compiled taking into consideration all games played through July 26.
1. New York Yankees (59-39, Last Week: 1)
The Yankees lead the majors with 153 homers and have added a player in Ichiro Suzuki that is still productive. They should be just fine with A-Rod on the DL (hand).
2. Texas Rangers (58-39, LW: 2)
Texas is still leading all of baseball with a .277 batting average and 472 RBI. Although they have led the AL West for just about the entire season, there are now two teams within five games (Oakland and Los Angeles).
3. Washington Nationals (58-39, LW: 3)
I'm still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under Washington. If they can get the offensive production to match their MLB leading 3.20 ERA we will be talking about something special.
4. Cincinnati Reds (58-40, LW: NR)
Where did this come from? Dusty has his boys playing great baseball and are currently riding a seven game winning streak.
5. Atlanta Braves (54-44, LW: NR)
I still feel the Braves are the best team in the NL East. They have the lineup to compete with anybody in the National League and their pitching can go on unhittable tears. Don't sleep on this team.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (55-42, LW: 7)
I'm sorry Pirate fans, but second place is not the furthest the Bucs are going to fall in the NL Central. As much as I want to see them return to their early 90's success, they are still a little ways away.
7. Los Angeles Angels (54-45, LW: 4)
The Angels have one of the most exciting collection of players in baseball. While Oakland should eventually fade further back from Texas in the AL West, I expect the Angels to continue the climb atop the division.
8. San Francisco Giants (55-43, LW: 9)
Melky is hitting over 100 points higher than he did just two years ago. His current average of .356 is good for second best in the majors. Giants have won seven of their last ten.
9. Los Angeles Dodgers (53-46, LW: 6)
Hanley Ramirez tripled in his first at-bat with the Dodgers and there is a lot of optimism that he will be able to return to the 2009 version of himself when he finished second in the MVP voting.
10. Detroit Tigers (53-45, LW: NR)
Final spot was a toss-up between the Tigers, White Sox, and Athletics. Detroit has the weapons to surpass the Sox in the Central, although Robin Ventura leading his team to the playoffs would make for a good story.
Joe Chacon is a Staff Writer for Operation Sports and a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.
# 4
ds52075 @ Jul 26
Good list though, no mention of the A's? They have made a dramatic turnaround, find themselves a legitimate contender for the Wildcard, if not the AL West and just swept the Yankees. Just a thought.
# 5
Joe Chacon @ Jul 27
@ds52075 Well, I did mention them, but only in saying I think they are going to come back down to earth. They could have been #10 here and if they have more success over the next week I'll definitely have them in there next week. I need to take some more time and watch a few of their games this week.
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