May 5 Power Rankings

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Cardinals
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Name: John Paul Starkey

May 5 Power Rankings

Post by Cardinals »

Contributors: Pirates, Cardinals



Rankings
1. Yankees - Not much to say about JB's team. Off to the best start in the IBC without Mauer and A-Rod. Once they return, he'll have a lineup that has Rodriguez, Pujols, Howard, Ramirez, Mauer, Magglio, Cano and Jeter. Not too bad. Bullpen could potentially be an issue with Ryan not doing so hot, but Papelbon and Rivera are still there and not going anywhere. Easy route to October.

2. Reds - Here we go again. Many figured this would be Nate's swan song, with an aging lineup and a tougher division. Then ZIPS came along and Nate appears to be ready to leave the rest of the NLC in the dust again. The only thing that can stop him is injuries, and with Kuo hurt, the bug may be ready to rear its head again.

3. Rockies - Jake fled the NLC over the winter to tap the Rockies. He's roared out of the gate and has the second best record in the NL. While his hitters will continue to mash, the question remains, how long until his pitching falls off a cliff and back to earth. With Bartolo Colon, Jack Egbert, et al in the rotations, the Rockies need to make some moves to stay at the top all year, or else they're just another April power that's forgotten by July.

4. Royals - It seems like this time every year Z is up high in the rankings. This year's version of the Royals has some pretty good depth to it. Spilborghs and Willingham would start for most teams in the league. After dealing Volquez the team must bide its time until Carpenter returns from the DL and hope he doesn't reinjure himself. KC should be in the thick of things all year barring some serious injuries.

5. BlueJays - Toronto has hit 52 home runs so far this year. 52! The Bronx Bombers have only hit 38. Chicks must really dig the longball in Canada. Granderson has ten already on the young year. With a lineup that is poised to mash all year long and a rotation anchored by Johan Santana, the defending champs will again be a playoff threat.

6. Marlins - Dan has taken advantage of slow starts by his division counterparts to open up the largest lead in the NL, 2 games, but still, it's the biggest lead in the NL. The Marlins and Rockies are very similar, they'll rely on their offense and hope their pitching doesn't implode enough to cost them games where they score a bunch of runs. How long is Randy Choate going to keep this up? Randy Choate's still being paid to play baseball?

7. Giants - Nils took a year off, but he's back. Many find Nils pitching and defense philosophy boring, but its got him a ring and what was a long time overlooked powerhouse out West. His offense is underperforming right now and he has one of the best staffs in the league. Jake better keep an eye on his rearview mirror because the Giants will be looking to pass soon.

8. Tigers - For the first time in this league, Brett and his Tigers are competing. Playing .600 ball into early May, looks like he's doing a good job at that, especially considering 30% of the losses are to the Yanks. Depth will be the major issue with this team all year. If Detroit stays healthy all year, look to see them playing in October, but if the injury bug strikes especially to either Oswalt, Gallardo or Shields, Detroit could be in a bit of trouble.

9. Cardinals - The two time defending NL Champs are off to a pretty good start. Sitting at 17-12, the Cards have been led by their NL-Leading offense, plating 163 runs so far. How will losing Hamilton to the DL affect the team? Expect a drop in run production, but it doesn't look like his injury is serious. The Cards will be in it till the end, again, especially if Lee keeps pitching like the IBC NL Cy Young: 5-1, 1.81 ERA with a 47/7 SO/BB ratio.

10. Nationals - A real sleeper in the capitol. Ken's got an underwhelming rotation on paper that is solid in the sim. Don't let the names fool you into thinking his staff is bad. There's some depth and when Westbrook comes back, if Ken is close, watch out, because the sim wizardry has returned.

11. RedSox - Will Bren finally compete this year? Better yet, will he make the moves in either direction to compete? Sitting at 15-10, that's still .600 baseball, but third in the AL East. The Red Sox can quite possibly contend this year, especially in the Wild Card race, however the question is if Bren will want to compete and if he'll make some moves this year.

12. Mets - Getting out of Coors was the best thing for John. While his division is a little easier now, the injury bug bit him hard before spring training, taking Glaus for at least half if not the whole year. The offense is old and if injuries strike the Mets will struggle to score runs, but the rotation will keep them in games. Will not having a true closer and going by match-ups bite John in the ass? My experience from last year says yes, go get a real closer.

13. Pirates - . All I heard this winter was about how the Pirates were going to come into Busch and start off the year with a 4 game sweep. Then ZIPS came out, the Buccos came out slow and JP almost threw in the towel. Then he realized the season was 2 weeks old. After wheeling and dealing, cause it is JP after all, the Pirates are .500 and looking to charge. With a great 1-3 in the rotation, a monster back of the pen, the question is can Pitt put runs on the board. Trading for half a new lineup last week, I guess we'll find out.


14. Cubs - The Cubbies currently sit a game over .500. The offense has been feast or famine, with a couple guys simming out of this world and a couple guys simming like they're me. The back of the pen has been fantastic, but its getting the ball to them with a lead that is the problem, with only one starter currently having an ERA below 4.50. The Cubs better turn their rotation around or they'll be stuck in 4th the rest of the year

15. Padres - Poor Martin, the injuries have already hit him hard. The offense has underperformed, as has the rotation. Its early, and the Pads have plenty of time to get healthy and turn things around. Don't count out Martin yet, the Pads will make a charge. But with Martin's history of standing pat with what he has, if the sim don't swing in his favor, it may not be his year.


16. Twins - Will the Twins finally fall this year? After a month, the Twins are still hanging in there, only 5 games out in the young season, sitting a game under .500. It seems unlikely though that the Twins will compete, especially after dealing Wigginton to Kansas City. With a competitive Detroit and KC, the Twins might not be playing in October for the first time since 2005.

17. Athletics - The first AL West team clocks in at #17 in the power rankings. The A's recently took two of three from Seattle which is why they are one spot ahead, in addition to the plus run differential that they boast which Seattle cannot. That said, injuries will be taking their toll on Oakland this week. Losing Mark Ellis and his Ex range at 2B won't help. Will Holland and Badenhop be legitimate pitchers for Oakland this year for the whole season? Oakland will need to pick up a SP if they are to maintain their 'dominance' on the AL West.

18. Mariners - Seattle can easily take the west this year, but that may be like winning the Special Olympics. All trash about the AL West aside, it is a very winnable division and anything can happen in the playoffs. After all, "There's only ONE OCTOBER!" The M's boast five good starters in the rotation, anchored by AJ Burnett who is a legitimate top of the rotation pitcher. If the M's are to succeed this year, they will need to get some more production out of Andre Ethier who is hitting .181/.246/.238 on the year. The M's do have some prospects to move as well, so if Brennan decides to make something happen the M's can easily be playing in the playoffs.

19. Phillies - Runs. That is what Nick needs. Nick hung around forever last year and until injuries hit late in the year, many thought he was a dark horse candidate to sneak into the World Series. This year things haven't went so well. Nobody is hitting, the workhorses in the rotation have underperformed, and Nick is slowly fading back. Its still early, a song that is being sung by most of the teams ranked around here, but it won't be early for too long.

20. DBacks - The defending division champ has gotten off to a rough start, starting slow out of the gate. A strong charge late last year got Jag into a one game playoff and to extra innings in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Reds. The pitching is there, the bats are there, once everything clicks, the D'Backs will be in the Top 10 of the next Power Rankings, where we all figured they'd be this time.

21. Dodgers - Has it really only been two years since the Dodgers won the West? Currently tied with Jag for last place in the division, Shawn has the 3rd best offense in the NL. The pitching however, is closer to the bottom than the top. This will undoubtedly be the final year of the "Juan Cruz is a good starter" era, so as long as Shawn get the rest of the rotation to perform near what their projection is, he should hang around in the West and be in contention.

22. WhiteSox - Tough to see what the White Sox direction is. The jewel of the franchise Kershaw was dealt to bring in Danks and Alexei Ramirez. The Sox also have players like Nelson Cruz and Mike Aviles- players who are solid in the MLB, but their projections outweigh their MLB value. On the opposite side of the coin, the White Sox also have some excellent young prospects, particularly Tommy Hanson, Gordon Beckham and Justin Smoak. If the ChiSox decide to totally retool, they will have some definite trade bait.

23. Rays - To begin the year, I'd have probably predicted that Tampa would be playing for Strasburg. No knock on the Rays, but playing in the toughest division and being comprised of all kids, it seemed like a good bet TB would be among the leagues worst this year. That hasn't been the case yet, as TB is a respectable 11-15 to this point. No, Tampa won't make noise this year, but they are starting to get better and will eventually be a contender.

24. Orioles - Going from 100 wins and missing the playoffs to the worst AL pitching staff probably isn't what Gudim had in mind this year. The O's decided to completely retool their roster from last October and their near-playoff team. The results haven't been pretty thus far, but Baltimore still has some good blocks to build off of, notably Scott Kazmir and Saltalamacchia. Still, don't expect to see the O's making a magic playoff run this year.

25. Rangers - Things have to get better for Texas, given that they can't get much worse. Harden and Zambrano are both 0-4 for Texas. That trend just isn't likely to continue. They have hit a league low ten home runs. That's also not likely to continue playing in Texas. Despite the horrible start, Texas at 7-18 is only six games out of first, easily a deficit that Seth can work to overcome.

26. Angels - The Angels won't compete this year, plain and simple. Is that a bad thing? No. Dave has done a very good job of assembling some good young talent. The tragic death of Adenhart sadly sets the IBC Halos back as well. Still, the Angels have a very good pitching foundation setup ahead of them. Phil Hughes, Carlos Carrasco and Homer Bailey comprise a very solid young 1-3. Lind, Conger, McCutchen, Clement and Marrero all provide reason to think there will be an offensive future in Anaheim as well. The Halos could also be in the Strasburg sweepstakes as well.

27. Astros - Slowly but surely, the Astros are putting together a solid team. The top part of the rotation is good and young. The offense doesn't have a starter older than 27. All this team needs is time. Give them another year or two and they'll contend. For now though, all Shawn can do is take his beatings and get high draft picks.

28. Braves - A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! If only Brandon's pen didn't implode in the one game Wild Card playoff last year, the Braves may be ranked in the top 10 today. Instead, Brandon blew up the team, acquired a lot of good, young, fast moving prospects and has decided to look at the lights this year. It will be a long year in the city formerly known as Terminus, as Atlanta was originally the western end of the rail line to Savannah. What would a power rankings be without a fun fact?

29. Indians - Cleveland won't be winning too many games this year. There is some hope in Cleveland regardless. Arencibia is a nice catching prospect, Lance Lynn has been doing well for the Cards AA team and Alberto Callaspo stopped beating his wife and starting beating the baseball. There are a lot of projects on this team and this team will have a chance to restock its system through the 09 draft class. This is the definition of a rebuilding effort, but, all is not lost and the Indians do have some building blocks in place.

30. Brewers - Well, when you inherit Degan's team and then move it to the NLC, you're going to be the worst team in the league. But 4 wins? Wow. There are some good players, but it will be a while before the Brew Crew is anywhere but the basement, so I hope you got some books, a TV or something down there to entertain yourself.
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Athletics
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Name: Stephen d'Esterhazy

Post by Athletics »

It took me two years, but im no longer number 30 on the power rankings.
"My shit doesn't work in the playoffs. My job is to get us to the playoffs. What happens after that is fucking luck."

LAA 11 - 15 331W - 479L
LAA 16 - 20 477W - 333L 17-20 ALW
OAK 21 - 22 214W - 110L 21-22 ALW
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Mets
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Name: John Anderson
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Post by Mets »

I'll take #12 as I'm just hoping to stay around until Escobar and Hudson replace D-Cab & Niese?

Could really use Glaus to to stretch my old lineup.
2008-2023 Mets: 1,054-1,223...463%
2006-2008 Rockies: 242-244...498%

IBC Total: 1,296-1,467...469%
2022: lost WC
2023: lost WC
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