Rant Sports Inaugural Major League Baseball Power Rankings – Opening Day Edition
April is the best month of the year, as it brings the promise of another season of baseball. At Rant Sports, that means it is time to begin our Power Rankings for the 2012 season. For the first week, we will give more weight to how teams are built on paper, and as the weeks go on a greater emphasis will be placed on how teams are doing over the course of the season. Out of respect to the pennant winners in each league, they will be given the top two spots for this week.
St.Louis Cardinals (This Week: 1, Last Week: N/A) – The Cardinals are looking to prove that there is life after Albert Pujols. They beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Wednesday, and with the additions of Carlos Beltran and Adam Wainwright, they might beat their record of 90 wins in 2011.
Texas Rangers (This Week: 2, Last Week: N/A) – The Rangers open their season against the White Sox, and even without former ace CJ Wilson they should lead the AL West for the third straight year. All eyes will be on Yu Darvish, who makes his debut April 9th against the Mariners.
New York Yankees (This Week: 3, Last Week: N/A) – The Yankees made some fantastic additions this offseason, adding Hiroki Kuroda and Michael Pineda to bolster the rotation. While Pineda is expected to miss some time, the Yankees still remain one of the best teams on paper. Several of the Yankees key stars are on the wrong side of 30, and the only way this team doesn’t win the division is if those guys get injured or their skills decline. Otherwise, the Yankees are the safe bet to win the AL East.
Tampa Bay Rays (This Week: 4, Last Week: N/A) - The Rays begin their season tonight against the Yankees. The pitching is amongst the best in the majors, and their lineup is much improved over last year thanks to the additions of Luke Scott and Carlos Pena. But they’re extremely vulnerable against left handed pitching, and tonight against CC Sabathia is going to be a big test for the Rays.
Los Angeles Angels (This Week: 5, Last Week: N/A) – Trading for Vernon Wells and missing the playoffs for a second straight year cost Tony Reagins his job. But the Angels are better off for it, because new GM Jerry Dipoto has made some fantastic moves over the offseason. He added Albert Pujols to a monster deal and bought low on CJ Wilson, transforming the Angels into a potential juggernaut. And he traded away Mike Scioscia’s favourite toy, Jeff Mathis, which should prevent the Angels from having to use the worst position player in the majors. They’ve got a dynamic rotation, and the biggest question is if Kendrys Morales can rebound to protect Albert Pujols. Because if not, Pujols is going to see a lot of intentional passes with the game on the line, and the Angels lineup just isn’t strong enough to punish pitchers for doing that.
Philadelphia Phillies (This Week: 6, Last Week: N/A) – Their infield is a mess, and like the Yankees their aging stars aren’t nearly as productive as they’ve been in the past. But as long as they have the Big 3 at the top of the rotation, the Phillies have a chance at the post season. The National League isn’t nearly as strong as the American League this year, and that’s why the top 10 has been dominated by AL squads.
Boston Red Sox (This Week: 7, Last Week: N/A) – The Red Sox have the potential to be a strong team, but there are a lot of question marks in the rotation that might prevent that from happening. The AL is very strong this season, and the lack of pitching depth could cost the Sox a chance at the playoffs.
Detroit Tigers (This Week: 8, Last Week: N/A) - They’ve got the best 3/4 combo with Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder, but this is a team that might get done in by its defence. Was game one a sign of things to come? Miguel Cabrera went 0/1 with 3 walks and an error. How long can the Tigers really expect Cabrera to play third for? Their defence in both the infield and outfield is suspect at best, but given the lack of competition in the Central they’ll still likely make the playoffs.
San Francisco Giants (This Week: 9, Last Week: N/A) - The return of Buster Posey and the correct decision to give Brandon Belt the first base job gives the Giants some much needed firepower in the lineup. Given how dominant their pitching is, that might be all that’s needed to win the surprisingly competitive NL West.
Cincinnati Reds (This Week: 10, Last Week: N/A) – Adding Mat Latos and Sean Marshall gives the Reds a legitimate chance in the NL Central. However, this is a team that won 79 games last season, so we need to be cautious before declaring them the team to beat. There’s a ton of upside on this team, but the rotation isn’t that strong after Latos.
Atlanta Braves (This Week: 11, Last Week: N/A) - The Braves didn’t add any offence during the offseason, and it could come back to haunt them. Their lineup just isn’t that imposing behind Brian McCann, although a breakout from Jason Heyward would be a step in the right direction. The Braves are built on pitching, and with the bullpen they have they won’t need to score too many runs. But they’ll need to do better than what they did against the Mets, as they were shutout by Johan Santana and a bullpen made up of former Blue Jays.
Toronto Blue Jays (This Week: 12, Last Week: N/A) – While the Jays aren’t likely to make the playoffs, the fact of the matter is this is a very talented roster. They outlasted the Indians in a 16 inning affair last night, and given the upside of players like Colby Rasmus, Henderson Alvarez, Kelly Johnson and Brandon Morrow, the Jays could be significantly improved over last year. They could win between 79 and 92 games, and I wouldn’t be surprised by any of those possibilities.
Arizona Diamondbacks (This Week: 13, Last Week: N/A) – They came out of seemingly nowhere to win the NL West, and with largely the same group they should be a strong bet to contend once again. They’ve got some talented kids on the farm who are ready to step up, and if the Giants don’t hit the D-Backs should have an easy route to the playoffs. That being said, injuries to players like Stephen Drew are forcing career backups like John McDonald to start in their place, and these kind of moves can cost a team a spot at the playoffs.
Milwaukee Brewers (This Week: 14, Last Week: N/A) – They may have lost Prince Fielder, but at least they have Ryan Braun for a full season. With the addition of Aramis Ramirez and potential breakout of Mat Gamel, there’s a good chance the Brewers can remain just as competitive as they were in 2011.
Washington Nationals (This Week: 15, Last Week: N/A) - They’ve made some fantastic additions to their pitching staff this offseason. The lineup is fairly suspect with Mike Morse missing some time, and that could be their undoing in a loaded NL East.
Miami Marlins (This Week: 16, Last Week: N/A) - The Marlins made some strong additions this offseason, but they’re not strong enough to compete unless Hanley Ramirez and Josh Johnson rebound to elite status.
Colorado Rockies (This Week: 17, Last Week: N/A) -Colorado had some significant turn over this offseason, but I’m not sure it was all for the best. Marco Scutaro was a fantastic pick up for them, but with an aging lineup they’re extremely vulnerable to injuries or decline in skills.
Chicago White Sox (This Week: 18, Last Week: N/A) – Victims of Murphy’s Law last year, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. They need a lot of things to go right – bounce back seasons from Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and continued development of guys like Chris Sale. But it’s not out of the question that the White Sox give the Tigers a run for their money.
Kansas City Royals (This Week: 19, Last Week: N/A) – Their talented farm system is starting to produce some bats, but the pitching hasn’t caught up yet. The Royals are an exciting team to watch, and once their pitching catches up they should be able to contend for a long time.
Los Angeles Dodgers (This Week: 20, Last Week: N/A) – They’ve got new ownership, and the future looks pretty bright for LA. But it’s going to take some time for changes to be made, and this year fans might want to look the other way at a potential train wreck.
Cleveland Indians (This Week: 21, Last Week: N/A) – Jason Kipnis and Carlos Santana are a few bright spots for the Indians, but with a weak farm system it’s unclear if or when they’ll realistically be able to contend.
Pittsburgh Pirates (This Week: 22, Last Week: N/A) – They’re making progress which is a positive sign. Andrew McCutchen sticking around makes a huge impact on this franchise, and they signed him to a fantastic deal.
Oakland Athletics (This Week: 23, Last Week: N/A) – Billy Beane is playing for the next few years, and like the Royals, fans of the A’s can look forward to the promotion of top prospects. In the short term, the A’s are going to struggle to put up runs. Ok, maybe in the long term too.
San Diego Padres (This Week: 24, Last Week: N/A) – The Padres farm is consistently ranked as one of the best in the game, and lately they’ve made some fantastic extensions. But this team is built to win in the future.
Minnesota Twins (This Week: 25, Last Week: N/A) – Bill Smith crashed and burned this organization into the ground, making one awful move after the other. At this point the Twins only consolation is that they recognized he was the problem.
Chicago Cubs (This Week: 26, Last Week: N/A) – Look on the bright side, no matter how bad the Cubs are this season, they can’t embarrass themselves more than the Toronto Maple Leafs did. And they added Theo Epstein to the front office, so the future is bright. Cubs fans just need to show some patience. You’ve waited 104 years, what’s another 2-3?
Seattle Mariners (This Week: 27, Last Week: N/A) – They’ve got some promising arms down in the minors, and the addition of Jesus Montero should boost the lineup. The M’s are playing for the future though, so make sure to take a picture every time Seattle crosses the plate. It won’t happen very often.
New York Mess Mets (This Week: 28, Last Week: N/A) – Johan Santana is healthy, and R.A. Dickey is a pretty awesome human being. If you go into the Mets game thinking of it as a comedy, you might not pull out all of your hair.
Baltimore Orioles (This Week: 29, Last Week: N/A) – On the bright side, they’re not the Astros.
Houston Astros (This Week: 30, Last Week: N/A) – Really, they can only go up from here. I have no idea how they’ll go up though.
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