MLB Power Rankings

Here are my top 15 MLB teams through June 5th.

1. Philadelphia Phillies (35-24):
Philadelphia has the best record in all of baseball. They've gotten a bunch of help from Ace Roy Halladay who has a record of 8-3 and a 2.56 ERA. With Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels as their #2 and #3 pitchers, they can get away with having off-nights at the plate. SS Jimmy Rollins is day-to-day after fouling a ball off his knee in yesterday's game.

2. St. Louis Cardinals (36-25):


The Cards get the nod at #2 spot due to the emergence of Albert Pujols. He hit walk off homers in their last two games to bring his Home run total to thirteen. He's had a little bit of a slow start, but the rest of the team has covered for him. St. Louis has the the best collective batting average in the league (.281).

Alber Pujols was on fire this week.

3. Texas Rangers (34-26):


Ron Washington's Texas Rangers are the hottest team in baseball right now. They've won five straight games and eight of their last ten. Ian Kinsler is hitting .342 and RF Mitch Moreland, a second year player out of Mississippi State, has been one of biggest surprises this year. Things are looking even better for the Rangers as Josh Hamilton gets more at bats after returning from an early season injury.

4. New York Yankees (33-24):


Despite having the 19th highest collective batting average, the Yankees have the third highest run total. The Yankees offense has been excellent as they have the highest run differential in the Major Leagues (+73). The Yankees continue to play well as they've won seven out of their last ten games. They face a tough schedule in their next two weeks as they face three of the best teams in baseball in Boston, Cleveland, and Texas.

5. Boston Red Sox (33-26):


The Red Sox have rebounded from their awful start, and as of today trail the Yankees in the standings by just one game. Both Adrian Gonzalez and David Ortiz are in the top five in Batting Averages for the American League, and SP Josh Beckett has the lowest ERA in the AL. Filled with confidence after sweeping the A's,  the Sox will look to move into first place in the AL East after their upcoming series with the Yankees.

Gonzalez has been one of Boston's best players.

6. Cleveland Indians (33-24):

The Tribe have been struggling as of late. In fact, they've lost four straight and seven of their last ten. Their offense has been struggling lately, as they've only been able to muster six runs in their last four games. Their overall record puts them at the #6 spot, but they are showing a downward trend.

7. Milwaukee Brewers (33-26):

The Brewers are another hot team in the NL Central. They've won seven of their last ten games, and only trail the Cardinals by two games. Ryan Braun has carried the offense, but he's day-to day now with a sore shoulder.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks (33-27)

Despite being half a game behind the Giants in the NL West, I think their the better team in the division. Eventually, the Giants' hot pitchers will cool off and the Diamondbacks will overtake them. None of the players on the team really stand out, but they've been playing well as a team and have won seven out of their last ten.

9. San Francisco Giants (33-26):


The San Francisco Giants are the best team in the NL West which is the weakest division in the Majors. There offense has struggled this season, and things look even worse now that Buster Posey is out for the year. The Giants have relied on pitching from Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong, who has gone six straight starts without giving up more than one run, to win games from the mound.

10. Seattle Mariners (31-28):


Although Ichiro is statistically having the worst year of his career, the Mariners are still a few games over   ".500". Seattle hasn't been blowing out their opponents, but they've managed to win six straight series, along with seven out of their last ten. Once Ichiro comes around, the Mariners have the potential to win the AL West.

Ichiro's been having a poor year.

11. Atlanta Braves (32-28): 
Atlanta's pitching staff has been great this year. In fact, they've given up the fewest number of runs in the entire league (202). Despite having great pitching, they are still in third place in the NL East. Their offense has let them down through out the year, but if they get their bats going they have a chance to contend for at the very least, the wildcard spot.

12. Detroit Tigers (31-27):
Once again, Jim Leyland's Tigers are playing steady baseball. Miguel Cabrera has been crushing home runs and driving his team mates home while Justin Verlander has been solid from the mound. They've been dominant at home, but they seem to struggle when they go on the road. If Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge can get healthy, they will continue to play well.


13. Florida Marlins (31-26):
The Marlins need to wake up from their recent slump soon if they want to keep their second place spot in the NL East. They've lost four consecutive games, and seven of their last ten. One of the main problems has been that starting shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been banged up and hasn't played in a week.

14. Cincinnati Reds (30-30):
The Reds and my favorite manager Dusty Baker are playing decent ball and are only five games behind the Cardinals. They've been scoring a ton of runs, but their pitching staff can't keep opposing teams off the scoreboard. Joey Votto is hitting .338 and and Jay Bruce has hit seventeen home runs and amounted forty-seven RBI's. It's too bad they have a collective ERA of 4.45 runs per game, because this is a team I'd like to see in the playoffs.

Dusty Baker is one of the best managers in the MLB.

15. Tampa Bay Rays (31-30):
You have to feel a little sympathetic for Tampa Bay. They are a small market team playing in the toughest division in the league. If you are above .500 in the AL East, you must be doing something right. They've gotten outstanding pitching from Jeremy Hellickson and the rest of their staff, but their offense has been weaker than in past years. Maybe things will change once 3B Evan Longoria is healthy again.

Tressel Resigns

 Two months ago, Ohio State's President,  E. Gordon Gee, was asked about Jim Tressel potentially losing his job. His response: "I just hope he doesn't dismiss me." Fast forward to Memorial Day, and Tressel's already been fired resigned. In one of the highest profile occurrences of NCAA violations and corruption, the sweater vest wearing and good morals preaching coach finally got what he deserved.  After being warned that several of his players were trading Ohio State memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor in return for tattoos, he failed to notify the NCAA or Ohio State administration about the violations. He found out about his players breaking the rules in April of 2010, meaning he knowingly allowed his players to play despite knowing they were violation NCAA policies. In September of last year, he signed a document saying he was unaware of any violations from his players. Even when five players were suspended five games (but not their bowl game), he kept his mouth shut. Only after the Ohio State Office of Legal Affairs found his emails with the businessman that alerted him of his players' wrongdoing did Tressel confess. Even now, former players are coming out of the woodwork and talking about the benefits they received. In December, Antonio Pittman, a former Ohio State player, tweeted:

"this osu stuff is silly, cats been getting hookups on tatts since back in '01."

From all the press about the scandal that I've read, it appears that many people around Columbus, knew what was going on. It was common knowledge that football players got special treatment. How can anyone explain how QB Terrelle Pryor has been spotted driving seven or eight different cars around school. How can a player, whose job is playing football at Ohio State for zero dollars, afford to drive so many different cars. That should probably be a red flag. Sooner or later that was going to catch up to Pryor. Maybe he's not the smartest guy in the world (Here's a link to to a paper Pryor wrote, allegedly). At the end of the day, Tressel got ousted because he lied to the NCAA and broke the rules. But at the end of the day, these types of violations will keep on happening as long as student athletes aren't compensated for their play. College football is a business. That's why Tressel had so much power. He was responsible for bringing in revenue to the university. As long as these players bring wins and money to the program, why should Tressel rat out his best players? It doesn't make sense to do so. Players should be paid for their efforts. They bring in so much revenue, and they don't see any of it. Yes, many of the players are attending school for free, but how are they supposed to live. Even college students need money. They spend so much time practicing and working out that they don't have time to get jobs. If I was in their position, it would be hard for me to not accept a discount somewhere. If the NCAA wants to get rid of these scandals involving players getting improper benefits, players need to somehow be compensated.

There's just a little bit of irony in this picture.

Burrows Bites Bergeron

You can't just go "Mike Tyson" on Patrice Bergeron on national television in the Stanley Cup Finals. I think that's against the rules.