MLB Power Rankings from No. 20 to No. 1

Thank you again for reading, but before we get to the next post, a few things:

My apologies for being away from the blog for a while. This past month has been extremely hectic (Cough, cough, school), but things are finally settling down.

I’m also happy to announce that another reason for my lack of posts is that I have accepted a Media Relations internship with the Oklahoma City RedHawks. The RedHawks are the AAA Affiliate of the Houston Astros. (So if you need to know about the quality of the Astros’ farm system, don’t hesitate to call.)

Finally, we were on a roll going through the preseason MLB power rankings before Spring Break, but my schedule made it difficult to keep up with the posts so I’m going to fly through teams 20-1. (That way we can move on to other posts, namely the NBA Playoffs.)

Without further ado, the rest of the rankings:

(Sorry, one more note. I did these rankings in mid-March, but I have kept them the same because I feel like switching them around now would be cheating. Other than putting the Dodgers at 25, I’m pretty happy with how I’ve done with the first 10 teams we looked at.)

(I’ll shut up now, here’s the rankings.)

No. 20 Minnesota Twins

I honestly have no idea what the Twins are. At the end of the season, I probably still won’t know what they are. The lineup has potential (Mauer, Morneau, Willingham and Doumit), but the pitching staff will hold them back. Losing Scott Baker for the year won’t help.

No. 19 Colorado Rockies

There’s a theme among all these teams on the bottom half of the list: They either have a good offense, a good defense, but they definitely don’t have both. (The Athletics have neither.) Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez are studs and bringing in Michael Cuddyer will help the offense, but the pitching staff is terrible. Jamie Moyer, FORTY-NINE YEAR OLD JAMIE MOYER, was the Opening Day starter for the Rockies. Needless to say, I don’t like the Rockies chances as the season wears on.

No. 18 Pittsburgh Pirates

Since we’re on the subject of “Interesting Opening Day Starters”, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Erik Bedard was the Opening Day starter for the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s bullpen is very good, but the starting rotation will be this team’s undoing.

No. 17 Washington Nationals

The Nationals are off to a hot start and they could definitely sneak into the playoffs. Heck, they could win the NL East the way it’s looking right now. Stephen Strasburg has looked dominant and with Jordan Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson pitching well, the Nationals are dangerous. Losing leftfielder Michael Morse until at least the All-Star Break is bad for the lineup, they need to find some power in the trade market because this team has a real chance to contend.

No. 16 Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are a team that always seems to under perform. Once again, the 2012 Reds have a stacked lineup (Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, Scott Rolen and Jay Bruce) plus, they picked up a potential ace in the offseason (Mat Latos) while getting rid of one of the most productive/most stressful closers of all time (Francisco Cordero). Cordero is the king of coming in with a three run lead, giving up three straight hits, throwing a wild pitch, giving up two runs and somehow getting 40 saves a year. It’s actually quite remarkable.

No. 15 Cleveland Indians

It’s hard for me to be rational about my favorite team, but I will say this: The Indians are going to the World Series! (Damn it, I tried.) In all honesty, the Indians have an above-average lineup with a fantastic bullpen. The key to the Tribe this year will be how much they get out of starting pitchers Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez.

No. 14 Milwaukee Brewers

Our first playoff team from 2011 makes the list. The Brewers offseason was terrible (Prince Fielder leaves and the Ryan Braun fiasco), but the main reason I have them this low is because of who they have batting clean up. Last year, Fielder was the clean up hitter. This year, Aramis Ramirez bats clean up. Not exactly like going from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers. (Did you see what I did there? If only I could have found a way to fit the Bucks in there, I would have had the Wisconsin pro sports teams trifecta!)

No. 13 San Francisco Giants

Different year, same story for the Giants. Once again, they have an awful lineup, but their pitching staff makes up for it. However, this year is looking a little more dicey than others because closer Brian Wilson is out for the year and ace Tim Lincecum can’t find the strike zone.

No. 12 Atlanta Braves

Serious question: Why do the Braves never suck? In the past 18 years, they’ve finished third or higher in the NL East 17 times including their run of 11 straight division titles from 1995-2005. They have finished second in the NL East the last three years, but they are poised to make another postseason run as long as some key pitchers (Tim Hudson and Tommy Hanson) can stay healthy all year.

No. 11 Boston Red Sox

I wasn’t as high on the Red Sox as others, but I still consider this a bad call on my part. The Red Sox are just not that good this year. Losing closer Andrew Bailey for a few months was bad, losing Jacoby Ellsbury for at least a month was worse, but Bobby Valentine managing to piss off the entire Red Sox clubhouse 10 games into the season was the worst of all. I wouldn’t count this team out, though. Bringing back Ellsbury, Bailey and Carl Crawford from injury could be enough for the Sox to steal a Wild Card spot.

No. 10 St. Louis Cardinals

Yes, they lost Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter is hurt, but this is still a very good team. Pitcher Adam Wainwright is back after missing all last year and free agent signing Carlos Beltran is tearing it up through the first weeks of the season. Also, as of April 23, Albert Pujols’ replacement at first base, Matt Carpenter, has more home runs than Albert. (Carpenter 1, Pujols 0) Who needs that Pujols guy anyway?

No. 9 Miami Marlins

The next two teams on this list were my sleepers coming into this year. I love the Jose Reyes/Hanley Ramirez dynamic even though the Marlins are off to a rough start in 2012. The Marlins will bounce back, but for the Marlins to contend for a World Series they need Josh Johnson to pitch at an All-Star level.

No. 8 Toronto Blue Jays

Things I love about Toronto: Their lineup, Jose Bautista, Ricky Romero (Romero has quietly been one of the best pitchers since the 2011 All-Star Break) and, of course, Brett Lawrie. Things I don’t like: having to play in the AL East, Francisco Cordero (See No. 16.)

No. 7 Arizona Diamondbacks

As we’ve seen in baseball and especially basketball this year, franchise stability is key for a team’s success. Arizona didn’t make any crazy moves over the summer, but they didn’t need to. They had a team that made the playoffs last year that will continue to get better. Once Justin Upton’s injured thumb heals, he will continue to put up the big numbers he did last season.

No. 6 Detroit Tigers

So the Tigers lose Victor Martinez for the year and Justin Verlander is sure to regress a little, yet somehow the signing of Prince Fielder will turn this team into a World Series champion? I’m not buying it. The Tigers will still run away with the AL Central, but after Verlander the starting rotation is full of question marks.

No. 5 Texas Rangers

Oops. While there is no way that Josh Hamilton keeps up his hot start, the Rangers are for real. Yu Darvish has some nasty stuff (when he can command it) and Neftali Feliz has had a good start to his first year in the Rangers’ starting rotation. With the pitching staff figured out, and possibly the best lineup in baseball, this might finally be the year that the Rangers get over the hump in the World Series.

No. 4 Los Angeles Angels

Bigger oops. Whenever you sign Albert Pujols for $240 million and you find yourself looking up at the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland A’s, you know you’ve had a rough start to the year. But the Angels will be fine. Eventually, Pujols will hit his first home run of the year (with plenty more to come after that) and the offense will get rolling. I still like the Angels chances to make a run in the playoffs because they have the best pitching staff in baseball. (Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana and C.J. Wilson) I haven’t lost faith in the Angels.

No. 3 Philadelphia Phillies

Biggest oops of all-time. Now the Phillies are a team I’ve lost faith in. There are not enough negative words in the English language to describe how bad their offense is. Adding Ryan Howard and Chase Utley (let’s stop kidding ourselves, Utley will be back on the DL in a matter of weeks) is not enough to stop this train wreck. The 3-4-5 hitters for the 2012 Philadelphia Phillies: Jimmy Rollins, Hunter Pence, Shane Victorino. (I’m not kidding) Let’s pretend I didn’t pick the Phillies as my top National League team…

No. 2 New York Yankees

Surprisingly quiet offseason for the Yanks. The only major signings were Raul Ibanez and Hiroki Kuroda. The trade of catcher Jesus Montero to Seattle for Michael Pineda obviously didn’t work out for this year, but the Yankees will manage to get through it. The lineup is just as good as the Rangers and the pitching staff will be good enough to allow the Yankees to win a lot of games.

No. 1 Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays are no longer the surprising upstarts. They are legitimate contenders and this year is no different. The Rays didn’t miss a beat after losing Carl Crawford last year and their lineup got better this offseason by adding Carlos Pena back into the mix. The starting rotation (James Shields, David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore and Jeff Niemann) is the best the Rays have ever had. Oh, and they have the best strategic manager in the game in Joe Maddon.