Griff's Power Rankings, Week 3

(Last week's power ranking in parentheses)

1-Red Sox (4)

Finally, Youk for MVP

2-Dodgers (2)

Manny makes other L.A. hitters dreaded

3-Marlins (1)

Congrats Dave Van Horne 40 years in radio

4-Blue Jays (9)

Like ranking KCriss Angel on most powerful men list

5-Cubs (3)

Accursed Goat is getting cocky already

6-Yankees (5)

C.C. + A.J.= SNAFU + S.O.S.

7-Mariners (12)

Healthy King Felix and Prince Eric make a difference

8-Cardinals (15)

Albert Pujols can carry a team; he’ll tell you

9-Mets (6)

New stadium blues but don’t pine for Shea

10-White Sox (7)

With Obama and Chavez now BFF Ozzie ready for White House visit

11-Tigers (17)

These Tigers trying to change their ’08 stripes

12-Phillies (8)

Hamels admits off-season as Series MVP was changeup.

13-Braves (13)

Tomahawk chop going the way of the Twist

14-Royals (16)

Zack Greinke, Don Drysdale, Orel Hershiser??? Who does not belong?

15-Twins (14)

They’ll hang around mid-pack all year then make a move

16-Pirates (21)

Young rotation is steering this high-powered Bucco skiff

17-Angels (11)

Bullpen is better than it’s showed.

18-Reds (19)

This team speaks softly (Votto soce) and carries big stick

19-Padres (18)

Pads are like Robin Hood stealing wins from the rich with buddy Friar Suck.

20-Rays (10)

One year later, purged Devil having his due

21-Orioles (20)

Zaun struggling for playing time

22-Rangers (28)

Rotation needs Chuck Norris - Walker, Texas Ranger

23-Diamondbacks (22)

Tough because as you know Snakes have no shoulders

24-Giants (25)

These Giants will grow taller as year goes on

25-Indians (23)

Tribe is falling-off-a-Cliff Lee year after Cy Young

26-Brewers (26)

Rough start for Kenny Macha in deeply mediocre division

27-A’s (24)

Moving in the Coliseum fence might help

28-Astros (27)

Left field warning track not only uphill climb

29-Rockies (29)

Everyone talking Nuggets

30-Nationals (30)

Not even Pedro can turn this ship around

Comments

[Andrew]

Hey Griff,

I know that the Jays seem like an illusion to many, but I think they're a .500 team, easily. If they play out the string at .500, they'll be at 89 wins and a good shot at the Wild Card. Is that really such an impossible thing to believe?

[Jason]

These rankings are finally respectable.
I think every team is ranked correctly, within a spot or two in either direction, of where they should be.
Good job this week!

[Cameron]

Curious to how the Marlins, who are losers of six straight, are higher than the Jays?

[Vava]

Friar Suck? Man, that's harsh! And I also think that ranking a team that's lost 6 straight, three of those to the Pirates, ahead of the Jays is a head scratcher.

[Lee]

"Like ranking Kriss Angel on most powerful men list" - It's like you're hoping they fail Griffin, just so you're prognosticating is shown to be right. A little optimism would be a refreshing change for your column.

[Cavan]

How are the Fish ranked higher than the jays after losing for almost a week straight?

[MP]

Not that this matters in the slightest, but you've misspelled the magician's name. It's spelled: "Criss Angel."

[Stephen]

Andrew, if you could find me a year (other than 1996, which was an outlier) when 89 wins has been enough for the AL Wild Card, I'll buy that they're a contender for that spot. The lowest total since then has been 91 wins, and in recent years the number has been around 95.

Let's also wait until they've played against the AL East powers, as well as making like the rest of the AL and beating up on the NL in interleague play.

And as Chacin and Guzman have shown Toronto fans through the years, it's one thing to look good on your first trip through the league. Once teams have seen a pitcher's stuff, they tend to slack off in terms of performance.

[Joe]

Stephen, Chacin was never good. Never. A guy with a 5+ ERA should never be mentioned in the same sentence, let alone compared, with Guzman.

And Griff, the Marlins should have taken more of a tumble. It would have been bang on if you had it: Sox, Dodgers then Jays. Jays and Dodgers could be interchangeable but the Sox are uno for the week.

I can't wait til the Jays hammer'em!

[Rob]

Andrew, if they play out the string at 500 that keeps them 8 games over 500 which puts them at 85-77, not 89-73.

[Keith]

Richard, when did you compile this list? Aside from the obvious problem of having a team on a 6 game losing streak one notch ahead of the Jays, who as you may know have the best record in all of baseball, you have the 9-9 Yankees ranked ahead of the 13-6 Cardinals and the 12-7 Mariners, and you have various sub-.500 and .500 clubs ranked ahead of the 11-7 Pirates. You seem to have looked at the standings for parts of this list (you nailed Washington), but in other cases (most glaringly the Yankees) you clearly have been using some other mysterious formula. The biggest inconsistency is, if Boston is ranked first because of a 10 game win streak, how do you rationalize the Marlins ranked #3 overall with a 6 game losing streak and the 6th best record in baseball?

[stoeten]

Hey, come on everybody, so what if the Marlins have lost six straight? There's way more wrong about their ranking than just that-- like how more than half of their wins have come against the Nationals.

[WSG]

Hi Richard – I’m surprised that you and your fellow Blue Jays writers are NOT making a BIGGER DEAL about the fact that right now, on April 27/09 … since Cito took over on June 20, 2008, the Blue Jays have the BEST RECORD IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL! I mean … come on!

[blake]

Might want to check the standings and recent games. The Cubs are fourth in their division and just dropped two of three against the Cardinals.

[Brandon]

Guys, he's pretty clearly basing his rankings on what he projects to be the best teams GOING FORWARD, and not just basing it on their record. If you wanted that, just go look at the standings (how boring). That's why a team with a good pedigree and expected success like the Yankees or Cubs would rank above the Mariners.

Now, to Richard: what's up with the comment on the Jays? You think their start is just an illusion i take it? Just when do they begin to gain credibility in your view? As others have stated, a LITTLE optimism from the hometeam reporters is nice!

[Brandon]

By the way, I predict the Jays will be the first team to crack Greinke this year, just as they were first to get to Edinson Volquez last year. You read it here first! :)