Baseball Power Rankings '09

All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Joe Torre's Los Angeles Dodgers have been baseball's best after the season's first two months. Most teams have had their hands full dealing with multiple injuries or suspensions. Over 100 games remain before divisions are decided. It's time for my non-statistical power rankings. I'm shooting from the hip here based on current standings and personal observations of games thru June 3.

Top 10
1- Los Angeles Dodgers (36-18) Tough team top to bottom. Continuing to win even with Ramirez suspended for 50 games. Deep bench, clutch hitting, pitchers throwing strikes and one of the games best managers.
2- Boston Red Sox (31-22) Winning thru injuries and lack of production from top power hitter (Ortiz). Rotation to get shot in arm when Smoltz makes his '09 debut. No easy outs in Sox lineup.
3- New York Yankees (31-22) Starting rotation beginning to gel which means doom for opponents. Offense is clicking too. New Yankee Stadium giving up homers at an alarming rate.
4- Philadelphia Phillies (30-20) Need to find another starting pitcher. Offense beginning to wake up. LF Ibanez is MVP candidate.
5- Toronto Blue Jays (30-25) Began season red hot before a recent losing streak knocked them from AL East lead. Dangerous team with a great manager (Gaston).
6- Texas Rangers (31-21) It's great to see Texas finally playing inspired baseball. Top hitter Hamilton has been a non-factor while battling nagging injuries. Starting pitchers turning heads. Head hunter Padilla cut today which should boost locker room cohesiveness. Rangers problems will be dealing with summer heat. Team usually fades when 100 degree July games kick in.
7- St. Louis Cardinals (30-22) Winning thru injuries. Carpenter has been great when healthy. Glaus is out for an extended period. Ankiel banged up. LaRussa has been managing his butt off. Pujols continuing to prove he's NL's best player.
8- New York Mets (28-23) It seems as though a different player gets hurt every night. Reserves have played a big part of NY's success and became quick fan favorites. If the Mets could score some runs for Santana then they'd be leading Philadelphia. Mets need to add a big OF bat. Wilpon lost hundreds of millions in the Madoff scandal. Don't expect (m)any trades in '09.
9- Milwaukee Brewers (31-22) If the Brew Crew could learn to make contact then they'd be runaway winners in this division. Strikeouts will always doom this club. Lack of big time starter could haunt these guys in September.
10- Los Angeles Angels (26-25) Vlad and injured stars are returning. Angels have stayed close and I expect them to turn in on right about now. AL West is tough and it's a winner take all division as wild card will come from the East.

Teams to watch:
Atlanta - Just cut Glavine and traded for McLouth. Team wants to win and will probably solve 1B or RF problem quickly.
Kansas City - Had a great April until fading fast. KC is a good team. I think they'll be back in the race once injury bug croaks.
Detroit - It's all about pitching. If pitchers step up, then Tigers will be one of AL's strongest.
Minnesota - Some days good, some not. Bottom third of order are automatic outs. They need to make a deal.
Chicago - Piniella must be having fits as Cubbies play below potential. Aramis Ramirez injury has been a huge loss.

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