Cubicle GM MLB Power Rankings: August 11th
August 11, 2009 · Jacob Nitzberg · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
After a one week vacation, the Cubicle GM Power Rankings return with a vengeance. There is a new team atop the ranks, as on the heels of a seven-game winning streak the New York Yankees have ascended to the peak of baseball. A more surprising winning streak vaulted a team from the bottom, as an eight-game streak moved the lowly Nats out of No. 30 for the first time all season.
Two weeks of baseball can change a lot, and it certainly did, as 13 of the 30 teams moved three or more spots up or down the rankings. Leading the upward movers were the Florida Marlins and Oakland A’s, who each moved up six spots to No. 14 and No. 20 respectively, closely followed by the Atlanta Braves who jumped up five spots to No. 12.
Four teams tied for the biggest downward trend, as the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles each dropped four spots.
What’s nice to see is that as the season progresses, the rest of the Cubicle GM team’s rankings are lining up with Gideon’s strength of schedule and opponent winning percentage based rankings. This week’s rankings only saw one ranking differential of more than 10 spots, and just three with a difference of eight or more.
Toronto Blue Jays (11) – Gideon 9, Jacob 20
Seattle Mariners (9) – Gideon 20, Mickey 11
Houston Astros (8) – Gideon 26, Jacob 18
Divisionally speaking, it was the AL East back on top, but it appears that can be contributed to Gideon’s hometown bias. The AL East averaged an 11.07 ranking this week, with Gideon contributing an 8.40. The AL West was a close second with an 11.58 average ranking.
At the bottom of the divisional barrel sits the AL Central, as the Royals took over the No. 30 overall spot in the ranking. The AL Central just beat out its counterpart in the NL, which came in at 19.22 this week.
As always, you can check out the backup data here. Rankings can be found below; rankings from our last set are in parentheses.
1. New York Yankees (2) – The Yankees vault into the top spot with a big four-game sweep over the Red Sox this past weekend. Last night’s loss in Toronto snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Bronx Bombers, who now hold the best record in all of baseball at 69-43. In their Sunday night win over Boston, Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira set a new Yankees record.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers (1) – The Dodgers have fallen back to earth since the last set of the rankings, and their division lead has shrunk to just 5 1/2 games over Colorado and 6 1/2 over San Francisco. The Dodgers suffered a setback, as starter Chad Billingsley has been scratched from Wednesday’s scheduled start.
3. Los Angeles Angels (3) – After blowing Minnesota out of the water last weekend, the Angels scuffled against Chicago and Texas, and their division lead sits at just four games. In order to maintain it, the Halos will need to keep up their stellar road record on a trip through Baltimore, Cleveland and Toronto. The Angels had a milestone last night, as Vladimir Guerrero hit his 400th career homerun.
4. Philadelphia Phillies (5) – The Phillies have seen their division lead cut in half since the last issue of the rankings, and now have two teams behind them within just four games of first. After a bizarre game where the Flyin’ Hawaiian was ejected from centerfield, the Phillies will see if their investment in Pedro Martinez was a wise one as he takes the hill on Wednesday night.
5. Boston Red Sox (4) – The Red Sox have dropped three games in the standings in the last two weeks, and are now 5 1/2 games out of first place. The BoSox were able to beat Detroit last night at Fenway and snap a six-game losing streak to put them a half-game ahead of idle Texas in the Wild Card race.
6. Texas Rangers (6) – The Rangers are keeping themselves in the playoff hunt, and did themselves a huge favor by taking two of three in Anaheim over the weekend. A big part of it was the three-hit shutout thrown by rookie Dexter Holland, the first such outing by a Rangers rookie since 1986.
7. Colorado Rockies (9) – The Rockies jump up two spots in the rankings thanks in large part to taking three of four from the formerly first place Chicago Cubs in Denver. Monday’s rout was a spectacular one, as SS Troy Tulowitzki had the game of his career.
8. Tampa Bay Rays (8) – The Rays are struggling on their current six-game West Coast road trip, but get to come home for nine straight starting on Monday. The Rays are making little moves in order to try and stay in the race, but will need to make a move quick as they have dropped eight games back of the Yankees.
9. St. Louis Cardinals (13) – The Cardinals jump back into the Top 10 and back into first place in the NL Central, both to this writers’ dismay. The Cards are doing what they are supposed to by winning the easy ones, beating up on Pittsburgh and Cincinnati before hosting San Diego. St. Louis got a bit of bad news as Todd Wellemeyer, who was bumped from the rotation, might now be heading to the DL.
10. San Francisco Giants (11) – The Giants remain in the thick of the race at 10 games over .500. They sit 6 1/2 games out of first, but just one back in the Wild Card. Yesterday marked Manny Ramirez’s first game in San Francisco since the steroid suspension, and one SF writer got his wish as the Bay Area faithful booed Manny like Dodger fans booed Bonds.
11. Detroit Tigers (7)
12. Atlanta Braves (17)
13. Chicago Cubs (10)
14. Florida Marlins (20)
15. Seattle Mariners (12)
16. Toronto Blue Jays (19)
17. Chicago White Sox (14)
18. Minnesota Twins (16)
19. Milwaukee Brewers (16)
20. Oakland Athletics (26)
21. New York Mets (21)
22. Houston Astros (18)
23. Arizona Diamondbacks (24)
24. Cleveland Indians (27)
25. Cincinnati Reds (23)
26. Baltimore Orioles (22)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (25)
28. Washington Nationals (30)
29. San Diego Padres (28)
30. Kansas City Royals (29)
This article originally posted on Cubicle GM.
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