Updated July 1
You wanna get yourself fired from your job? Go out on a limb, Jerry Maguire-style.
Go ahead and write that overnight "Mission Statement" to your company, like Maguire did in the movie. Or lead the Mariners, Mets and Blue Jays into baseball purgatory like John McLaren, Willie Randolph and John Gibbons did.
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| Gabe Gross and the Rays crack No. 1 for the first time. (AP) |
Whatever you do -- say, if you fancy yourself a baseball pundit -- do not make a statement as misguided as: The NL is now the better league. Yours truly did in his Power Rankings at the start of interleague play this year. (See it here).
Surveying the wreckage, the result: 149-102, AL in a landslide. Whoopsy! That is a fireable offense.
Before yours truly finishes his last Power Rankings -- uh oh, sorry, no! didn't mean it, it was a mistake! -- let's recant the reasoning:
• Most of the biggest trade acquisitions moved to the NL after the last All-Star Game, namely Mark Teixeira and pitchers Johan Santana and Dan Haren.• At the time, the AL didn't have rookies like Geovany Soto, Kosuke Fukudome, Joey Votto, Jair Jurrjens and Johnny Cueto.
• The NL was boasting some elite-looking teams, namely the ones in Arizona, Philly and Chicago. NL teams held seven of the top 10 spots in the rankings back then.
• And no one in the AL was really looking all that capable of keeping up with the world champion Red Sox.
Boy, sure couldn't have been more wrong. Things have really changed since that fateful May 20 edition of the Power Rankings, one written at the quarter-pole.
Now at baseball's true halfway point:
• Big Tex, Cy-tana, what he no longer should be considered, and Haren merely are keeping the Braves, Mets and D-Backs around the .500 mark.
• A streaking Evan Longoria trumps any rookie the NL can put against him and has the Rays bouncing along with baseball's best record.
• The coin is completely flipped and the NL now holds just three of the top 10 spots and the presence of the Brewers there is certainly debatable.
• Not only have the Rays and Angels kept up, they have passed the Red Sox in the AL. Even the White Sox, A's, Twins and resurgent Tigers are playing better baseball.
Even though it is 2008, clearly it has been an odd year. How often can you put the Rays as the No. 1 team in baseball with good conscience?
Never, in fact.
The Rays have never been No. 1 in CBSSports.com's Power Rankings. Heck, until this year, they hadn't been in the top 10 during this ranker's tenure.
But times are a'changin' ... and the CBSSports.com MLB power ranker is, too.
Good luck to him, or her. A piece of advice, the AL is and always will be better.
A note: No, E-Mack was not fired for ill-advisedly declaring the NL superior, or even his uncountable bad grammar, syntax and occasional "misrepresentation of facts." Or his pitiful No. 1 ranking given to the Mets in the preseason. He wasn't fired at all, unfortunately for those of you calling for his head. The organization just has decided to make a change and that pink tag in his locker reads, "Management would like to see you, now."
The complete Power Rankings:
| Power Rankings | ||||||||||
| Current | Team | Previous | ||||||||
 | 1 | Yankees · Trends | 1 | |||||||
| Season in seven words:: "Bravehearted children of destiny succeed once anew." ... Hero: Derek Jeter, who somehow overcame the dearth of talent around him and a socially crippling fade haircut ... Loserhead: Is Chien-Ming Wang still alive? ... Key need: A hitter to replace the maybe-soon-to-depart Johnny Damon and totally-gone-thanks-for-the-memories Hideki Matsui, preferably one whose outfield arm is superior to Damon's shotput ... Prognosis: It's all good, unless they're not playing come next Wednesday. | ||||||||||
 | 2 | Angels · Trends | 2 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "No, really, we totally accept walks now." ... Hero: Mike Scioscia kept them even-keeled amid bona-fide tragedy and an early plague of injuries ... Loserhead: The bullpen was uncharacteristically weak in '09. Let's single out Jose Arredondo, whose control never emerged from the realm of the hypothetical ... Key need: A thumpy middle-of-the-order bat to replace Vlad Guerrero. Scott Boras has season tix here and he represents Matt Holliday. I smell a love connection ... Prognosis: As steady as they come. | ||||||||||
 | 3 | Red Sox · Trends | 3 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "The sky is falling, or maybe not." ... Hero: Kevin Youkilis. Enough has been said here and elsewhere about his sublime approach at the plate, so I'll just wonder aloud whether his anvil of a skull weighs more or less than most Olympic gymnasts ... Loserhead: Jason Varitek. Smartly unsentimental Red Sox fans shed few tears when Pedro Martinez was exiled in 2004, yet they continue to believe that Captain Eyeblack will somehow remember how to hit, throw and call a game when the playoffs come 'round. This is sad for everyone involved, except teams playing the Red Sox on days when Varitek is in the starting lineup ... Key need: Someday, somehow, the Red Sox will solve the conundrum of a riddle that is the position of shortstop ... Prognosis: They've got forward-thinking leadership on the field and off. There's no better-run franchise in baseball and they'll contend for years to come. It hurt my stomach to type that. | ||||||||||
 | 4 | Phillies · Trends | 6 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Did you hear? They won in '08!" ... Hero: Chase Utley faded hard in the season's last month, but he remains criminally underrated. How has this guy not popped up in an unfunny Subway commercial by now? ... Loserhead: Brad Lidge narrowly edges out Charlie Manuel, the manager who continues to enable him. At some point, it's going to dawn on Cholly that what happened in 2008 is not relevant to 2009 ... Key need: To reverse the aging process so that they can wring another title run out of the Howard/Utley/Rollins/Werth/Victorino core ... Prognosis: Players age fast now that the game has outlawed supervitamins and wonderpills. Be wary. | ||||||||||
 | 5 | Dodgers · Trends | 4 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "They won in spite of themselves, no?" ... Hero: Matt Kemp would've put up even more serious numbers had Joe Torre realized before August that it's legal to bat an under-31 player higher than sixth ... | ||||||||||
 | 6 | Cardinals · Trends | 5 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Elite starting pitching is a powerful deodorant." ... Hero: Albert Pujols proved proficient at many baseball-related activities ... Loserhead: Rick Ankiel didn't exactly seize centerfield by the horns in his free-agent walk year. His dramatic story won't have a Natural ending -- especially if the 2010 chapter is set in Pittsburgh, as many pundits expect it to be ... Key need: A month from now, they might have to replace the game's best manager and pitching coach, along with an A-list outfielder. Remove La Russa, Duncan and Holliday from this organization, and this becomes a mess in a hurry. Did I mention that Albert Pujols' contract is up after 2010? ... Prognosis: Way too many moving parts here. | ||||||||||
 | 7 | Rockies · Trends | 8 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Change the manager, save the 2009 season." ... Hero: I had the opportunity to acquire Troy Tulowitzki for Jimmy Rollins in one of my high-stakes roto leagues. I did not avail myself of this opportunity. I am not -- how do you say? -- smart ... Loserhead: Jason Marquis, because his mirage of an All-Star first half has somehow hypnotized the team into believing he's a legit option for a playoff rotation. Mark my words: if Marquis goes up against the Phillies in the NLDS, there will be carnage -- like, eight-runs-in-three-innings carnage ... Key need: Somebody to bop Jim Tracy on the head if he contemplates using Yorvit Torrealba instead of Chris Iannetta this week. Also, more live arms for the 'pen ... Prognosis: Surprisingly sunny. It took them a while, but the Rockies figured out that the key to assembling a winning team at Coors Field is defense. Who knew? | ||||||||||
 | 8 | Rangers · Trends | 9 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "More like the Spurs than the Cowboys." ... Hero: Pitching coach Mike Maddux. Scott "Who?" Feldman and Kevin "Him?" Millwood combined for 30 wins and plenty of innings, plus nearly every pitcher in the bullpen pitched like nobody was watching ... Loserhead: There are many things about 2009 that Josh Hamilton probably wishes had gone differently ... Key need: Well, another starter or two. But also to manage expectations, as most Ranger fans are primed for a World Series run in 2010. Last year's Rays notwithstanding, young acorns don't become mighty oaks overnight ... Prognosis: They're gonna build something next summer. | ||||||||||
 | 9 | Braves · Trends | 7 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "They should've started trying before late August." ... Hero: Javier Vazquez, even if he has been left out of the Lincecum/Carpenter/Wainwright Cy Young conversation ... Loserhead: It's unfair to assign Chipper the goat horns, as he easily outproduced the third basemen on three of the four NL playoff teams. But the bottom line is this: Had he even approached his 2008 level, the Braves are still playing this week ... Key need: Capable outfield cornermen, plus a Miyagi-like mentor to ease the transition for turboprospect Jason Heyward ... Prognosis: NL East favorites for Bobby Cox's 2010 swan song. | ||||||||||
 | 10 | Rays · Trends | 13 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "I still can't accept that they tanked." ... Hero: Heading into 2009, Ben Zobrist's career OPS in 530 plate appearances was .650. In 2009, his OPS was .948. There is nothing suspicious about this ... Loserhead: B.J. Upton wasn't the team's worst offender by a longshot, but his combination of low effort and high self-regard rendered him one of the game's most annoying guys to watch ... Key need: Money to get Carl Crawford's name on a long-term contract ... Prognosis: Windows to win slam shut awful fast nowadays. | ||||||||||
 | 11 | Twins · Trends | 11 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "In another division, a sub-.500 team." ... Hero: Joe Mauer, a most deserving MVP no matter how many Kardashians he impregnates and autographs he refuses to sign for lupus-stricken orphans ... Loserhead: By the end of the day, it is entirely possible that a team which bestowed 435 plate appearances on the talent-free Nick Punto will be in the playoffs. Let's just get it over with and legally change his surname to "Bunt-o" ... Key need: Some production from the infield positions not manned by Justin Morneau, and the stealth implantation into Carlos Gomez's neck of a device that administers a painful jolt of electricity whenever he swings at a pitch 18 inches outside the strike zone ... Prognosis: More warm decency and happy OK-ness, but this time in a facility designed for baseball rather than trade shows and monster-truck rallies. | ||||||||||
 | 12 | Giants · Trends | 10 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "88 wins with one functional hitter. Wow." ... Hero: Here's why my nonexistent Cy Young vote goes to Tim Lincecum: more innings than Carpenter, more bats missed than Wainwright ... Loserhead: Aaron Rowand can't hit and has slipped defensively to the point where he doesn't cover centerfield so much as keep it company ... Key need: Hitters that can hit. In an ideal world, they'd replace no fewer than six 2009 regulars ... Prognosis:: Buster Posey will upgrade the Molina-free lineup. Alas, with Bruce Bochy still captaining the ship, expect more batting-order bingo and strategic choices that defy both common sense and international law. | ||||||||||
 | 13 | Cubs · Trends | 12 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Why? Because they're the Cubs, that's why." ... Hero: Hey, I thought Derrek Lee was cooked, too. That's why they play the games! Or something! ... Loserhead: Now Alfonso Soriano is no longer useful for Fantasy purposes, either. Enjoy the next five years of his career, Cubs fans ... Key need: For all the teeth-gnashing over Carlos "the fat one" Zambrano and Rich "the frail one" Harden, the pitching wasn't all that terrible. It was on the bases and in the field that this team looked slow and old. Also, they should probably get rid of Milton Bradley before he firebombs Lou Piniella's Camaro ... Prognosis: On hold until the ownership situation gets sorted. | ||||||||||
 | 14 | Marlins · Trends | 15 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "A team after our low-budgeted hearts." ... Hero: Hanley Ramirez does everything really, really well -- or so it appears to us mere mortals. Hulk-smash slugger Dan Uggla would like to see more in the way of dirt-chewing and fist-bumping before anointing him a star ... Loserhead: If the window is open, it's probably because Matt Lindstrom couldn't close it. Hoy-o! ... Key need: It'd sure make sense to keep Nick Johnson around on a short-term deal, though good luck finding a board-certified physician willing to wave him through on the pre-contract physical ... Prognosis: Blithely and cheaply competent. | ||||||||||
 | 15 | Tigers · Trends | 14 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Make it end already. Make it end!" ... Hero: Miguel Cabrera: Imagine what he could do if he actually gave a crap ... Loserhead: Jarrod Washburn in Tigers burnt-orange/black: 7.33 ERA, 51 hits and 12 homers allowed in 43 innings ... Key need: Someone who can reliably set hitters down in the eighth and ninth innings, plus non-gimpsters at third base and the outfield corners ... Prognosis: Regardless of how they do tonight, the bottom's about to fall out. | ||||||||||
 | 16 | Mariners · Trends | 16 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Better than expected, but still not good." ... Hero: Rookie GM Jack "The Typo" Zduriencik smartly realized that he could only improve the everyday lineup so much, so he focused on defense. At least that kept them competitive ... Loserhead: No pitcher who finished the year with the team besides King Felix threw 100 innings, much less 200. Hard to say if this is an organizational failure or just a bunch of personal ones ... Key need: The Mariners play with a DH and yet they were outscored in 2009 by all but two National League teams. So you tell me ... Prognosis: A step back before they start moving forward. | ||||||||||
 | 17 | White Sox · Trends | 21 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "We're competing! We're bailing! We're competing! Etc." ... Hero: There were no real world-beaters here, so bully to the trio of Mark Buehrle, Jon Danks and Gavin Floyd, who combined for more than 600 above-average innings ... Loserhead: Again, nobody really stunk up the joint that badly. Even perennial Power Rankings punching bag Scotty Podsednik exceeded expectations ... Key need: A few chill pills for GM Ken Williams, who's more hyperactive personnel-wise than anyone with whom I've ever been in a rotisserie league. The quick-fix approach can't be sustained for long ... Prognosis: They'll need to add a few hitters, but the Peavy/Buehrle/Danks/Floyd rotation alone makes them the early 2010 favorite in the AL Central. | ||||||||||
 | 18 | Blue Jays · Trends | 20 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Start fast, end slow, go home. Repeat." ... Hero: Roy Halladay remains a rock, but Adam Lind was one of the big-boy league's six or seven best hitters and Aaron Hill wasn't too far behind ... Loserhead: Vernon Wells lapped Barry Zito as the game's worst contract. Even though he took responsibility for his non-performance -- "nobody has stunk worse than I have," etc. -- that ain't enough to prompt Jays fans to give him a mulligan for the past two seasons ... Key need: A serious bounty in the inevitable Halladay deal. It wouldn't be a bad idea to quell the anti-Cito sentiment before it explodes into full-fledged mutiny, either ... Prognosis: Screwed by geography. | ||||||||||
 | 19 | Athletics · Trends | 17 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Interesting as a case study, not a team." ... Hero: Nobody on this team was especially great or terrible. Viva La Collective! ... Loserhead: Ditto ... . Key need: Hitting, especially in the outfield. Of the regulars, only Matt Holliday slugged over .430 before he was traded -- and that was widely perceived as a massive letdown ... Prognosis: A duel with the Rangers to see which stocked minor-league system achieves big league glory first. | ||||||||||
 | 20 | Brewers · Trends | 18 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "It is difficult to win without pitching." ... Hero: Prince Fielder (.299/.412/.602) answered every question one might've had, even the ones about his attitude and half-assed veganism ... Loserhead: GM Doug Melvin kept saying, "Relax, y'all, there'll be a pitcher in that thar dugout just lickety-split." Well, he would have said that if he spoke in hayseed slang. Either way, he sent the Brewers into battle unarmed ... Key need: Pitching pitching pitching, and the just-announced Trevor Hoffman re-up doesn't count. No matter how rosy his numbers looked in 2009, Hoffman is an accident waiting to happen at age 42 ... Prognosis: They can't get a pitcher without trading a hitter like Fielder; they can't trade a hitter like Fielder without gutting their offense. I believe this is referred to as a catch-22. | ||||||||||
 | 21 | Reds · Trends | 22 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Dull and mediocre: A truly winning combination." ... Hero: Too bad they didn't get a full season out of Joey Votto ... Loserhead: I find Willy Taveras' play more offensive than sign-stealing and post-homer posing combined ... Key need: Purging the roster of slappy, impatient hitters like Taveras and Paul Janish, who Dusty just can't help but pencil into the batting order's first two slots ... Prognosis: Despite the OK core -- Bruce, Votto, Phillips, Stubbs, Bailey, Cueto -- they're not all that close. The sooner they secure a restraining order that keeps Dusty Baker at least 100 yards away from Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto, the better. | ||||||||||
 | 22 | Padres · Trends | 19 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Borderline triumphant, given the talent on hand." ... Hero: Adrian Gonzalez. Just think of the numbers he would put up if he played his home games in a wisp of a ballpark like the new Yankee Stadium ... Loserhead: New owner guy Jeff Moorad, or whatever jackass was responsible for firing GM Kevin Towers. Listen, when I get around to buying a team, I plan on hiring "my own guys," too: there will be key administrative roles for Eddie Van Halen and Snuffleupagus, among others. That said, I don't get why the Padres discarded Towers like a soiled napkin. He did all the heavy lifting that will allow the team to turn things around fast -- shedding most of the big contracts, handling the Trevor Hoffman divorce -- and this is the thanks he gets? Baseball is a mean sport sometimes ... Key needs: Everything except a first baseman, basically ... Prognosis: Once they deal Heath Bell, the rebuilding begins in earnest. | ||||||||||
 | 23 | Diamondbacks · Trends | 23 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Young players ripen less predictably than apples." ... Hero: Dan Haren, just for doing his job and refraining from going postal on his teammates for not doing theirs ... Loserhead: There had to be something going on with Chris Young that we don't know about (a health/family issue?), because he played with almost deliberate apathy until way late in the year ... Key need: More of a tough-love organizational approach. Pound the players on the head and scream "be more better! be more better!" if need be ... Prognosis: There's talent here. There was talent here at the start of 2008 and 2009, too. | ||||||||||
 | 24 | Mets · Trends | 24 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Your foot's either broken, bruised or healthy." ... Hero: Any fan who watched more than 12 innings total in September ... Loserhead: Take your pick: the what-me-worry? manager, the newly castrated GM, the comically klutzy players, the in-denial owners ... Key needs: A team physician who can diagnose physical maladies with some degree of confidence, a third-base coach whose stay/go decisions don't make fans wonder if he's betting on the opposition and a Luis Castillo exorcism ... Prognosis: Organizations that enjoyed a far more successful 2009 remain jealous of the Santana/Wright/Beltran/Reyes core. Everybody here oughta take a few deep breaths before making any rash decisions. | ||||||||||
 | 25 | Royals · Trends | 25 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Dayton Moore was rewarded for creating this?" ... Hero: I checked out 25 of their games this season strictly to see Zack Greinke. It was worth it ... Loserhead: Mike Jacobs started more than 100 games at designated hitter, despite a .228/.297/.401 line. Jaywalking is a crime, but apparently this is legal ... Key need: To rid themselves of Jacobs, Kyle Farnsworth, Jose Guillen, Willie Bloomquist, Brian Bannister (sorry) and especially Yuniesky Betancourt. Hire assassins if you have to. Also, the team might as well start laying the groundwork for the inevitable Greinke trade ... Prognosis: I am very, very relieved that I root for an organization other than the Royals. | ||||||||||
 | 26 | Astros · Trends | 26 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Dumb decisions executed dumbly by dumb people." ... Hero: Lance Berkman slugged .509 in what was perceived to be a down season for him. He has set the bar way high ... Loserhead: According to one rumor making the rounds, players were so baffled by Cecil Cooper's every move that they took to wearing "Really?" T-shirts under their uniforms ... Key need: An organizational purge. At least the franchises ranked below them here have a player or three to build around; the Astros have exactly zero elite prospects on the way up and are committed to paying $50 million in 2010 to the troika of Berkman, Roy Oswalt and Carlos Lee. Good luck ... Prognosis: Negative. | ||||||||||
 | 27 | Indians · Trends | 27 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "You can only trade so many Cys." ... Hero: Shin-Soo Choo finally figured out how to hit lefties a little bit. Watch out, league ... Loserhead: GM Mark Shapiro, as much as all of us writer types love the guy. How hard can it be to assemble a marginal relief corps? Even the Nationals managed to accomplish this in the season's second half ... Key need: Just a little patience. Yeah, yeah ... Prognosis: How many times must a team rebuild before they admit they might be going about their business ineffectively? That's not a Blowin' in the Wind-type rhetorical query. I'm genuinely curious. | ||||||||||
 | 28 | Orioles · Trends | 28 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Shouldn't the resurgence have started by now?" ... Hero: Brian Roberts is a nice guy who goes about his business every day in a professional manner. On this team, that makes him a golden God ... Loserhead: The Orioles were everyone's pick for "team you don't want to play in September," then they proceeded to notch a 24-50 second-half record. How, precisely, does manager Dave Trembley escape responsibility for this? ... Key need: For Matusz, Tillman and the rest to approximate the Smoltz/Glavine/Avery learning curve ... Prognosis: There's reason to be optimistic for the first time in a long time. | ||||||||||
 | 29 | Nationals · Trends | 30 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "A joke that's not quite funny. Again." ... Hero: The Rays wouldn't deal Evan Longoria straight up for Ryan Zimmerman, but they wouldn't laugh at the offer ... Loserhead: There's not enough space in this column. Hell, there's not enough space on the Internet ... Key need: Credibility in the wake of the Bowden fiasco and several seasons of meandering effort. Bring in Bobby Valentine. Just do it ... Prognosis: Waiting on Strasburg. | ||||||||||
 | 30 | Pirates · Trends | 29 | |||||||
| Season in seven words: "Bad bad bad bad bad bad bad" ... Hero: Nobody ... Loserhead: Everybody ... Key need: Able players ... Prognosis: Bad. | ||||||||||
