Power Rankings: Pricey Yankees have what it takes
By Charlie McCarthy
SportsLine.com Staff Writer
 		  
 
   

The annual common belief this time of year is that all teams start the season evenly -- everyone's 0-0 with dreams of a World Series title.

In reality, we know that's not true.

There are the haves, the haves-less and the haves-not -- which, with a few exceptions, also could be divided into big-market and small-market teams.

Roger Clemens is tough enough but now he has Jason Giambi backing him up in a power-packed Yankees lineup. 
Roger Clemens is tough enough but now he has Jason Giambi backing him up in a power-packed Yankees lineup.(AP) 
The team atop the Power Rankings heading into the 2002 season would be celebrating a fourth consecutive World Championship if not for baseball's best closer, Mariano Rivera, uncharacteristically blowing a ninth-inning lead in Game 7 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The signing of free-agent slugger Jason Giambi was just one of several offseason moves by the New York Yankees, whose nucleus of Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Rivera, etc., remains solid. And this year, baseball's ultimate "have" debuts its own cable-television network.

That's not to say the Yankees are unbeatable -- hardly. The Diamondbacks proved that last season.

The New York Mets, St. Louis Cardinals, and Boston Red Sox are just a few teams that made major moves with hopes of drinking champagne in October.

One strong team that didn't make many high-profiled moves is the Seattle Mariners. Then again, they did win 116 games last season.

Here now are SportsLine.com's Power Rankings entering the 2002 season. The number at the end of each comment is the team's final ranking before last year's playoffs: