The lesson, as usual, is that I'm an idiot. 

You see, last week I made the comment that the Dodgers will remain in the top spot the rest of the season due to all the credit they've built up. They had. They were at 91-36, which was a pace of 116 wins. Why wouldn't I feel confident in saying they'd stay put? It's not fun to leave a team at the top all season, but I'm not about to move teams just for the sake of moving them. 

Well, they've now dropped 10 of 11. The Dodgers are in no danger of missing the playoffs or even losing their hold on the NL West over the surging Diamondbacks (though losing almost 10 games in two weeks is pretty rough). Plus, the Power Rankings are a combination of body of work, personnel and what have you done for me lately. 

On the latter point, the Dodgers are in a funk right now while the Indians are off-the-charts good. 

The Tribe is surging with 13 straight wins and a double-digit lead in the AL Central. SportsLine now likes the Indians to win 98  games and they actually have a decent shot at the top AL record (though the Astros are hot now as well). 

There isn't much to dislike with this Indians team. The well-rounded offense hits well for average, gets on base, hits for power and has four players with 10-plus stolen bases. Jose Ramirez should finish top five in MVP voting -- maybe top three -- while Edwin Encarnacion and Francisco Lindor pack some punch. 

We already know all about Corey Kluber in the playoffs and he will have Carlos Carrasco with him as a 1-2 punch this time around. 

The scary thing for opponents? During this winning streak, the Indians have been without Jason Kipnis, Michael Brantley and Andrew Miller. 

Should the Indians get everyone back and firing on all cylinders, they'll be a very tough out in the playoffs. 

The Indians were my preseason pick to win the World Series and right now I'm feeling very good about it. 

I just don't think I can justify moving the Dodgers away from the top spot just yet. That probably makes me an idiot, but that's the lesson, more often than not. 

If things continue on this path, however, the Dodgers could be as low as fifth next week. What a difference a few weeks can make. 

Hey, has anyone ever pointed out how fun baseball is?

Biggest Movers
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Teams
  
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1 Dodgers There's no evidence one way or the other on teams playing well or not well heading into the postseason, but it just feels like the Dodgers need to get right at some point this month, doesn't it? -- 93-69
2 Guardians I did consider them pretty strongly for number one. 1 88-74
3 Astros And here they come after seemingly getting a shot in the arm returning home along with the addition of Justin Verlander and return of Carlos Correa. That's six wins in a row. 1 87-75
4 Diamondbacks That 12-game winning streak has come against mostly the Dodgers and Rockies. What an incredible run. 2 80-82
5 Nationals A 4-3 week gets them bumped down three spots because the teams that jumped over them combined to lose just once. That's rough. A very, very clear top five this week. 3 66-96
6 Red Sox They're really letting the Yankees hang around after having a chance to bury them. 1 89-73
7 Cubs The bullpen was great in the first half (3.26 ERA) and has been overall absolutely brutal in the second half (5.29). It cost them the game again on Tuesday. They have about four weeks to settle down or they might not even make the playoffs, let alone make a deep run. -- 92-70
8 Yankees Getting three of four from the Red Sox was big, but now there are no head-to-head matchups left. Speaking of which, terrible schedule-making on this, MLB. 1 94-68
9 Rockies If the Rockies don't get their act together quickly, this year is going to end without a playoff berth. It once seemed a certainty, too. The eight-game road trip to visit the Dodgers and Diamondbacks starting Thursday will tell us a lot. 1 43-119
10 Brewers Big series coming up this weekend in Wrigley Field, but meanwhile the Brewers can pass the Rockies in the wild-card standings. Dropping two to the Reds to start the week wasn't a good start, though. 1 97-65
11 Orioles Coming into the season, who would've thought the Orioles' top MVP candidate would be Jonathan Schoop? Yet here we are. 1 75-87
12 Angels I absolutely loved the additions of Justin Upton and Brandon Phillips, but why in the world do people insist on leading Phillips off (.318 combined OBP since 2011)? Terrible. 2 72-90
13 Cardinals The Cardinals can really do some damage this month if they play well. From now through Sept. 24, they have 15 games (of 18 total) against losing teams. 3 78-84
14 Twins Of the Twins' 24 remaining games, 13 come against the Padres, Blue Jays and Tigers. 4 70-92
15 Rangers The Rangers are bottom five in the AL in average, strikeout more than almost everyone else and lead in home runs. It's not just Joey Gallo doing his part here. Take a look at Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor, too. 3 81-81
16 Rays Just when they get going well, they lose two of three the White Sox. Now they have a very tough remaining schedule, with every single game left against a team over .500. Big start to the week getting two from the Twins, though. 3 77-85
17 Royals They've won four of seven, but that won't get it done. It's just too crowded. They need to get hotter. A four-game series with the Twins starting Thursday is a good place to start. 2 82-80
18 Mariners The Mariners have been inconsistent all season, but another five-game losing streak -- like they had last week -- will be a death knell for their playoff chances. 1 90-72
19 Pirates Take note of Josh Bell. He's hitting .304/.378/.526 in the second half. 1 71-91
20 Marlins So that stealth playoff run kinda came off the rails, didn't it? Bummer. 5 79-83
21 Blue Jays Brace yourselves for an offseason of Josh Donaldson trade rumors. He's only under team control for one more year. -- 94-68
22 Reds Probably under the radar since the Reds are a bad team, but take stock of the outstanding season closer Raisel Iglesias is having. He's really fun to watch, too. 2 83-79
23 Padres Outfielder Jose Pirela didn't come up until June 3, but he's having an out-of-nowhere very good season. 4 90-72
24 Braves Dansby Swanson was a popular pick to win Rookie of the Year and started off the season very poorly. Things are looking up, though. In his last 24 games, Swanson is hitting .373/.473/.520 with seven doubles, two triples and more walks than strikeouts. 4 76-86
25 Mets Yeah, sure, throw Matt Harvey on short rest right after he comes back from another injury. Good call, Mets organization. What a joke. 2 83-79
26 Tigers It had to be tough to move a franchise legend like Justin Verlander, but this franchise is in woeful shape. The rebuild will take a while. -- 87-75
27 Athletics Jed Lowrie has 42 doubles. Does he have eight more in him? The only A's player to ever record 50 doubles in a season was Hall of Famer Al Simmons, with 53 in 1926. That was the Philadelphia A's, too. The Oakland record is 47 (Jason Giambi, 2001). 5 76-86
28 Phillies One start and one hit under the belt of J.P. Crawford. That's good. Why is he going to be playing a lot of third instead of short, forcing Maikel Franco to the bench when the games don't matter, though? The Phillies need 2015 Franco back to be part of a turn-around here. 2 96-66
29 White Sox In his last seven starts, Carlos Rodon has a 3.00 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 45 innings. Only once did he allow more than two runs in that stretch. He's improving. Keep in mind, he's only 24, too. -- 60-102
30 Giants Terrible again after a brief chunk of not being terrible in August. 5 81-81