Tailgate Crashers Official Baseball Rankings: 05/06/2008

Disclaimer
Here are the new and updated Baseball Rankings. Instead of just taking the record, pythagorean record, and farm system, I’ve given each part a weighed score:
– The Record accounts for half of the score. Since the standings are based of record, I thought it deserved more weight than the other parts.
– The Pythagorean Record is based off of Bill James theory that you can somewhat predict a team by runs scored and runs allowed. The Pythagorean Records accounts for a third of the score.
– The Farm System is worth a sixth of the scoring, since it will impact the team, but maybe not now.
– The Standard Deviation is 3 wins.

All stats and records are prior to games on Tuesday.

Format
Team, Previous Ranking (rank up, down, same)
Record, Runs Scored, Runs Allowed, Minor League System Ranking (system up, down, same)

1. Oakland Athletics, 1st (=)
20-14, 161 RS, 122 RA, 1st System (=)

2. Boston Red Sox, 9th (+)
21-13, 168 RS, 146 RA, 2nd System (=)

3. Arizona Diamondbacks, 3rd (=)
21-11, 183 RS, 136 RA, 24th System (=)

4. St. Louis Cardinals, 5th (+)
21-12, 154 RS, 124 RA, 16th System (+)

5. Chicago Cubs, 2nd (-)
18-14, 192 RS, 142 RA, 17th System (-)

6. Los Angeles Angels, 6th (=)
21-13, 164 RS, 154 RA, 10th System (=)

7. Los Angeles Dodgers, 12th (+)
18-14, 172 RS, 131 RA, 13th System (=)

8. Atlanta Braves, 8th (=)
15-15, 154 RS, 115 RA, 5th System (-)

9. Philadelphia Phillies, 15th (+)
19-14, 161 RS, 141 RA, 22nd System (=)

10. Tampa Bay Rays, 4th (-)
16-15, 144 RS, 137 RA, 3rd System (=)

11. Minnesota Twins, 20th (+)
16-14, 124 RS, 130 RA, 7th System (=)

12. New York Yankees, 16th (+)
17-16, 148 RS, 145 RA, 9th System (=)

13. Florida Marlins, 10th (-)
17-14, 142 RS, 156 RA, 14th System (=)

14. New York Mets, 14th (=)
16-14, 136 RS, 137 RA, 27th System (+)

15. Milwaukee Brewers, 11th (-)
16-15, 142 RS, 152 RA, 20th System (+)

16. Chicago White Sox, 7th (-)
14-16, 139 RS, 120 RA, 29th System (=)

17. Houston Astros, 21st (+)
16-16, 144 RS, 137 RA, 30th System (=)

18. Baltimore Orioles, 13th (-)
16-15, 132 RS, 143 RA, 11th System (+)

19. Toronto Blue Jays, 22nd (+)
16-17, 131 RS, 117 RA, 28th System (-)

20. Cleveland Indians, 18th (-)
14-17, 132 RS, 128 RA, 19th System (+)

21. Seattle Mariners, 17th (-)
14-19, 140 RS, 144 RA, 12th System (=)

22. Washington Nationals, 29nd (+)
14-18, 125 RS, 154 RA, 18th System (-)

23. Cincinnati Reds, 19th (-)
13-20, 137 RS, 167 RA, 6th System (=)

24. Texas Rangers, 27th (+)
13-20, 146 RS, 194 RA, 4th System (+)

25. Kansas City Royals, 26th (+)
14-17, 107 RS, 137 RA, 25th System (+)

26. Detroit Tigers, 25th (-)
14-19, 161 RS, 180 RA, 26th System (-)

27. Pittsburgh Pirates, 28th (+)
12-19, 151 RS, 181 RA, 15th System (+)

28. Colorado Rockies, 23rd (-)
12-20, 139 RS, 175 RA, 8th System (=)

29. San Francisco Giants, 24th (-)
14-18, 106 RS, 145 RA, 21st System (-)

30. San Diego Padres, 30th (=)
12-20, 108 RS, 151 RA, 23rd System (-)

Breakdown
The A’s are on top for the second week in a row. They have also decided to hang onto Joe Blanton for the time being. If they fall out of contention in the next month or 2, look for him to go back on the market.

The NL West is representing the bottom of the rankings. Everyone expected the Giants to be bad, but the Padres and Rockies have been horrible. The Padres are still getting good starting pitching, but can’t score for the life of them. I don’t know what the problem is with the Rockies – they have almost an identical team as last years NL Champions.

The highest jumpers this week were the Twins; they moved up 9 spots. Many anticipated them to be out of contention from the get go, but they have held on this year. If they can get a little more help from some of the Johan Santana booty, they could stick near the top.

Moving the opposite way was the Twin Rival Chicago White Sox; they dropped 9 spots from a win-less week, which lead to a nice Ozzie Guillen tirade. He was pretty mellow last year; good to see him back to normal.

The underachievers for the week were the Braves for the 5th consecutive week; their run differential went to 4 wins this week – higher than it’s been this season. The overachivers are the Angels, Marlins and Giants; all have 3 wins they shouldn’t for the second straight week.

The teams that are currently projected to break 100 wins based off current record:
1. Diamondbacks – 106
2. Cardinals – 103
3. Red Sox – 100
4. Angels – 100

The teams that are currently projected to break 100 wins based off their RS/RA:
1. Cubs – 105
2. Diamondbacks – 104
3. Braves – 104
4. Athletics – 103
5. Dodgers – 102

[To figure the pythagorean record, ask me in the comments or use this formula:
(RS^2)/(RS^2 + RA^2)]

I’ll be back next Tuesday with the updated rankings.