Back again with updated rankings…
These aren’t your typical rankings; I look at record, run differential, and farm system. I weigh the scores on all 3; record makes up half the score, the run differential makes up a third of the score, and a sixth of the score is from farm system.
For Run Differential, I use the Pythagorean Theorem formulated by Bill James to see what a teams record should be; you can predict how well a team should be playing by this. In theory, a team should be in about the same range for their Pythagorean Record as their true record.
Rank | Team | Record | Pythagorean | System | Total | Last Week | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | NY Yankees | 29 | 28 | 12 | 52 | 7 | |
Half a game back of the Rays; they will continue to be in the hunt for the full season. | |||||||
2 | TB Rays | 30 | 30 | 4 | 51 | 6 | |
Best team in baseball, record-wise and run differential-wise; farm system is starting slow. | |||||||
3 | Minnesota Twins | 28 | 26 | 14 | 50 | 2 | |
The favorites for the central continue to play well. | |||||||
4 | Philadelphia Phillies | 27 | 29 | 10 | 50 | 1 | |
Tied for the best record in the NL with the Cardinals; early World Series favorite. | |||||||
5 | STL Cardinals | 26 | 25 | 5 | 44 | 5 | |
The Cardinals haven’t lost a series yet; they are showing why they are the favorites in the division. | |||||||
6 | San Diego Padres | 25 | 23 | 8 | 43 | 25 | |
The Padres are the surprise of the first month; we’ll see how this young team plays after a couple of months. | |||||||
7 | Florida Marlins | 23 | 19 | 20 | 42 | 11 | |
This looks to be the same strong starting Marlins that we see every year. | |||||||
8 | Oakland Athletics | 24 | 21 | 11 | 42 | 8 | |
Another surprise; the A’s are getting solid pitching and surprising run support. | |||||||
9 | San Francisco Giants | 19 | 27 | 7 | 39 | 3 | |
An unlucky team; their run differential shows that they should have an additional 2 wins. | |||||||
10 | Milwaukee Brewers | 18 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 21 | |
Crooked numbers against the Pirates has the run differential very high. | |||||||
11 | Colorado Rockies | 16 | 22 | 22 | 38 | 13 | |
The Rockies look better now than they did a year ago at this time; they could be a force if they have another strong second half. | |||||||
12 | Seattle Mariners | 22 | 20 | 6 | 37 | 26 | |
The Mariners had a strong week in the standings; they should look better when Lee and Bedard come back. | |||||||
13 | Atlanta Braves | 17 | 14 | 29 | 36 | 14 | |
Run differential is even at this point; the offense, outside of Heyward, still looks stagnant. | |||||||
14 | Detroit Tigers | 20 | 12 | 21 | 35 | 9 | |
More good hitting with sub-par pitching; when do you send Dontrelle to the scrap heap? | |||||||
15 | Toronto Blue Jays | 21 | 18 | 2 | 34 | 4 | |
One of the big droppers of the week; they’d still be looking good in another division. | |||||||
16 | LA Dodgers | 13 | 16 | 16 | 29 | 15 | |
The pitching has been pretty bad, giving up almost as many runs as they’ve scored. | |||||||
17 | Cleveland Indians | 12 | 11 | 23 | 27 | 23 | |
Middle of the pack is pretty good for this team; they need a little more from their pitchers. | |||||||
18 | NY Mets | 10 | 17 | 13 | 26 | 22 | |
The Mets finally win a series, but can they build on it. | |||||||
19 | Arizona Diamondbacks | 7 | 13 | 30 | 26 | 12 | |
The good news is they are scoring more runs than last year; the bad news is they are giving up more too. | |||||||
20 | LA Angels | 14 | 8 | 17 | 25 | 28 | |
As many predicted, they didn’t upgrade where they needed it; the pitching needs a lot of help. | |||||||
21 | Cincinnati Reds | 9 | 7 | 24 | 22 | 17 | |
Noticing a trend yet; most teams down this way need pitching help. When will we see Chapman? | |||||||
22 | Chicago Cubs | 5 | 10 | 26 | 20 | 19 | |
Will Zambrano moving to the pen really do anything? | |||||||
23 | Washington Nationals | 15 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 24 | |
We’re still on Strasburgh watch; their pitching needs a lot of work. | |||||||
24 | Texas Rangers | 8 | 15 | 3 | 19 | 10 | |
3 games under .500, but still scoring more runs than they give up. Bad luck? | |||||||
25 | KC Royals | 6 | 9 | 18 | 18 | 18 | |
Pretty much as expected. | |||||||
26 | Boston Red Sox | 4 | 5 | 27 | 16 | 16 | |
I’ll be looking at the Red Sox struggles this weekend. | |||||||
27 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 11 | 1 | 9 | 15 | 27 | |
Off a bad series against Milwaukee, the Pirates aren’t looking for pitching help; they need it though. | |||||||
28 | Chicago White Sox | 2 | 4 | 25 | 13 | 20 | |
A slow start may lead to some trades; Pierzynski’s name is already being floated out there. | |||||||
29 | Baltimore Orioles | 1 | 2 | 28 | 12 | 30 | |
The worst team in baseball, but they have a strong system. We might see a lot prospects in the coming months. | |||||||
30 | Houston Astros | 3 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 29 | |
The Astros look bad and won’t be getting better. |