VSN Power Rankings - Version 4

[Rudi]

NOTE: The standings are based off the result of Sunday's games. Last week rankings in ( )
Special thanks to Warner2Bruce who did blurbs for Woys rankings since Woy has gone HOLLYWOYD on us.

Last Week's: VSN Power Rankings - Version 3

Biggest Jump: Miami Marlins +12
Biggest Fall: Boston Red Sox -8

1. Tampa Bay Rays - 19-10 [#1 Rudi, #1 Woy] (4)

Rudi: Even with the unfortunate news of Evan Longoria going down with a torn hamstring, the Rays have not missed a beat. They have the best home record in the major leagues at 13-3.
Warner: For the second time this season, Joe Maddon called for a suicide squeeze with two strikes. And for the second time, the batter fouled it off for an out.

2. Texas Rangers – 18-10 [#2 Rudi, #2 Woy] (1)

Rudi: The Rangers struggled a bit last week losing two series in a row to the Blue Jays and Indians. Yu Darvish is still must watch TV though as he has 44 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched.
Warner: The Rangers traded for Ryan Spilborghs, which topped the A's acquisition of Brandon Inge as the most inconsequential transaction in the AL West this week. Billy Beane can't even win the small battles these days.

3. St. Louis Cardinals – 17-11 [#3 Rudi, #4 Woy] (2)

Rudi: The Cardinals still sit atop the NL Central with a 17-11 record even after losing 2 out of 3 to the Astros. The return of Allen Craig has been something Cardinals fans have been waiting for.
Warner: Mike Matheny has been a very aggressive manager so far. His stamp is on this team already.

4a. Los Angeles Dodgers – 18-10 [#7 Rudi, #3 Woy] (3)

Rudi: The Dodgers still are in first place in the NL West, but they had a rough go at it this week. Losing 2 out of 3 to the Rockies and the Cubs is nothing to be happy about. Matt Kemp has finally cooled off a bit.
Warner: Even Dee Gordon managed to hit a HR before Albert Pujols this year.

4b. Baltimore Orioles – 19-9 [#4 Rudi, #6 Woy] (7)

Rudi: Orioles Magic is for real. Baltimore was able to take 2 out of 3 against the Yankees then sweep the Red Sox at Fenway Park over the weekend. The first place Orioles have a 7.5 game lead on the last place Red Sox. Think about that one for a minute.
Warner: Jeremy Guthrie for Jason Hammel & Matt Lindstrom is the trade of the year so far. Hammel is 4-1 with a 2.09 ERA, and Lindstrom has yet to allow a run in 11 innings while striking out 9 per 9.

4c. Washington Nationals – 18-10 [#5 Rudi, #5 Woy] (6)

Rudi: The call-up of Bryce Harper has been some exciting stuff. The Nationals had “Take Back The Park” weekend to try and get more fans to show up against their series with the Phillies and it actually worked. Four of the five starters in the Nationals rotation have an ERA under 2.00. Nationals fans have plenty to be excited about.
Warner: A woman called MLB Radio on Sirius this week and opined that the Nats should have held off on calling up Bryce Harper, because it would take at bats away from Steve Lombardozzi. Listen sweetie, those socks aren't going to fold themselves.

7. Atlanta Braves – 18-11 [#6 Rudi, #7 Woy] (5)

Rudi: The Barves scored 29 runs in Coors Field in route to a sweep of the Rockies over the weekend. Brandon Beachy has quickly emerged has one of the best pitchers in baseball.
Warner: Jamie Moyer accused the Braves of stealing signs Saturday night. Does the catcher even put down signs for Moyer? Slow lob or slower lob?

8. New York Yankees – 15-13 [#8 Rudi, #8 Woy] (8)

Rudi:Yankees fans everywhere had the same face Alex Rodriguez had when he saw Rivera laying on the warning track. “Oh my god, oh my god!” It will be interesting to see if Rafael Soriano and David Robertson can fill the enormous void left by Rivera’s injury.
Warner: By now, I'm sure you've all heard about the devastating injury this past weekend to Eric Chavez. I'm not sure where the Yankees go from here.

9. Detroit Tigers – 14-13 [#9 Rudi, #9 Woy] (9)

Rudi: The “Miguel Cabera Historically Bad 3B” watch is still on. He has 3 errors on the year, which is not that good but also not historically bad. We’ll keep you posted on this developing situation.
Warner: So are the Tigers just trolling the Indians again, or what?

10. Cincinnati Reds – 14-13 [#11 Rudi, #10 Woy] (10)

Rudi: Since the Reds started 4-8, they have ripped off a 10-5 record which is the best in the NL Central during that timespan. How long before Dusty Baker inserts hot hitting Jay Bruce into the clean-up hole? Probably never.
Warner: Reds have bounced back nicely from a slow start, going 4-0-1 in their last 5 series. Bullpen has not allowed a run in 21.2 innings, and three relievers, Aroldis Chapman, Logan Ondrusek, and JJ Hoover, have yet to allow a run all season.

11a. Miami Marlins – 14-14 [#12 Rudi, #11 Woy] (23)

Rudi: The Marlins are the hottest team in baseball with their current 6-game winning streak. The hitting still has not gotten going with Hanley batting right near the interstate line. It was nice to see Giancarlo Stanton hit some longs balls finally. Concerns have to be raised about Josh Johnson still and how terrible Heath Bell has been.
Warner: Heath Bell stinks, Hanley Ramirez is batting .198, Jose Reyes is struggling, Mike Stanton is doing an Italian gimmick, and Ozzie Guillen supports repressive, communist regimes. Who knew Logan Morrison would be the stable one?

11b. Cleveland Indians – 15-11 [#10 Rudi, #13 Woy] (16)

Rudi: It pains me to put the Indians this high, knowing that their inevitable collapse is looming. However after taking 2 out of 3 against the former #1 team I can’t hate on what they are doing in Cleveland. If only the fans would start showing up for games.
Warner: Shin-Soo Choo is heating up, and the Indians are flying high. But I don't trust the starting pitching or Chris Perez, and we saw this story last season.

13. Philadelphia Phillies – 14-15 [#12 Rudi, #13 Woy] (13)

Rudi:The Phillies need Utley and Howard back as soon as possible. The pitching can only carry them so long, and the offense can’t be carried by Carlos Ruiz and Hunter Pence all season.
Warner: Phillies fans desperately wait for the return of Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Micky Morandini to come back and save the offense.

14a. San Francisco Giants – 14-14 [#15 Rudi, #14 Woy] (11)

Rudi: The loss of Brian Wilson is starting to show for the Giants. Their bullpen is struggling to close out games. The loss of Pablo Sandoval is also cause for concern as he has been their best hitter so far this season. How long can Melky and Buster carry this team?
Warner: Pablo Sandoval is hurt again, Brian Wilson is done for the year, Tim Lincecum can't throw strikes and gets bombed when he does, and yet the Giants still find ways to scratch out wins.

14b. Toronto Blue Jays – 16-13 [#14 Rudi, #15 Woy] (16)

Rudi: Henderson Alvarez is one of the best unknown young pitchers in the game. If you haven’t seen one of his games, I suggest tuning into his next start.
Warner: Jose Bautista's numbers have nose dived ever since the mysterious "man with the white t-shirt" was exposed in Rogers Center. It's hard to ignore.

16. Chicago White Sox - 13-15 [#17 Rudi, #16 Woy] (15)

Rudi: Since Philip Humber’s perfect game, Chicago has a 4-10 record. Adam Dunn is not as bad as he was last year, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that perfect game was the high point of the White Sox season.
Warner: This team is getting some great pitching, and it looks like all of that work in the batting cages this offseason has paid off for Adam Dunn.

17. New York Mets – 15-13 [#16 Rudi, #18 Woy] (11)

Rudi: Taking the series finale from the Diamondbacks had to feel good for a Mets team that struggled last week. After getting swept by the Astros and losing game one against Arizona, Johan Santana righted the ship with another solid start.
Warner: The Mets and their collection of scrappy utility players were swept in embarrassing fashion by the Astros this week. They will finish last.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks – 14-15 [#18 Rudi, #17 Woy] (13)

Rudi: Joe Saunders has been great. The offense is still struggling to find it’s rhythm as the teams RBI leader only has 14 [Miguel Montero]. Things don’t get easier as the Cardinals and Giants come to town this week.
Warner: This offense has not been the same without Chris Young. Do people remember how bad this team was when Kirk Gibson took over? It's essentially the same players.

19. Oakland Athletics – 15-14 [#19 Rudi, #19 Woy] (21)

Rudi: The surprising A’s were able to do what no team had done yet – take a series from the Rays at the Trop. The pitching has been great thanks to Bartolo Colon, Brandon McCarthy and Tommy Millone. The offense is horrible though.
Warner: Did anybody notice that this team entered the regular season without a third baseman, and did not bother to acquire one until May?[/B]

20. Milwaukee Brewers - 12-16 [#20 Rudi, #20 Woy] (19)

Rudi: Milwaukee struggled on their recent road trip to say the least. Winning 3 out of 9 games is never acceptable. They welcome division rival Cincinnati in to town on Monday for some much needed home cookin.
Warner: This season is turning into a debacle. Braun got popped, Fielder is gone, Mat Gamel is out for the season, Chris Narveson is out for the season, Alex Gonzalez might be out for the season, and Carlos Gomez just landed on the DL. Oh, and they just lost a couple of heartbreakers to the Giants. This is a key week coming up for the Brewers, they can really fall apart if they go on a losing streak.

21a. Seattle Mariners – 11-12 [#21 Rudi, #22 Woy] (20)

Rudi: After losing 7 in a row, the Mariners were able to salvage something by taking the series from the terrible Twins.
Warner: I have noting witty nor informative to say. This is a really dry team.

21b. Houston Astros – 13-15 [#22 Rudi, #21 Woy] (25)

Rudi: Raise your hand if you thought the Astros would have a 5-game winning streak this season. This young and scrappy team continues to battle in every game and is not as bad as we thought they would be.
Warner: The 'Stros are fiesty! Altuve! Martinez! Chris Johnson with the two HR game! About 6 pitchers with the last name 'Rodriguez'!

23a. Los Angeles Angels – 12-17 [#24 Rudi, #23 Woy] (25)

Rudi: Albert Pujols finally went deep and the Angels gave him the best silent treatment I’ve ever seen. Even manager Mike Scioscia took part in the shunning as the whole team went into the dugout tunnel when Albert came back from going deep. Oh, and Jered Weaver is really good.
Warner: *Insert Pujols joke here*. Seriously though, this team was at one point behind the Rangers by double digit games, and trailed the wild card (the second wild card) by seven games.

23b. Colorado Rockies - 12-15 [#23 Rudi, #24 Woy] (21)

Rudi: The offense is scoring a lot of runs, but the pitching is giving up a lot of runs. Not the best recipe for success. The Rockies will struggle all year if they can’t get better starting pitching.
Warner:Savvy VSD Baseball Podcast listeners knew that this pitching staff would be bad.

25. Pittsburgh Pirates – 12-16 [#25 Rudi, #25 Woy] (23)

Rudi: Right hander James McDonald is another young unknown starter like Toronto’s Alvarez. McDonald is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA. The Pirates offense is still the worst in the league averaging a meager 2.78R/G.
Warner: Pirates can not score runs, and their mediocre collection of pitchers are starting to come back down to earth from their great start. This does not bode well.

26. Boston Red Sox – 11-16 [#26 Rudi, #26 Woy] (18)

Rudi: The Red Sox got swept at the hands of Orioles Magic over the weekend. Orioles DH Chris Davis pitched 2 shutout innings against them.
Warner: I'm not going to pile on.

27. Chicago Cubs – 11-17 [#27 Rudi, #27 Woy] (27)

Rudi: Carlos Marmlol has finally been relieved of his closing duties. Cubs fans rejoice. The only question is why did it take 4 years for this to happen?
Warner: Is there a more average player than Marlon Byrd? What does he do particularly well or particularly badly? He's just...there. Great job moving him, because now the exciting and energetic Tony Campana gets playing time.

28. Kansas City Royals – 9-18 [#28 Rudi, #28 Woy] (29)

Rudi: Kansas City finally got a win a home. They also dumped baby oil all over the warning track before Yankees batting practice resulting in the injury of Mariano Rivera.
Warner:The Royals won their first home game this week. Check the calendar, it's May.

29. San Diego Padres – 9-20 [#29 Rudi, #29 Woy] (28)

Rudi: The Padres are terrible. There is nothing to get excited about over this team. It seems like PETCO Park has been more troublesome for Padres hitters than opposing hitters ever since it’s construction.
Warner:Yonder Alonso is starting to heat up and rap all of those doubles we were expecting. He's an absolute butcher at 1B, though. He belongs in the American League.

30. Minnesota Twins – 7-20 [#30 Rudi, #30 Woy] (29)

Rudi: The Twins became the second team to get no hit this year after Jered Weaver befuddled them on Wednesday. The other team – the Seattle Mariners. What do these teams have in common? They both suck.
Warner:The Twins have one starting pitcher with an ERA under 5.00, Justin Morneau is back on the DL, and Erik Komatsu is getting starts in RF. Terrible product.

[Woy]

Thanks Warner.

I should be able to get back into the swing of things for next week's version. Working a seven-game homestand has exhausted me.

[MvP]

I liked Warner's take on the team blurbs. The way you guys did it this week should become the standard for when Woy gets back. For example, Rudi can provide the general team weekly recap, and Woy can provide some witty, obscure tidbits and interesting statistics.

[Obst]

Let Warner chime in every week, that was a great read.

[FirstTimer]

Yeah, I like the Abbot-Costello, straight man-comic thing.

[Senser81]

Rudi = Larry
Warner = Balki

Too lazy to look up the exact stat, but I heard something like the Twins as a team got 10 hits total in a week, which is the lowest total since the dead ball era. Maybe someone with a brain can confirm that.

[Rudi]

Appreciate the feedback guys, we'll continue to tweak these as the season goes on more towards everyones likes.

[Senser81]

Appreciate the feedback guys, we'll continue to tweak these as the season goes on more towards everyones likes.

More derogatory comments toward FedEx227 would help.