Monday, June 7th -

Another week, another perfect game. Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers WAS perfect, but he will not go in the record books due to a blown call on out 27. Umpire Jim Joyce ruled an Indians runner safe on the final out of Galarraga’s perfection, although he was clearly out. It has instantly become one of the most infamous calls in baseball history. It’s also a life-changing event for Jim Joyce, who says he feels awful for blowing the call but has appreciated the positive support from his peers who are helping a hard-working man recover from a mistake. However, there were other games played last week. Let’s see how each team fared in the last week and where we now stand going into Interleague Play next week.

This Power Rankings takes into account season performance thus far, but also accounts for expected future performance and reasons for past performance (such as a major injury, etc). Therefore, current team records won’t always correspond with a team’s spot in the rankings. Like always, debate is encouraged. Here is the Week 10 MLB Power Rankings, with Last Week’s Rank in parentheses:

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1. (1) Tampa Bay Rays, 37-20 - After a 3-3 record last week, Tampa all of a sudden has 3 great teams breathing down their neck under 5 games back. Still, though, this team is in the driver’s seat. Rookie catcher John Jaso has been a huge lift for the team, and even batted leadoff for 2 games in a row last week. When’s the last time you saw a catcher bat leadoff? It’s fitting for this incredibly versatile team that leads MLB in stolen bases to have a speedy, contact catcher as a leadoff hitter. BJ Upton is currently batting 9th in this lineup, that’s how stacked they are.

2. (3) New York Yankees, 35-22 - They dominated the lowly Orioles last week and ran manager Dave Trembley out of town, but lost 2 of 3 in a hard-fought, competitive series in Toronto against the Blue Jays. At 19-7, the Yanks have the best home record in the AL. Javier Vazquez is starting to turn things around, and the lineup is at full strength (besides Nick Johnson) for the first time in 6 weeks. Now is the time for New York to make its move on Tampa Bay.

3. (2) Minnesota Twins, 33-24 - The Twins continue to lead the pack in the AL Central and stay consistent as a top-5 team in baseball. As long as Mauer and Morneau stay healthy, this team will be in it for the long haul. Francisco Liriano has been dominant in his past 3 starts after 3 mediocre outings.

4. (4) St. Louis Cardinals, 33-24 - Jason Motte’s streak of 11 consecutive perfect innings was snapped on Sunday night. The heat throwing right-handed reliever had retired 32 straight batters before walking Prince Fielder. He went on to allow Fielder to score and record his first loss of the season. Still, the near perfect Motte has given St. Louis a dimension to the team that they have lacked for years.

5. (6) Cincinnati Reds, 33-24 - The Reds are tied with the Cardinals in first place. Anyone who watched Mike Leake’s last start now fully understands how talented the kid is. Besides improving to 5-0 on the season, the 22-year-old rookie also recorded 2 hits in the game to improve his season average to .419. He’s hit safely in 8 of his 10 starts. He also scored from 1st base on a double, displaying more athleticism and speed than any other pitcher I’ve seen in a long time. These are the kind of athletes that help win ball games in ways that don’t show up on the stat sheet.

6. (7) Toronto Blue Jays, 33-25 - The Jays have the 4th best record in the American League, but are tied for 3rd in the division. However, they’re also just 4.5 games out of first place. Brett Cecil, Shawn Marcum, and Brandon Morrow are all nice young starters that have been overlooked due to fellow young star Ricky Romero’s terrific start. After watching all full 3 games of their series against the Yankees, I’m a full believer in the Blue Jays for this season.

7. (5) Philadelphia Phillies, 30-25 - The Phillies are in 2nd place now, 2 games back of the Braves after they were swept in Atlanta. There are legitimate reasons to move this team down even further in the rankings right now. However, I have no doubts that the Phillies will turn it around in a hurry. Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Polanco; is this lineup really going to stay unproductive? Any small adjustment could set these guys on fire and have doubters wondering what they were thinking in having the Phillies as a team outside of the top 10.

8. (9) Boston Red Sox, 33-25 - 4 of the top 8 teams in baseball reside in the AL East, in terms of both record and Power Rankings. No team in the AL is hotter than Red Sox over the last month. They are all of a sudden firmly in the AL East race, tied for 3rd but just 2.5 games back of the Yankees for the wildcard position. Mike Cameron doesn’t look 100% in center field, but once he and Jacoby Ellsbury get healthy, this defense looks way better and they should feel confident about their chances to catch the Rays.

9. (8) San Diego Padres, 33-23 - Slowly but surely, the Padres continue to improve. Now 10 games above .500, San Diego is a major player in the NL playoff race and should be looking to add a bat during the trade deadline. This young pitching staff deserves all the credit for their success (3.04 ERA, 1.19 WHIP as a team, second in MLB in both).

10. (13) Atlanta Braves, 33-24 - Crack the top-10 for the first time all season. The Braves are two games up on the Phillies and feeling very good about themselves. Martin Prado is quietly having a fantastic season, and is second in the NL in hits. Atlanta’s 19-6 home record is the best in baseball. Tim Hudson must be considered as a top-5 Cy Young candidate thus far, a tremendous turnaround from his last 2 seasons in Atlanta.

11. (10) Los Angeles Dodgers, 33-24 - The Dodgers are just half a game out of first place. Jonathan Broxton is holding down the fort, being the most dominant closer in baseball and securing 6 one-run wins in the last week.

12. (11) San Francisco Giants, 30-25 - Same old story for this team. The pitching is legit, the hitting is not. At least the organization clearly realizes the need for change in the lineup. Young super-prospect catcher Buster Posey is batting .450 in his first week at the Major League level. He has the ability to play catcher or first base, where he is currently playing due to veteran catcher Bengie Molina’s rapport with the starting pitchers. Tim Lincecum, though, is in the midst of his worst 5-start stretch in his career. He’ll turn it around.

13. (14) Texas Rangers, 30-26 - The Rangers are barely hanging onto their division lead (.5 games ahead of the Angels) despite displaying the most talent and upside of any team in the division. They are the only team in the AL West with a positive run differential (+14). ESPN writes that Rich Harden has the worst ground-ball/fly-ball ratio in baseball. Combine that with his inability to throw strikes, and you have a truly erratic starter that is a liability in most starts, despite his tremendous stuff.

14. (15) Colorado Rockies, 29-27 - Ubaldo Jimenez is entering a truly historic zone. After his last start (a win to improve his record to 11-1, 0.93 ERA), Jimenez couldn’t stop smiling and saying how excited he was for his next start. It’s a great story that you have to love, to see this young man so excited to play the game at a high level out of nowhere. The lineup needs to step it up for this team, and they will start to make a move. Todd Helton has been moved from the 3 hole to the 6 hole, hoping to have a more productive top of the lineup.

15. (18) New York Mets, 30-27 - A sweep of the Marlins was huge for this team. At Citi Field, the Mets are 22-9 and a much more comfortable team. Ike Davis continues to swing a hot bat and Angel Pagan has been solid at the plate and in the outfield. For all the talk of Francisco Rodriguez’s severe loss of velocity, he continues to finish games like he always has: making it interesting but getting the job done.

16. (12) Detroit Tigers, 29-27 - Outside of Armando Galarraga’s near perfection, this team has not had much to be happy about lately. 2 weeks ago, the Tigers were half a game out of first, and now they’re just 2 games above .500. They have a +2 total run differential on the season, despite a bonafide MVP candidate in Miguel Cabrera and AL Rookie of the Year frontrunner Austin Jackson. We’ll see if Galarraga can put a spark into the team.

17. (16) Oakland Athletics, 30-28 - Gio Gonzalez is having a nice season for Oakland, who is just 1 game out of first place. Only the 3 last-place teams (Mariners, Indians, Orioles) have scored less runs than the Athletics in the AL, but Oakland has the 5th highest batting average with runners in scoring position in the league. Timely hitting is enough to keep them in games with their great young staff.

18. (17) Florida Marlins, 28-30 - The Marlins are in a really tough division. Despite being under .500 and in 4th place in the NL East, they have a +15 run differential. They need to get some more solid performances from the back-end starting pitching. The lineup still sows enough pop and potential, but not enough production. Rookie phenom outfielder Mike Stanton is joining the team on Tuesday to add even more power and potential. Perhaps that addition can get them seeing better results.

19. (21) Los Angeles Angels, 31-28 - The Angels are 8-2 since losing Kendry Morales to a broken leg. Perhaps the rest of the lineup finally got the message to step up and rally. They outscored the Mariners 27-7 in a sweep over the weekend.

20. (19) Washington Nationals, 27-31 - The Nationals were unable to sustain their .500 ball before Strasburg arrived. The phenom will make his Major League debut on Tuesday night, at home against the Pirates. Perhaps his arrival might see the team get back to .500 shortly. Matt Capps also needs to be better in order for that to happen. He has blown 4 of his last 8 save opportunities.

21. (20) Chicago Cubs, 25-31 - The Cubs are still getting nothing from Aramis Ramirez, and little from Derrek Lee. That’s simply the black hole for this team. Until those two pick it up in the middle of the lineup, I’m done talking positively about the Cubs’ chances.

22. (22) Chicago White Sox, 24-32 - Paul Konerko is hitting home runs, Alex Rios is stealing bases, and nobody else is doing much. Both guys could be on the trading block for the White Sox, who are rumored to be the most active sellers come July.

23. (23) Seattle Mariners, 22-34 - Ken Griffey, Jr. announced his retirement last week. “The Kid” leaves with 630 home runs, 10 Gold Gloves, 13 All-Star appearances, 1 MVP, a .284 career average, and 2,781 hits. If he had stayed healthy in the 2000’s, we’re likely talking about Griffey as the greatest player to ever play the game, a 700+ home run hitter, and 3,000+ hits. However, given the skewed statistics of MLB’s history, it’s more important that we remember Griffey for his unbelievable talent and impact than his numbers. He will never be associated with steroid users, and will always have his lone place in the Hall of Fame as a pure superstar since the day he was drafted #1 overall in the draft.

24. (25) Kansas City Royals, 24-34 - Ned Yost has weathered the storm, but not sparked the Royals enough to become difference makers in the AL Central. Saturday’s game against the Tigers is a perfect example of this team’s struggles. Young starter Luke Hochevar allowed just 1 run while striking out 10 batters in 7 innings, but KC lost the game 3-2.

25. (24) Milwaukee Brewers, 23-34 - Milwaukee got a much-needed extra inning victory over St. Louis on Sunday night, but still sit 10 games back. A 5.35 team ERA can do that to you. Last season, Ryan Braun expressed his displeasure to ownership about the team’s lack of pitching to keep them competitive. Nobody got the message, as this lineup is more than good enough to keep them winning, yet the pitching is horrendous again.

26. (26) Arizona Diamondbacks, 22-35 - The D’Backs were mired in a 10-game losing streak before they won 2 straight to end last week. Then they faced Ubaldo Jimenez, and you know they couldn’t have won that game. Arizona has scored more runs than any team in their division, but they’ve allowed way more than anyone else. In fact, the Diamondbacks have allowed a ridiculous 158 more runs than the first-place Padres. That’s over 3 more runs per game.

27. (27) Pittsburgh Pirates, 23-33 - The Pirates have the league’s worst run differential, at -128. No team in baseball has scored fewer runs than the Pirates. Only the Brewers and Diamondbacks have allowed more runs. Sooner or later, this is all going to come back to bite Pittsburgh and send them into last place.

28. (30) Houston Astros, 22-35 - The Astros put together some wins last week. They now are up to a .290 team OBP. Yes, it’s still 20 points lower than the next worse team. Lance Berkman had 12 RBI’s in 6 games last week, showing that this team has the ability to pick it up in the middle of the lineup if they can find some consistency.

29. (28) Cleveland Indians, 21-34 - Grady Sizemore is officially out for the season, after having microfracture surgery on his knee. There is not a more unfortunate story than Sizemore of the last couple seasons. 3 years ago, a 25-year-old Sizemore was an All-Star, MVP candidate, and giddy leadoff hitting 5-tool superstar for a winning team. Now he’s lost 2 straight seasons to injury, this one coming after a .211 start with 13 RBI’s in 33 games.

30. (29) Baltimore Orioles, 16-41 - The Juan Samuel era began by being outscored 19-2 in two games against the Red Sox. Hopefully he can bring something new to the table and spark this young team to play harder and not give games away so easily.

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BIGGEST RISERS -
Nothing significant

BIGGEST FALLERS -
Detroit Tigers (Currently 16th, down 4 from last week)

Disagree with any of these rankings? Drop a comment and let me know. Be on the lookout for a new update every Monday.