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I’ll be posting weekly Major League Baseball power rankings during the 2012 season. The rankings will reflect the overall quality of the teams. Wins/losses and roster makeup will be the two main determining factors for the rankings. I will give slight consideration to forecasting where the teams will be later in the season. The plan is to have a numbered list ranking the teams 1-30 (as seen below) with a summary of the rankings and the past week included. The power rankings will post each Monday unless something unforeseen occurs. Without further ado, the power rankings for week one (preseason essentially) of the 2012 MLB season.
- New York Yankees
- Texas Rangers
- Tampa Bay Rays
- Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- Detroit Tigers
- Boston Red Sox
- Atlanta Braves
- Miami Marlins
- Philadelphia Phillies
- Cincinnati Reds
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Arizona Diamondbacks
- Toronto Blue Jays
- San Francisco Giants
- Milwaukee Brewers
- Washington Nationals
- Cleveland Indians
- Kansas City Royals
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- New York Mets
- Pittsburgh Pirates
- Colorado Rockies
- San Diego Padres
- Minnesota Twins
- Chicago White Sox
- Chicago Cubs
- Seattle Mariners
- Oakland Athletics
- Baltimore Orioles
- Houston Astros
The American League is loaded at the top with six strong teams. Any one would be the top team in the National League. After that there is a drop off. I could almost flip a coin on any of the teams listed from seven through sixteen. In that stretch there is only one AL club, the Toronto Blue Jays. After the big dump of the major NL contenders (and Toronto) are two teams, Cleveland and Kansas City, that could make things interesting. What remains are teams in bad situations (Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets), teams that could go in a number of directions (Pittsburgh, Colorado, San Diego, Minnesota, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Cubs) the weak (Seattle, Oakland, and Baltimore) and the remarkably bad (Houston).
Any thoughts on the rankings? How would you rank the teams going into the new season?
Wedge Hammer 
Tampa rays 3rd???? And I think u ain’t giving ur dodgers enough cred. Id have them ahead of Arizona Toronto and Washington
Tampa is damn good. Don’t worry, the Angels are close behind.
I’ll have to see it from the Dodgers first before moving them up. I see a lot of holes in that lineup. I love Washington. I think if Toronto wasn’t in that division, they could potentially be a contender elsewhere (though I worry about their starting staff). I’m not hot on Arizona, but I’ll have to see them struggle before moving them down.