9/14 MLB Power Rankings; A’s continue to drop

The MLB Power Rankings were assembled by BoSox Injection writers Joe Meehan, Michele Pettis, and Drew Peabody.

(Last week’s ranking in parentheses.)

1.(1) LA Angels (93-55) – The Angels have won ten in a row. What Oakland was in July, the Angels are now. Mike Trout is the MVP, leading the AL in RBI and third in homers. Space considerations prevent me from listing all the ways he dominates. – Drew

2.(2) Baltimore Orioles (88-60) – The Orioles continue to play well and are headed for the playoffs. Let’s hope the Chris Davis drug scandal won’t distract them. – Michele

3.(3) Washington Nationals (84-63) – Washington has won five of seven. All season, the balance in Washington’s offense has been a constant. They boast four players with 80 RBI. – Drew

4.(4) LA Dodgers (84-64) – A two-game lead isn’t huge, but it might be enough separation to hold off the Giants and win the division. – Michele

5.(6) St. Louis Cardinals (82-67) – The Cardinals don’t do anything spectacular, but they keep finding ways to win. They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs. – Joe

6.(7) San Francisco Giants (82-66) – The Giants are pretty secure in a wildcard spot, but they’re aiming for the division. Can they do it? – Michele

7.(8) Kansas City Royals (81-66) – All eyes are on the series versus the Tigers that starts on Friday. There hasn’t been this much excitement in Kansas City in a long time. – Joe

8.(9) Detroit Tigers (82-66) – The Tigers seem to be piecing it all together, with MVP candidate Victor Martinez and a healthy Miguel Cabrera two big pieces of that puzzle. – Joe

9.(10) Seattle Mariners (80-67) – Seattle has lost three of five, but with Oakland’s recent struggles, is in a dogfight with the Athletics for the playoffs. Fernando Rodney leads the AL in saves with 45 in 48 chances. He has only surrendered one homer to 261 batters this season, but walked four Saturday night to lose a crucial game to the Athletics. – Drew

10.(11) Pittsburgh Pirates (78-70) – Josh Harrison has been red-hot with six multi-hit games in his last ten. – Joe

11.(5) Oakland Athletics (82-66) – Oakland has lost eight of 12 in September. The Athletics have a worse record since August first than the Red Sox; that is the only stat that matters with them. – Drew

12.(16) Toronto Blue Jays (77-70) – It hasn’t been a terrible season, but it’s got to be frustrating to miss an opportunity to win the division. – Michele

13.(15) Cleveland Indians (76-71) – The Indians are running out of time to make that miracle run, as they now sit 5.0 games back of the second wild card spot. – Joe

14.(12) New York Yankees (76-71) – They’re not eliminated from the playoffs yet, which in itself is an accomplishment given what they’ve had to work with this season. – Michele

15.(14) Milwaukee Brewers (77-72) – After a brutal beginning to the month, the Brewers finally pieced together a few wins. Unfortunately, they may have already played their way out of a playoff spot. – Joe

16.(13) Atlanta Braves (75-73) – Atlanta has lost eight of 11 as their playoff hopes start to fade. Trade deadline acquisition Emilio Bonifacio has played sparingly of late, starting only five of the last 14 games, while managing only a .573 OPS since he arrived. – Drew

17.(18) Tampa Bay Rays (71-78) – It’s hard to think that 2014 has been just a bad year. They seem to be back to the bottom for a while. – Michele

18.(19) New York Mets (72-77) – The Mets have won nine of 13 to pass Miami in the standings. Curtis Granderson has not yet lived up to the $60 million the Mets signed him for after last season, as he has slumped to a .219/.321/.377 batting line with only 18 homers, compared to the 43 and 41 homers he had in 2011 and 2012 with the Yankees. – Drew

19.(17) Miami Marlins (71-76) – Miami has lost four in a row, in which they have scored a total of five runs. Marcell Ozuna is finishing up a breakout season with a flourish (23 HR, 85 RBI). Ozuna has pounded four September homers while slashing .364/.390/.750 in the shadow of Giancarlo Stanton, who will hopefully make a full recovery. – Drew

20.(20) Cincinnati Reds (71-78) – The Reds are just looking to play spoiler now; Billy Hamilton drove in two runs to help Cincy take down a Brewers team that is desperately trying to recover. – Joe

21.(21) San Diego Padres (68-79) – Andrew Cashner has a 2.40 ERA with a 3-7 record. Good talent stuck on a less talented team. – Michele

22.(22) Philadelphia Phillies (69-79) – The Phillies have won three of their last five. A.J. Burnett may be wishing he went out on a high note after last season with Pittsburgh. Burnett has struggled to an 8-16 record this season, including 0-6 with a 6.41 ERA since the All-Star break. – Drew

23.(25) Chicago White Sox (68-80) – Jose Abreu is a shoo-in for Rookie of the Year and should get a close look for MVP. – Joe

24.(26) Houston Astros (65-83) – Houston has won six of nine. The team says a hip injury is limiting Chad Qualls usage as closer, but perhaps it is just the Athletics; Qualls has an ERA over 27.00 against them this year, allowing 12 runs (out of 19 total for the season) in four innings (four of which were losses). Tony Sipp and Josh Fields will fill-in depending on matchups when Qualls can’t go. – Drew

25.(24) Boston Red Sox (65-84) – The young guys may not have shown up in perfect form, but they’ll get better with experience. – Michele

26.(23) Chicago Cubs (65-83) – Javier Baez continues to hit home runs. He’s going to be fun to watch with Kris Bryant for the next decade. – Joe

27.(27) Minnesota Twins (62-86) – At least the Vikings are 1-0. – Joe

28.(28) Arizona Diamondbacks (60-88) – The next GM gets to build around Paul Goldschmidt, if nothing else. – Michele

29.(29) Colorado Rockies (59-89) – If they can add pitching to their offense (50 runs more than any other NL team) they can be a force to be reckoned with next season. – Michele

30.(30) Texas Rangers (56-92) – Texas has lost 11 of 14. Derek Holland fought his way back from injury to end the season on a positive note; he has a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. – Drew

Biggest Jump: Blue Jays (+4)

Biggest Drop: Athletics (-6)