MLB power rankings

1. Red Sox (95-62) NO CHANGE
Who even remembers the epic 2011 collapse or awful 2012 season anymore? The Red Sox were remade in the span of one offseason and turned the club’s fortune around promptly with a mix of solid, veteran players supplementing the team’s homegrown nucleus.

2. Athletics (93-63) NO CHANGE
The A’s didn’t need to wait until the last day of the season this time to clinch the AL West. They went 16-5 in September to lock up the division.

3. Tigers (91-65) NO CHANGE
Miguel Cabrera has one home run in his last 20 games and only one other extra-base hit during that span. Still, the fearsome slugger has a .408 on-base percentage during that stretch.

4. Dodgers (90-66) UP 3
Has there been a better clinching celebration in baseball history than several Dodgers players jumping in the pool at Chase Field?

5. Braves (92-63) DOWN 1
It feels like the Braves clinched weeks ago, but Atlanta is just 9-11 in September, which delayed its division celebration.

6. Cardinals (91-65) DOWN 1
The Cardinals have excellent starting pitching and a powerful, timely offense. That they’re looking for a closer with a week left in the season, however, is troubling.

7. Reds (89-67) UP 1
After staring up at the Pirates for much of the summer, the Reds took two out of three games against them over the weekend to pull even in the Wild Card “race.” The Reds are 8-8 against the Pirates this season so far. Should be a fun Wild Card game.

8. Rays (86-69) UP 2
In the midst of a close Wild Card race, and with the Orioles as pursuers, the Rays took the first three games of a four-game set against Baltimore to stretch their lead.

9. Indians (86-70) NO CHANGE
The Indians have one of the easiest schedules down the stretch of any Wild Card contender. They got things started right with a sweep of the hapless Astros.

10. Pirates (89-67) DOWN 4
Pittsburgh has been carried by its pitching staff, which boasts a 3.31 ERA. But the offense (.706 OPS) is going to need to step up if the Pirates want to advance in the postseason.

11. Royals (82-73) UP 3
The Royals’ pitching staff has allowed the fewest runs in the American League (576). But the offense didn’t start producing like a contender until far too late (624 runs).

12. Yankees (82-74) NO CHANGE
They made a valiant effort, but the probability the Yankees will reach the postseason has fallen to less than one percent.

13. Rangers (84-71) DOWN 2
What in the name of Nolan Ryan happened here? The Rangers were 20-7 in August but have completely disintegrated in September, going 5-15 and falling out of the Wild Card lead.

14. Orioles (81-74) DOWN 1
The Orioles had a chance to change their Wild Card fortunes for the better, battling the Rays in a four-game set. They lost the first three and it’s highly unlikely there’s a playoff repeat for Baltimore.

15. Nationals (84-72) NO CHANGE
Washington played up to expectations – finally – during the second half, going 36-25, a .590 winning percentage. Had the Nationals done that during a lackluster first half (48-47), they’d be on a 95-win pace and challenging for the division lead, never mind a Wild Card.

16. Diamondbacks (79-76) UP 2
The Diamondbacks have been out of true playoff contention for a while, however, Paul Goldschmidt’s excellent season can’t be overlooked, and he’s a serious MVP candidate. Goldschmidt leads the National League in home runs (35), RBIs (123), slugging percentage (.557), OPS (.962), total bases (320) and intentional walks (18).

17. Angels (76-79) DOWN 1
Mike Trout leads the American League in runs (108) and walks (104) and also has 26 home runs and 33 stolen bases. Surprise, surprise: it’s once again Trout vs. Miguel Cabrera for the AL MVP.

18. Blue Jays (71-84) UP 1
The Jays had a disappointing season, but they at least played spoiler well, winning two games against the rival Yankees to seriously dent their playoff hopes.

19. Giants (72-84) DOWN 2
San Francisco scored four runs during a series loss to the Yankees over the weekend. They were shutout on Saturday.

20. Padres (72-83) UP 4
Andrew Cashner posted a 2.23 ERA during his final 12 starts, never allowing more than three earned runs during any start.

21. Rockies (71-86) DOWN 1
The Rockies have scored 690 runs, the second best total in the National League. But the pitching staff allowed 730 runs, worst in the NL and third worst in MLB.

22. Mets (71-84) DOWN 1
Travis d’Arnaud is finally starting to come around. The Mets’ top prospect is batting .296 (8-for-27) with a .345 OBP during his last nine games.

23. Brewers (69-86) UP 3
After going 38-56 in the first half with contributions from the now-suspended Ryan Braun, the Brewers have gone 31-30 in the second half without him.

24. Phillies (71-84) DOWN 2
Manager Ryne Sandberg is 18-17 since taking the helm and was rewarded with the removal of his “interim” tag and a three-year deal.

25. Mariners (68-88) NO CHANGE
With the Mariners adding prospects James Paxton and Taijuan Walker to a starting staff that already features Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, the future looks bright – at least in the rotation.

26. Cubs (65-91) DOWN 3
Prospect Javier Baez’s line in 2013 (split between high-A and Double-A): .282 average, .341 on-base percentage, 37 home runs. And he’s only 20.

27. Twins (65-90) NO CHANGE
Joe Mauer (.404) and Josh Willingham (.353) are the only players with at least 100 plate appearances who have an OBP above .315. Yikes.

28. White Sox (61-94) NO CHANGE
Avisail Garcia is hitting .319 with three home runs, making the early returns on the Jake Peavy trade look pretty good.

29. Marlins (57-99) NO CHANGE
Now that Jose Fernandez has been shut down, is there any reason to watch Miami still?

30. Astros (51-105) NO CHANGE
They’re awful, but there is somewhat of an offensive core forming in Jason Castro (.350 OBP, 18 HR), Matt Dominguez (20 HR), Chris Carter (29 HR) and Jose Altuve (.282 BA).