By Grant Brisbee, Chad Jennings and Levi Weaver
Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results.
The Padres are on pace to go 118-44. The Rockies are on pace to go 31-131. But anyone can look at the standings and see that one team has a better record than another. Power rankings are for adding a little context to the wins and losses, with professional baseball writers looking to see if a team’s record is actually misleading. So, in theory, it’s possible the Rockies could rank ahead of the Padres if our panel of voters thought it was more indicative of their true talent levels.
Is that what happened? You will simply have to keep reading, friends.
In this edition of the power rankings, we’re looking back at where each of these teams ranked at this time last year and what that might tell us about where they’re going.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (Average ranking: 1.0)
Record: 16-7
Last Power Ranking: 1
Ranking a year ago: 4
I filled in the “ranking a year ago” section without checking. They were atop the power rankings a year ago, I’m sure of it. They’ll be atop the power rankings next year. So I’m not going to check. Not unless my editor forces me to in the interest of “due diligence” and not being “a lazy jerkwad,” which, after checking a few Slack messages, appears to be the case. Fine. But I’m telling you, they were first.
They were … fourth? How silly. Let that be a lesson to the people who want these power rankings to more closely reflect the current standings. If you do that, sometimes you’ll suggest the best team in baseball is the fourth-best team in baseball, which is ridiculous. Save everyone the hassle. Just put the Dodgers first until they lose their 75th game of the season. — Grant Brisbee
T-2. San Diego Padres (2.7)
Record: 16-7
Last Power Ranking: 2
Ranking a year ago: 16
At this time last season, everyone was experiencing some measure of Padres fatigue. They were constantly winning offseasons and losing regular seasons, so it took only a month for people to get tired of the 2024 Padres. They were just going to be confusingly mediocre again, so 16th place it was.
Then they got hot, with an 80-56 record after that. That’s a .588 winning percentage and 95-win pace over a full season. This year, they’ve been even better, and they have the best record in baseball as of this writing. They’re not above the Dodgers in this ranking because of that lingering Padres-fatigue, but if they can hold onto that best record for another week or two, maybe it’ll be their turn. They’ve been outstanding for a full calendar year now. — Brisbee
T-2. New York Mets (2.7)
Record: 16-7
Last Power Ranking: 3
Ranking a year ago: T-18
Here’s a strong reminder of how much things can change between now and October. At this time last year, the Mets had a winning record — thanks to a six-game winning streak — but we weren’t buying it. Catcher Francisco Alvarez had just gone on the IL, and the Mets seemed due for a swoon. And that’s exactly what happened! The Mets were well below .500 by the end of May, but a great June and a strong September pushed them into the playoffs, where they advanced all the way to the NLCS. This year, we’re having less trouble believing the Mets can make a run as they’ve moved to the top of the NL East. But check with us again next week after they’re finished their current series against the Phillies and have played four against the Nationals. — Chad Jennings
4. New York Yankees (4.9)
Record: 14-9
Last Power Ranking: 7
Ranking a year ago: 2
The Yankees are weird, man. In the past year, they’ve gotten Gerrit Cole healthy, then lost him again. They’ve failed to re-sign Juan Soto but added Max Fried. They’ve traded for Jazz Chisholm Jr., Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. They’ve had turnover at first base, second base, third base, left field, center field, and most of their rotation. They’ve used Luke Weaver as a closer, made Ben Rice their primary DH, and buried Trent Grisham on their bench only to start actually using him again this season to pretty decent results. After all that change … they’re still pretty close to where they were a year ago as our top-ranked team in the American League. They’re coming off a good stretch, too. — Jennings
5. San Francisco Giants (5.6)
Record: 15-8
Last Power Ranking: 5
Ranking a year ago: 21
Last July, an intrepid and content-starved writer took a look at the provisional 2025 schedule and highlighted the future road trip the Giants just finished. It was an obvious bear trap — Yankees for three, Phillies for four and a cross-country trip to Anaheim for another three without an off day. And that was without knowing the Phillies would schedule their getaway-day game for 4:05 p.m. local time, which seems illegal.
The Giants went 5-5, which doesn’t sound very impressive, but last season’s team would have finished 0-11. The extra loss would have just appeared on the schedule one day, and nobody would have bothered to correct it. The Giants are one of the biggest movers in this exercise, and their ability to look competent in the face of expected doom is yet another reason why. — Brisbee
6. Philadelphia Phillies (5.9)
Record: 13-10
Last Power Ranking: 4
Ranking a year ago: 5
The Phillies have been in this power rankings tier — easily top 10, often top 5, rarely No. 1 — for a few years now. They’ve built a familiar core and supplemented with semi-regular tweaks (new starter Jesús Luzardo has been awesome; new reliever Jordan Romano not so much), and the end result has been a kind of overall consistency despite an offense that can feel very boom-or-bust. The question isn’t whether the Phillies are among the teams with a chance to win a championship. It’s whether this will be the year they do enough at the end to actually make a deep run and maybe win the whole thing. Barring something extreme, we seem to have a fairly clear set of expectations through the end of September. — Jennings
7. Arizona Diamondbacks (6.3)
Record: 13-9
Last Power Ranking: 6
Ranking a year ago: 10
Last year at this time, the Diamondbacks were the reigning pennant winners, and they looked like an even stronger team. If you knew that they were going to lead baseball in runs scored by the end of last season, you might have even picked them to win the NL West. As is, their pitching was dreadful enough to keep them out of the postseason entirely.
That felt like something of a fluke, though, which makes it extra impressive that they’re up this high again with Zac Gallen and Corbin Burnes scuffling. If the Diamondbacks get both of them back to their normal levels of run prevention, they could win 100 games. That might be good enough for only a fourth-place finish in the wacky NL West, perhaps, but still. They’re a better team again, and this time it should stick. — Brisbee
8. Chicago Cubs (7.9)
Record: 14-10
Last Power Ranking: 8
Ranking a year ago: 9
What no difference a year makes, eh?
The Cubs’ bullpen has been bad. Like, bottom five in the league in a lot of categories bad. But their offense has been incredibly good. Like top five in the league in a lot of categories good. They lead the sport in scoring (145 runs) and run differential (+41)
They did make one small move on Monday to try to shore up the bullpen, acquiring Drew Pomeranz from the Mariners, but here’s a very weird and extreme example of the team we’re working with. This is from Sahadev Sharma’s story about last Friday’s game:
“What happened over the next inning and a half was nearly impossible to describe. In less than an hour of baseball, the two teams traded blows, combining for 21 runs on 20 hits, including six home runs. The Cubs got punched in the jaw, blowing a six-run lead, only to counter, forcing Arizona to blow a four-run lead of its own.”
Yeah. They gave up 10 runs in the eighth inning and came back to win the game. Good luck power ranking that. — Levi Weaver
9. Texas Rangers (9.3)
Record: 13-9
Last Power Ranking: 11
Ranking a year ago: 11
Last year’s entry: According to Wins Above Average, the Rangers have the 20th-best pitching staff in baseball. According to FIP, the Rangers have the fourth-worst pitching staff in the majors. So, how are they in first place in the AL West as of this writing?
Would you like to venture a guess which rotation leads the AL this year in ERA (2.85), FIP (3.34), fewest hits allowed (86), fewest home runs allowed (11, tied with Seattle), earned runs allowed (37) and opponent’s batting average (.201), while leading the entire sport in walks-per-nine (2.24) and WHIP (0.96)?
Look, when even a spider-bitten Patrick Corbin is putting up strong starts, you know something is going really right.
For now, that translates to exactly the same ranking they had last year. But maybe that makes sense — they’re in the exact same position in the standings they were last year, too. — Weaver
10. Detroit Tigers (10.1)
Record: 14-9
Last Power Ranking: 9
Ranking a year ago: 20
It’s not the biggest jump from last year to this year, but jumping 10 spots is still pretty impressive. Like the Royals, the Tigers made a huge year-over-year improvement in 2024 to shock the baseball world and make the postseason.
Unlike the Royals, they seem to be building on it this year.
While we’re looking back a year, here’s one reason Detroit is thriving: A year ago, first-round picks Spencer Torkelson and Casey Mize were partway through seasons that ultimately made a lot of folks wonder if one or both might not be quite as good as they’d been hyped up to be.
This year: no, no — they’re good.
In relatively recent years, the AL Central has felt a little like a “first team to not suck, even a little bit, wins the division” situation. Last year changed that, and it looks like the Tigers are trying to make it very clear who’s in charge moving forward. — Weaver
11. Boston Red Sox (11.1)
Record: 13-11
Last Power Ranking: 10
Ranking a year ago: 17
At this time last year, four AL East teams ranked among our top 11. The Red Sox were the lone exception, having fallen well out of favor with our voters. This year, they’re back in the mix — even flirting with the top 10 — but they’re part of the American League’s murky second tier. We have the Yankees as the best team in the AL, followed by a choose-your-own adventure of next-best teams, none of which is really setting itself apart. The Red Sox had a chance to absolutely dominate the White Sox through seven games in the past 10 days and were just kind of meh. — Jennings
12. Seattle Mariners (12.4)
Record: 12-10
Last Power Ranking: 13
Ranking a year ago: 13
The Mariners are back, baby. Not only did they win two series on the road last week, but also they’ve scored eight or more runs in three out of their past four games. Over the past couple of seasons, the Mariners’ problem has been painfully obvious: Score more runs, you dullards. If they can manage that, they’ll win the division going away.
Last year at this time, they were also on the road and scoring more runs than expected. What’s old is new again. This time, though … this time the offensive surge will definitely stick. Unless the Mariners are trapped in 12th- and 13th-ranked purgatory forever. That might be the Occam’s Razor explanation, to be honest. Until we know either way, here’s one spot closer to the top. Don’t spend it all in one place. — Brisbee
13. Cleveland Guardians (13.3)
Record: 13-9
Last Power Ranking: 19
Ranking a year ago: 8
Last year around this time, it looked like the Guardians (16-6 at the time) were en route to run away with the AL Central — surely the Tigers and Royals weren’t going to hang around all season long. The 7-12 start by the Twins looked like an early elimination of their biggest competition for an AL Central title.
That ended up being mostly true, though it was closer than we expected. The Guardians outlasted both Kansas City and Detroit, winning the division by 6 1/2 games and sticking around in the playoffs longer than both before losing the ALCS to the Yankees.
This year, it’s more of a dogfight and we all know it. Not only are the Guardians performing a little worse — Emmanuel Clase seems human, for one — but also the Tigers seem legit and the Royals … well, they did make the playoffs last year, even if they don’t seem destined for a repeat performance. For more on the Twins and White Sox, you’ll need to keep scrolling down. Further. Further. Almost there … — Weaver
14. Atlanta Braves (14.0)
Record: 9-13
Last Power Ranking: 12
Ranking a year ago: 1
You don’t have to go back a full year to see how far — and how quickly — the Braves have fallen in the eyes of our voters. When this season started, the Braves were No. 2 in our rankings. They were getting healthy again, and we were bullish on a bounce back. Instead, this season is so far even worse than last season. The Braves lost their first seven games, Jurickson Profar got suspended, Reynaldo López had surgery, they’ve played musical chairs in the bullpen, their outfielders have been awful, and — well — now our power rankings have them middle-of-the-pack, and that’s being generous given their record. A weekend sweep of the Twins was at least a step in the right direction. — Jennings
15. Toronto Blue Jays (14.4)
Record: 12-11
Last Power Ranking: 16
Ranking a year ago: T-11
The Blue Jays lately have been one of those teams that always seem capable of going either direction. Some middle-of-the-pack teams get ranked all over the place by our individual voters, but our votes are pretty well bunched together on the Blue Jays. Basically, just rank them somewhere in the middle, and adjust a bit up or down if they get hot or cold. At this time last year, they’d won seven of nine, and so they were up. Within a couple of weeks, they were losing again and back down to No. 18. This year, they have a winning record, but their run differential is uninspiring. For now, continue to assume they’re somewhere in the middle of the pack, trending on and off the playoff bubble with each good and bad week. — Jennings
16. Milwaukee Brewers (15.7)
Record: 12-11
Last Power Ranking: 18
Ranking a year ago: 6
It can’t be a huge surprise that the Brewers have slipped since last year; they are essentially a racecar shedding parts as they speed around the track. It’s truly admirable that they haven’t crashed and (Corbin) burned (get it?) a long time ago, but you can’t stay in motion forever on one alternator, three tires and an exhausted nutria being fed Monster energy drinks intravenously.
But also … they’re still running!? No, literally: they lead the league in stolen bases (34), and on Sunday, they stole six bases in the first inning en route to a nine-steal game. They might have slipped into the bottom half of these power rankings, but that’s still a very fun brand of baseball to watch. — Weaver
17. Houston Astros (17.4)
Record: 11-11
Last Power Ranking: 15
Ranking a year ago: 18
A year ago, the Astros were absolutely cooked. They were 7-17, which made it tough on power rankers who err on the side of a team’s true talent level instead of year-to-date performance. Their early record suggested the Astros were almost the worst team in baseball, but their roster suggested they were going to start winning a lot more games. Eventually, they started winning a lot more games because they were actually a good team. Sometimes it’s just that simple.
The 2025 Astros have a similar ranking to the one from 364 days ago, even though they have a much better record than they did back then. So consider this a vote of no-confidence from the same writers from last season. There isn’t nearly enough they-should-be-better sentiment for the 2025 Astros to make up for what’s been a supremely mediocre start so far. — Brisbee
18. Baltimore Orioles (17.7)
Record: 9-12
Last Power Ranking: 13
Ranking a year ago: 3
At this time last year, the Orioles were 15-7 coming off a 101-win season. Our top-three ranking wasn’t so much benefit of the doubt as it was a logical interpretation of the evidence. The Orioles were good and young and flourishing, all signs pointing in the right direction. A year later, we’re not so sure. We obviously don’t hate this team, but the Orioles haven’t been able to sustain much momentum since the middle of last season (they played .500 ball in the second half of last year). The team still has a lot of good young talent — Gunnar Henderson’s numbers are going to turn around — but concerns about their pitching seem justified, especially after Baltimore allowed 24 runs on Sunday. Right now, our voters see the Orioles more middle-of-the-pack than anywhere near the top of the sport. — Jennings
19. Cincinnati Reds (18.6)
Record: 11-12
Last Power Ranking: 22
Ranking a year ago: 14
I can’t get over that the Cincinnati Reds lost three consecutive 1-0 games this year, and also won Sunday’s game by a score of 24-2. If I look through my Optimism Glasses, I can definitely see a playoff team with a better-than-you-think rotation beginning to coalesce under the steady leadership of Terry Francona.
If I put on my Pessimism Shades, I can see a team that is so wildly inconsistent that its destiny is to play September spoilers by, I don’t know, sweeping the Cubs to knock them out of the playoffs, while finishing with a 76-86 record. (I have somehow managed to upset two fan bases with one hypothetical; sound off here.)
We hereby award them 19th place and a complimentary one of these cute little guys: ¯_(ツ)_/¯ — Weaver
20. Tampa Bay Rays (19.6)
Record: 9-13
Last Power Ranking: 17
Ranking a year ago: 7
When we ranked the Rays seventh a year ago, it was despite a .500 record, an offense that hadn’t been very productive and a rotation that was missing three key arms. In short, we were giving the Rays some benefit of the doubt. But not so much today. Their run differential is positive, but we’ve clearly become skeptical after a down year that saw the Rays rebuild at the trade deadline. An early surprise for the Rays is outfielder Kameron Misner, who made the roster because of one injury, got into the regular lineup because of another, and has been one of their most productive hitters. The Rays seem always to have a surprise up their sleeves, but last week they dropped back-to-back series against the Red Sox and Yankees, which isn’t going to help in a tough division. — Jennings
21. Kansas City Royals (21.6)
Record: 9-14
Last Power Ranking: T-20
Ranking a year ago: 15
It felt weird seeing the Royals this high on the list last year. This year, now that they’re a playoff team and all, it feels a little weird to see them this low.
The rotation has been about as good as they could expect, ranking near the top in quite a few statistics. Cole Ragans leads the league in strikeouts and Kris Bubic has an ERA under 2.00. That’s wild.
But the offense has been … stinky. They rank in the bottom three in average, on-base percentage, slugging and quite a lot of other categories.
Bobby Witt Jr. is still crushing it, but look at the team leaderboard in OPS (min. 60 PAs):
Witt: .847
Maikel Garcia: .770
Vinnie Pasquantino: .593
Jonathan India: .568
Salvador Perez: .529
Yikes. — Weaver
22. Los Angeles Angels (22.6)
Record: 11-10
Last Power Ranking: T-20
Ranking a year ago: 26
A jump of four places doesn’t sound like much, and maybe it’s not, but it’s pretty hard to ignore the vibe shift of the Angels right now. Nolan Schanuel is hitting the ball harder. Zach Neto is off the IL. Kyren Paris has cooled off dramatically (two hits, no walks and 12 strikeouts in his past 23 plate appearances), but he’s already done enough to start thinking of him as a long-term contributor at second base.
It’s not Garvey-Lopes-Russell-Cey yet, but having an entire infield in place for years to come seems like a great step toward the next competitive Angels team. It certainly feels a lot closer than it was a year ago. — Brisbee
23. Minnesota Twins (23.0)
Record: 7-15
Last Power Ranking: 24
Ranking a year ago: 22
Last year, the Twins got off to a bad start, then got off to a bad ending, and now they’re off to a bad start again.
The in-between was occasionally fine, and even dipped into the realm of “fun.” There was sausage involved, and Rocco Baldelli acknowledged it with the dutiful exhaustion of a teenage boy’s dad when his friends ask about his kid’s band. “Ha ha, yeah … I guess, man. They have two drummers and no singer, but they’re having fun and a bunch of kids are coming out to the shows, so what do I know?”
Anyway, after the Twins more or less put an end to the Braves’ own very bad start by getting swept, a lot fewer kids are coming out to the shows. Attendance is way down since there are apparently other cool things to do in the Twin Cities this time of year.
On the upside, Luke Keaschall has been pretty good upon making his big-league debut. So that’s … something, at least. — Weaver
24. St. Louis Cardinals (23.3)
Record: 9-14
Last Power Ranking: 23
Ranking a year ago: 24
The last time the Cardinals had two consecutive full seasons under .500 was 1958 and 1959. That statement is carefully worded to exclude the strike-shortened season of 1994, but it’s still bonkers. Bob Gibson was a rookie on the last Cardinals team to play a second straight full season of losing ball.
However, the last time the Cardinals allowed more runs than they scored in a full season — a Pythagorean record under .500 — was in 2023 and 2024. While they’ve been a little Pythag-unlucky this year, that’s still a sign that the days of reliable contending might be over for good this time. The Earth went around the Sun once, and the Cards are still 24th. There’s no guarantee they’ll rank higher in another year, either. — Brisbee
25. Athletics (24)
Record: 10-12
Last Power Ranking: T-26
Ranking a year ago: 25
The A’s have four starting pitchers with an ERA better than the league average, and they have three oft-used relievers with ERAs starting with “0.” It’s pretty hard to start with that sort of run prevention and end up with the third-worst adjusted ERA in baseball, but they’ve done it. If you’re wondering “how?”, there are seven pitchers alluded to up there, but there are 13 pitchers on the A’s staff. The other six pitchers are doing a lot of work, and it’s not the kind of work that makes you whistle while you’re doing it.
It’s a shame, because the A’s are hitting the ball well as a team, too, and they could be leading a sleepy AL West. As is, they need their ineffective players to be more effective, which is roughly where they were last year. — Brisbee
26. Washington Nationals (24.7)
Record: 9-13
Last Power Ranking: T-26
Ranking a year ago: 25
Our year-over-year rankings suggest the Nationals have been pretty stagnant. And I’ll speak for myself here in saying that I want to believe in the Nats. More than most other teams in the bottom third of our power rankings, the Nationals have shown signs of future life. They have three solid starters in their mid-20s, James Wood and CJ Abrams look good, and Keibert Ruiz is off to a nice start at the plate. Get Dylan Crews and Luis Garcia going, and the Nationals could have a solid foundation for the long term. But it’s just not leading to many wins in the short term. — Jennings
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (27.1)
Record: 8-15
Last Power Ranking: 28
Ranking a year ago: 23
Since last year’s entry, the Pirates have:
• Called up Paul Skenes, who won the NL Rookie of the Year
• Uh
• I mean
• They signed Tommy Pham
• He’s pretty good, right?
• Y’all hear about this Andrew Heaney fella?
It’s not that there aren’t some exciting young players on the team. Oneil Cruz hits the ball with a frankly shocking largesse of unfettered malice in his heart. Bryan Reynolds is an All-Star and the sort of player who could be on a playoff team. Their starting rotation is fun and exciting and hopeful. But the thing about baseball is that the teams who make the playoffs tend to be the ones who have invested in things like … free agents, for example. — Weaver
28. Miami Marlins (27.6)
Record: 10-12
Last Power Ranking: 25
Ranking a year ago: 28
It didn’t take us long to identify the three worst teams in baseball last season. By the end of April, the Marlins, Rockies and White Sox were the last three teams in our rankings, and indeed they finished — in that order — with the three worst records in the league. The Marlins seem to be not as bad this season. Obviously, we’re still not sold on them as a playoff team, but they have some decent hitters (and still some awful ones) behind a rotation that now has both Sandy Alcantara and Max Meyer (who’d been recently optioned to Triple A at this time last year). Add in a couple of so-far, so-good relievers and we obviously think the Marlins are better, but maybe not that much better. — Jennings
29. Chicago White Sox (29.0)
Record: 5-17
Last Power Ranking: 29
Ranking a year ago: 30
Last year, the White Sox had a historically bad year. This year, they are having a slightly less historically bad year. Going 5-17 should in no way feel like an improvement, but last year, they didn’t win their fifth game until they were 4-22. This year, they did it when they were a mere 4-16.
Baby steps, right?
[receives a memo]
Ah. I’ve been given an update here. It says that the baby has now tripped and fallen directly into a kitty litter box, and is rolling around in the litter. Someone taught him some swear words, and he’s saying those over and over. He’s laughing and crying at the same time. Aaaaand now he’s putting some of the litter in his mouth. Great. Who thought it was a good idea to teach this baby how to walk? — Weaver
30. Colorado Rockies (30.0)
Record: 4-17
Last Power Ranking: 30
Ranking a year ago: 29
Hey, the Rockies are making progress! It’s the wrong kind of progress, but still, keep it up, fellas. The only reason they won’t be in 31st place next week is because of “rules” and “mathematics,” but give them just a little more time. A team with this kind of roster has the potential to break all sorts of norms and expectations.
Until then, here’s a meme:
— Brisbee
(Top photo of Elly De La Cruz: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)