David Lennon's baseball power rankings
Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Dustin May. Credit: AP/Gregory Bull
(Note: Statistics prior to Friday’s games; Previous rank in parentheses)
1. Brewers (2)
After the Brewers blinked in the Tarik Skubal stare-down with the Dodgers, they pivoted to get Dustin May from the Cardinals. A buzzkill, no doubt. But so far, their Plan B is working, as May is 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in his two starts for Milwaukee, striking out 11 over 13 innings. By comparison, Skubal was 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts for L.A.
2. Dodgers (1)
The reigning back-to-back world champs got a few scares this month. The first was opening August on a season-high seven-game losing streak (also dropping eight of nine) that toppled them from MLB’s best record. Another is Edwin Diaz posting a 12.71 ERA with three blown saves in seven appearances since coming off the IL.
3. Rays (3)
Tampa Bay’s 9-0 sweep of the Rockies in Colorado, the Mariners in Seattle and the A’s in West Sacramento was just the 13th perfect road trip of nine or more games by any team in the Modern Era (dating to 1900), according to MLB. The Rays also finished in style, outscoring the A’s, 30-14, over those three games before heading home to the Trop, where they are 41-18 this season.
4. Atlanta (4)
There’s been no sophomore slump for catcher Drake Baldwin, whose replication of last season’s Rookie of the Year performance is uncanny. Through 98 games, Baldwin was hitting an identical .274 and an .812 OPS that was two points better than what he finished with a year ago. Also, his 20 homers put him on pace for well more than last season’s total (19).
5. Yankees (5)
Move over Mariano Rivera. Through Thursday, Brent Headrick hadn’t allowed a run in 52 of his first 62 appearances, the most in the majors and most by a Yankee through a season’s first 120 games in franchise history. In his last 39 games, Headrick had a 0.95 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 38 innings.
6. Cubs (7)
It looks like the Cubs’ rotation woes could be behind them. Not only did Chicago pick up reinforcements Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes at the trade deadline, but Edward Cabrera, who has been sidelined with hamstring and adductor strains since late June, is close to a return after throwing five no-hit innings in a rehab start this week.
7. Red Sox (20)
Boston’s four-game sweep of the Yankees in late June was supposed to be their World Series in a lost season. Instead, the never-lose Red Sox could be playing in the real thing come October, thanks to a 32-5 surge after that Fenway beat-down that has nearly wiped out the Yankees’ 15 1/2-game lead on their rivals. All that, and Garrett Crochet could be on the horizon, too.
8. Phillies (6)
Needing offense, the Phillies logically traded for one of the deadline’s most impactful options, Luis Arraez, a three-time batting champ. Somewhat more surprising? Using the contact specialist at cleanup amid beefier sluggers, yet Arraez had six RBIs through his first nine games while hitting .200 (8-for-40) with three doubles and a home run.
9. Padres (15)
A.J. Preller’s high-wire act has the Padres squarely back in playoff contention. After keeping Mason Miller at the deadline, as well as restocking the rotation with Casey Mize and Robbie Ray, San Diego has built on a 19-11 month that moved them into a three-way tie for the second wild-card spot this week.
10. Diamondbacks (18)
Holding firmly to a wild card spot, the Diamondbacks made the unusual move of DFA’ing closer Paul Sewald, whose 24 saves were tied with Atlanta’s Raisel Iglesias for seventh in the majors. Sewald, who debuted with the Mets in 2017, became cause for concern by posting a 14.34 ERA over 14 appearances since June 23.
11. White Sox (8)
There’s been plenty of good things happening on the South Side this year, but few have created the buzz of this week’s “pope hat” giveaway. Done in honor of Pope Leo, supposedly a White Sox fan, the team handed out 40,000 of the religious headgear (emblazoned with the Sox logo) and the players wore them as part of their homer celebration.
12. Astros (16)
Shortstop Jeremy Pena kept popping up on trade deadline wish lists, but even before the Astros’ resurgence, ownership made it clear he wasn’t going anywhere, despite his looming free agency after the 2027 season. Pena is having an MVP-caliber second half, hitting .298 with seven homers and a .927 OPS in 22 games to help Houston rocket to the top of the AL West.
13. Tigers (26)
Despite being very much alive in the AL wild-card race, the Tigers figured to wave the white flag when they dealt both Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize at the deadline. Detroit owned MLB’s fifth-best record (28-19) from Skubal’s June return to his Aug. 2 trade, but they haven’t slowed down since, going 5-2 to stay just 1 1/2 games out.
14. Guardians (13)
The Guardians went big at the trade deadline, intending to create some separation in the mediocre AL Central, but all they’ve done lately is widen the gap between themselves and first place. After bolstering their offense with Jo Adell and Nathanial Lowe, their vaunted pitching staff has faltered, with a 5.46 ERA in the week following the deadline.
15. Rangers (10)
Despite being approached to waive his no-trade clause, Jacob deGrom chose to remain with Texas, and now has a good chance of pitching in October, anyway, with Texas in a dogfight for the third wild card. DeGrom struck out nine in a five-inning start post-deadline but left early due to a recurring hip issue. His next start lasted two innings before he departed with triceps fatigue.
16. Marlins (11)
Sandy Alcantara, typically a very popular pitcher at the deadline, wound up staying put as the Marlins are taking this year’s playoff push seriously. And with the ’22 Cy Young winner on board, they should, as Alcantara is back to being an effective workhorse again, with a 3.52 ERA over an MLB-best 163 2/3 innings.
17. Nationals (17)
Miles Mikolas was celebrated this past week for his pinch-hit RBI squeeze bunt, making him only the third pitcher not named Shohei Ohtani to drive in a run since the NL went to the universal DH for the 2022 season. Mikolas, 37, also was the first Nats player in his 30s to have a plate appearance this season. He then was DFA’ed Wednesday.
18. Twins (21)
Trying to stay on pace for the up-for-grabs third wild card, the Twins had a decidedly mediocre haul at the trade deadline, picking up Dean Kremer, A.J. Minter and Jeff Hoffman. The outlook would have been much improved, however, if they were successful with their two reportedly bigger swings, but ultimately couldn’t land Zach Neto or Jose Soriano.
19. Pirates (14)
Pittsburgh’s fading wild-card hopes, along with any chance of future contention, took a massive hit this week with the deepening concerns over Paul Skenes, whose worrisome velocity drop is the latest red flag for the reigning Cy Young winner. Skenes is 9-11 with a 3.88 ERA that’s nearly double from a year ago, including 5.00 over his last 16 starts.
20. Mariners (9)
Dan Wilson’s managerial seat has to be heating up, as the Mariners not only have failed to capitalize on last year’s ALCS momentum with the same roster, but are somehow eight games below .500 (56-64) and five games out of first place in a weak AL West. Seattle has scored the fewest runs (469) in the majors and had the second-worst batting average (.228) and OPS (.681).
21. Orioles (24)
The Orioles made a curious choice in dealing All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman within the division, but it was the Dean Kremer trade — to the Twins — that wound up burning them right away. Kremer returned Monday to Camden Yards and delivered one of the best starts of his seven-year career, allowing just one hit over seven innings in a 9-5 victory.
22. Blue Jays (19)
Toronto made headlines this week thanks to the controversial “fourth-out play” in their 2-1 victory over the Red Sox. Long story short, the Rogers Centre scoreboard actually set up the play by showing two outs rather than one, confusing the Sox to nearly run themselves out of the inning, but were helped when the Jays failed to appeal the “fourth out” on a failed tag-up at third base, letting Boston’s lone run stand.
23. Cardinals (12)
This was always supposed to be a rebuilding year in St. Louis, and thanks to a brutal July (10-18), the Cardinals’ first-half dream of contention took a swan dive at the deadline. President of baseball operations Chaim Bloom traded Dustin May, Jojo Romero and Lars Nootbar to continue stockpiling prospects, though the team is still hovering around .500.
24. Mets (25)
Funny what a deadline sell-off can do for a struggling team’s psyche. After dealing away the prized pieces of their bullpen, the Mets went on an offensive heater, averaging 7.14 runs over the next seven games (6-1) and hitting .292 with 14 homers and an .890 OPS. Still, the Mets would have to go 32-8 to get to 85 wins and a long-shot playoff chance.
25. Reds (23)
After waiting all season for the return of ace Hunter Greene, he didn’t stay very long, and now is going to be lost for even longer. Greene made only five starts (2-2, 6.83 ERA) since coming back from winter surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow and was diagnosed with a torn UCL this week, requiring season-ending surgery (Greene had Tommy John surgery in 2018).
26. Giants (27)
Remember Blade Tidwell? The former Mets prospect was dealt to the Giants last season in a three-player package for submarine-delivery reliever Tyler Rogers, and after spending most of this year at Triple-A Sacramento (4.38 ERA), returned this week to fill the rotation hole left by the traded Robbie Ray. Tidwell struck out six over 5 2.3 innings versus the Astros.
27. Athletics (22)
The A’s aren’t scheduled to play at their new Las Vegas ballpark until 2028, but they engaged in some early housecleaning this month by firing longtime general manager David Forst, who started as a scout with the franchise in 2000. What that means for the A’s future is unclear, but they can’t do much worse, at 25 games under .500 in a weak AL.
28. Royals (29)
Craig Kimbrel, who began this season with the Mets, joined the 12th team of his 17-year career by signing with the Royals this past week. Kimbrel currently ranks fifth on the all-time saves list with 440 — just 38 behind Hall of Famer Lee Smith — but has zero in 47 appearances since earning 23 for the Orioles in 2024.
29. Angels (28)
As if things couldn’t get more humiliating for the Angels, a deadline-day round of golf at Mike Trout’s private club turned into a version of baseball survivor. According to the Athletic, Trout’s bonding exercise went awry when Brent Suter, Jo Adell and Ryan Zeferjahn all learned they were dealt at different points, with Suter’s phone going off at the first tee.
30. Rockies (30)
While the Rockies have operated in baseball oblivion for too long, it was still funny to hear Jake McCarthy — the team’s promising outfielder — deliver this clueless reaction when he was named the NL’s player of the week with a remarkable post-deadline surge (.519 BA, 2 HRs 1.352 OPS). “I didn’t even know they had that award,” McCarthy told reporters.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
