This is the first edition of The Pine Riders Power Rankings.
So far this year many pre-season favorites have been bad, and many underdogs have been good. A lot of parity exists in the Majors this year, but two teams are clearly the class of their respective leagues.
Off we go…
| No. | Team | Last Week |
| 1. | Cubs 45-26- Losing Soriano may hurt them, but there is no doubt Lou Piniella has them playing the best baseball in the league. | - |
| 2. | Red Sox 46-29- Even with Papi and Dice K hurt this team continues to win. Jacoby Ellsbury looks like a star in the making. | - |
| 3. | Phillies 42-32- MASH MASH MASH. The Phills keeping hitting the snot out of the ball and Utley is on pace to beat out Jeff Kent’s 2000 season as the best by a 2B of all time. The question is will the pitching hold up. | - |
| 4. | Angles 43-29- Mike Scioscia is best manager in Baseball and I love the way this team plays the game. K-Rod is quietly on pace to save 60+. | - |
| 5. | Cardinals 42-30- How Tony La Russa has this team winning games is beyond me. Losing Puljos will more than likely bring them back to Earth. | - |
| 6. | Rays 41-29- They have not slowed down like many expected them to. This team is a nice young ball club and if the rumors of adding Griffey Jr. are true, this team could contend all year. | - |
| 7. | Yankees 38-33- The Yanks are coming. The Yanks are coming. | - |
| 8. | A’s 39-31- Money Ball is working again. If Harden stays healthy he will head up a very good pitching staff along with young phenoms Justin Duchscherer and Dana Eveland. | - |
| 9. | White Sox 39-31- Ozzie Guillen may be the biggest character in sports, but his team is winning games. Their starting pitching has done a great job, but the offensive is struggling. Nick Swisher has looked like a bust. | - |
| 10. | Brewers 37-33- After an awful start, they have bounced back well. Fielder is getting hot and Sheets is healthy. This could be a dangerous team in the second half. | - |
| 11. | Diamondbacks 37-34- They have to ride the Mark Reynolds hot streaks and get wins in bunches. I think they have a lot of holes, but Brandon Webb and the NL West equal 87 wins for this team. | - |
| 12. | Marlins 38-33- Dan Uggla is having a monster season and this is the surprise team so far this year. | - |
| 13. | Rangers 36-36- Josh Hamilton is an animal and is making a run at a triple crown. As usual though, their pitching couldn’t get out a Little League team. | - |
| 14. | Blue Jays 35-37- The epitome of mediocrity every single year. | - |
| 15. | Mets 34-36- Now that Willie is gone there are no more excuses for this bunch of underachievers. | - |
| 16. | Tigers 34-38- I love that Jim Leyland benched his superstar Pudge Rodriguez because of bad play. This team is getting hot and don’t be surprised to see them in first before too long. | - |
| 17. | Orioles 36-34- They have got some players, but play in a nightmare of a division. I give them credit for being over .500 | - |
| 18. | Braves 35-37- Larry Jones’ run at .400 will be the only thing exciting in | - |
| 19. | Twins 35-36- One of the best run organizations in Baseball, this team competes every year. They will hang around all year. | - |
| 20. | Indians 33-39 – Pretty much everyone except for Cliff Lee have been a disappointment. Look for C.C to get dealt before the deadline. | - |
| 21. | Pirates 34-38- Playing very well for Pirate standards. Ryan Doumit is flying under the radar and needs to get more ABs. Let’s see if they will try to build on some decent young talent. | - |
| 22. | Dodgers 33-38- Bran Penny is hurt again and their lineup is weak. They just got their heads kicked in on a road trips and things aren’t going to get much better for Torree. | - |
| 23. | Astros 33-39- They have some mashers with Berkman, Lee and Tejada but they can’t get anyone out. Roy Oswalt is approaching the down side of his career. | - |
| 24. | Reds 33-40- I love the young talent on this team. Phillips, Bruce and Votto are great hitters to build on and Volquez is dominating the NL. This team will be dangerous in a few years. | - |
| 25. | Giants 31-42- Lincecum is an absolute stud and Barry Zito stinks. This team is many years away from contention. | - |
| 26. | Padres 31-42- Adrian Gonzalez is having a great year, but there are no other hitters on this team. Don’t look for anything from them in 2008. | - |
| 27. | Royals- 30-42- Nothing ever changes with this team. How can anyone even go to the park to watch a game? | - |
| 28. | | - |
| 29. | Nationals 29-44- … | - |
| 30. | Mariners 25-46- WOW! Getting swept in a four game series against the Nats. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! | - |
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