MLB Power Rankings
April 13th, 2010 | Published in Daniel Gettinger, baseball, links | 4 Comments
by Daniel Gettinger
Each week this season, Yardbarker is going to release its MLB Power Rankings. The rankings will be determined by six bloggers, each of whom is supposedly an expert in a division. This year, I am responsible for commenting on the NL West teams. I also rank each of the teams, and my rankings account for one sixth of the total score.
While the week 1 rankings can be found on the site, here were my comments about each of the NL West teams:
San Francisco Giants: Off to a great start, but still susceptible to a Lincecum or Cain injury.
Colorado Rockies: Tulowitzki is amongst the best players in the majors. The pitchers throw heat.
Los Angeles Dodgers: There is no need to worry about their slow start.
Arizona Diamondbacks: The D-Backs are an exciting team to watch. Justin Upton is MLB’s next star.
San Diego Padres: The Padres are not a great team, but they could surprise some people by playing respectable ball this season.
I typically do not like Power Rankings, as they often merely reflect win/loss records rather than actual talent. However, I do feel the comments can be useful, especially if they are provided by people who closely follow the teams they are commenting on. I am hopeful that the other bloggers who vote on these power rankings will be able to shield themselves from any possible win/loss bias, thus resulting in purer rankings than found on other sites.
April 13th, 2010 at 7:59 pm (#)
My concern with the Giants is that they are hitting way over their heads. When that tapers off, it’ll be a lot harder for them to keep winning like they have, despite great pitching. This is a team that was actually WORSE than the Padres in wOBA in 2009.
April 13th, 2010 at 8:10 pm (#)
Zach-I agree. In my personal rankings I have the Giants 23rd, just in front of the 24th ranked Padres. Seeing that they are ranked 6th in the Yardbarker rankings, the other voters must really like the Giants.
April 18th, 2010 at 11:40 am (#)
I sort of, kind of, agree with your assessment of power rankings. But watching them week by week can give you a feel for the ebb and flow of the season, as a team clicks (for awhile) and runs off a winning streak, moving up the rankings, or getting into a losing streak or stretch of losing three/winning one, and moving down.
The power rankings also serve as a kind of reality check on analysts. Last spring, after a 99 loss season, the Padres were ranked in the 28-30 slots, but ended up in the 23-25 slots, and as you’ve stated above, you have them at 24 this spring. If enough of their questions are answered in the affirmative, the Padres could end up in the middle of the pack by October.
My point is, talent develops, teams jell, and analysts aren’t always right - or even in agreement. That’s why they play the games. It’s too long to wait for each off-season and it’s retrospective assessments. Weekly rankings are a finger on the pulse of the game during the season, and give fans another measure of enjoyment and/or contention.
April 18th, 2010 at 12:15 pm (#)
Larry-Good points. In my rankings this week, I moved the Giants up to tenth from 23. My gut says the other voters will have them much higher, but I think tenth is a pretty good spot for them. It recognizes their great start, but does not go overboard and completely ignore the pre-season projections, which at this point in the season must be weighted heavier than in-season performance.