1.(↔) Minnesota Twins (9-4): The Twins continue to look impressive holding the top spot for the first two weeks of the season. If this were the MLB power rankings I would have them right behind the Yanks and Phils. These gentleman can do it all posting 123 and 125 points offensively and pitching wise respectively.
2.(↑5) New York Yankees (9-3): The pinstripes don’t lead the league in any single category but even in their worst category, K’s, they have 15 points. The Yankees should be a top five fantasy team most of the year with the kind of talent they have. As of now they are only one point off the lead with 247 currently.
3.(↑5) San Francisco Giants (8-4): It’s no surprise the Giant’s pitching staff is in the top five with 124 points but their offense is producing as well. The Giants are in the top three in AVG., RBI, and Runs and put up a total of 110 points thus far. I look for them to fall off a little offensively but remain in the top 10.
4.(↑1) Toronto Blue Jays (7-6): The Jays pitching was again amongst the elite with 129 points to date. A stellar performance from Ricky Romero against the White Sox leads me to believe that they will be able to pitch good enough this year to remain in the top 10 for the foreseeable future.
5.(↓2) Oakland Athletics (9-5): Oakland can put their staff against almost anyone, they scored in the top five in every pitching category (125 of a possible 150) except for saves. Look for the A’s staff to keep them in contention for the top spot most of the year.
6.(↓4) Philadelphia Phillies (8-4): The Phillies dropped 17 points from last week but I am not concerned one bit. Their 213 points puts them just out of the top five, but as they continue to rack up the wins they should be able to make that up quick.
7.(↑7) Florida Marlins (8-5): The fish have a pretty solid team putting up 106 offensive points and 104 pitching points to date. I am not really sure if their offense can keep this up but I like their pitching staff which is anchored by ace Josh Johnson.
8.(↑13) Tampa Bay Rays (9-3): The Rays were able to show their speed this past week while holding the top spot (with Washington) in steals at week’s end. It looks like they have their closer in Rafael Soriano who has helped them win five in a row saving four games early on.
9.(↓3) St. Louis Cardinals (8-4): The Cardinals sit atop the NL Central and should begin to pull away in the next couple weeks with help from their stud pitchers Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. Both pitchers have two wins so far while Wainwright has been slightly better recording an ERA of only 1.20.
10.(↑3) Colorado Rockies (6-6): Ubaldo Jimenez proved with his no-hitter last night that he is now amongst the game’s best starting pitchers. Jimenez is leading the Rockies with his three wins, 1.29 ERA and 20 K’s in 21 IP. If he continues to do this there is no telling how good the Rockies can be.
11.(↑8) Chicago Cubs (5-7): If I were to guess I would say this is a fluke. However, there is reason to believe for you Cub’s fans. Carlos Marmol has been sensational early on, he has been a perfect three for three in save opportunities without giving up a run, while striking out 11 in only five IP. If he can continue to pitch this well and the Cubs offense starts producing some more runs the Cubbies could be in for a better year than expected by most.
12.(↓1) Los Angeles Dodgers (6-6): There is absolutely no question Matt Kemp is a top five fantasy player now. Kemp is tied with only Chase Utley for the League lead in total bases, throw that in with the fact he has a stat-line of .375/5/15 and the Dodgers have the face-of-their-franchise (if they don’t sell him) for years to come.
13.(↑15) San Diego Padres (6-6): The biggest jump, and probably surprise, of the week has to be the Padres. The scary thing is Adrian Gonzalez has only two homeruns and five RBI. He will certainly be counted on for more in the weeks to come as the Padres look to stay near .500.
14.(↑12) Los Angeles Angels (6-7): Rising 12 spots from last week, the Angels still look like they have a long way to go. With a 2-5 record at Angel Stadium the halos can improve even more if they can get some more out of Joe Saunders and Ervin Santana, which I think they will.
15.(↑2) Cincinnati Reds (5-8): Jay Bruce is batting .146 with no homeruns and only two RBI. Not very impressive for the youngster. There is just no one who scares you in the Red’s lineup which is why this is probably the highest they will be able to make it this year if Bruce doesn’t become the guy.
16.(↑13) Washington Nationals (6-6): The Nationals are tied for the league lead with the Rays in steals with 14. Nyjer Morgan is tied for second in the NL with four steals, he has been able to do this with an OBP of only .360. If Morgan can get on base more the Nationals offense could be a fun one to watch.
17.(↑8) Chicago White Sox (4-9): The White Sox do not look good as of right now. Jake Peavy has an ERA of 6.00 while not recording a win so far. Peavy’s inability to perform mixed with the offensive woes of the south siders, shows us that this team is far from being contenders.
18.(↓14) Arizona Diamondbacks (5-): The Diamondbacks started off hot while sitting in fourth at the end of last week. Unfortunately, they have cooled down quite a bit. Arizona finished the week losing three in a row and have a road record of just 1-4. Edwin Jackson will need to improve his 1.39 WHIP if the D’Backs hope to compete with the likes of Colorado and San Francisco.
19.(↓7) Atlanta Braves (7-5): With Jair Jurrjens owning a 8.64 ERA in two starts this season the Braves are lucky to have Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson getting his back. Jurrjens will surely turn this around which is why I expect the Braves to bounce back next week and move closer to the top ten.
20.(↑2) Kansas City Royals (5-7): Kansas City leads the AL in AVG. (.301) and are second in SB’s. This is with Scott Podsednik playing out of his mind with an AVG. of .439 adding six steals. Look for S-Pod’s numbers to fall a little and the Royals to stay in this area most of the year.
21.(↓1) Seattle Mariners (6-7): Seattle can’t wait for Cliff Lee to get back, as well as many fantasy owners I’m sure, however they have still been able to maintain a 3.69 ERA and stay .500 without him. Once Lee gets back their pitching production (90 points) will surely improve, with that being said the Mariners have not found someone to replace Russell Branyan’s production from a year ago.
22.(↑1) Texas Rangers (5-7): The Rangers starters have been surprisingly good this year and with Neftali Feliz looking to be the answer to former closer Frank Francisco’s struggles, they have a solid closer. I look for Ian Kinsler to help the offensive production pick it up over the next few weeks and help the Rangers move up this list.
23.(↓7) Milwaukee Brewers (4-7): The Brewers have only 53 pitching points and are having difficulty getting people out. The problem is that I don’t think this is going to change. When your supposed ace (Yovani Gollardo) has a 5.50 ERA and 1.44 WHIP your seasons future looks grim.
24.(↓14) Boston Red Sox (5-7): It is obvious that the Red Sox need more power in their lineup, but we already knew that. What we didn’t know is that their pitching staff would be producing this poorly with only 58 points. The Bo Sox shouldn’t worry just yet about their pitching staff but I don’t know how long they can stay in contention without adding another run producer.
25.(↓10) New York Mets (4-8): The Mets were able to pull out the 20 inning game against the Cardinals yesterday but they shouldn’t be so happy. They are three games under .500 and our in the bottom 10 in every offensive category here except SB’s totaling only 47 points of the possible 150. David Wright and Jose Reyes are not living up to the hype placed on them by the Big Apple years ago.
26.(↓8) Pittsburgh Pirates (7-5): The Pirates continue to have the worst ERA in all of the majors (6.66). If it weren’t for the Astros Pittsburgh’s horrible 43 pitching points would be the worst.
27.(↓18) Detroit Tigers (7-5): The Tigers are the biggest fallers of the week after finishing with a three game losing streak. The Tigers are producing runs like a National League team and I don’t think their pitching is good enough to continue working that way. Their record will fall below .500 if they can’t figure this out soon.
28.(↓1) Cleveland Indians (6-6): The Indians finished the week with a three game winning streak and are showing signs of life, unfortunately I don’t think they will be moving up this list any time soon. Grady Sizemore needs to get back into his old form if the Indians want to keep on winning.
29.(↓5) Baltimore Orioles (2-11): Baltimore will probably be staying in the bottom three for the majority of the year from this point on. Baltimore just doesn’t have the pitching to compete in the AL East, and their bats will never give them enough to make up for that. (82)
30.(↔) Houston Astros (3-9): The Astros management and I have something in common: we both have no idea of what is going on in Houston. The Astros did managed to pick up two wins and gain four more points (37) during the week, but they are just pathetic at this point.
Best Offense: (130) Los Angeles Dodgers
Best Pitching: (129) Toronto Blue Jays W2
Worst Offense: (5) Houston Astros (Last in every offensive category) L2
Worst Pitching: (32) Houston Astros L2
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