The Power Alley

First we rank the teams.

• No. 1: Boston Red Sox - They might not have the best record in baseball, but they have quality wins over the Yankees (3) and Twins (2)


• No. 2: Toronto Blue Jays - They have the best record in baseball. And they could be legit. But right now, they've basically faced sub-.500 teams.


• No. 3: St. Louis Cardinals - These guys and the Dodgers can be flipped.


• No. 4: Los Angeles Dodgers - The Dodgers have beaten quality clubs and have outscored their opponents by more than 30 runs.


• No. 5: Seattle Mariners - The front end of their rotation is ridiculously dominant right now. Erik Bedard, Jarrod Washburn and Felix Hernandez are a combined 9-2.


• No. 6: Philadelphia Phillies - It's true, they're behind the Marlins, but the Fish have too many wins against the Nationals. Plus, the Phils are World Champs. Even if they're starters don't seem to know it.


• No. 7: Kansas City Royals - Zack Grienke is having a fantastic season. And in a tightly-packed Junior Central, the Royals are in first.


• No. 8: Florida Marlins - The Fish are in first, so they belong on this list. But, good God. They had a six-game losing skid.


• No. 9: Pittsburgh Pirates - The pitching staff is sick. Right now, it has a 3.41 ERA. They probably won't last, but they deserve to be here right now.


• No. 10: The White Sox - There are a bunch of teams that are within a game of these guys, but we;ll but the Sox here because, well, we can.

• No. 1: Washington Nationals - These guys weren't supposed to be good. But these guys are aweful. Seriously, could they win the International League? With this pitching staff, it's doubtful. Although Adam Dunn could hit 50 home runs.
• No. 2: Oakland Athletics - This team has not shown any pop. In fact, Carlos Pena has as many homers as the A's, nine.
• No. 3: Colorado Rockies - Manny Corpas has really struggled in the closing role. The offense hasn't come close to replacing Matt Holliday.
• No. 4: New York Mets - We didn't expect this at all. Maybe the Mets are about to pull a 2007 Phillies, but it seems highly doubtful. They've been sloppy and sluggish.
• No. 5: Cleveland Indians - Another underachieving team. Some squads seem to know how to win. This one seems to know how to lose.
• No. 6: Tampa Bay Rays - Other teams have worse records. But other teams aren't the defending American League Champions.
• No. 7: Arizona Diamondbacks - Brandon Webb is out. They have three starters batting over .270. Only Felipe Lopez is above .300. that's just not getting it done.
• No. 8: Anaheim Angels - These guys were supposed to contend for the Series. Instead they're hurt. And they flat out stink. Nine wins.
• No. 9: New York Yankees - They spent $4,000,000 for this? CC Sabathia is 1-2 with a 4.73 ERA, A.J. Burnett is 2-0, but he has a 5.40 ERA. Mark Teixiera is batting .197.
• No. 10: Baltimore Orioles - Oh, how it pains me to do this. The O's are one of the more exciting teams in baseball. They probably have the best outfield in baseball. It's kind of like that 1999 Phillies team that had Doug Glanville getting 200 hits, Bobby Abreu hitting .350 and a young Pat Burrell. But that team didn't win either.

Now, we look at the position players.

• No. 1: Albert Pujols - Do we expect anything less? Best all-around hitter since Stan the Man. He's hitting .320 with seven homers and 25 runs driven in. And he has more stolen bases (3) than Jimmy Rollins (1).


• No. 2: Adrian Gonzalez - He's hitting .329 with nine home runs and 20 runs batted in. And he's doing it for the Padres.


• No. 3: Mike Lowell - Yep, if the season were to end right now - not to mention if we had a vote - Mike Lowell would be our choice for AL MVP. Mike Lowell. Who'd have thought? He's got 23 runs batted in. He's hitting .349. He's got eight doubles.


• No. 4: Nick Markakis - He's for real folks. After leading the league in times on base in 2008, the right fielder is batting .381 with 22 runs driven across.


• No. 5: Carlos Pena - The .256 batting keeps him lower than you would think, considering he is tied for the lead league in home runs. Not to mention has as many as the entire Athletics roster.


• No. 6: Bobby Abreu - Sure, he hasn't homered as a Halo. But he's batting a robust .363 and he's stolen eight bases and slapped five doubles.


• No. 7: Chase Utley - He's batting .342 with seven homers and 20 runs driven in.


• No. 8: Ian Kinsler - He's hitting .326 with seven home runs and 20 runs batted in.


• No. 9: Kevin Youkilis - He's batting .406 with eight doubles and five home runs. Anyone who thought he was a one-year wonder is being proven wrong.


• No. 10: Raul Ibanez - He's making quite the splash in Philly. He's walked off one game, he's batting .359, bashed seven homers, swiped three bases and played some steady defense.

• No. 1: Magglio Ordonez - Coming into this season, he had a .312 batting average and had averaged 22 home runs and 31 doubles a season against just 59 strike outs. Those numbers compare well to players like Roberto Clemente. Ordonez, however, is is batting .241 with two extra-base hits and 15 strike outs.
• No. 2: Jimmy Rollins - The former MVP and king of strut is struggling and scuffling. He's batting a .207 with one stolen base.
• No. 3: People expected big things out of Josh Hamilton after his breakout season last year. However, he's hitting in the low .240s with two home runs.
• No. 4: David Wright - He was the cover boy for The Sporting News baseball preview magazine. He's batting .280. So what's wrong, you ask. How about 27 strike outs? How about eight runs driven in.
• No. 5. Mark Teixiera - He's proven he can walk. And get booed in Baltimore. But that's about it. He's batting .197 with three home runs. You worry that George Steinbrenner's last words are going to be, "Well, boys you have your own Mr. November. Cause that's the only time he did anything worthwhile."
• No. 6: Ken Griffey Jr. - No one expected The Kid to save Seattle again. But they are in first place. It's just his play on the field - a .200 average and five runs batted in - have nothing to do with it.
• No. 7: David Ortiz - He's batting .235 and has yet to put one out. Worse yet, he has 21 strike outs and just seven walks.
• No. 8: Chris Davis - He was impressive last season, banging out 17 home runs and batting .285 in just 80 games. This season, not so much. 33 strike outs and a .196 average.
• No. 9: Alexis Rios - The the past three seasons, the Blue Jays basher batted .296 with 53 home runs and 273 runs scored. This year, he's batting .237 with one bomb and 10 runs scored.
• No. 10: Jhonny Peralta - The Indians shortstop is supposed to be a reliable offensive force. Instead, he's batting .211 with no home runs:

• No. 1: Zack Greinke - He's given up one earned run. That's five starts. That's 36 innings. That's 44 strike outs against 8 walks. And did we mention he has a 0.50
• No. 2: Johan Santana - This was a tough call, but the Mets lefty is 3-1 with a 1.10 ERA. He's struck out nearly five strike outs for every walk. And he's pitching for the Mess.
• No. 3: Joel Piniero- Yes, we're as shocked as you are. But he deserves to be here. He's 4-0 with a 3.76 ERA. And he's pulling a Bob Tewksberry. He has a paltry six whiffs.
• No. 4: Roy Halladay - He's 4-1 with a 3.75 ERA. He's averaging more than seven innings a start. And that's in April.
• No. 5: Derek Lowe - He's just 2-1, but his record should be better. He's pitched deep into games and he's got a 3.10 ERA.
• No. 6: Josh Johnson - This guy's been a stud. He's 2-0 with a 2.60 ERA and he has 32 strikeouts in 34 innings pitched
• No. 7: Heath Bell - Trevor who? Bell leads the big leagues in saves. And he hasn't given up a run.
• No. 8: Kiko Calero - Yep, there are two Marlins on this list. And sure, he's not a closer. But he's been in 12 games and he's got 10 strikeouts against three walks and a .750 whip.
• No. 9: Dan Haren - He's just 2-3. But he has a 1.54 ERA.
• No. 10: Kevin Slowey - He's got a 4.44 ERA. But he's 3-0 with just two walks in 26 innings pitched. That's impressive.

• No. 1: Chien-Ming Wang - He was supposed to have benefited from moving down in the Yankees rotation. Instead he's giving up more runs than Montezuma. He's 0-3 with a 34.50 ERA in three starts. He actualy leads the AL in earned runs, despite missing two starts.
• No. 2:
Oliver Perez - He's got an ERA of 9.31 It's gotten so bad Adam Eaton could give this Met tips on how to pitch.
• No. 3: Cole Hamels - Mr. World Series MVP has a 7.27 ERA, and that's after pitching decently in his last two starts. But both times, he was knocked out of the game. So in four starts he's averaging fewer than five innings pitched. That' not ace-like
• No. 4: David Pursey - The Blue Jays starters has allowed 18 walks in 25 innings over five starts. That's part of the reason he's got a 7.01 ERA.
• No. 5: Adam Eaton - Seriously? How the hell is this go in a rotation? He's 1-3 with a 7.17. And that's not an aberration. In the past three seasons, the right-hander has gone 15-21 with a 6.18 ERA.
• No. 6: Kerry Wood - The first of three Indians on the list. Wood was the centerpiece of the Tribe's offseason. But he has a 6.75 ERA.
• No. 7: Fausto Carmona - Remember this Indians ace? Or supposed ace? He's 1-3 with a 6.28 ERA.
• No. 8: Saul Rivera - He was supposed to be a linchpin in the Nationals' pen. Instead, he's 0-3 with a 10.24 ERA
• No. 9: Carl Pavano - Like Adam Eaton, was there any doubt he'd be here? He's 0-3 with a 9.50 ERA. He'd be higher if we didn't actually expect worse. But we never thought he'd even make it to the mound.
• No. 10: Brad Lidge - Yes. It's heresy. But he's given up three homers. That's one more than all of last season. He has a 7.24 ERA. His hits per inning have almost doubled.