Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 16 of
r/baseball Power Rankings: Please enjoy this abnormal week as we all rest for the All-Star Break.
This week — for the third year in a row — we ranked the 30 MLB teams based off how much we liked them in an attempt to identify, in an unserious manner, the collective voter bias.
We do this for four reasons:
It's fun and it's time for a break
To give the proper ranks a higher chance to shake up
Ranking based off a mere 3-4 games (next week) would otherwise be a waste of time
To identify our "bias" and see how it changes year to year.
If you take this overly seriously you will be asked to sit in the corner.
TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
The delta change refers to last year's bias vote.
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 26 of 30.
| # | Team | Δ | Comment | Record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore Orioles | Orioles | 0 | 58-38 | |
| 2 | Seattle Mariners | Mariners | 0 | Baseball isn't ready for another switch pitcher – bring it on. | 52-46 |
| 3 | San Diego Padres | Padres | +12 | The Padres are sitting a game out of the last wildcard spot, with 32 (i think) sell-outs this season. Dylan Cease has been a mixed bag with amazing highs like Saturday when he only gave up one hit. With Musgrove out for the year, and Darvish dealing with personal issues after his il stint, the clear glue holding this rotation together is Matt Waldron. Hate to lose to our Rival Mariners, but I'm looking forwards to seeing Profar under the big lights this week. One of my most nostalgic baseball moments was right before Petco Park's inaugural season, the Pads had an 'Open House', inviting fans to come in and look around. My dad took me, and I remember eating freezing cold nachos, but it felt so cool to be in a shiny new stadium, and to get to walk around where the team was going to play. It conveys this wierd sense of growth in my head; as I remember walking around a mostly empty stadium on some random weekday, to now seeing the place packed to the brim every night. What's your nostalgic baseball memory? | 50-49 |
| 4 | Cleveland Guardians | Guardians | +9 | I'm glad it's bias vote week. I don't want to talk about the Guardians' baseball week. A few explanations: Guardians are obviously first, followed by Dodgers because they have my favorite player, Reds because they're in Ohio, Cubs because I have a lot of family who are Cubs fans, and Nationals because I worked at a camp outside DC for a few years and went to Nats games a lot on weekends. Astros are at the bottom because they embrace and deny cheating at the same time and are from Texas. Also in the bottom five are Red Sox (players tend to be assholes, fans are obsessed with 2004, arrogant, entitled, rude, obnoxious, and violent), Cardinals (another team with asshole players and obnoxious, arrogant, entitled fans who do that stupid best fans in baseball thing), Giants (stop acting like Bitchgarner is the GOAT because he got hot at the best possible time in 2014), and Yankees (because they're the Yankees). I predict the bottom three from the voters will be Astros, Yankees, and Dodgers. | 58-37 |
| 5 | Arizona Diamondbacks | D-Backs | +2 | This was a difficult ranking for me because in general I only like the D-backs and my feelings toward nearly every other team ranges from total apathy, to ambivalence, to general dislike, to burning and unhealthy hatred. I hate the Dodgers for obvious reasons. I hate the Padres 99% as much as I hate the Dodgers and find Tatis and Machado to be as loathsome as anybody in the league. I hate the Braves because of their fans and the Red Sox because of their ownership. I hate the Brewers for 2011 and the Pirates for the HBP business in the early/mid-2010s. Don't really care about anyone else. | 49-48 |
| 6 | Milwaukee Brewers | Brewers | -2 | Thank goodness it is bias week so I can ignore that Milwaukee's regularly scheduled losses to the Pirates right before the all-star break came again this year. I planned to look at other teams and rank them based on how much their voters like the Brewers, but decided not to do this, because it meant I couldn't rank the Cubs last (instead of the usual 30th place Chicago team), however I did get concrete evidence that the Twins voter hates the Brewers. Only three teams had an average ranking for Milwaukee below 9, and the other two were mostly weighed down by low early season rankings. Then there's the Twins voter, who has us at an average rank below 11? Sorry, but it is finally time to make good on my comment from two months ago and rank the Twins 28th. | 55-42 |
| 7 | Toronto Blue Jays | Blue Jays | +4 | Things I want for the remainder of the Jays (lost) season, in no particular order: 1) Get as much return as possible for every contract with only 1 year of control remaining. 2) Except Danny Jansen. Extend Jano. We don't have a single decent catching prospect to get excited about for next year, the free agent C market is pretty brutal, and our boy mashes (usually). He calls a great game and allows Kirk to rest more, which is needed. 3) See if anyone will overpay for the 2-years-remaining deals. 4) Post-trade deadline, play the young/new guys as much as possible. Horwitz, Jimenez, Berroa, Barger, and literally any arm with upside in AAA or even AA that's not on the IL (which is a short list, because nearly all of our upside farm arms are injured). We need to know who can actually contribute in a meaningful way next year. 5) Fire Ross Atkins and elevate James Click. Fire Don Mattingly (and his stupid fucking sideburns) and Guillermo Martinez and elevate Matt Hague, who actually seems to have this wild notion of coaching up individual players' offensive strengths, rather than force everyone into a system that's NOT WORKING DON. 6) Extend Vladdy. As soon as possible. He's still younger than almost all of the Buffalo Boys mentioned above, he's having a great year, and he's the cornerstone. 7) Free up as much cash as possible to throw everything remaining at Soto. Failing that, be prepared to bring in some actual impact, POWER bats next season. 8) Get rid of that terrible prison-wall looking backdrop in the Rogers Centre home-plate seats. 9) Have fucking fun. | 44-52 |
| 8 | Pittsburgh Pirates | Pirates | 0 | After weeks of sitting in neutral, the Pirates finally put it into gear this week, going 5-1 to claw back to .500 and within 2 games of a wild card spot. It's always nice to take a series in Milwaukee given the Bucs' frequent misfortune there, and Paul Skenes 7 no-hit innings on Thursday helped take the rubber match and probably earned him start for the National League in the All-Star Game. The Pirates then ended the first half of the season the way they opened it: by sweeping a bad team on the road. The Bucs have a habit of getting hot before the All-Star break; I hope they can keep it going afterwards, too. | 48-48 |
| 9 | Kansas City Royals | Royals | +12 | Jac Caglianone makes me moist in my special places | 52-45 |
| 10 | Detroit Tigers | Tigers | +4 | All Star Break time! Does anyone watch it anyways? | 47-50 |
| 11 | Tampa Bay Rays | Rays | -1 | The only big downside of this week is that we didn't win on Longoria night. Two series wins, including one against a good team, bring the Rays back to balance for the break. This is a good, honest .500 baseball team. We play .500 ball goddammit. Salt of the earth, punch the clock, even win/loss ratio baseball. We lose a couple, guess what? We'll win a couple, too. But don't get too excited or let it go to your head. No long winning streaks here, no sir. That's hubris, which this blue collar, hard working everyman team doesn't have. A few wins in a row, these guys, true to form, will balance it out with a couple a losses. Yes sir, that's my 2024 Rays. A good, honest .500 baseball team. | 48-48 |
| 12 | Cincinnati Reds | Reds | -9 | So we're doing our rankings this week based on our opinion of the other teams. You see, I think the NL central is different than the other leagues, because the rivalries here seem more personal than other divisions. In the other divisions you can always say that it boils down to those teams just not liking each other but they get past it. Meanwhile in the NL central we're mostly all just more concerned with what each other's blood tastes like. Like i'm sure if you told a Red Sox fan that someone nuked New York City, they'd express concern for the well being of the people. Not me. If you told me they wiped St. Louis off the map with tactical precision, I might ask to see the remains to verify it's gone. I might even throw a barbecue. See, the NL central knows rivalries. And it's not just them, I feel similarly towards the other teams. Like I wouldn't wish them to be nuked, I mean Chicago alone has been through a lot. The chicago fire, the influx of violence, the existence of the Chicago Bears, the lingering infestation of Cubs fans, just terrible terrible things that city has had to endure. I don't have many personal issues with the Brewers outside the obligatory fuck Ryan Braun, I just hate how we can't fucking beat them. Kinda similar to the Pirates right now, though we've only recently developed an inability to really beat them. Anyway, I don't got much else to say, fuck the Pirates, something something Barry Bonds and Chris Archer, they're really not worth coming up with something more. Their logo looks like my grandpa after half a bottle of Jägermeister and an all day Pirates of the Carribean marathon. They smell. Fuck you I don't know. Anyway if anyone has any cute friends or even a sister that's single, hit me up i'm currently looking for game you know? | 47-50 |
| 13 | Minnesota Twins | Twins | -7 | There are two types of people in the world: People who think the Twins are pretty likable, and White Sox fans. | 54-42 |
| 14 | Colorado Rockies | Rockies | +2 | 34-63 | |
| 15 | Chicago Cubs | Cubs | +4 | It has been 34 years since Wrigley Field hosted the ASG. Just Saying | 47-51 |
| 16 | Oakland Athletics | Athletics | -7 | Lol Phillies I guess, when our offense clicks, it clicks. .500 in our last 10, and if we were like that the rest of the season I'd be ecstatic, but trade deadline, so probably one last push with this group (bye Rooker and possibly Erceg). Speaking of Rooker, he was robbed but hoping to see Miller throw 103 missiles down the middle | 37-61 |
| 17 | Washington Nationals | Nationals | +8 | 44-53 | |
| 18 | Los Angeles Angels | Angels | -1 | 40% of the time I find myself feeling sad, it's because I started to randomly reflect on the arc Mike Trout's career has taken. | 41-55 |
| 19 | Miami Marlins | Marlins | -1 | 33-63 | |
| 20 | Atlanta Braves | Braves | -15 | I saw a post on social media recently that has the "Mount Rushmore of Baseball Movies" and I have to say I agreed with their decision. The movies were: A League of Their Own, The Sandlot, Major League and Rookie of the Year. You can argue with me all you want, but you're wrong. It was literally set in stone. "If you build it they will come" ain't got NOTHING on "There's no crying in baseball!" Dont @ me. Or do. I don't care. | 53-42 |
| 21 | San Francisco Giants | Giants | -9 | About all I have to say, currently | 47-50 |
| 22 | Texas Rangers | Rangers | -2 | The Rangers winning the World Series has drastically changed my outlook on life. It is wild what having one or your favorite teams win one can do for your mental health. I was clearly way too emotionally invested into sports but having your team win it all and have that flag fly forever is truly a feeling I wish on mostly everyone. I also reached a sport euphoria the week of the world series that I think I'll never get again. Having the Rangers win and Oklahoma State winning the last known Bedlam is a high I will be chasing for most likely the rest of my life, but my god was it so worth it. | 46-50 |
| 23 | New York Mets | Mets | +3 | Last year when we did the fun ranking I ranked the Mets 30th because they were causing me psychological distress every night. Things have improved – the first half has been a wild ride with beloved characters like Seymour Weiner, Max Weiner, the weiner dog that was eating a hot dog, and Jose Iglesias. Sticking with my preseason prediction of 84-78 for the Mets. Also, I ranked the Astros 2nd because if the Mets can't win I want all of you to have to suffer with me, sorry. | 49-46 |
| 24 | Philadelphia Phillies | Phillies | -1 | I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really hate the Mets. | 62-34 |
| 25 | Chicago White Sox | White Sox | -3 | I really don't have a whole lot to say, to be honest. I've probably watched more non-White Sox baseball than White Sox baseball at this point of the season. This organization is trash from top to bottom. If I had to name even one bright spot, I would have to sprial all the way down to the Sodfather, Roger Bossard, caretaker of our grass. Last year, there was, at least, Jason Benetti, one of the best people and broadcasters in the business. Our fucking terrible culture drove him out. In the past, I could also point to the stadium food as a positive, but even that has gone downhill as they changed their major provider of bratwurst and Italian Sausages (my favorite in the ballpark) from Louisville to a smaller distributor whose quality is much worse. They even got rid of Dippin Dots for the vastly inferior Mini Melts. It is something that I can just not stand for. What is there now? A campfire milkshake that is only available in one publicly accessible spot. Some might point to the farm system as a future bright spot, but don't forget that the man who led the White Sox farm system to the overall worst record in baseball and has been in charge of all the failed development of basically all of the White Sox players in the last 5 years is now in charge of the whole thing. I might be a bit hesistant to call that a bright spot. I guess I had a few things to get off my chest. | 27-71 |
| 26 | Los Angeles Dodgers | Dodgers | -2 | I'm just gonna pretend this week didn't happen. The Depressed Dodgers somehow lost Dustin May for the rest of the year to an eating injury, which you can only laugh at the absurdity of. Thank god the all star break is here, because I cannot watch another series from the Dodgers team in their current form. | 56-41 |
| 27 | Boston Red Sox | Red Sox | 0 | Well, things are shaping up for the '74 Sox. Going into the ASB, Boston is (just barely) holding on to the lead for the AL East at 50-45. While we've had some setbacks (Fisk's knee exploding was tragic), this scrappy squad has managed to overcome everything thrown at them. Luis Tiant continues to blow me away, re-inventing himself from his high strikout approach in Cleveland while still remaining highly effective. I really think we could break the curse this year… | 53-42 |
| 28 | St. Louis Cardinals | Cardinals | 0 | The lights from the Polo Grounds are still in use today at Phoenix Municipal Stadium (home of Arizona State baseball) | 50-46 |
| 29 | Houston Astros | Astros | 0 | https://imgur.com/KHWaNzI | 50-46 |
| 30 | New York Yankees | Yankees | 0 | The good: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, and…Austin Wells(?) mashing. The bad: Jose Trevino is hurt. The ugly: Clay Holmes is the second most notable person to hit someone in the head with a projectile last week. | 58-40 |
10 comments
Wow. I expected the Red Sox to be near the bottom, but not have that many teams below them
**Mobile Friendly Rankings + ‘True Rank’**
*Below these ranks is yet another explanation for this abnormal week of ranking in the hope that no one is confused.*
1. Orioles 7.462
2. Mariners 9.808
3. Padres 11.654
4. Guardians 11.692 — *CLOSE!*
5. D-Backs 12.038
6. Brewers 12.154 — *CLOSE!*
7. Blue Jays 12.654
8. Pirates 12.731 — *CLOSE!*
9. Royals 13.231
10. Tigers 13.346 — *CLOSE!*
11. Rays 13.423 — *CLOSE!*
12. Reds 13.615 — *CLOSE!*
13. Twins 13.808 — *CLOSE!*
14. Rockies 14.038
15. Cubs 14.192 — *CLOSE!*
16. Athletics 14.885
17. Nationals 15.769
18. Angels 16.077
19. Marlins 16.192 — *CLOSE!*
20. Braves 16.769
21. Giants 17
23. Rangers 17.423
23. Mets 17.423 — **TIE!**
24. Phillies 17.462 — *CLOSE!*
25. White Sox 18.5
26. Dodgers 19.462
27. Red Sox 21.269
28. Cardinals 21.692
29. Astros 23.885
30. Yankees 25.346
___________________________________________
**This week — for the third year in a row — we ranked the 30 MLB teams based off how much we liked them in an attempt to identify, in an unserious manner, the collective voter bias.**
We do this for four reasons:
* It’s fun and it’s time for a break
* To give the proper ranks a higher chance to shake up
* Ranking based off a mere 3-4 games (next week) would otherwise be a waste of time
* To identify our “bias” and see how it changes year to year.
Why the hell do people view Cleveland so highly? Their river was once so polluted it started on fire. Nasty little (shit hitting) goblins!
Guardians ranker. I was right about two of the bottom three! Tell me your team and I’ll tell you what number they are and what my logic is.
Shit, if only we could be more like the White Sox 🙁 that’s the type of org the people prefer
1 and 30 are certainly correct.
How in the world are the D-Backs that well liked?! I mean I don’t hate them or anything, it’s just weird to me that people have any feelings towards them at all (outside of D-backs fans of course)
Let it be known that no one hates the White Sox more than the White Sox.
Gunnar and Adley are the most wholesome, likeable duo in baseball. They could have walked right off the cover of Boys Life magazine.
When we’re knocked out of the division lead and miss the playoffs again, at least we can say people really like us, which is *something*, I guess