Week Two
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
April 16, 2007

Well, the season has taken an odd turn as April weather has forced the postponement of games in Cleveland, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Boston, Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia. As a result, there have only been three days out of the first 14, not including opening night on Sunday, in which at least one game was not cancelled. What this means in the standings is that while Arizona has played 13 games, and many teams have played 12, the Astros, Giants, and Red Sox have only played 10, the Indians have played nine, and the Mariners have played only eight.

In theory, depending on whether Cleveland and Seattle are in the playoff hunt towards the end of the season, one could imagine a scenario in which those two teams would play under 160 games this season if Major League Baseball decides that making up the lost games isn't necessary.

Despite the weather, though, the BaseballEvolution.com Power Rankings pushes on and tries to sort out the mess. Enjoy and, as always, feel free to comment.

Rank	Team	Comments	Prev
1		Arizona Diamondbacks (9-4) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Reds, Rockies Youngsters, veterans clicking well right now - can it last?	6
2		Atlanta Braves (8-3) Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Nationals, Marlins Won 3 by scoring 8 runs each time; lost 2 by coming out flat.	1
3		Los Angeles Dodgers (8-4) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Rockies, Padres Free agency overrated? Only losses last week in Schmidt starts.	10
4		Boston Red Sox (6-4) Record for the Week - 3-1 vs. Mariners, Angels Outscored two good opponents 32-7 last week.	15
5		Cleveland Indians (6-3) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Angels, White Sox Good news - pitching carrying hitting early on, for once.	13*
6		St. Louis Cardinals (6-5) Record for the Week - 4-1 vs. Pirates, Brewers Scary: 4-1 this week despite Carpenter injury, Pujols slump.	24
7		Cincinnati Reds (7-5) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. D'Backs, Cubs 3-2 in 5 one-run games last week; 0-1 in seven-run blowouts.	5
8		Detroit Tigers (7-5) Record for the Week - 4-3 vs. Orioles, Blue Jays Impressive week - four of seven despite poor hitting, bullpen.	12
9		New York Mets (7-4) Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Phillies, Nationals Not good - Mets pitchers: 60K/50BB in 97.0 innings.	5
10		Toronto Blue Jays (7-5) Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Tigers, Devil Rays Bad signs - Towers is ace, Burnett awful, Ryan on DL.	11
11		San Diego Padres (7-5) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Giants, Dodgers Giles brothers each have 6R, 14H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 1HR, 20TB.	9
12		Minnesota Twins (7-5) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Yankees, Devil Rays Inconsistency led to losses in winnable games at home.	3
13		Milwaukee Brewers (6-5) Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Marlins, Cardinals Impressive on the road despite weather issues.	18
14		Seattle Mariners (5-3) Record for the Week - 3-2 vs. Red Sox, Rangers Few games hard to judge; have looked very good and very bad.	14*
15		Florida Marlins (6-5) Record for the Week - 2-3 vs. Brewers, Braves Key to success - less Jorge Julio (1/10 K/BB in 4.2 innings)	8
16		Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Record for the Week - 1-4 vs. Indians, Red Sox Free agency overrated? Matthews - 7-for-first-16; 3-for-26 since.	2
17		Baltimore Orioles (6-6) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Tigers, Royals Mazzone earning reputation back; is Trachsel the next Moyer?	25
18		Chicago White Sox (5-6) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. A's, Indians Scored 16 runs in three wins, 2 runs in three losses.	22
19		Oakland Athletics (6-7) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. White Sox, Yankees Street Sign - Huston is 2-1 with 2 saves in 7 games.	19
20		New York Yankees (5-6) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Twins, A's Would have been 4-2 this week if not for that stinking Rivera.	21
21		Houston Astros (4-6) Record for the Week - 3-1 vs. Cubs, Phillies Worst bullpen in majors is costing Astros wins.	27
22		Colorado Rockies (5-7) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Dodgers, Diamondbacks Played close vs. good teams on the road; starters very good so far.	17
23		Texas Rangers (5-7) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Devil Rays, Mariners Predictable - McCarthy imploding in Texas.	26
24		Tampa Bay Devil Rays (5-7) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Rangers, Twins 4 game split vs. Twins on road impressive for young team.	20
25		Pittsburgh Pirates (4-6) Record for the Week - 0-4 vs. Cardinals, Giants Even good pitching needs some run support.	7
26		Chicago Cubs (4-6) Record for the Week - 1-4 vs. Astros, Reds Shocking: Zambrano 10K/11BB; Rest of Starters 78K/26BB.	16
27		Washington Nationals (3-9) Record for the Week - 2-3 vs. Braves, Mets League's worst roster took 2 of 3 on road vs. two top teams.	30
28		San Francisco Giants (3-7) Record for the Week - 2-2 vs. Padres, Pirates Cain, Lowry, Morris, even Ortiz looking good; can Zito get on track?	29
29		Philadelphia Phillies (3-8) Record for the Week - 2-3 vs. Mets, Astros Starters pitching well enough to win, relievers well enough to lose.	28
30		Kansas City Royals (3-9) Record for the Week - 1-5 vs. Blue Jays, Orioles Reserves are outhitting starters at this point; batting .229 as a team.	23

Power Rankings for Previous Weeks: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26

Questions? Concerns? Comments? Asher lives in Philadelphia, PA, and can be reached at asher@baseballevolution.com.