Week Six
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
May 14, 2007

I think we have learned a lot about how the 2007 season will ultimately shake out this week. Here is a quick division-by-division look as I see it before we get to the Power Rankings.

AL East - With Manny Ramirez starting to hit and Matsuzaka starting to pitch, the Red Sox are already 8.5 games ahead of the second place Yankees and appear to be in cruise control. A more interesting race may be in the bottom of the division, where the D'Rays may end up moving past the injury-riddled Blue Jays if they can just win some games.

Sidebar - Why do we always feel comfortable refering to the team from Tampa as the "D'Rays" when we never ever called the team from the Toronto the "B'Jays"? Actually, I just said that name out loud to myself and now I think I know why.

AL Central - This division will be decided on the basis of "who can do what." At this point, the Indians can hit but can't pitch; the White Sox can pitch but can't hit; the Tigers can do both, and the Twins can do neither.

AL West - The acquisition of Jack Cust and the resurgence of Dan Johnson appears to have shaken this divisional race, but if the Angels can get a rotation of Colon-Weaver-Lackey-Escobar-Moseley healthy and functioning, and demote Ervin Santana to the bullpen (in Salt Lake City), the Angels will not be stopped.

NL East - It is going to be August before the Phillies can get Ryan Howard going, by which point they will have dealt some indespensible part of their team for 2010 help. That said, this division looks to be a two-horse race between Atlanta and New York, and New York seems to be the older, weaker team at this point.

NL Central - The Brewers got handled 2-out-of-3 by the Mets this week, so they may not be indestructable. That said, they are off and running with Dave Bush and Ben Sheets not even full speed yet. All of the NL Central teams have major issues, though, and no one has stepped up to challenge Milwaukee as of yet.

NL West - This division is turning out to be quite tough, isn't it? Of the four teams that look to be players right now, the Giants appear to have untapped upside while the D'Backs have untapped downside. The Padres and Dodgers, meanwhile, look ready to duel their pitchers all the way until the end of the season.

Without further ado, here are the Week Six Power Rankings. Enjoy and, as always, feel free to comment.

Rank	Team	Comments	Prev
1		Boston Red Sox (25-13) Record for the Week - 5-1 vs. Blue Jays, Orioles How good would they be if Manny had been hitting well?	1
2		Milwaukee Brewers (25-12) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Nationals, Mets Top team in NL doesn't seem to be hitting on all cylinders yet.	2
3		Atlanta Braves (24-13) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Padres, Pirates Spent week beating on former Braves stars LaRoche, Giles.	3
4		New York Mets (23-13) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Giants, Brewers Eep!: Shawn Green, Moises Alou, Oliver Perez playing big roles.	4
5		Detroit Tigers (23-13) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Mariners, Twins Bad Move! I-Rod (1/24 BB/K) has batted leadoff 10 times this year!	6
6		Los Angeles Dodgers (23-15) Record for the Week - 5-2 vs. Marlins, Reds 3.17 Team ERA is shocking in this era.	7
7		Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (21-17) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Indians, Rangers Ervin Santana wins the "Make Asher Look Like an Idiot" Award.	9
8		Cleveland Indians (21-14) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Orioles, Angels, A's SABR-fab: Indians take 2nd most walks, give up least walks.	5
9		San Diego Padres (20-18) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Braves, Cardinals Losing Hensley makes this the best staff in the NL.	8
10		Chicago White Sox (18-16) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Twins, Royals .223 team AVG: Are these guys also storing balls in humidors?	12
11		Oakland Athletics (19-17) Record for the Week - 4-2 vs. Royals, Indians Triplets separated at birth: Swisher, Johnson, Cust.	13
12		San Francisco Giants (19-18) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Rockies, Phillies Can we stop with the "Ortiz is back" talk now?	10
13		Seattle Mariners (17-16) Record for the Week - 4-3 vs. Yankees, Tigers One Jeff Weaver DL-trip from contending in AL West.	14
14		Arizona Diamondbacks (20-19) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Phillies, Astros Tracy having better year than David Wright.	15
15		Minnesota Twins (18-19) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. White Sox, Tigers What's That Noise? Pitchers returning to earth.	10
16		Houston Astros (18-19) Record for the Week - 5-2 vs. Reds, D'Backs No Roger No Cry: Good week following Rocket jilt.	19
17		Philadelphia Phillies (14-17) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. D'Backs, Cubs Maybe Howard should not enter games until bases are loaded.	21
18		New York Yankees (18-19) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Rangers, Mariners Pred: Fans turn on A-Rod when SLG dips below .700.	23
19		Baltimore Orioles (18-20) Record for the Week - 4-3 vs. Indians, D'Rays, Red Sox Win games w/o good performances.	26
20		Chicago Cubs (17-18) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Pirates, Phillies Told you not to get excited about sweeping the Nats.	20
21		Pittsburgh Pirates (16-20) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Cubs, Braves Snell, Gorzelanny good, young pitchers; rest are just young.	22
22		St. Louis Cardinals (15-20) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Rockies, Padres Play of Pujols, Rolen, Edmonds doesn't even make any sense.	24
23		Tampa Bay Devil Rays (15-22) Record for the Week - 1-5 vs. Orioles, Blue Jays A team must win where SP gives team 9 shutout innings.	18
24		Colorado Rockies (16-22) Record for the Week - 3-4 vs. Cardinals, Giants A decent team in a tough division.	25
25		Florida Marlins (16-21) Record for the Week - 2-5 vs. Dodgers, Nationals Swept by Nats - That has to be a wake-up call.	16
26		Cincinnati Reds (15-23) Record for the Week - 1-6 vs. Astros, Dodgers Pitching bubbles bursting big-time.	17
27		Toronto Blue Jays (13-18) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Red Sox, D'Rays Thomas deserves what he gets after leaving A's for the money.	28
28		Texas Rangers (15-22) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. Yankees, Angels A very frustrating team, to say the least.	27
29		Washington Nationals (12-25) Record for the Week - 3-3 vs. Marlins, Brewers What's that I smell? Is it . . . Pitching?	30
30		Kansas City Royals (12-26) Record for the Week - 2-4 vs. A's, White Sox Royals were Cust to play A's this week.	29

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.