Week Sixteen
by Asher B. Chancey, BaseballEvolution.com
July 23, 2007

On the Baseballevolution.com Fan Forum, I pondered whether I could allow the Jason Kendall to serve as sufficient criteria for moving the Cubs above the Line of Death. After chiding Billy Beane somewhat ceaselessly the last two years for acquiring Kendall, I decided that I could not possibly turn around and consider Kendall to be a credible enough acquisition to make the Cubs playoff contenders.

Then a Fan Forum poster made an interesting point - arguably, getting rid of Michael Barrett and adding Kendall has turned the Cubs pitching staff - and season - around. Good point. But I still don't think the Cubs are a different team, much less and playoff contending team, as a result of this move. And thus, they remain below the Line of Death.

Much bally-hoo was made this week over the Yankees' trouncing of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This is, what, the third time this season the Yankees have played big against the D'Rays, and each time Yankees fans have heralded their hot play as the sign that the Yankees are ready to make a run at the Red Sox. Let them beat credible competition - not the D'Rays in Yankee Stadium - and then we'll talk. The Yankees go on the road against K.C. and Baltimore this week, and if they have a 5-2 trip or better, I will be ready to sweat them.

Likewise, the Cardinals have survived the Line of Death this season, but have seven games at home this week against the Cubs and Brewers. If the Cards can't win four of those games, they no longer deserve to be considered playoff contenders.

This week, we say goodbye to the Oakland A's after they went 2-4 against the Rangers and Orioles, losing both series. Humorously, there will be those that claim that the A's losing record will finally prove that Billy Beane's approach does not work. Those people are idiots. But this much we can probably count on - the players Billy Beane acquires for whatever players he sells off will be the players that surprise everyone in the next few years when the A's return to prominence.

It is the last week of July, and we have five division races and a the potential for a sixth. Isn't this great?

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

Rank

Team

Comments

Prev

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