2015 MLB Power Rankings Week 24

Well kids there are only two weeks left in the regular season. It's officially the home stretch. Only one playoff spot has been handed out so far which means there are still nine up in the air with only a fistfull of games left. Let's take a look at who still has something left to play for and who might just be playing out the string.

*Note ~ All stats and records will include today's early game between the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers.

**Double note ~ The reason for the lack of rankings last week was so I could watch my sorry Philadelphia Eagles open the season with a loss.

1. St. Louis Cardinals (93-56) ~ When the San Francisco Giants lost Saturday night it clinched a playoff berth for the Cards. This is the fifth straight season St. Louis will be playing into October. Truly a well-run organization. (Last Ranking 1)

2. Kansas City Royals (87-62) ~ Kendrys Morales set a new franchise record by totaling 15 bases in Sunday’s win against the Detroit Tigers. He walked, tripled and homered three times while scoring in all five of his plate appearances. He is the first Royal to hit three homers in a game since Danny Tartabull in 1991. (LR 2)

3. Pittsburgh Pirates (89-60) ~ Mark Melancon on Saturday set a new Pirates franchise-record with his league-leading 47^th save. Just for good measure he tacked on another one last night. Only two other relievers have surpassed 40 saves this year. (LR 3)

4. Chicago Cubs (87-62) ~ Jake Arrieta has given up one or fewer runs in eight of his last nine starts. It's officially a two-horse race between him and Zack Greinke for the National League Cy Young award. (LR 4)

5. Toronto Blue Jays (85-64) ~ The Blue Jays are 99.9% likely to make the postseason according to the math. Looks like they are set to end the longest playoff drought in the majors similar to what the Royals did last year. (LR 5)

6. Los Angeles Dodgers (85-63) ~ With a 7 1/2 game lead over the Giants the NL West is all but officially LA's. The big question now is how will they fare in the postseason after some recent early flameouts? (LR 7)

7. New York Mets (84-65) ~ Ask any Mets fan about how they feel with a nice division lead with only a few games left in the season. That said, I think it's safe to say the Mets will take the NL East. That was almost unthinkable at the beginning of the year. (LR 9)

8. New York Yankees (82-66) ~ Masahiro Tanaka will miss at least one start with a hamstring strain suffered while running the bases. If the Yankees are going to catch Toronto or make noise in the playoffs they will need their ace healthy. (LR 6)

9. Texas Rangers (80-69) ~ Last week's battle of Texas went to the Rangers after they swept the Houston Astros to take control of the American League West. If the season ended today both teams would be in the playoffs. (LR 10)

10. Houston Astros (79-71) ~ After a hellacious 2-8 road trip the Astros have to be glad they are back home where they have won an MLB-best 50 games thus far. (LR 8)

11. Washington Nationals (78-71) ~ Since they are just about going through the motions for the rest of the season it is time to look forward to 2016. Manager Matt Williams has gone on the record saying they will put Anthony Rendon back at third base after using him at second for much of the season. (LR 11)

12. Minnesota Twins (76-73) ~ A father and young daughter drove three hours to the Twins/Angels game Friday only to have it rained out. While this happens to lots of fans the Twins reached out via Twitter and not only provided them with a hotel room but upgraded their tickets for Saturday’s game. Good for you Twins. It’s always nice to hear stories like this. (LR 12)

13. Los Angeles Angels (76-73) ~ Albert Pujols snapped out of his career-worst 0-for-25 stretch Saturday. While any player can go through a similar stretch it just goes to show how dominant the slugger has been throughout his fifteen year career. (LR 13)

14. San Francisco Giants (78-71) ~ Tim Hudson picked up the win last night and has maybe two more starts left in what has been one hell of a career. As a Braves fan I want to thank Huddy for all he's done and I'm glad he got a ring last year. (LR 14)

15. Baltimore Orioles (73-76) ~ Rafael Palmeiro signed last week to play independent ball with the Sugar Land Skeeters so he could play with his son who is also on the team. The 50-year-old former All-Star went two-for-four with a walk, RBI and a run scored. Looks like he’s still got it. His son? Also went two-for-four with a grand slam. Not a bad day at the office for the Palmeiro’s. The big club’s season is all but over so why not talk about something fun? (LR 16)

16. Cleveland Indians (74-74) ~ Somehow, some way, the Indians remain alive in the playoff hunt. I've proclaimed them dead most of the season but it turns out they were only mostly dead. They do have to leapfrog the Angels, Twins and Astros/Rangers to get in but they have a shot and that's more than half the teams in the league can say. (LR 19)

17. Tampa Bay Rays (72-77) ~ While Tampa's postseason hopes are all but dashed they do have six games remaining against Toronto that will mean something down the stretch. (LR 15)

18. Arizona Diamondbacks (71-78) ~ No offense to Rubby De La Rosa but if he is leading your pitching staff in ERA (4.60), wins (13) and strikeouts (144) something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. (LR 17)

19. Chicaco White Sox (71-78) ~ To say that Jeff Samardzija has been a disappointment this season would be taking it easy on the guy. That said, he did hurl a one-hitter today against the Detroit Tigers. (LR 20)

20. Seattle Mariners (73-77) ~ Nelson Cruz has 42 long balls and just 88 RBI. If anyone in Seattle could get on base before him in the lineup I'm sure he would have a much stronger MVP case. (LR 22)

21. San Diego Padres (70-80) ~ It's truly hard for me to pick who is the bigger disappiontment this season: San Diego or Seattle. What do you think? Seriously. Leave feedback. (LR 18)

22. Boston Red Sox (71-77) ~ David Ortiz became the 27th player to reach the 500 home run plateau. While the Hall of Fame has yet to induct a player who has primarily been a designated hitter I have to believe Ortiz has a legit shot. (LR 21)

23. Detroit Tigers (69-80) ~ After four straight American League Central titles the Tigers are just two losses away from their first losing season since 2008. (LR 23)

24. Oakland A's (64-86) ~ Barry Zito is back in the bigs. It may have taken a cracked rib for Jesse Chavez but Zito is back where it all began. In a season to forget that has to give A's fans some incentive to come back out to the park. (LR 25)

25. Colorado Rockies (63-86) ~ Is the writing on the wall for manager Walt Weiss? GM Jeff Bridich hasn’t said whether Weiss will be back or not next season. The Rockies are 203-270 since Weiss took over in 2013. (LR 27)

26. Miami Marlins (64-86) ~ When Ichiro signed with the Marlins during the offseason it was to be their fourth outfielder. Now, with two weeks left in the season, he leads the team in games played (142). It's safe to say a lot when wrong in Miami this year. (LR 28)

27. Cincinnati Reds (63-85) ~ If some of the pitching prospects the Reds picked up when they traded away Johnny Cueto pan out they could make a quick turnaround next year. They still have Joey Votto, Todd Frazier and Jay Bruce who make up a solid middle of the lineup. (LR 26)

28. Milwaukee Brewers (63-85) ~ Milwaukee is expected to announce David Stearns as their new general manager. Stearns is just 30 years old and will be the youngest GM in all of baseball. Since he is a year younger than me this is officially an “I feel old” moment. (LR 24)

29. Atlanta Braves (60-90) ~ With a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies it looks like the Braves will avoid finishing the season with the worst record in all of baseball. That means they will avoid getting the top overall pick. As a Braves fan I'm not sure how I feel about that. (LR 29)

30. Philadelphia Phillies (56-94) ~ The fact that Philadelphia is the closest Major League stadium to where I live I am OK with them finishing up like this. Tickets should be cheap next year. (LR 30)

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