UPDATED POWER RANKINGS

OPENING DAY POWER RANKINGS:
 UPDATED  

FAVORITES TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES.
TOP 10

10. Boston Red Sox.  Fantasy owner friendly. Boston after starting out horrible in '11 turned it around to become the best team in baseball... and then collapsed and with that Manager Terry Francona was out. Not to long after Theo Epstein jumped ship. In comes Bobby Valentine but Managers don't win or lose you many games. Still one of the most talented teams in all of baseball even after losing long time closer Jonathan Papelbon. Replaced by Andrew Bailey while not as proven is just as good, although will now miss some time on the DL. Carl Crawford can only play better and Kevin Youkilis is back in the lineup. Short on pitching long on elite American League hitters.

9. San Francisco Giants.  signed Matt Cain long term and have Lincecum under contract the Giants are feeling good about things. Adding Melky Cabrera MLB's most underrated player will certainly help that very thin lineup. Buster Posey is back and looks healthy so look for an improved offense out of San Francisco. The staff is one of the best in the league. Bumgarner is one of the games best young lefthanders. Brian Wilson if he can stay healthy is a top shelf closer. Should be in a close race with several teams in the NL West but get the nice ranking because of their potential playoff capability.

 8. Philadelphia Phillies. Blah Blah Blah. Same old story... yet minus even less offense then before. Losing Oswalt will hurt and will certainly shorten up that rotation in a long season. Chase Utley is out. Jimmy Rollins isn't getting any younger and Ryan Howard is a big question mark. The Phillies offense confirmed what I already new last postseason. Not enough bats to score against elite playoff calibur rotations. They couldn't hit the Cardinals without Wainright. Aging pretty much every where, the window is closing quicker then everyone thought. This is a sinking ship in my opinion.


7. Atlanta Braves. Young and talented still led by future hall of famer Chipper Jones, from the bench. Top 5 pitching staff with Hudson, Jurrgens and Hanson along with the Best bullpen in all of baseball. With a staff built for the playoffs this team is looking to forget the meltdown of last summer and make a run in this October. Heyward needs to figure it out. Freeman could be the next Mark Grace. All I know is the Braves are going to be giving the Phillies a run again this year. What's new?


6. Tampa Bay Rays. Joe Maddon has a team primed to push for another run at a AL East Pennant. A Great Young stable of arms led by the real ace of the team James Shields followed in line by David Price, Hellickson and the propane arm of the phenom Matt Moore. Mix in a reliable Wade Davis and Niemann and you have a top 3 AL staff. Plenty of questions about this club like will Carlos Pena and Bossman Junior combine for over 350 strike outs this year? Can you get production out of your DH? and Kyle Farnsworth closing out games, ummmmm scary.

 5. St. Louis Cardinals. Fantasy owner friendly World Champions. Can't take that away that from them... but what you can take away is the most feared hitter in baseball. Albert is gone. The best player of his generation is gone AND Oh yeah the best manager in baseball is gone to huh? Tony "Beer Googles" Larussa. "yeah that drunk" Even while losing the best manager and the best player the Cardinals are a serious threat to get back to NLCS. How can I say that? Adding Carlos Beltran was big, it makes their defense better and saves everyone from having to watch Berkman limp after balls in the down in the corner. Seems like everyone is sleeping on Adam Wainright and his 19 wins a year being put back into that rotation which should be outstanding this season.


4. New York Yankees. Fantasy owner friendly Won more games in 2011 then anyone. Then they added Michael Pineda and Kuroda to the rotation to stack up better in playoff series. C.C. is an automatic 19 wins and they have the best bullpen in the American League now that Joba is on the shelf.  You have to put them as the favorite in the AL EAST and possibly the best team in baseball when it is all said and done. GRANDERSON, CANO, TEX, A-ROD's All those names still look good on that line up card. Big key to season will be if Ivan Nova can remain reliable. Great Bullpen should be October bound.


3. Detroit Tigers. Dominate team in a crappy division. Pairing Prince with Miguel Cabrera instantly makes them the most feared 3-4 hitters in the game. While losing V-Mart hurts it won't as bad as you think. Miguel Cabrera will not make the transition to 3B successfully and will ultimately have to go to DH . Think about it he was a bottom tier 1B defensively man. Jim Leland is begging thinking that he can play 3B. Having a 3-4 in the middle of the order like the Tigers now have takes you a long ways just look at Prince's old team for evidence of that. The prettiest card in the deck, the ace of spades Justin Verlander fresh off his AL Cy Young. oh yeah he also won the AL MVP, but he is a pitcher so its no big deal because that happens all the time. Jacoby Ellsbury didn't get robbed at all. BTW Time for Rick Porcello to figure it out. A weak division makes them a playoff lock if Verlander stays healthy.

 
2. Texas Rangers. Are they becoming the Buffalo Bills of Baseball? It is tough to win a World Series. Ask Bobby Cox. The Rangers have been so close for two years, exit CJ Wilson enter Yu Darvish. Yu will join a terrific young staff led by Ace... wait what? is this right? Colby Lewis? Umm no I guess its Derek Holland?  okayyy, Harrison and the fireballer Feliz will join Darvish. Imagine if the Rangers would of landed Prince in free agency? We may of been talking about one of the best offensive lineups in the history of baseball. As is, the line up they currently sport isn't to shabby. Lay off the sauce Joshua. Lay of white lines Ron. They def get my Fantasy owner friendly stamp of approvel. Have fun opposing pitcher. No you can't use an L screen.

 
1. L.A. Angels of Anaheim. Fantasy owner friendly  Arte Moreno stepped up and pulled out his wallet and landed "El Hombre" and CJ Wilson for a cool 330 Mill. Result = The Angels are loaded. We are talking the best rotation in baseball. 4 Aces, thats the nuts around these parts. Stealing your divisional rival's Ace? Behave Angels, that is just naughty. Weaver, Haren, Santana and Wilson makes up my top rotation in baseball. Adding Pujols and with Morales coming back all of a sudden the powerless Angels just got juiced. A crowded OF and 1B has many rumors swirling about possible trades so we will probably see some moves made at some point. Trumbo all of a sudden has no position. Trout is stuck in the minors and Abreu is wanting to know if anyone cares about him anymore. Gone is the worst offensive player in the game in catcher Jeff Mathis he is replaced by Chris Ianetta a definite upgrade. This is how I see it, Some hits are better than no hits right? Question marks? Closer Jordan Walden, can he step up and be a shutdown closer? Will they use a Bourjous, Trumbo, Trout or Conger in a trade to get a lockdown closer? What is Not a question mark? Mike Scioscia, best manager in baseball.