MLB Power Rankings Week 23: Padres, Mets rise among best MLB teams as Yankees, Red Sox fall

By Matt Johnson

·Updated: September 6, 2024

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

What is the best team in baseball? The final month of the regular season is underway and the postseason race is coming down to the final weeks. With some of the best MLB teams battling for home-field advantage, it’s time for our latest MLB power rankings to evaluate clubs across the league.

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As always, our MLB power rankings factor in injuries, week-long performance and how teams fared this month. We’ll provide an analysis of the worst MLB teams on Saturday.

MLB power rankings: Worst MLB teams

26. Oakland Athletics (27)

25. Pittsburgh Pirates (25)

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24. Toronto Blue Jays (21)

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23. Washington Nationals (23)

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22. Cincinnati Reds (24)

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21. San Francisco Giants (18)

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20. Tampa Bay Rays (20)

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MLB power rankings Week 23: Red Sox remain unserious, Cubs rise

19. Texas Rangers (22)

It’s far too late for the Texas Rangers to start playing like contenders now. Trouncing the New York Yankees feels great, but it’s also a reminder of what could have been for the reigning World Series champions. Plenty went wrong this season, injuries certainly played a leading role in that, but last season now appears to be an obvious fluke. The hope is that Texas finishes out September strong, convincing ownership to keep investing in the roster and player development so this club can be a perennial contender.

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18. Boston Red Sox (15)

This feels right for John Henry and the Fenway Sports Group. The Boston Red Sox used to consistently be one of the best MLB teams and then Henry and the FSG placed a much bigger emphasis on slashing payroll and increasing revenue. It’s great for the financial bottom line but will result in the club’s third consecutive season without a playoff appearance. Fingers will be pointed to the roster, coaching staff and talent evaluators, but big-market teams can’t win if they want to operate like a mom-and-pop shop struggling to get by.

17. Seattle Mariners (16)

Just start the countdown to a critical offseason for the Seattle Mariners. Once leading the AL West by a wide margin, the anchor that is the Mariners lineup dragged this team down and out of a playoff spot. Plenty of changes are coming, but the continued statistical regression of Julio Rodriguez – .853 OPS in 2022 to .692 OPS in 2024 – needs to be thoroughly examined by the organization.

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16. St. Louis Cardinals (19)

At this point, the St. Louis Cardinals are just playing for pride. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol will end this season around the .500 mark since he took over in St. Louis. On the surface level that isn’t bad, but it looks much worse when you consider the Cardinals went 93-69 (.574) in his first year at the helm. Consecutive years without a playoff appearance can’t be accepted in St. Louis, change is necessary.

15. Detroit Tigers (17)

The Detroit Tigers were far too inconsistent this season to make the playoffs, but at least they are providing fans with an enjoyable final two months of the season. Detroit rolled into Friday tied with the Houston Astros and New York Mets for wins since Aug. 1 (19), even posting a better record than the New York Yankees (16-16) and Baltimore Orioles 16-16. The stretch just came far too late for it to matter for a ticket to October baseball.

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14. Chicago Cubs (14)

It’s probably too little, too late for the Chicago Cubs. Following the series defeat at Wrigley Field to the Pirates, Chicago entered the weekend with 2.3 percent playoff odds (FanGraphs). The Cubbies simply dug themselves in far too deep of a hole this summer, one that even a 20-10 mark since August 1 couldn’t bring them back to legitimate playoff contention. Maybe this gives some hope for the 2025 season, but we saw a similar scenario in 2023 and Chicago just repeated history this year.

13. Houston Astros (11)

Fortunately for the Houston Astros, the Mariners aren’t posing too much of a threat right now for the AL West. However, Houston did have a big problem in Cincinnati in a rough three-game sweep at the hands of the Reds. The hope is still there, though, especially with the Athletics and Angels looming as a very winnable series on the schedule. Plus, Kyle Tucker will rejoin the Astros lineup very soon.

12. Kansas City Royals (8)

There are bad weeks and then there’s what happened to the Kansas City Royals. Bobby Witt. Jr. and Salvador Perez had this team at 75-58 with a four-game series victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 27. In the week-plus since, Kansas City is 1-7 with an ugly showing against the Astros and Guardians. If things go further south against Minnesota and New York, the Royals might barely hang onto the third Wild Card spot.

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11. Minnesota Twins (10)

We have a few concerns with the Minnesota Twins that perpetually keep them out of the top 10 in our MLB power rankings. For one thing, a 37-48 record against winning teams (MLB.com) suggests this club will struggle against top competition in October. It’s also worth mentioning that this team ranks 15th in ERA (4.22) since Aug. 1, with the bullpen (4.48 ERA) being the real issue. The Twins are a quality team, but another first-round playoff exit feels inevitable.

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10. Atlanta Braves (10)

The Atlanta Braves are simply playing better baseball in the second half of the season. Constant injuries decimated this club in May and June, but Atlanta has always found ways to dig itself out of holes. Playing just above .500 since August, Atlanta is keeping its playoff hopes alive even as the New York Mets are thriving this summer. Even if the Braves don’t make the playoffs, this entire organization deserves credit for battling without so many of its best players.

9. New York Mets (13)

The results speak for themselves. The New York Mets are 19-13 since August 1 and that aligns with everything we’ve seen from this club all summer. Led by Francisco Lindor, who arguably deserves NL MVP, New York boasts the second-best record in MLB (52-31) since June 1 and it’s been one of the five best MLB teams in the second half of the season. New York didn’t even see the season going like this, but the Mets keep finding ways to win and there’s no reason to think it’s illegitimate.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks (5)

While the Arizona Diamondbacks drop a few spots in our latest MLB power rankings, this could be temporary. Christian Walker, one of the best first basemen in baseball, just came off the injured list and Ketel Marte (ankle) is very close to rejoining the Diamondbacks lineup. Once Arizona gets two of its All-Star talents back, we could see the Diamondbacks going blow for blow with the Milwaukee Brewers and San Diego Padres for playoff positioning in the National League. So, even if the D-Backs don’t claim the NL West crown, they could have some much-needed momentum before October starts.

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7. Cleveland Guardians (9)

The Cleveland Guardians desperately needed that series victory over the Royals and it means even more for it to happen in Kansas City. The Guardians’ hope is that it ends an awful stretch, which is a big reason why this club is 15-18 since Aug. 1. Fortunately for our MLB power rankings in the weeks to come, the Guardians schedule offers multiple litmus tests against the Dodgers, Twins and Astros to close out the regular season.

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6. New York Yankees (3)

When it’s bad, it’s ugly for the New York Yankees. At their peak, the Yankees are easily one of the best MLB teams and extremely dangerous in any playoff series. Then, you get stretches like this one. From Aug. 27 – Sept. 4, the Yankees posted a 2-6 record and that is against the Nationals, Cardinals and Rangers. If New York’s woes continue against the Cubs, Royals and Red Sox, this team might cost itself some much-needed home-field advantage in October. That, of course, could open the door to Aaron Boone being fired within months.

5. San Diego Padres (6)

Fernando Tatis Jr is back in the San Diego Padres lineup and starting pitcher Yu Darvish rejoined the Padres rotation in September. This same club owns a winning record (44-39 per MLB.com) against winning teams this season and it’s tied with the Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers for the most wins (21) since August 1. In short, we see no reason to think San Diego can’t be one of the most dangerous teams in October which is remarkable considering the Padres offloaded Juan Soto and Blake Snell this past offseason.

4. Baltimore Orioles (7)

We’ll start with the good news for the Baltimore Orioles. Sometimes it just takes small victories to snap a cold spell and that is the hope for this club after taking sets against the Rockies and White Sox. With that said Baltimore’s last series victory over a team with a winning record came before the All-Star Break. The Orioles are also closing in on dropping below .500 (39-37) against winning teams this year. Baltimore should fare well in upcoming sets against the Red Sox, Tigers and Giants but it’s the matchups at the end of the season – New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins – that will shape our confidence level in this team for October.

3. Milwaukee Brewers (3)

The Milwaukee Brewers are closing in on an NL Central clown, but they are coming off a series loss against the Cardinals with both defeats coming in extra innings. Milwaukee also has a fairly tough road ahead against two of the best MLB teams with the Diamondbacks (Sept. 13-15 and Sept. 19-22) and Philadelphia Phillies (Sept. 16-18) looming. With that said, the Brewers pitching staff keeps coming through and there’s enough talent in the Brewers lineup to win at least two of those sets.

2. Philadelphia Phillies (2)

Another productive week for the Philadelphia Phillies, who are once again playing like one of the best MLB teams right now. Philadelphia’s bats came through in the series sweep over Toronto and the pitching really carried the team in the four-game series win over the Braves. It’s a neck-and-neck battle between the top teams in the National League right now, but Philadelphia has as good of a shot at anyone at the pennant.

1. Los Angeles Dodgers (1)

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the best team in baseball and claim the No. 1 spot in the MLB power rankings once again. Los Angeles only came out with a split against the Angels, but it did get a four-game series victory over the D-Backs. With that strong week, the Dodgers are still maintaining the best record in baseball (21-10) since August 1 and it’s being done despite some issues from an injury-depleted pitching staff (4.27 ERA, FanGraphs).