Season Opener, Week 1: MLB Power Rankings

Welcome back to my week one Power Rankings for the Major League Baseball season! Each week I will update with new information about each team and rank each team weekly. In the ( ) you will see where I ranked the team during the pre-season, feel free to check out the pre-season rankings blog. The Major League season is finally upon us; let's get right into the rankings for week 1!

Previous weeks ranking in ( ):

#1 (1#)Detroit Tigers(1-1)- The Tigers are clearly the favorites to be representing the AL in the World Series until further notice. The young pitching is so promising. The only blow is the setback of Kenny Rogers. Rogers has a blood clot in his shoulder, he will be out until the All-star break.

#2 (2#) New York Yankees(1-1)- Johnny Damon was quoted by the New York Times saying; "The Yankees are the best team in baseball." I'm not sold, because they aren't even the best team in the American League. But he isn't that far off, they start out number two.

#3 (#5) Boston Red-Sox(2-1)- Dice-K lived up to his hype on opening night. He struck out 10 Royals, winning his MLB debut. A date to mark on your calendar will be April 11th. That should be his first start at Fenway Park. The first batter he will throw to will be fellow Japanese star, Ichiro Suzuki.

#4 (8#) New York Mets(3-0 )- Tom Glavine out dueled Chris Carpenter on opening night to pick up his 291st career win. He is 9 wins shy of becoming the 24th major league player to get to the 300 win mark that all but assures him hall of fame status. Only problem for the Mets' is he may be the only bright spot in the rotation for awhile.

#5 (13#) Minnesota Twins(3-0)- The AL Central is no longer 'The Comedy Central'. The Twins look like they will have to contend with either New York or Boston for the wild-card spot if they plan on making the playoffs. That's a tough task when you get Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago 19 times.

#6 (6#) Atlanta Braves (3-0)- Surprise, surprise! Mike Hampton is having injury problems once again and will not be on the teams opening day roster. The Braves signed Mark Redman, the former Kansas City Royals starter/All-Star to help in the starting pitching depth department. After Smoltz, and Hudson it's a rather iffy group of starters in Atlanta. The Braves are off to their first 3-0 start since 1994. Next up is the New York Mets, who are also 3-0.

#7 (11#) Los Angeles Angels(3-0)- Howie Kendrick, the Angels second baseman is primed for a huge year. At 23 he could emerge as a top 5 2B when the season is said and done. His .400 spring batting average and his .359 minor league average didn't hurt his hype either.

#8 (7#) Oakland Athletics (1-2)- Rich Harden is looking healthy, great, and dominate early. He is ready to take over the A's staff and become the next big name pitcher to throw on an A's uniform. Check out the spring numbers: Harden enters the regular season with a 1.53 ERA and a 29/4 K/BB ratio in 17 2/3 innings. Oakland went 17-2 against the Seattle Mariners last season. Two games into the 07' season they matched their loss total of 06' against the M's as they fell to 0-2.

#9 (12#) Philadelphia Phillies(0-3)- Ryan Howard and the Phillies are looking forward to the new season to pick up where they left off after last seasons Bobby Abreu trade.

#10 (9#) Los Angeles Dodgers(1-2)- Jason Schmidt a Dodger? That's right the ex-Giant moved south to LA to take the rubber for the Dodgers. He will fit right in that big park and have a solid year.

#11 (10#)Toronto Blue Jays(1-1) The Blue-Jays need Burnett and Halladay to stay healthy and get 15+ wins if they want any shot at keeping up with the Yanks and Sox. It's not out of the question either.

#12 (14#) San Diego Padres(2-1)- Old man Maddux joins the Padres. What will they get from him? Will Jake Peavy pitch like he is capable of? Questions surround this team.

#13 (19#)Seattle Mariners(2-1)- Felix Hernandez became the youngest opening day starter in Mariners history Monday, he is 20 years young. Boy, did he give them a start of a lifetime. He struck out 12, and pitched 8 shutout innings. He was the first opening day starter to strikeout 12 or more and not allow a run in 40 years, when Bob Gibson did it.

#14 (22#) Cleveland Indians(2-1)- The Indians might be the Tigers of last year. It's too early to tell, but this team has more upside than downside early.

#15 (4#) St. Louis Cardinals(0-3)- The staff ace, Chris Carpenter, was roughed up on opening day. Cards' fans hope that isn't a season trend. Note: It's being reported on ESPN.COM that Carpenter will miss his next start with an elbow problem. He may be headed to the DL.

#16 (3#) Chicago White Sox(1-2)- Mark Buehrle and Jose Contreras have looked awful in the spring training. Both had a 5+ ERA in the spring. This was not encouraging when you consider they both flopped after the all-star break last year.

#17 (15#) Chicago Cubs(1-2)- Coach Pinellia stated that Cubs Ace (or former ace) Mark Prior will either start the season on the DL or in the minor leagues. That's a tough blow to a thin pitching staff that was hoping for a solid and injury free spring from Prior.

#18 (21#) Florida Marlins (2-1)- Pitcher Josh Johnson will miss the first two months of the season. Early prediction, Miggy will win the NL MVP award.

#19 (16#) Texas Rangers(0-3)- Say it ain't Sosa! Sammy Sosa had his contract bought from triple A and will bat fifth for the major league Texas Rangers on opening day. He hit five homeruns in the spring.

#20 (24#) Milwaukee Brewers (2-1)- This team could be a sleeper team in the NL Central. Right now I am sleeping on them, but a couple more wins and they will skyrocket up the rankings next week.

#21 (18#) San Francisco Giants (1-2)- Barry Bonds looks great. He hit 7 bombs in the spring and says he is looking forward to passing hammerin Hank.

#22 (20#)Cincinnati Reds(2-1)- Times have certainly changed. This year when you take a look at the outfield in Cincinnati you will see Ryan Freel in Center, Griffey will play right field from now on. That's going to take some getting use to.

#23 (17#) Houston Astros(0-3)- OF Luke Scott won the job over Jason Lane. The team will carry both players however. Roy Oswalt had a quality start just to watch Brad Lidge blow it in the 9th. What a shocker. No Clemens, no Pettite, no hitting, and Brad Lidge closing might make this a very long year in Houston.

#24 (23#) Arizona Diamondbacks (1-2)- The big unit, Randy Johnson, is already sore. The 43 year old will likely start the season on the DL and pitch around April 19th.

#25 (25#) Colorado Rockies(2-1)- Todd Helton reportedly gained 30 pounds in the off-season to improve on his extra base hits this year. His average was well over .300 in the spring, his power was still lacking however.

#26 (26#) Baltimore Orioles (0-3)- The O's just play in the wrong division. They really have no hope as three teams are clearly better than them. If you are a O's fan and want to know how to cope with a season when you already know you won't make the playoffs, just ask the fans of the team below...

#27 (27#) Tampa Bay Devil Rays(1-1)- Will the D-rays ever finish over .500? That's the only question surrounding the ball club because everybody already knows they aren't going anywhere this year.

#28 (28#) Pittsburgh Pirates (3-0)- The Pirates have missed the playoffs 14 straight years. The Yankees have made the playoffs 14 straight years. Ian Snell struck out a career high 11 batters and the Pirates came from behind to win for the second time in as many games.

#29 (29#) Kansas City Royals (1-2)- The name to remember is Alex Gordon the young third baseman. He is supposed to be the real deal, he will be starting at third and batting 5th in the order. Stay tuned.

#30 (30#) Washington Nationals (1-2)- John Patterson gets the ball on opening day. He could be a great sleeper pitcher with his high strike-out total. If you keep an eye on anything on the Nationals is should be on him or Ryan Zimmerman.

Agree with my rankings? Disagree with my rankings? Let me know why you agree or disagree. It's your turn to rank the teams or tell me why I am wrong or dead on! Simply leave a comment, and I will reply back!

*Note: Team records as of 9:50 PM April 5th, 2007.

-Mike King