Tigers Dominate MLB Ranking: Consecutive Weeks at the Top
The Detroit Tigers continue their reign at the top of the MLB power rankings for the third consecutive week, solidifying themselves as the team with the most consecutive weeks in first place so far in the 2025 season. They thus surpass the Dodgers, who previously held first place for two consecutive weeks on two separate occasions this season. Week 12 has also seen several teams climb in the rankings, including the Astros and Rays, who moved up one position each, placing them in eighth and ninth place respectively. In addition, the Brewers and Reds advanced three positions. The mid-June transfer of Rafael Devers from the Red Sox to the Giants did not significantly impact the performance of either team this week, with San Francisco remaining in the number 7 position for the second consecutive week and Boston moving up from position 20 to 17. Our expert panel has ranked each team based on a combination of their current performance and what we knew before starting the 162-game marathon that is the full baseball season.Detailed Analysis of the Teams
1. Detroit Tigers
Record: 47-27Previous Position: 1 The shortstop position has been the Tigers’ weakest this season, despite the arrival of Javier Báez. However, the Tigers seem to have found an internal solution with Báez himself. The return of Parker Meadows to center field allowed manager A.J. Hinch to relocate Báez to his original position, where he has shown remarkable performance with an OPS of 1.017 this season.
2. Los Angeles Dodgers
Record: 46-29Previous Position: 4 Under the shadow of the team’s stars, Andy Pages emerges as one of the sport’s top young run producers. Manager Dave Roberts believes Pages has benefited from the mentorship of Teoscar Hernández, who fosters a focus on driving in runs. Pages is on pace to finish the year with 32 home runs and 106 RBIs; in his last 50 games, he’s batting above .330, with a slugging percentage near .600.
3. New York Mets
Record: 45-29Previous Position: 2 The Mets’ rotation, the best in baseball, is facing a period of change. Kodai Senga, with a Cy Young-worthy season, was injured with a Grade 1 hamstring strain, and Tylor Megill will be out longer with an elbow sprain. Meanwhile, Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, who has yet to debut with the Mets due to a lat strain, should return soon. What will this unit look like in a month?
4. Chicago Cubs
Record: 45-28Previous Position: 5 What has really caught the attention of rival evaluators is Chicago’s versatility in its dominance. Led by Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs have six different players on pace to hit 20 or more home runs this year. They have three players who could reach 30 bases and are second in the majors in Defensive Runs Saved. “That’s a team that could win the World Series,” an executive from another team recently said.
5. New York Yankees
Record: 42-31Previous Position: 3 Aaron Judge is human after all. The two-time American League MVP interrupted a historically unmatched season start and lowered his batting average from .394 to .372. The New York offense, which led the majors in wRC+ and OPS until last Thursday, collapsed during his slump. The Yankees scored four runs in those five games and were shut out in three consecutive games for the seventh time in franchise history.
6. Philadelphia Phillies
Record: 44-30Previous Position: 6 Nick Castellanos’ streak of 236 started games came to an abrupt end on Tuesday when Phillies manager Rob Thomson benched him for an “inappropriate comment.” Castellanos has little objective influence in his favor. Despite how complicated defensive metrics can be in small samples, they are compelling when it comes to Castellanos.
7. San Francisco Giants
Record: 41-33Previous Position: 7 In the first few hours after Giants players learned the team had signed Rafael Devers, they were careful to be respectful of the two major leaguers traded to Boston in the deal, pitchers Kyle Harrison and Jordan Hicks. But it was easy to see on their faces how excited they are about the addition of Devers, who gives the Giants their best pure hitter since Buster Posey.
8. Houston Astros
Record: 43-31Previous Position: 9 The hits keep coming for the Astros, but they keep winning. The latest setback was Lance McCullers landing on the injured list when he twisted his right foot while exercising over the weekend. He is the fourth Astros starter placed on the IL this season, including Yordan Alvarez, who remains out with a hand fracture. But the Astros kept going, winning seven of eight games and 11 of their last 15 to take a significant lead in the American League West Division. Hunter Brown (1.88 ERA in 14 starts), Josh Hader (1.45 ERA in 29 games), and Jeremy Pena (3.6 fWAR and 143 wRC+) have been protagonists for a franchise that simply doesn’t stop winning.
9. Tampa Bay Rays
Record: 41-33Previous Position: 10
Here’s a fact that isn’t on most people’s lists in 2025: The Rays, the organization that was once at the forefront of the opener fad, leads the majors in innings pitched by starters. That’s despite not having ace Shane McClanahan throw a single pitch this season. Instead, right-handers Drew Rasmussen and Ryan Pepiot are leading the way. Rasmussen has a 2.55 ERA in 14 starts. Pepiot has a 3.11 ERA in 15 outings. To further illustrate Tampa Bay’s consistency in the rotation, Rasmussen, Pepiot, Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, and Shane Baz have started 72 of the team’s 73 games this season. Joe Boyle made the other start. The formula is working for the Rays, who are within 1½ games of the Yankees, who are in first place in the American League East Division.
10. San Diego Padres
Record: 39-34Previous Position: 8 Manny Machado is a big-stage player, and the Padres have a couple of high-level starting pitchers. But in the eyes of some rival executives, the best part of the team is its bullpen. “That’s the group that took them as far as they got last year,” said a club official. Looking ahead, evaluators from other teams are very curious to see if the Padres’ key relievers can continue to handle the high workload. Jason Adam is tied for the most appearances in the major leagues, Jeremiah Estrada tied for the fifth-most outings, and Adrian Morejon tied for the tenth-most.
11. Milwaukee Brewers
Record: 39-35Previous Position: 14 In this era where relievers are absorbing more and more innings, Abner Uribe has emerged among the best setup men, with the kind of stuff that makes you wonder how anyone can hit him. Uribe averages 11.53 strikeouts per nine innings, but has also generated an exceptional ground ball to fly ball rate of 2 to 1. Closer Trevor Megill, Nick Mears, and Uribe have been the collective backbone of the Brewers’ bullpen this season.
12. Toronto Blue Jays
Record: 40-33Previous Position: 13 Max Scherzer completed his second and perhaps final rehab start on Wednesday and looked ready for the big leagues. Pitching for Triple-A Buffalo, the 40-year-old right-hander held Worcester to one hit and two walks with eight strikeouts in 4⅓ innings. He threw 75 pitches, the target number in preparation for possibly coming off the IL next. Scherzer landed on the IL with inflammation in his right thumb after recording just three innings in his season debut on March 29. The Blue Jays have stayed in the playoff picture without him, but the rotation, which ranks 26th in effectiveness, could use a healthy and effective Scherzer, who signed a one-year, $15.5 million contract in February.
13. Cincinnati Reds
Record: 39-35Previous Position: 16 The story of manager Terry Francona’s teams, in general, is that they will improve over the course of the season, and Cincinnati has shown that the anecdote is true. The Reds have won 19 of their last 30 games and have a run differential of plus 44 on the season. The increase coincides with the play of Elly De La Cruz, who is batting .333 with 15 runs and 10 RBIs in 15 games. Someone get Cruz to the Home Run Derby.
14. Seattle Mariners
Record: 37-36Previous Position: 15 Logan Gilbert was activated from the IL on Monday and looked sharp in his return from a right elbow flexor strain. The 2024 All-Star held the Red Sox to two runs with 10 strikeouts in his first start since April 25. Gilbert has an ERA of 2.55 in seven starts this season. His strikeout rate has soared from 27.4% last season to 39.7% in this year’s small sample. If he stays healthy, it’s a significant boost for a club that lost eight of nine games earlier this month to fall behind the Astros in the American League West Division.
15. Arizona Diamondbacks
Record: 36-37Previous Position: 19 It will be interesting to see how deep Arizona delves into the free agent pitcher market, as their recent forays into it have been an absolute disaster: Madison Bumgarner (five years, $85 million), Jordan Montgomery (two years, $47.5 million), Eduardo Rodríguez (four years, $80 million), and Corbin Burnes (six years, $210 million). Bumgarner was cut in the fourth year of his contract, Montgomery was terrible last year and underwent elbow surgery this year, Rodríguez has a 6.27 ERA in 2025, and Burnes is out for the season after Tommy John surgery.
16. St. Louis Cardinals
Record: 38-35Previous Position: 12 When executives are nearing the end of their contracts, the usual expectation is that those officials will make a great effort at the deadline to give their respective teams the best possible chance to win, and perhaps justify an extension. The reading of St. Louis by other teams, on the contrary, is that the Cardinals will not consider being aggressive at the trade deadline out of a desire for a more acceptable ending for John Mozeliak, who is in his final year as the team’s head of baseball operations.
17. Boston Red Sox
Record: 39-37Previous Position: 20 The decision to trade Rafael Devers could haunt the Red Sox for a long time. For now, questions still abound: Why now? Why for that package? Was there a mandate from ownership to get rid of the entirety of Devers’ contract? Lost in the outrage is another question: How is Boston going to replace Devers? Unearthing Devers’ production elsewhere is far-fetched. Regarding the designated hitter position that Devers left behind, the Red Sox will at least temporarily rotate several players. They used Kristian Campbell, Rob Refsnyder, and Romy Gonzalez in the first three games of the post-Devers era. A more permanent solution could soon be Masataka Yoshida, who has been on the IL all season after undergoing shoulder surgery in October.
18. Minnesota Twins
Record: 36-37Previous Position: 11 It’s hard to believe, but at 31 years old, Byron Buxton has only played more than 102 games once since he came to the majors in 2015. This season, he has been mostly healthy (now would be the time to knock on wood, Twins fans) and is playing as well as ever. Buxton has a better OBP than his career and, once on base, is 12 for 12 in stolen bases, while scoring 41% of the time, tied for third best in the American League. His power numbers are good and, according to baseballmusings.com, he leads the American League in RBI percentage among qualified hitters.
19. Texas Rangers
Record: 36-38Previous Position: 22
The Rangers scored 16 runs twice in three games last week, giving fans hope that the team’s baffling offensive woes were a thing of the past. But otherwise they have continued. Besides those two games, the Rangers have been held to five or fewer runs in their 12 games since June 1. It turns out the hitting coach wasn’t the problem. And yet, the ineptitude hasn’t cost the Rangers much lately; they’ve won seven of 10 games to re-enter the wild card picture.
20. Cleveland Guardians
Record: 37-35Previous Position: 18 At 32 years old, José Ramírez is as good as ever and is a safe bet to achieve an eighth top-10 finish in the MVP of his eventual Hall of Fame career. He’s been at it for so long that, at this point, he’s climbing a lot on the list in a series of Cleveland franchise leaderboards. He should surpass Tris Speaker in total bases in the next month, leaving only Earl Averill ahead of him. Ramírez also has a great opportunity to surpass Hal Trosky, Nap Lajoie, and Jim Thome this season to move behind Averill in RBIs. Simply an incredible career.
21. Atlanta Braves
Record: 33-39Previous Position: 21 Matt Olson has probably been the Braves’ best position player this season, but that might say more about Ronald Acuña Jr.’s late start to the season and the club’s underperforming offense than Olson. The left-handed hitter racked up 54 home runs and 139 RBIs in 2023, but this season’s .251/.354/.479 showing is a carbon copy of his numbers in 2022 and 2024. In other words, 2023 looks like an outlier year, not a new elite level. Olson is a good player as is, but this season’s Braves could use the 54-home run version of him.
22. Kansas City Royals
Record: 36-38Previous Position: 17 The Royals’ 2024 offense, based on timely hitting, has become the lowest-scoring attack in the American League in 2025. The bats were particularly miserable during a 3-10 start in June, when Kansas City scored three runs or fewer eight times, losing all eight games. Injuries hurt the pitching staff, affecting run prevention, and the bats haven’t made up the difference. Even Bobby Witt Jr. has struggled. In his first 12 games this month, Witt batted .234 with an OPS of .677. As the offense faltered, the Royals’ postseason odds diminished to the point that the club’s trade deadline direction is no longer set.
23. Los Angeles Angels
Record: 36-37Previous Position: 24 The aggressive handling of the Angels’ top prospects continued last week when they called up second baseman Christian Moore, their first-round pick from Tennessee last June. Moore is the third first-round player the Angels have fast-tracked to the majors in the first half of their first full professional season, joining shortstop Zach Neto and first baseman Nolan Schanuel. A Brooklyn Yankees fan, Moore went hitless in his first two starts before hitting a triple past a diving Aaron Judge in Yankee Stadium on Monday for his first career hit.
24. Baltimore Orioles
Record: 31-42Previous Position: 25 The Boston Red Sox’s American League East Division rivals were surely happy to see Rafael Devers sent to San Francisco, but perhaps no one was happier than the Orioles’ Ryan O’Hearn. With Devers in the National League, O’Hearn moved into first place among American League designated hitters in fan voting for the All-Star Game. The slugger is deserving of the honor. In a lineup with Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, O’Hearn has been the club’s best hitter with a .302 batting average, 10 home runs, and an .869 OPS in 61 games. Surprisingly, he could end up being Baltimore’s only representative.
25. Washington Nationals
Record: 30-44Previous Position: 23 Welcome to the Show, Brady House. The Nationals’ first selection (No. 11) of the 2021 draft made his MLB debut last week against Colorado. He collected his first two hits and his first RBI in his second game (also against the Rockies). When Dylan Crews returns from the IL, he will join House, CJ Abrams, and Robert Hassell III on an active roster with four top-11 picks taken since 2019, and that doesn’t include rising star James Wood, a second-round pick in 2021. The Nationals are faltering on the field lately, but their talent level continues to rise.
26. Pittsburgh Pirates
Record: 29-45Previous Position: 26 David Bednar has had some ups and downs in his time as the Pirates’ closer, but with the trade deadline 42 days away, he is attracting the attention of some rival evaluators with his recent performances. Pitching for a team that is not going to provide many save opportunities, Bednar has six walks and 34 strikeouts in 24 innings. Left-handed hitters have an OPS of only .548 against Bednar, and he has only given up one extra base (a double) in 41 at-bats.
27. Athletics
Record: 30-46Previous Position: 28 The Athletics have been a better club on the road than at Sutter Health Park, their temporary minor league facilities, and no one embodies the contrast more than Luis Severino. The veteran right-hander has an ERA of 6.79 in 10 home starts and an ERA of 0.93 in six road outings. Combine the results and you get an ERA of 4.42, not what the Athletics envisioned when they gave Severino the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history. If only he could pitch anywhere other than West Sacramento.
28. Miami Marlins
Record: 29-43Previous Position: 27 If a Sandy Alcantara trade barometer were created, the arrow would point upward, meaning things are improving. After bottoming out with an 8.47 ERA at the end of May, Alcantara has shown sharper command this month, and the results have followed. In three starts, including outings against the miserable Colorado and Pittsburgh offenses, Alcantara has a 2.12 ERA in 17 innings with 15 strikeouts and only three walks. Pretenders are likely already knocking on the proverbial door of Marlins general manager Peter Bendix regarding the former Cy Young winner, but if Alcantara continues like this, they will be banging on it.
29. Chicago White Sox
Record: 23-50Previous Position: 29
If you’re going to stink, you might as well do it with young players so your fans can dream of a day when things don’t stink so much. Here’s a fun fact: the White Sox lead the majors in rookie WAR, ranking sixth among hitters and first on the pitching side. Chicago is still heading for another 100-loss season, but things could be worse: Colorado, which is competing to break the all-time losing record set by last year’s ChiSox, ranks last in rookie WAR. South siders would be more than happy to let the Rox take that stinky crown of the worst team in history.
30. Colorado Rockies
Record: 17-57Previous Position: 30 Given the Rockies’ problems this season, they are likely to get only one spot on the National League All-Star team, and perhaps that will be Hunter Goodman, the 25-year-old who leads Colorado in all triple crown categories. So many things have gone wrong for the Rockies, but Goodman’s emergence has been perhaps the team’s best story. In more than 70 games in 2024, Goodman batted .190 with a slugging percentage of .417. This year, he has improved his OPS by more than 200 points.
