Featured in this week’s MLB Power Rankings, we look at the fallout from the recent trade deadline, Kyle Schwarber’s power explosion, the Red Sox and Yankees headed in different directions, Kyle Stowers’ emergence, hope for the White Sox, and much more.
(Please note these power rankings are a combination of current performance and long-term projected outlook)
Let’s get started!
Mason Miller and David Bednar plummet this week as trade deadline fallout leads to many Top 300 changes.
Note: Rankings are from the morning of Tuesday, August 5.
1) Milwaukee Brewers ⬆️
Last week: 4
The Brewers have earned the No. 1 spot after winning two out of three from the Cubs, absolutely destroying the Nationals over the weekend, and winning the series opener with the Braves on Monday.
People keep asking what the Brewers’ secret sauce is when it’s quite obviously cheese curds.
2) Chicago Cubs
Last week: 2
It feels like the Cubs are a team where a couple of months from now we’ll be asking why they didn’t do more at the deadline. The team’s big rotation acquisition, Mike Soroka, is headed to the injured list after leaving his Cubs debut with shoulder discomfort.
3) Los Angeles Dodgers ⬆️
Last week: 5
Max Muncy made his much-needed return to the Dodgers’ lineup on Monday after missing a month with a knee injury. Believe it or not, the club ranked last in the majors in runs during that time.
4) Toronto Blue Jays ⬇️
Last week: 1
A two-homer game from Bichette at Coors Field. I’ve seen this episode before.
After an injury-plagued 2024 season, Bo Bichette has returned to form this season. He’s leading the majors in hits and setting himself up for a nice payday this winter.
5) Detroit Tigers ⬆️
Last week: 6
The Tigers have righted the ship somewhat with six wins in their last eight games. Like many contenders, the Tigers prioritized their bullpen at the deadline, including new closer Kyle Finnegan from the Nationals.
6) Philadelphia Phillies ⬆️
Last week: 7
Kyle Schwarber cannot be stopped. With a pair of blasts on Monday, the 32-year-old slugger has now 40 homers for the season and 10 in 16 games since the All-Star break. The pleas to re-sign him are only getting louder in Philadelphia.
7) Boston Red Sox ⬆️
Last week: 11
The Red Sox are another team where you could argue they should have done more at the trade deadline, but that’s not stopping them from being the hottest team in baseball. Winners of six straight, they now hold the top spot in the Wild Card standings.
8) New York Mets ⬇️
Last week: 3
You can build a great back-end of the bullpen — which the Mets have done — but it’s still a problem if your starters can’t complete six innings on a regular basis.
9) Houston Astros ⬇️
Last week: 8
The Astros have lost eight out of their last 11 games, but the good vibes are still (mostly) flowing from Carlos Correa’s return.
Looking forward to seeing the reception when Correa plays his first home game back in Houston next Monday.
10) San Diego Padres ⬇️
Last week: 9
A.J. Preller, you beautiful maniac. Of course the Padres had to go crazy at the trade deadline, not just adding to a dominant bullpen with Mason Miller while trading their top prospect, but also upgrading their top-heavy lineup with Ryan O'Hearn and Ramón Laureano.
11) Seattle Mariners ⬆️
Last week: 12
The Mariners did exactly what they needed to do at the deadline, grabbing Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez to strengthen their lineup and left-hander Caleb Ferguson to lengthen their bullpen. The club took three out of four from the Rangers over the weekend and should be considered a serious threat to take down the Astros.
12) New York Yankees ⬇️
Last week: 10
The Yankees did the right thing by prioritizing their bullpen at the deadline, but so far it has been nothing short of a disaster. Friday’s blowup was an all-timer, the bullpen came up short again on Monday against the Rangers as Devin Williams served up a game-tying homer in the ninth before recent acquisition Jake Bird gave up a walk-off homer to Josh Jung in the 10th. At least Aaron Judge is coming back?
13) Texas Rangers
Last week: 13
The Rangers are clearly betting on improvements from their offense, as they focused on their rotation (Merrill Kelly) and bullpen (Phil Maton, Danny Coulombe) at the trade deadline last week. Josh Jung, who hit a walk-off homer on Monday, is part of that bet. He’s hitting .382 (13-for-34) with three homers and eight RBI since returning from the minors.
14) Cincinnati Reds
Last week: 14
The Reds took on Ke’Bryan Hayes entire contract ($36 million from 2026-2019, with a $6 million buyout on $12 million club option for 2030) in their trade with the Pirates last week. There’s no doubt that Hayes can pick it at third base, but only Christian Vazquez has a lower OPS than Hayes (.574) among players with at least 500 plate appearances dating back to the start of last season.
15) Cleveland Guardians ⬆️
Last week: 18
Nic Enright secured his first save on Monday, a significant milestone for someone who is battling lymphoma.
16) Kansas City Royals ⬆️
Last week: 19
The Royals were characterized as a buyer coming out of the trade deadline. And to a certain extent, they were. But the pitchers they acquired — Bailey Falter, Ryan Berger, Stephen Kolek — all come with multiple years of control. Adding in the extension to Seth Lugo and they are clearly thinking about both 2025 and beyond.
17) Miami Marlins ⬆️
Last week: 23
The Marlins swept the Yankees over the weekend and NL Player of the Month Kyle Stowers was right in the middle of it with a pair of homers.
18) San Francisco Giants ⬇️
Last week: 15
I could talk about the Giants’ trade deadline approach here, but the real headliner is the reality that the San Francisco Giants and the New York Giants really do get together for dinner.
19) St. Louis Cardinals ⬇️
Last week: 16
Masyn Winn is tops in the majors in Outs Above Average, and if you watch this play from last week, you’ll know why.
20) Los Angeles Angels ⬆️
Last week: 21
Why are you the way that you are? The Angels actually bought at the trade deadline for some reason, acquiring relievers Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin.
21) Tampa Bay Rays ⬇️
Last week: 17
The Rays have been one of the worst teams in MLB over the past month, but they cooked up a cosmic gumbo of buying and selling at the trade deadline. Similar to what the Royals did with some of their moves, the Rays’ acquisition of reliever Griffin Jax is about now and future seasons.
22) Arizona Diamondbacks ⬇️
Last week: 20
While this season hasn’t worked out as hoped for the Diamondbacks, they did a nice job loading up on prospects while trading Merrill Kelly, Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, Shelby Miller, Jordan Montgomery, and Randal Grichuk.
23) Baltimore Orioles ⬆️
Last week: 24
A lost year for Grayson Rodriguez is officially in the books. The young right-hander is scheduled for elbow dibridement surgery next week and could be sidelined through the early part of next season as well. Figuring out the pitching side is of utmost importance for Baltimore going forward.
24) Atlanta Braves ⬆️
Last week: 26
Behold, the only trophy the Braves will be lifting this season.
Because the Braves’ season continues to be cursed, Austin Riley is headed back to the injured list with an abdominal strain.
25) Athletics
Last week: 25
Having a great closer is quite simply a luxury for a non-contender, so you can’t fault the A’s for trading Mason Miller and J.P Sears, especially when you get one of the game’s top prospects in return. It will be fun to see De Vries in Sacramento/Las Vegas/a destination to be named later in a couple of years.
26) Pittsburgh Pirates ⬆️
Last week: 27
The Pirates made some notable moves last week (Ke’Bryan Hayes, David Bednar), but it’s the ones they didn’t make (impending free agents Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Tommy Pham, and Andrew Heaney) which were especially confusing.
27) Minnesota Twins ⬇️
Last week: 22
If you were a Twin, you probably got traded last week. And that goes for Tyler and Trevor Rogers, as well. You have to feel for Twins fans. Hopefully there’s a soft landing with their sale situation in the days ahead.
28) Washington Nationals
Last week: 28
The Nationals have given up at least seven runs in each of their last five games. The Dog Days of Summer, indeed.
29) Chicago White Sox
Last week: 29
This is what it’s all about for the White Sox right now.
Montgomery, in particular, has been the most exciting of late. He’s now homered seven times in his last 11 games.
30) Colorado Rockies
Last week: 30
Not only did this three-run homer from Jordan Beck end Paul Skenes’ 18-inning scoreless streak, but it was also the first time Skenes had given up a home run of more than two runs in the majors. So the Rockies have that going for them, which is nice.