The Washington Nationals have what looks like a permanent spot at the bottom of the MLB Power Rankings. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images)
August has arrived, the trade deadline is near, and the MLB Power Rankings tell the story of which teams are showing the most strength.
The MLB trade deadline has been the biggest talking point in sports over the last week with teams already wheeling and dealing. However, it’s the standings that ultimately matter the most. The MLB Power Rankings might not exactly match what the standings look like but they can indicate the direction teams are trending in.
Last week’s MLB Power Rankings were the first after the All-Star Break. We saw some major shakeups at the top with three powerhouse clubs swapping a couple of spots.
Will this week’s MLB Power Rankings tell a similar story? For at least this week, it’s important to include what teams have already done and will look to continue to add before the Tuesday trade deadline.
30) MLB Power Rankings: Washington Nationals
If this year’s MLB season was the gym, the Washington Nationals would be doing curls in the squat rack. Not any big, mighty curls either. They’d have colorful dumbbells made out of plastic; maybe even foam. That’s just where they are right now.
The Nationals lose points here even more because of how they have held up the trade deadline with talks of moving Juan Soto. Even his teammate, Josh Bell, hasn’t gotten dealt yet because clubs want to see what it will take to land Soto. Between selling their star player, the oncoming ownership change, and ridiculously bad play, it’s a tough year for Nats fans.
29) MLB Power Rankings: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates have managed to win more games than they deserve. When looking at the run-differential of -154, which is a little lopsided because of all of the blowout poundings they were on the wrong side of, it’s easy to understand why they are only ahead of the Nationals in the MLB Power Rankings.
There aren’t too many compliments to hand out to the Pirates. They are getting involved in the pennant race by jobbing to better teams. It’s their role this year. No amount of winning can possibly change the sad reality.
28) MLB Power Rankings: Kanas City Royals
The best contribution the Kansas City Royals made to this MLB season was getting involved in the trade deadline. They got things started off lightly by trading away Carlos Santana. Their better trade candidate, Andrew Benintendi, ended up going to the New York Yankees last week to help open up the floodgates.
One has to start to wonder how long this rebuild will last. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Kansas City was a non-factor. The only conclusion is that they got lucky with the team they were able to build for the 2014 and 2015 back-to-back World Series appearances. The current roster feels miles behind with an aging Salvador Perez riding in the backseat.
27) MLB Power Rankings: Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are doing the baseball version of tanking and yet they have managed to win a couple of games recently. We should really give them credit. They never stood a chance this year. The front office deserves a tie for last place with the Nationals. The players, however, earned a high-five.
This team shouldn’t even be close to anyone else in the standings. They don’t have the superstars the Nationals do. They lack the high-profile rookies on the Pirates. Oakland doesn’t even have the credible veterans that began the year with Kansas City. For the sake of the players who have triumphed more than expected, a spot at 27 is well-deserved.
26) MLB Power Rankings: Cincinnati Reds
You know, what? The Cincinnati Reds are bad. But what they got in return for Luis Castillo from the Seattle Mariners was good enough to move them ahead of some of these other basement dwellers. They truly did wait for a good offer to move one of the best trade assets.
The Reds have more parts to sell and we should expect general manager Nick Krall to make the most of a market favoring sellers. From the onset, this year was about the future of the franchise. Fortunately, they are already looking ahead.