MLB Power Rankings - Major League Baseball

Power Rankings: Yankees, Dodgers at the top

Week:

ESPN.com

VIDEO PLAYLIST

MLB Team Of The Month

It makes perfect sense that the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers would open the final week of the regular season as the top two teams in the MLB Power Rankings. After all, the two teams have combined to occupy the No. 1 ranking in 20 out of 26 weeks.

The Yankees, though, are the team of the moment. The AL East champions, who swept the Red Sox over the weekend, are No. 1 for the eighth straight week, followed by the No. 2 Dodgers, who are about to wrap up their second straight NL West crown. The Dodgers held the top spot for 12 consecutive weeks before the Yankees' reign began on Aug. 10.

The U.S. Army Team of the Week is the Atlanta Braves, who moved up four spots to No. 8 this week. In addition, they've moved back into NL wild-card contention, only 2½ games behind the No. 7 Colorado Rockies.

One of our voters, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com, wrote the comments below, along with ESPN.com senior MLB editor David Kull. Meanwhile, you can rank the teams yourself.

Tune in to "Baseball Tonight" every Monday on ESPN to see the week's U.S. Army Power Rankings.

2009 Power Rankings: September 28
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (1)	Yankees	100-56	MVP candidate Mark Teixeira is hitting .344 with a 1.069 OPS in September.
	2 (3)	Dodgers	93-63	Ronnie Belliard is batting .342 (26-for-76) with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 22 games with the Dodgers.
	3 (4)	Angels	91-64	The Angels are close to earning a third straight division title for the first time in franchise history.
	4 (2)	Red Sox	91-64	Red Sox catchers have allowed 150 steals and have put out only 23 runners (13 percent).
	5 (5)	Cardinals	90-66	This is the Cardinals' first 90-win season since 2005.
	6 (6)	Phillies	90-65	The Phillies are on the verge of a playoff spot for the third straight year, something they've done only once before (1976-78).
	7 (7)	Rockies	88-68	Jorge De La Rosa (16-7) has won nine of his past 10 decisions.
	8 (12)	Braves	85-70	Since returning to the rotation, Tim Hudson is 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA in five starts.
$Texas Rangers$	9 (9)	Rangers	85-70	An eight-year veteran, Marlon Byrd (.283, 20 HR, 89 RBIs) is having his best season.
	10 (10)	Tigers	83-72	Miguel Cabrera has driven in 100-plus runs in six straight major league seasons.
	11 (13)	Twins	81-74	The Twins have won 11 of their past 13 games entering their series in Detroit.
	12 (11)	Marlins	83-73	The Marlins have secured a winning record for the second straight season and the sixth time in their 17-year history.
	13 (8)	Giants	83-73	Juan Uribe is batting .371 (33-for-89) with seven home runs and 20 RBIs in September.
	14 (16)	Cubs	81-74	Through Sunday, the Cubs have allowed three runs or fewer in their past nine games.
	15 (15)	Rays	79-76	Despite the Rays' September struggles, Evan Longoria has thrived, hitting .356 with a 1.081 OPS.
	16 (14)	Mariners	80-76	The Mariners are 33-20 in games decided by one run.
	17 (17)	Brewers	77-79	Ryan Braun joined Albert Pujols as the only players in history with 30 homers in their first three seasons.
	18 (20)	Athletics	75-81	The A's are finishing the season at a peak level, winning 11 of their past 14 games.
	19 (18)	White Sox	75-81	Although he didn't make his debut until June 4, Gordon Beckham has 14 home runs and 60 RBIs.
	20 (22)	Reds	74-82	The Reds have won 11 of 15 since Sept. 13.
	21 (21)	Blue Jays	72-84	Roy Halladay is the first AL pitcher with four seasons of 16 or more wins since David Wells in 1997-2000.
	22 (23)	Padres	72-85	Adrian Gonzalez (40, 110) hit the 40-HR, 100-walk mark for the first time in his career.
	23 (19)	Astros	72-83	The Astros have lost 11 of their past 13 games.
	24 (24)	Mets	67-89	David Wright has hit .220 with a .600 OPS as the Mets have lost 17 of 25 in September.
	25 (26)	Diamondbacks	68-88	The Diamondbacks have the same number of pitchers and hitters with 100 or more strikeouts.
	26 (27)	Indians	64-91	The Indians own a 6-20 record since Aug. 30.
	27 (28)	Royals	64-92	Zack Greinke (16-8, 2.06 ERA) has allowed one or fewer runs in 17 of his 32 starts.
	28 (25)	Orioles	60-95	Nick Markakis is four RBIs from reaching 100 for the second time in his career.
	29 (29)	Pirates	58-96	Ross Ohlendorf has been the Pirates' most effective starter, going 4-3 with a 2.83 ERA in the second half.
	30 (30)	Nationals	52-103	The Nationals have lost 21 of 27 to fall 51 games under .500.