MLB Power Rankings - Major League Baseball

Power Rankings: Yankees take over No. 1 spot

Week:

ESPN.com

The Los Angeles Dodgers deserve kudos for their 12-week run as the No. 1 team in baseball, an all-time MLB Power Rankings record. But now they must step aside and make way for the New York Yankees.

VIDEO PLAYLIST

BBTN Power Rankings August 10

After their four-game sweep of the Red Sox, the Yankees are now baseball's top-ranked team. And among our expert panelists, the vote for the No. 1 spot wasn't even close after the Yankees' closest competitors for the top honor, the Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels, the Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies, combined to go 1-12 over the weekend.

The slumping Dodgers fall to No. 2, followed by the Angels, the Red Sox and the Phillies to round out the top five.

One of our panelists, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportes.com, wrote the comments below. 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. The Cleveland Indians are the U.S. Army Team of the Week because they made the biggest jump in the rankings, moving up four spots to No. 23.

2009 Power Rankings: August 10
	RK (LW)	TEAM	REC	COMMENT
	1 (3)	Yankees	69-42	The Yankees have won seven in a row, 18 of their past 23 and 31 of 41.
	2 (1)	Dodgers	67-45	The Dodgers have lost 10 of their past 15 and also lost the majors' best record, which they had owned since May 2.
	3 (2)	Angels	65-44	Jered Weaver (12-3) has not lost since June 20 despite allowing 35 runs in 53.2 IP (5.87 ERA).
	4 (4)	Red Sox	62-48	David Ortiz has dropped 99 points in his slugging (.507 to .408), the fourth-largest reduction between 2008 and 2009.
	5 (5)	Phillies	61-48	The Phillies are 3-8 since the arrival of Cliff Lee (2-0 with Philadelphia).
$Texas Rangers$	6 (6)	Rangers	62-48	The Rangers have won nine of 12 against the AL West rival Angels in 2009.
	7 (8)	Cardinals	62-51	Matt Holliday is hitting .466 (27-for-58) with the Cardinals.
	8 (7)	Rays	61-50	The Rays have hit a home run in a franchise-record 14 straight games.
	9 (10)	Giants	61-50	Eugenio Velez is on a 15-game hitting streak, which has improved his average from .156 to .337.
	10 (9)	Rockies	61-50	Todd Helton has a 14-game hitting streak, but his average has improved by only one point (from .322 to .323).
	11 (12)	Tigers	59-51	Curtis Granderson reached the 20-homer, 20-steal mark in a season for the second time in his career ('07 and '09).
	12 (11)	Cubs	58-51	The Cubs have won 11 of their past 16 and 15 of their past 22.
	13 (13)	Marlins	58-53	The Marlins have drawn within four games of the NL East lead after their first sweep in Philadelphia since 2004.
	14 (15)	Braves	58-54	The Braves won five of their last six during their West Coast road trip.
	15 (14)	White Sox	57-55	The White Sox are not doing well against divisional rivals, with a 3-10 record in their past 13 games against them.
	16 (16)	Mariners	58-53	Ichiro Suzuki, who leads the AL in batting (.363), hasn't had two games or more in a row without a hit since August 2008.
	17 (18)	Brewers	55-56	The Brewers are 10-13 since the All-Star break.
	18 (19)	Astros	55-56	Wandy Rodriguez (11-6) has nine straight outings without a loss since June 16.
	19 (17)	Twins	54-57	The Twins have lost seven of their past nine on the road and are losing ground in the AL Central.
	20 (20)	Blue Jays	53-57	Edwin Encarnacion has at least one hit in six of seven games since his arrival in Toronto.
	21 (21)	Mets	52-59	The Mets are last in the majors in home runs with 68.
	22 (25)	Diamondbacks	50-62	Mark Reynolds has 36 home runs overall, and 13 in his past 11 games.
	23 (27)	Indians	48-63	The Indians have won 12 of 18 against their divisional rivals.
	24 (23)	Reds	48-62	Francisco Cordero has converted 37 of his past 38 save opportunities.
	25 (22)	Orioles	46-65	The Orioles have lost 17 of 23 in the second half of the season.
	26 (26)	Athletics	49-62	The Athletics have used a rookie starter in nine straight games.
	27 (24)	Pirates	45-66	The Pirates have lost eight in a row and are 8-18 in one-run games.
	28 (29)	Padres	47-66	The Padres are on a roll, winning nine of their past 13.
	29 (29)	Royals	43-68	The Royals are last in the AL in homers, with 92.
	30 (30)	Nationals	40-72	The Nats have won eight straight games and are 14-11 under manager Jim Riggleman.