Updated: July 30, 2012, 12:13 PM ET

Nationals make their move up

Week:

ESPN.com

After six straight weeks in the No. 3 spot, the Washington Nationals, winners of eight of their past nine games, rose to the No. 2 position in our MLB Power Rankings for Week 18.

The New York Yankees, meanwhile, hold on to the No. 1 spot for the fourth straight week, while the Texas Rangers fall one spot to the No. 3 position.

The Cincinnati Reds, who have won 10 straight games, hold tight to the No. 4 spot, while the Los Angeles Angels move up one spot to No. 5.

This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Many of the team comments come courtesy of the fan bloggers on the SweetSpot Blog Network. Meanwhile, you can rank the teams yourself.

Tell us what you think about the Power Rankings: Use the hashtag #ESPNMLBPOWER.

2012 Power Rankings: July 30
RANKTEAM / RECORD TRENDINGCOMMENTS
1
Yankees
60-41
--

Last Week: 1		The Yankees went just 3-3 last week and 6-7 in the past two weeks, but they had a plus-18 run differential during that time. The bullpen is also about to get a major lift with Joba Chamberlain coming back any day now. -- Rob Abruzzese: Bronx Baseball Daily
2
1
Last Week: 3		Jordan Zimmermann, the Nationals' No. 3 starter, has allowed as many baserunners in July as he has strikeouts (31), leading to an ERA of 0.97 for the month. -- Harper Gordek: Nationals Baseball
3
Rangers
59-41
1
Last Week: 2		Yu Darvish hasn't been good in three starts since the All-Star break. In that span, he's 1-2 with a 6.41 ERA. He's also allowed 19 hits in 19 2/3 innings pitched. ESPN.com
4
Reds
61-40
--

Last Week: 4		Cincinnati has won 10 games in a row and has the best record in the majors (along with Washington). Even better: No contender will acquire a better player at the trade deadline than the Reds, who expect Joey Votto to return from the DL this week. -- Chad Dotson: Redleg Nation
5
Angels
55-47
1
Last Week: 6		The Angels went 3-3 last week, but their biggest win came Friday night, when they acquired right-hander Zack Greinke. The 28-year-old greatly improves the club's chances of winning the AL West, or at the very least earning a wild-card spot. -- Hudson Belinsky: Halos Daily
6
Pirates
58-43
3
Last Week: 9		In three starts since the All-Star break, A.J. Burnett has issued only two walks in 22 innings pitched. During that span, he also has a 2.86 ERA. -- ESPN.com
7
Braves
57-44
--

Last Week: 7		Since the trade for Ryan Dempster fell through, the Braves have yet to make a trade of any sort. Expect GM Frank Wren to make at least one move, athough it may be to shore up the bench or bullpen, not the starting rotation. Dempster remains an option, but the Braves now seem hesitant to offer the same package for him as the original deal that fell through (centered on Randall Delgado). -- Franklin Rabon: Capitol Avenue Club
8
4
Last Week: 12		The A's, who sit atop the AL wild-card standings, begin a 10-game homestand (three against the Rays, four versus the Blue Jays and three against the Angels) on Monday. -- ESPN.com
9
1
Last Week: 10		The White Sox seemingly stole Francisco Liriano from the Twins for a utility infielder and a marginal lefty minor league pitching prospect. They're reportedly toying with going to a six-man rotation to give their starters extra rest. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
10
Giants
55-46
2
Last Week: 8		It was a tough week for the Giants: The team lost Pablo Sandoval to a strained hamstring and got swept in a weekend series by the Dodgers, who now find themselves tied with the Giants for first place in the NL West. -- Chris Quick: Bay City Ball
11
Dodgers
56-47
--

Last Week: 11		The end of his Dodgers career is near for Juan Uribe, who has had one plate appearance since Los Angeles acquired Hanley Ramirez. The team's new third baseman is 7-for-21 with three walks and three extra-base hits since his move on Wednesday. -- Jon Weisman: Dodger Thoughts
12
1
Last Week: 13		The Cardinals won three of four games from the NL West-contending Dodgers last week, then lost two of three to the Cubs. Adam Wainwright continues his stellar comeback campaign. -- Matt Philip: Fungoes
13
Tigers
54-48
8
Last Week: 5		After their big trade last week, the Tigers have six legitimate major league pitchers who have excellent fielding-independent pitching lines. None of them has an FIP over 3.85, and all have thrown at least 79 innings this year. -- Josh Worn: Walkoff Woodward
14
Rays
53-49
--

Last Week: 14		The hot-and-cold Rays looked like playoff contenders last week by taking two of three from the Orioles and Angels, both wild-card rivals. I have no idea what is going to happen before Tuesday's trade deadline. -- Mark Heilig: The Ray Area
15
2
Last Week: 17		The Blue Jays embark on a 10-game road trip starting Monday with series in Seattle (three games), Oakland (four games) and Tampa Bay (three games). -- ESPN.com
16
Orioles
53-49
--

Last Week: 16		A 2-5 week left Baltimore 7½ games out of first place and two games back of the last wild-card spot. With back-to-back road series in New York (first in AL East) and Tampa (tied with Orioles in the wild-card standings), this could be the most important week of the season thus far for the O's, who are looking to keep their rapidly fading playoff hopes alive. -- Nick Faleris: Camden Depot
17
2
Last Week: 19		A 7-3 homestand is merely "pretty good" given that the opponents were the Astros, Rockies and Mets. Still, the Diamondbacks are only 4½ games out of first place in the NL West, but a 10-game road trip to Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh begins on Monday. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
18
Red Sox
51-51
3
Last Week: 15		As the trade deadline approaches, what the Red Sox do will speak volumes as to how they feel about their chances this season. Don't bet on a blockbuster. -- Evan Brunell: Fire Brand of the AL
19
Indians
50-52
1
Last Week: 20		The Indians continued their slip-sliding descent out of contention as only a Cleveland team can. They managed to rally to win a crucial series against the Tigers, then were swept by the Twins to finish the week two games under .500 and 5½ games out of first place. You can hear cotton hitting the floor as Indians fans everywhere start to throw in the towel on this season. -- Susan Petrone: It's Pronounced "Lajaway"
20
Mets
49-53
2
Last Week: 18		After losing 14 of their past 17 and dropping to four games below .500, the Mets move into the trade deadline as non-buyers. But do they have any worthwhile assets to qualify them as sellers? -- Joe Janish: Mets Today
21
2
Last Week: 23		With Cole Hamels a Phillie through at least 2018, the remaining items on the checklist for a successful 2012 are maximizing trade returns on Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, Juan Pierre and Joe Blanton, and deciding whether an early shutdown for Roy Halladay would help him recover his lost velocity for 2013. Actual baseball is not a priority. -- Ryan Sommers: Crashburn Alley
22
Marlins
47-54
--

Last Week: 22		The Marlins enter this week on a two-game winning streak, but they're a much worse team now that they've unloaded part of the core of their roster. -- Dave Gershman: Marlins Daily
23
1
Last Week: 24		Despite all the trade talk surrounding complementary players like Jason Vargas and Brandon League, relatively little has been said about closer Tom Wilhelmsen. It always hurts to deal a shutdown reliever in his pre-arbitration years, but it's Wilhelmsen's team-friendly contract that makes the return piece in a potential trade so exciting to think about. -- Brendan Gawlowski: Pro Ball NW
24
Brewers
45-56
3
Last Week: 21		The Brewers' season is summed up in one statistic: In innings 1-6, Milwaukee has outscored the opposition by 30 runs; in innings 7 and on, the opposition has outscored the Brewers by 48. -- Jack Moore: Disciples of Uecker
25
Padres
43-60
2
Last Week: 27		The Padres lost two of three to the Giants and Marlins last week. Next up, four in Cincy against a Reds squad that is on a 10-game winning streak. Curiously, the Padres signed closer Huston Street to a two-year, $14 million contract extension. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
26
Twins
43-58
--

Last Week: 26		In dealing Francisco Liriano to the White Sox over the weekend, the Twins sent their hottest trade chip to their most hated rival for a negligible return. It's been that kind of season. -- Nick Nelson: Twins Daily
27
Royals
41-60
2
Last Week: 25		The Royals are an awful 4-13 since the All-Star break, and they're riding a five-game losing streak. ESPN.com
28
Cubs
42-58
--

Last Week: 28		Paul Maholm is 5-0 with a 1.02 ERA in his past six starts. He's the first left-handed starter in modern history to have six straight starts of at least six innings pitched and allowing one or fewer runs for the Cubs. -- Joe Aiello: View from the Bleachers
29
Rockies
37-63
--

Last Week: 29		Josh Rutledge has been a bright spot for the Rockies since being called up from the minor leagues. After another two-hit game on Sunday, Rutledge is now batting .379/.393/.638 in 15 games. -- Travis Lay: Blake Street Bulletin
30
Astros
35-68
--

Last Week: 30		The Astros are 13-39 since May 31 and have only one player who was on their Opening Day roster last year (Brett Wallace, freshly recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City). All Astros fans can do right now is wonder how many years it will take for this massive upheaval to produce results. -- Austin Swafford: Austin's Astros 290 Blog
  • Biggest Jump:
  • 4
  • Biggest Drop:
  • 8

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