Updated: May 21, 2012, 2:10 PM ET

Dodgers take over top spot

Week:

ESPN.com

Fresh off a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Los Angeles Dodgers move up one spot and take over the No. 1 position in our MLB Power Rankings for Week 8.

The Baltimore Orioles also move up a spot to No. 2, while the Texas Rangers fall two spots to the No. 3 position. The Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays round out the top five.

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. Nearly all 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: May 21
RANKTEAM / RECORD TRENDINGCOMMENTS
1
Dodgers
28-13
1
Last Week: 2		The Dodgers own the best record in baseball thanks in large part to their dominant 19-4 record at home. -- ESPN.com
2
Orioles
27-15
1
Last Week: 3		Adam Jones has ridden a fortunate home run/fly ball rate of 26.8 percent to the second-highest home run total in baseball (14). Although that rate will drop, Jones has set himself up nicely for the first 30-plus homer season of his career. -- Nick Faleris: Camden Depot
3
Rangers
26-16
2
Last Week: 1		Josh Hamilton understandably remains in the limelight, but Elvis Andrus (.323 AVG/.400 OBP/.424 SLG) is quietly producing one of the best starts to the season of any shortstop in baseball. -- Joey Matschulat: Baseball Time in Arlington
4
Braves
26-16
--

Last Week: 4		Tim Hudson has pitched well in four of his five starts, and he's pitched seven or more innings in each of his past three outings. -- ESPN.com
5
Rays
25-17
2
Last Week: 7		The snakebit Rays dropped three of five at home, where they were 13-3 entering the homestand last week. To make matters worse, yet another right-handed bat (Jeff Keppinger) seems destined for the most talented disabled list in baseball. -- Mark Heilig: The Ray Area
6
1
Last Week: 5		The Cardinals' defense and health have begun to fail them, as they committed 10 errors in a seven-game span and lost Jon Jay, Allen Craig, Kyle McClellan and Lance Berkman to the DL. -- Matt Philip: Fungoes
7
1
Last Week: 6		Jordan Zimmermann has pitched far better than his record (2-4) indicates, as he's allowed three or fewer earned runs in seven of his eight starts. -- ESPN.com
8
1
Last Week: 9		Jose Bautista is heating up, hitting six home runs in his past 10 games. Adam Lind, meanwhile, has been sent to Triple-A and was placed on irrevocable waivers. Brandon Morrow has also thrown two separate complete-game three-hitters this month. -- Matthias Koster: Mop-Up Duty
9
Indians
23-18
2
Last Week: 11		The Indians started off last week with a bang -- four straight wins against the Twins and Mariners. The Tribe ended the week with a whimper, losing a series at home against the Marlins. -- Susan Petrone: It's Pronounced Lajaway
10
Yankees
21-20
2
Last Week: 8		The Yankees got a great start from Andy Pettitte on Friday -- eight shutout innings -- but it was an otherwise abysmal week, as they didn't hit or get it done on the mound or play good defense. Having dropped five of their past seven, they are really struggling. -- Rob Abruzzese: Bronx Baseball Daily
11
Marlins
22-19
1
Last Week: 12		After seven innings of one-run ball on Sunday, Josh Johnson improved his FIP (fielding independent pitching) on the season to 2.92. He's beginning to look like the ace he was the past few years. -- Dave Gershman: Marlins Daily
12
Giants
21-20
5
Last Week: 17		Matt Cain has been dominant in five starts at home (1.85 ERA) but has mostly struggled in three outings on the road (4.42 ERA). -- ESPN.com
13
Reds
21-19
1
Last Week: 14		Win a series at Yankee Stadium, and all of a sudden anything seems possible. Despite being perhaps the most inconsistent team in baseball, the Reds can look at the standings and discover they are only a half-game out of first place in the NL Central. -- Chad Dotson: Redleg Nation
14
5
Last Week: 19		Young fireballer Jake Diekman has struck out six of the first 13 batters he's faced. A steady diet of punchouts from Diekman would go a long way to supplement a bullpen that can seemingly rely only on Jon Papelbon and Antonio Bastardo right now. -- Paul Boye: Crashburn Alley
15
Mets
22-19
5
Last Week: 10		R.A. Dickey's 3.75 ERA is certainly respectable, but he has given up eight home runs in his eight starts. -- ESPN.com
16
Red Sox
20-21
7
Last Week: 23		Josh Beckett has been dominant over his past two starts, as he's 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA during that span. -- ESPN.com
17
1
Last Week: 16		The White Sox had a 5-2 week, capped by a sweep at Wrigley that gets the Sox back to .500 (21-21). They play 15 of their next 18 at home, but they're only 7-12 at The Cell. Brent Morel is heading to the disabled list, so you'll be seeing newly signed Orlando Hudson at third base. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
18
Tigers
20-21
5
Last Week: 13		On Sunday, Max Scherzer struck out 15 of the 26 Pirates batters he faced. In doing so, he became the fourth pitcher since 1918 to strike out 15 or more while facing 26 or fewer batters in a game. Only Johan Santana, Jake Peavy and Randy Johnson have experienced a better strikeouts/batters faced rate when facing 26 or fewer batters. -- Josh Worn: Walkoff Woodward
19
4
Last Week: 15		A 3-4 record last week (stop me if you've heard this before) has the A's continuing to hang around .500. Keep an eye on Ryan Cook, who is now up to 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen without allowing a run. -- Jason Wojciechowski: Beaneball
20
Angels
18-24
1
Last Week: 21		You could make a strong case that Mike Trout is the most exciting young player in baseball, but you also could make a case that the Angels are the most boring team in the game. Splitting with Oakland and Chicago wasn't great, but losing a sweepable series to San Diego is even worse. It's a long season, but the time for the Halos to sink or swim is rapidly approaching. -- Hudson Belinsky: Halos Daily
21
Pirates
19-22
3
Last Week: 24		Kevin Correia is winless in his past six starts and during that span has compiled a 5.56 ERA. -- ESPN.com
22
4
Last Week: 18		Chris Young returned from the disabled list and Arizona took two of three in Kansas City, pushing the D-backs over .500 on the road (12-11). They've been outhomered 44-32. Up next: They'll host the Dodgers for three. The D-backs won't face Clayton Kershaw, and Matt Kemp won't be in L.A.'s lineup. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
23
Astros
18-23
3
Last Week: 20		The Astros' relievers don't get the ball with the lead very often, but when they do, they're a safe bet to hang on to it. This bullpen has turned out to be a real strength so far, putting up the league's third-best ERA (2.75) and best WHIP (1.18). -- Austin Swafford: Austin's Astros 290 Blog
24
Royals
16-24
4
Last Week: 28		The Royals have won just five of 22 contests at home, where they have been outscored by a tally of 84 to 122. -- Craig Brown: Royals Authority
25
--

Last Week: 25		Veteran right-hander Kevin Millwood has allowed only two home runs in his eight starts. -- ESPN.com
26
Brewers
17-24
4
Last Week: 22		It's been all or nothing for the Milwaukee offense in 2012. The Brewers have received fantastic performances from left fielder Ryan Braun (.433 wOBA) and catcher Jon Lucroy (.381 wOBA), and solid work from right fielder Corey Hart (.363 wOBA), but every other position has been well below average thus far. -- Jack Moore: Disciples of Uecker
27
Rockies
15-25
1
Last Week: 26		It's been a miserable May for the Rockies. They're 4-14 in the month, pushing them into the basement of the NL West. -- ESPN.com
28
Cubs
15-26
1
Last Week: 27		The Cubs are riding a six-game losing streak, which includes a two-game sweep by the Phillies and a three-game sweep by the crosstown rival White Sox. Any momentum that was building has dissipated quickly. -- Joe Aiello: View from the Bleachers
29
Twins
14-27
1
Last Week: 30		Joe Mauer has a healthy .395 on-base percentage, but he continues to hit for little power, as he has only one home run. -- ESPN.com
30
Padres
16-26
1
Last Week: 29		The Padres do lead the majors in one stat: most players on the disabled list (13). Tim Stauffer's return from the DL lasted only one start ... his elbow is barking again. The Padres also have played the fewest road games so far (14) and are now off on a 10-game road trip. -- Diane Firstman: Value Over Replacement Grit
  • Biggest Jump:
  • 7
  • Biggest Drop:
  • 5

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