GW’s MLB Power Ratings (Week 23)

Beyond Golf — 16 September 2012 by Jim Street

GW’s MLB West Power Ratings (Week 23)

1. Rangers (1): The last thing the defending AL champs expected right now was to have their AL West Division lead in jeopardy heading into the final two-plus weeks of the regular season.

2. Athletics (3): For my money, the most deserving Manager of the Year honors for the AL is the A’s Bob Melvin, but the East Coast bias probably is pushing just as hard for Buck Showalter of the Orioles.

3. Giants (2): The Giants had the MVP of the All-Star Game (I prefer not to mention his name) and a division title could land catcher Buster Posey the NL’s MVP Award.

4. Dodgers (5): The injury-riddled rotation is so bad that it appears that the Dodgers’ post-season hopes are resting an awful lot on right-hander Josh Beckett. That’s not what the team had in mind when it made the mega-trade with Boston.

5. Angels (4): Has anyone else noticed that first baseman Albert Pujols’ name has not been mentioned as a potential AL MVP candidate? It appears that $200 million doesn’t go far these days.

6. Diamondbacks (6): The Snakes are trying to figure out why Giants left-hander Barry Zito has such a difficult time against most of the NL but he handles them time-and-time-and-time-and-time again.

7. Padres (7): Pigeons everywhere must be happy. Padres Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman is the latest to have a statue placed outside a MLB stadium, joining Brewers’ funnyman and booth legend Bob Uecker to be immortalized in 2012. It is a nice gesture, for sure.

8. Mariners (8): After seemingly wrapping up the AL Cy Young Award with an unbeaten August, including a perfect game, Felix Hernandez is losing his grip in September, losing all three of his starts so far this month. Go figure.

9. Rockies (9): There might not be a “Helton” at the end of DPs much longer, but the Rox have high hopes that Tulowitzki-to-Rutledge-to (fill in the blank) becomes a household combo next season.

(Last Week’s rating in parenthesis)

About Author

Jim Street

Jim’s 40-year sportswriting career started with the San Jose Mercury-News in 1970 and ended on a full-time basis on October 31, 2010 following a 10-year stint with MLB.com. He grew up in Dorris, Calif., several long drives from the nearest golf course. His first tee shot was a week before being inducted into the Army in 1968. Upon his return from Vietnam, where he was a war correspondent for the 9th Infantry Division, Jim took up golf semi-seriously while working for the Mercury-News and covered numerous tournaments, including the U.S. Open in 1982, when Tom Watson made the shot of his life on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach. Jim also covered several Bing Crosby Pro-Am tournaments, the women’s U.S. Open, and other golfing events in the San Francisco area. He has a 17-handicap, made his first and only hole-in-one on March 12, 2018 at Sand Point Country Club in Seattle and witnessed the first round Ken Griffey Jr. ever played – at Arizona State during Spring Training in 1990. Pebble Beach Golf Links, the Kapalua Plantation Course, Pinehurst No. 2, Spyglass Hill, Winged Foot, Torrey Pines, Medinah, Chambers Bay, North Berwick, Gleneagles and Castle Stuart in Scotland, and numerous gems in Hawaii are among the courses he has had the pleasure of playing. Hitting the ball down the middle of the fairway is not a strong part of Jim’s game, but he is known (in his own mind) as the best putter not on tour. Most of Jim’s writing career was spent covering Major League Baseball, a tenure that started with the Oakland Athletics, who won 101 games in 1971, and ended with the Seattle Mariners, who lost 101 games in 2010. Symmetry is a wonderful thing. He currently lives in Seattle and has an 8-year-old grandson, Andrew, who is the club's current junior champion at his home course (Oakmont CC) in Glendale, Calif.