MLB West Power Ratings (Week 7)

Beyond Golf — 27 May 2012 by Jim Street

GW’s MLB West Power Ratings:

1. Dodgers (1): Andre Ethier might not be as good as teammate Matt Kemp, but when it comes to second-best, that isn’t too bad at all on the NL West leaders.

2. Rangers (2): First player to 20 home runs takes huge step to the AL MVP award. That being the case, here’s a tip of the GolfersWest.com cap to Josh Hamilton, our choice as the best of the best in the junior curcuit. But it’s still early.

3. Angels (6): Albert Pujols finally is hitting like the King Albert of old. But you have to put an asterisk on it because his recent resurgence has been against the hapless Mariners. Too bad the Angels play Seattle only 19 times this season. Otherwise, Albert might hit 75 home runs.

4. Giants (3): The Giants are willing to give anyone the keys to the Gold Gate Bridge if they know the whereabouts of right-handed pitcher and two-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum,

5. Diamondbacks (4): Signing Miguel Montero to a five-year extension effectively removes the most attractive potential free-agent catcher on the market. Congrats to Derrick Hall, the team president and CEO for getting the deal done.

6. Athletics: (6): For those expecting Manny Ramirez to make his Athletics’ debut on June 1 – well, Manny won’t be Manny quite that soon.

7. Rockies: (8): After his first five starts, 49-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer had an ERA of – you might it believe this – 4.99.

8. Mariners (7): Ichiro Suzuki is to MLB what Tiger Woods is to the PGA – just average.

9. Padres (9): If I was the mayor of Peoria, Ariz., I would demand that the Rangers and Angels replace the Mariners and Padres as Spring Training co-inhabitants. I mean, has anyone checked the water there?

(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.