MLB.com putting Padres over Yankees in power rankings is the epitome of disrespect
![SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 09: Giancarlo Stanton #27 and Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees talk in the dugout during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Five of the American League Division Series at PETCO Park on October 09, 2020 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_752,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/https-3A-2F-2Fyanksgoyard-com-2Fwp-content-2Fuploads-2Fgetty-images-2F2021-2F01-2F1279415649-850x560-ff5f98ca6318f2bd82e8fb27d1ed7577.jpg)
Yankees fans have a bone to pick with MLB.com over their first power rankings list.
Like so many teams around MLB, the New York Yankees have fallen victim to the slow-moving offseason market. While it isn’t time to press the panic button just yet, their lack of activity and overall links to some of the big-named free agents is starting to unsettle the fan base, and rightfully so.
However, even with the futures of key players still up in the air, the Yankees still undeniably have one of the deepest rosters in the sport. Before you say they fell well short of reaching their goals last season, they ran into a team in Tampa Bay that was literally built to survive the unforgiving playoff schedule, which featured zero off days (!) in the early rounds.
Given the losses Tampa has sustained this offseason, the Yankees probably deserve to be in second (behind the Dodgers) as far as 2021 power rankings are concerned, right? Well, MLB.com doesn’t seem to think so, as their debut list of the league’s top clubs bizarrely had the Padres ranked No. 2 ahead of them.
BREAKING: The San Diego Padres are finalizing a trade to acquire former Cy Young winner Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays for prospects.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 28, 2020
As if we need another example that the media is hopping on San Diego’s bandwagon in light of their recent blockbuster trades, right? That obviously isn’t to say they won’t be one of the most improved teams next season, but it’s downright laughable that the Yankees continue to be disrespected like this.
Here’s what MLB.com’s Alyson Footer had to say about New York dropping below the Padres in the power rankings.
“Unlike the Dodgers, the Yankees’ need for a starting pitcher is more pressing. Gerrit Cole sits alone at the top; beyond that, upgrades are warranted,” Footer wrote. “A slow-moving offseason for the Yankees has been mostly about DJ LeMahieu and whether he’s going to re-sign or go elsewhere. What seemed like a foregone conclusion that he would return isn’t so clear as both sides plunge into the new year.”
Footer makes some salient points, but what exactly has San Diego accomplished, besides putting together an admittedly intimidating roster on paper, that proves they deserve to be ranked ahead of the Yankees? The answer is nothing.
The Padres are not joking around.
— MLB (@MLB) December 29, 2020
San Diego is reportedly acquiring RHP Yu Darvish from the Cubs in a seven-player deal, per https://t.co/Z3s2EpgF39’s Mark Feinsand. pic.twitter.com/dBxMb7OJcw
The Yankees have advanced as far as the ALCS in two of the last four seasons, and three of those eliminations came at the hands of teams in Houston and Boston whose elaborate cheating operations were seemingly still at large at the time.
San Diego, meanwhile, just managed their first winning season since 2010 and made the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. A couple of quality acquisitions on the pitching front is apparently all it takes for them, a former perennial loser, to leapfrog a juggernaut whose core is still very much intact.
Good to know.