MLB Power Rankings, April 14: Can Yankees catch the stupid good Rays?

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MLB fans entered 2023 expecting parity at the top, power throughout the league, and a massive gulf between the game's supreme winners and unmitigated losers.

So far, many of the "haves" have begun the season as expected -- except for the teams that reside in the NL East, as well as the select few rich teams that have opted out of using their money/being successful.

The "have nots"? Yeah, they were by far the easiest teams to place on this updated power rankings and have, in fact, not even earned the dignity of a blurb. No blurb for you.

Where do our New York Yankees fit in so far? They've won their first four series of the season, all against teams that finished .500 or better in 2022. Two of those series came on the road, and one was an AL East battle. The Yankees dropped the opening game of both road series in frustrating fashion, only to rebound and get the last two laughs both times. That's "No. 1 in the Power Rankings" stuff, except for ... well ... you know.

The Yankees have earned plaudits so far for surviving without the top-tier rotation they expected to have, but there's only one king, at this point in time.

MLB Power Rankings: Yankees Deserve Love, But ... The Freaking Rays, Man.

The Absolute Wastes of Space Tier:

30. Detroit Tigers
29. Oakland A's
28. Washington Nationals
27. Kansas City Royals

There are fewer teams here than some might've expected entering the season, and the Royals still have a chance to rise from the ashes and prosper; without bumbling pitching coach Cal Eldred, and with big bats like Vinny Pasquantino, Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez, they could become middling by midseason.

These other squads? They've proven to be the absolute dregs. The Tigers haven't found a lead they haven't liked blowing thus far this season, coming up short time and again in Toronto this week (though, somehow, their only two wins have come against the Astros in Houston). They're singlehandedly responsible for keeping the Red Sox relevant, allowing a moribund Boston team to sweep them at home last week.

Despite both Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears coming up small for the A's so far -- and despite Oakland's top slugger Seth Brown now missing in action with an oblique injury -- Detroit retains bottom-of-the-barrel status for now.

MLB Power Rankings: The Middling Tier (Featuring Some Projected Playoff Teams?!):

26. Colorado Rockies
25. Philadelphia Phillies
24. Cincinnati Reds
23. Boston Red Sox
22. Chicago White Sox
21. Seattle Mariners

Sorry, but the Reds owned the Phillies in the head-to-head matchup, with another coming in Cincinnati this weekend! You certainly want to put the defending National League champions higher than this, but without Rhys Hoskins (for the year) and Bryce Harper (currently chewing table legs in the clubhouse waiting to come back), they've looked worse than mortal so far. With breakouts Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft slotting in behind Hunter Greene, if you run into the Reds at the wrong portion of their rotation cycle, you're in trouble.

The Seattle Mariners haven't hit their way out of this tier yet, which feels wild to type, but is completely true. The Jarred Kelenic breakout has been beautiful to watch, but the roster has taken a collective step back, despite staying mostly stagnant.

Also ... the Red Sox without Adam Duvall do not deserve to sit any higher than this. They could pull it together. The offense could gel. Masataka Yoshida could wake up and stop beating the ball into the ground/hitting .216 (bet you didn't know that, based on the preseason love fest). Brayan Bello might be their ace. But, right now, they have Bobby Dalbec playing shortstop. They're lucky to be here.

MLB Power Rankings: The "Why Aren't You Better? Why Are You Next to Them?" Tier

20. San Francisco Giants
19. St. Louis Cardinals
18. Miami Marlins
17. New York Mets
16. Chicago Cubs
15. Baltimore Orioles

Safe to say that, while a few of these teams should be perfectly satisfied to be here, the New York Mets have no idea how they plopped into this tier just two weeks into what was supposed to be their dream season. $500 million doesn't buy you insurance policies against injuries, we guess. Losing Edwin Diaz and Justin Verlander (and, uh, Carlos Correa, kinda) will do that to your expectations, I guess. Once the team dares to call up slugging prospects Brett Baty and Mark Vientos again, they could rise up the rankings.

These are flawed, intriguing teams, across the board. The Giants are a perfectly average team that will benefit from Mitch Haniger's return. The Cardinals might be the second-most-woefully underperforming team in MLB, behind the Phils, but they're coming around. The Marlins can pitch, and occasionally, they can bash, too. The Cubs are on the road to recovery, and the Dansby Swanson signing made more sense than most believed in December. The Orioles? Adley Rutschman might be the second-best player in the AL East. The offense is legit; they were tied with the Yankees for the second-most dingers in the American League, entering play Thursday. If only they'd invested in some non-Cole Irvin pitching this offseason.

MLB Power Rankings: The "Buyers or Sellers?" Tier

14. Pittsburgh Pirates
13. Texas Rangers
12. Houston Astros
11. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
10. Los Angeles Dodgers

Even Dodgers fans wouldn't argue that they deserve better treatment, at this point.

Just kidding about the whole "Buyers or Sellers?" thing; the Pirates won't be buying, no matter how much their fans beg them to, and the Astros will rise up out of these ranks soon enough. The other three teams will all try to patch things up midseason, to varying degrees.

The Dodgers know the calvary is (hopefully) coming this offseason when Shohei Ohtani is available, but they'll make some maneuvers midway through this campaign to help James Outman, Miguel Vargas and the other kids. The Angels still need a bullpen, though the offense might be in its finest form since their last playoff appearance in 2014. The Rangers have some sort of deluded sense of their own potential, so that roster's not done cooking.

Unfortunately, this is exactly where you don't want to be. Stuck in between.

MLB Power Rankings: Friskiest Tier Yet

9. Arizona Diamondbacks
8. San Diego Padres
7. Cleveland Guardians
6. Minnesota Twins

All of these teams would be extremely fun to see in the MLB playoffs! And at least three of them seem likely to make it; the Arizona Diamondbacks have a significant hill yet to climb to get there. But, at this point, they're leading the NL West and more than held their own against the Dodgers in eight matchups to begin the season (5-3). Eight matchups?! Eight matchups.

The Padres are the Padres, a star-studded group that's one Joe Musgrove rehab away from making a significant push. The Guardians are the Guardians; they're version 2.0 of the team that won the AL Central by virtue of 1,000 nicks, cuts and bleeders ahead of Jose Ramirez, who brought every runner in with his wide variety of lasers.

The Minnesota Twins? They might just be different this year, after flipping Luis Arraez for now-obvious breakout Pablo López. After decades of getting battered by the Yankees, Minnesota walked into the Bronx on Thursday night and put up nine runs in the top of the first inning. Call that a Twin Killing.

MLB Power Rankings: Contenders (Waiting for the Astros)

5. Milwaukee Brewers
4. Toronto Blue Jays
3. New York Yankees
2. Atlanta Braves
[Significant Space]
[Even More Space]
[Somehow Even More Space]
1. The Absolutely Stupid Tampa Bay Rays

Someday, the Houston Astros will get here. For now, you go where your record sends you, though. That No. 3 spot is theirs for the taking, but we're not going to give the 2023 Astros something that the 2022 Astros earned.

The Milwaukee Brewers look entirely different than they were supposed to, thanks to an unexpected infusion of The Freshmen (rookies Joey Wiemer and Brice Turang, alongside center fielder Garrett Mitchell). If their offense and defense can match their deep pitching, and if Brandon Woodruff can stay healthy, the Cardinals are going to have to hurry up and get right to match them.

The Blue Jays and Yankees were the consensus AL East favorites entering the season, and both teams have looked like top-tier clubs in the early going. Kevin Kiermaier and Daulton Varsho have led a defensive remodel in Toronto for a team that can still hit (though they tend to make things dramatic). The Yankees won their first four series of the season for just the third time in 20 years (and their fifth series of the season is off to, uh, a rocky start). The Braves have fulfilled their destiny, and Matt Olson is en route to becoming the hometown hero he's long deserved to be.

But the Rays ... the Rays are 13-0. The Rays stared down the Red Sox, their first real challenge of 2023, and swept them, too. The Rays trailed 3-1 in the fifth inning Thursday; they promptly scored seven runs in the bottom of the frame. The Rays have eight more homers than the second-place Dodgers. They entered play on Thursday with an OPS nearly 100 points higher than the second-place team (also the Dodgers, .945 to .857). They have the lowest ERA in baseball by 0.33 runs per nine innings (over the Twins in second). They're tied for the game's lowest WHIP.

Who cares who they've played? Who cares if the only 10-0 (or better) start to win the World Series belongs to the 1955 Dodgers? In the here and now, they're kings. Now, it's incumbent upon the rest of the league to close the gap.

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