Mike Harrington, The Buffalo News, N.Y. –
(Through Thursday night’s games, last week in parentheses)
1 Los Angeles Dodgers. Great SI cover shot with Kemp and Magic. (1)
2 Baltimore Orioles. Jones’ long-term deal makes him a building block. (3)
3 Texas Rangers. Hamilton hype makes it easy to miss Kinsler’s solid season. (2)
4 Tampa Bay Rays. Maddon’s latest road trip idea: All-Nerd, with bow ties to honor FOX’s Rosenthal. (4)
5 Cleveland Indians. Choo hitting nearly .400 since unorthodox move to leadoff slot. (8)
6 Washington Nationals. Deal with Oakland for Gonzalez might have been MLB’s best of winter. (6)
7 Atlanta Braves. Doing better job not overusing bullpen this season. (5)
8 Cincinnati Reds. Mesoraco was one of IL’s top catching prospects in recent years. (13)
9 St. Louis Cardinals. No Berkman for 8-10 weeks is a major loss. (7)
10 Toronto Blue Jays. Extend working deal with Double-A New Hampshire through 2014. Future link on Bisons’ chain? (10)
11 Miami Marlins. Loss of Bonifacio really slows Ozzie’s running game. (11)
12 New York Mets. Still over .500 despite minus-35 run differential. (9)
13 San Francisco Giants. Start huge home series with DBacks Monday. (16)
14 Boston Red Sox. Solid starts, sensational bullpen fueling resurgence. (20)
15 Chicago White Sox. Konerko pushes average up to .384. (17)
16 New York Yankees. Swift, harsh denials to Daily News’ story of sale. Hmmmm. You wonder. (12)
17 Philadelphia Phillies. Brutal start but still entered weekend just four games out. Dangerous. (14)
18 Oakland Athletics. Return of Manny Being Manny could happen as soon as Wednesday. (15)
19 Houston Astros. Sweep of Cubs has them closing in on .500. (22)
20 Los Angeles Angels. Career-best 14 Ks for Haren in four-hit shutout of Mariners. (23)
21 Detroit Tigers. No one expected them to struggle like this in weak division. (18)
22 Pittsburgh Pirates. Pathetic offense has scored 24 fewer runs than any team in
majors. (19)
23 Seattle Mariners. Love “King’s Court” section at Safeco when Felix pitches. (27)
24 Arizona Diamondbacks. Already facing stunning 10 1/2-game deficit in NL West. (21)
25 Colorado Rockies. Tulo nearly matched Stanton for longest bomb in Marlins Park. (24)
26 Milwaukee Brewers. Hope Cheeseheads enjoyed last year’s run to NLCS. (25)
27 Kansas City Royals. All it took was for them to show up in NY and Yanks felt better. (26)
28 San Diego Padres. 11-run outburst at Citi produced just fifth road win of season. (29)
29 Chicago Cubs. One loooooong first summer for Theo on the North Side. (28)
30 Minnesota Twins. Pavano only Opening Day starter left in rotation. (30)
