MLB Uber Power Rankings

With a month and a half to go in the season, the Nationals have dethroned the Rangers as the best team in baseball, while the Melky-less Giants and underachieving Angels drop a few spots. Last edition's rankings are in parentheses. All statistics and records are through August 17th,

1 (3). Washington Nationals (74-45): Good offense, dominant starting pitching, and a great bullpen is a pretty nice combination. Of course, this ranking will change when Stephen Strasburg hits the shelf.
2 (2). New York Yankees (71-48): Perhaps finding a new market inefficiency: age. They're extracting tremendous value out of Eric Chavez, Hiroki Kuroda, Freddy Garcia, Raul Ibanez, Andruw Jones, Derek Lowe, and Ichiro Suzuki; the average age of those players is almost 37.
3 (1). Texas Rangers (68-50): Ryan Dempster's American League ERA: 8.31. He'll miss a start in Toronto because he lost his passport.
4 (5). Cincinnati Reds (72-47): 25-9 since the All-Star break. The only team in baseball that's used just five starters all year. And Aroldis Chapman has 106 strikeouts, as a reliever. Things are good in Cincinnati.
5 (9). Atlanta Braves (70-49): Confirmed zombie Ben Sheets, who didn't pitch at all in 2011, has a 2.15 ERA for the Braves in his first six starts back.
6 (6). St. Louis Cardinals (64-55): Here they come, only two back of the wild card. Adam Wainwright has been stellar of late.
7 (11). Tampa Bay Rays (65-54): With Evan Longoria and Matt Joyce back from injury, Ben Zobrist is playing shortstop in order to field Tampa's optimal offensive lineup. And oh by the way, David Price has been the best pitcher in the AL.
8 (13). Detroit Tigers (64-55): Miguel Cabrera has obviously been awesome, but Austin Jackson (.310/.395/.508) has been just as important to Detroit's success.
9 (10). Chicago White Sox (65-53): The Sox might have the two frontrunners for Comeback Player of the Year: Adam Dunn and Alex Rios.
10 (8). Pittsburgh Pirates (66-53): A recent skid and James McDonald's struggles have the put that elusive playoff berth in doubt.
11 (7). San Francisco Giants (65-54): They can absolutely still make the playoffs without the suspended Melky Cabrera, especially with Brandon Belt hitting well over .400 in August. Some help from Tim Lincecum (5.45 ERA) would be nice, though.
12 (4). Los Angeles Angels (62-58): Massively underperforming. The pitching in particular has been extremely ugly. Opposite of the Orioles.
13 (12). Los Angeles Dodgers (65-55): Hanley Ramirez's OPS with the Dodgers is over 100 points higher than it was with the Marlins; he's hitting .317 for his new team.
14 (16). Baltimore Orioles (64-55): How does this team keep winning? Youngster Manny Machado has provided a lift, and Jason Hammel returning in September would be huge for an embattled rotation. Opposite of the Angels.
15 (20). Oakland Athletics (63-55): The best record in the AL since the All-Star Break. In any other season, Yoenis Cespedes (.301/.363/.506) would be the Rookie of the Year.
16 (17). Arizona Diamondbacks (60-59): No one's really paying any attention to sophomore Paul Goldschmidt, who's OPS sits around .900 for the otherwise-inconsistent D'backs.
17 (14). New York Mets (56-63): Since his no-hitter on June 1st, Johan Santana's ERA has been over 8.00 and he's surrendered at least six runs in five consecutive starts.
18 (18). Boston Red Sox (58-62): For almost a year now, the Red Sox have been "unlucky" or "underachieving" or "distracted" or "injury-stricken." Hey--maybe they're just not very good anymore.
19 (19). Toronto Blue Jays (56-63): More destroyed by injuries than any other team, the Jays' offense reads like a Triple-A lineup card.
20 (15). Cleveland Indians (54-65): Losing 16 of their last 20 has completely ruined their season. The Tribe actually owns the worst run differential in the AL.
21 (22). Milwaukee Brewers (54-64): Fun bright spot: the dominance of 27-year-old, unheralded, soft-tossing rookie Mike Fiers, who has an ERA of 2.63 and over five strikeouts for every walk.
22 (21). Miami Marlins (54-66): Heath Bell's ERA is back over 6.00. The bloated contract the Marlins gave him ranks as perhaps the worst decision any team made in the offseason.
23 (23): Philadelphia Phillies (54-65): Gone are Shane Victorino, Hunter Pence, and Joe Blanton. Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee are staying. They'll try again next year.
24 (25). Seattle Mariners (56-64): Felix Hernandez's page on Baseball-Reference.com bears this sponsored message from a Mariners blog: "Felix is ours and you can't have him."
25 (30). San Diego Padres (52-69): Apparently inspired by Ben Sheets, back-from-the-dead Jason Marquis has a 4.08 ERA in 14 starts with the Padres and recently shut out the Pirates.
26 (28). Minnesota Twins (50-68): One of the under-reported stories of the season is the success of former Rule 5 draft pick Scott Diamond, who has a sub-3.00 ERA in his 18 starts.
27 (24). Kansas City Royals (52-66): Trading away Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez was a terrible personnel decision, but flipping Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie might work out; Guthrie has allowed 3 runs in his last 21 innings for KC.
28 (27). Chicago Cubs (46-71): Signs of progress: 22-year-old Anthony Rizzo hitting .296 and discussions of a long contract extension for talented shortstop Starlin Castro.
29 (29). Colorado Rockies (45-72): Maybe they should try to acquire the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton; he's homered in five straight games at Coors Field against the Rockies.
30 (28). Houston Astros (39-81): Seven wins since the beginning of July. Twelve road wins all season. Awfulness on an unprecedented scale.