Talkin' Baseball (MLB Podcast) - Power Rankings!

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Use code TALKIN2025 for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/TALKIN2025. Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discountGo to http://shadyrays.com and use code TALKIN for 35% off polarized sunglasses.Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at https://indeed.com/baseballLooking for a refreshing citrusy kick this summer? Grab a Mountain Dew! Find out where at https://www.mountaindew.com/find-dewDownload the DraftKings Sportsbook app and use promo code JMBASEBALLBook your next trip at https://www.bestwestern.comCoach Trev and Talkin’ Jake list out their power rankings heading into the final stretch of the season! Do you like where they ranked your team?!0:00 Intro2:30 Top 4 teams16:50 Teams 5-1030:00 11-1743:00 18-30 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to talking baseball. Today we cover the one thing we truly know. Power. Power is power. The official power rankings are out now. Let's talk to all. Brian Wu. Luke Keesho, Homer.

You sure about that? A.O. Player of the Week. Sure about that. Hello and welcome to talking baseball. I'm Jake Story Ellie. That is Trevor Plouf. Rob Chiracco is here producing. It's all brought to you by Seeky Code Talk in 2025.

And it's time. We wanted to wait till after the trade deadline. And we got a little extra a bonus, a little how these teams reacted to their deadline to give what possibly could be our final power rankings of the year. There's a little bit of man versus machine. Each of us also came up with an AI power rankings, which gave us different results.

I think you guys know me. I'm more Pat Murphy than anything. I went with Hart over what the computer say. Trevor Plouffe, how are you? I don't think Pat Murphy manages with heart. I think that's all a facade. He medias with heart. That's not what I heard.

I don't think he manages with heart. I'll send you some interesting screenshots. What's up, Coach? I would love that. I'm excited to do this because we always, I feel like, have such different ideas. of what a power ranking should be, even when we were asking our computer friend

what it should be, I think you lean more heavily like recent play. And I think I try to balance out, okay, overall play, recent play and also future. I live in the future a little bit. Yeah.

That's what I do. But yeah, this is always a fun exercise. We've done two now. I believe it was April, May, and then August. That's perfect. Right. That's how baseball works.

That's how baseball works. Yeah, I, you know, I got caught in a strength of schedule wormhole for the first time this year, because I do think it is important with a month and a half left, if you're playing the best teams or the worst teams, I do think that matters. And it's, you know, should be reflected in how you get viewed a little bit to me. And yeah, it's the beauty of power rankings, because power is still power. our three AI results gave us different answers. Trev, I'm on the document and my answers are there.

We do not have yours, so you're going to be official and live with us. Oh, you've already put yours out there? I don't want to look. Don't look. We don't want you to look. And I think we just get into it, unless you have any other burning baseball thoughts you need to get off your chest. Yeah, it's a sad state of affairs when the Yankees are excited they beat the twins. Okay

Put that in your ranking Sick, sick dog That's about five more wins Come in the Yankees way Which I hope you factored in Let's get into it Let's do the top spot Trev

Close that head turn This one's easy Okay, I'd love to know who you have Is this real? You want to do a 3-2-1 If you don't have In 3, 2, 1 The Brewers.

No way. You're lying. That's insane that you have anybody but the Brewers. Why is that insane? Jake, do you see what they're doing? Do you see what their record is? Do you see what their lead in the division is? Jake, they were six and a half games back on May 23rd.

They're six and a half games up now. And the Cubs have played, we got read this stat and basically they have the second best record in the national league in that time. Right. The Brewers are winning like above a 700 clip. What's not to like here? I love them. I have them as my number two team.

I have the Phillies as my number two team. Okay. So okay, let's put the guns down for a second. It's crazy you have anybody but the Brewers at the top right now. I'm sorry. I love the Phillies too. You know I love the Phillies. If the Brewers and the Phillies teed it up for seven games today in a playoff series,

you would take Milwaukee. And I don't, and I don't, I'm not even think about it. I'm not thinking about it. I would take the Phillies. I just, I like the reliability that they're starting. Is that how power rankings even go? It can be. I mean,

that's kind of the loose part of it, right? I think I would take the Dodgers over everybody right now. Okay. Well, see, hold on. But, like, that's not how power rankings go. The Dodgers aren't playing as good as the Brewers right now. I agree with that. And I have uncertainty about them going forward with some of their injuries.

I'm shocked. I'm shocked. I'm a little shocked. you're one and two teams, you're that surprised by it. I think they're, I universally in the baseball world right now, think that everyone would say to the brewers. And maybe that's why you're different. Well, that's where I just think we could be.

Even the computer said the brewers. We would be caught in a moment because, yes, they've won 10 in a row. They've won 25 out of their last 30, which is awesome. But I don't think that's going to continue. Like, I think baseball teams have hot and cold stretches that I, the brewer. aren't going to keep winning at this pace. If they do, I'll take the egg on my face because they'll end up winning 125 games.

But we're talking about the top two teams. They're currently separated if they were competing in the same division by what, three games? Like, I think the Phillies still have their best coming. I think the Duran ad has changed the whole vibe of that bullpen with Schwerber chasing MVP. And the rest of that lineup has been, a fine versions of themselves between Trey Turner and Harper and a couple other guys.

I still just think, we're, Trev, we're Game of Thrones guys. Power is power. I still think the Phillies represent power. I agree with everything you said. Love the trade deadline. They pillaged the Minnesota Twins. Okay, they did. Say that again, but slower for me.

No, I'm not going to. I like it. I love the back end of their bullpen. I think Harrison Bader was a perfect fit for them. You're right about Schwaburber and all the other guys doing their thing. But right now, no one is stopping this Brewer's team. Because it doesn't matter what type of baseball you play. They'll shut you out.

They'll score a ton of runs. They'll make incredible plays on defense. They'll challenge you on the base pass. I don't think some of these teams that we're talking about right now, like the Phillies or the Dodgers. Like, they're not built the same way. They can't win in a ton of different ways. They can win in a couple of different ways.

The Brewers can win in every single way that you want to win in baseball right now. Hey, I get it. I have them in number two. I just prefer the guys that have the battle scars at this point that everything's going beautifully right now from Milwaukee. There's no denying that. It's one of the best streaks we've seen in a season, you know, probably in the talking baseball history.

It's just, I don't know, man. When I actually go side by side, I don't. Well, yeah, if you look at rosters and name value, yes. But dude, it's just not what's happening on the field right now. Correct. But the brewers are hotter right now. But that shouldn't affect how I feel about the power rankings of where we're at right now. Say that sense.

Yeah, I did walk. myself into some trouble there. That's fine. They're one and two. We had them one and two. Milwaukee, so I did factor in, and I, again, everyone does their power rankings differently. I was looking at the upcoming strength of schedule because I do think that affects where we're going a little bit. Milwaukee has the fifth hardest schedule the rest of the way.

Cincinnati, Colorado, Baltimore, Texas, and Milwaukee, your top five. with the Phillies with the ninth easiest schedule the rest of the way, 21st, hardest schedule. That, yeah, I just, teams get hot and cold all year. We see this. We saw the Tampa Bay race. Like, thank God we didn't do power rankings of the first week of June because the raise would have been, what, top seven?

But that was them in their moment in their schedule. And I think Milwaukee's a great team. I have them at number two. but I still have Philadelphia as a more powerful team. Okay. And if you like power, why don't you get yourself a pair of Shady Raise? Let's get to the rest of it. But first, go buy a pair of sunglasses.

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What's that big smile on your face? Because I think when you're thinking of Phillies Brewers, you clearly think, like, offensive firepower for the Phillies is off the charts. Sure. They've been a lesser offense than the Brewers. Nobody gives the Brewers offense credit. That's the problem here. That's the problem in the current thinking of, you know, where we're at,

like the Brewers, third and OBP, fifth and runs. Right. Second and stolen basis. I think they have a great offense. They're getting over and they're getting in. It's beautiful. I agree. I'm with you.

I'm in lockstep. But I mean, you even, okay, so I had my right now, right now speech that I gave a second ago. Like you just said that power-wise, you take the Dodgers over them in a playoff series. So there's some wiggle room here power-wise, it seems. Well, I guess there's a little bit different ways of approaching power rankings. then power is power. Those are kind of two different things to me. So power rankings is different than power is power. Yes. Okay. Yes. Agreed. David Robertson, does he change everything for me? I didn't say I agree with that. Okay, so we have the same one too. A good, a good little brother

bicker there for sure. So brewers, fillies, Phillies, brewers. How about this? I respect and understand your argument. Same. Same. Okay. There's a little pause. I did put the Dodgers 3. Is that what you said? I do have the Dodgers 3. Rotation is getting fully healthy. Max Muncie with the glasses.

They got to figure out the bullpen. I don't know what that means. It could mean kicking one of the guys to the bullpen. They had that in Dustin May and like it's now they don't. So that's weird. Like is Sasaki going to be like everyone's like, she put Shoah in the pen. Is Sasaki going to be the guy you put in the pen?

like kind of a lot to ask a guy like back end of games like they don't like they they need bullpen help and like that's the time for that is over so guys just have to figure it out that's the one I mean they they're struggling there I I'm a little hesitant to put them at three love the lineup I do like the rotation like Blake snow wasn't it five innings 10ks yeah he looked like he's the guy right like Glass Nows looked great um With the number one... The bullpen needs help. Number one offense and OPS and runs.

Yes, they're getting healthy. Like you mentioned, Snell, Glassnow, the playoffs. Yeah, I mean, they do have a history. I mean, remember when Eureas used to kick back there for the postseason and he was so big for them? Huge. Who could that be? I don't know.

And Dave Roberts in L.A. have a lot of time to try to figure that out. They just need to get guys healthy. and again, the power is power theory with Mooky Betts playing better. And like you mentioned, Glass is Muncie. For me, it was a coin, it was a genuine coin flip between them and San Diego. I put San Diego four. I just, I don't want to do, we just mentioned some big brother, little brother stuff. I love where the Padres are at.

And they're rolling. They have a big series with L.A. coming up. It is just this weird thing. talked about all year. We've never, this whole year have we had a talk in baseball episode where we're like, the Dodgers are hot. Yet they've been on,

they've been on top of the West the whole time. They haven't played great baseball, but they have the best record in baseball. Like, and they don't anymore because the Brewers do, mind you, my number one team. But there still seems to be some inevitability.

And the fact that, you know, Mookie's kind of starting to get going a little bit. And Shohay is still. like he's the X Factor for me man like he can absolutely take over a series um so yeah i i still like them three i do have the Padres four as well uh for me uh Padres they filled all their holes Jake sure did at the trade deadline right okay so like their lineup is pretty complete up and down uh the bullpen is one of if not the best in baseball and the rotation is all healthy got Michael

Kingback, Udarvish had a nice start as lately, so they have five guys to go there. It's the, it's the lack of power that's kind of crazy on the plug, like of homers. They're just not hitting homers. Right. And if they were, I think I'd put them over the Dodgers. I like the Padres a lot. I'm very high on them. But for some reason, they just haven't been able to hit the ball out of the yard.

And so I have them, I have them for because of that, I think, mainly. The, you know, people may laugh. I'm laughing at myself at this because I'm never a strength of schedule guy, but I do think it matters for where we are at in the season. Like a lot of teams have been established. We're rolling this to the finish line. There's a little over a month, month and a half left in the season. Dodgers and Padres, easiest strength of schedule.

They both have the Rockies for seven, which is crazy, with some white socks for San Diego, pirates for the Dodgers. I don't know. They each have six games against each other, including this weekend. You know, often we get caught in our own teams. If you're having a late weekend,

don't be shy to tune in to Kirschaw v. King, Snell versus Sees, if you like, the strikeout, and Glassnow Darvish on Sunday. So those two are going to be so much fun. on the rest of the way with where the Padres have gotten to in the standings. I'll be honest. I think these four were the top four. Like you mentioned, if you still wanted to fight for the Dodgers, part of me would get it.

If you want to fight for the Padres higher, I kind of get it, man. When you look at the bullpen, you look at the starters, and now that that lineup, those holes are filled, as you mentioned. If you have Padre and Daddy Fever, I get it. I got a bad case This is where things got ugly for me, Trev, that I will I'd love to hear who's your

Who's your five? We can go one at a time. Okay, so my five, and this is kind of a late adjustment here. I am going to put the Blue Jays. Okay. So that's my first AL team. I went back and forth on them and the Cubs.

Cubs haven't been playing great as of late. PCA, the value is still there, but his offense has come down dramatically. And I actually think a lot of those guys, as I've watched a few of their games, they don't look right offensively, like as a complete unit. So they're also over their last 30,

they're 15 and 15. Like they're just kind of middling right now. Huge series against the Brewers next week for the Cubs, five game set starting on Monday, which is basically if the Brewers run it, it's the division over. Because that's the last time they play each. other. So that's going to be an interesting one. But for me, it's the Jays. I also feel like they are

kind of rounding into form as this complete team, you know, some resilience against the Dodgers over the weekend, not getting swept. We're seeing my guy Addison Barger with a big homer, you know, Vladian's doing it. I like the lineup that they're putting out there right now. They right now feel like the best American League team, but I don't think they've separated themselves a ton, but I will put them over the Cubs because they're still, they're 18 and 12 and their last 30. They're, they're rolling. So I, I have the Cubs at six. So we both had the Cubs in the exact same spot. Look at us. So who's five? I did go with an AL team. I put the Tigers. So the, the Blue Jays are a half game better than the Tigers right now.

now. Yeah. Crazy, right? Like the, the Tigers where they were, and they've come down. In their last 30, I can't super defend it, right?

Like, the Blue Jays are playing a better brand of baseball right now. Do I think the Tigers are done? Like, do I think they're going to keep playing 13 and 17 ball the rest of the way? No. I think Summer got to them, and I think it's going to come back into gear.

I like that team that I did think, think the fifth spot was kind of where you had to put the first AL team. I went Tigers. I got a Tigers draft King ticket a couple weeks ago. I'm still in on them. That I went, I went Tigers, Cubs, Blue Jays. And I'll be honest, I love the way the Blue Jays are playing. I don't have a ton of argument against them. I just still like the Tigers at their core. And they have a little bit of postseason experience that I did let that factor in in my power rankings. Tigers are falling down the board for me. I don't know if I even have them in my top 10 right now.

That AL Central, Trev. It's a lot of the things that were going right for them at the beginning of the season that we were absolutely shocked were going right for them. Like aren't going right anymore. I want to say shocked. So, you know, it's a little bit. I don't want to bring your yanks into it. But like, you're Yanks without Aaron Judge being absolutely nuts.

And Max Fried being absolutely nuts. Like now you're starting to see some holes, right? Yes. Same thing with the Tigers. Like Scoobel's been fine, but he hasn't been like completely lights out. The rest of the rotation has not been good. You know, those guys that have the offensive explosions at the beginning of the year aren't doing that anymore. And we're starting to see them lose games.

I mean, the Guardians are six games back on them. They've made up, you know, nine games, 10 games. you know, in a quick, in a quick manner. So I can't, I can't have them that high. I have the J's and then I do have the Cubs. So that goes, one, two, three, four, five, six. Yeah, so those are my, that's my top six. Okay.

Yeah, I, uh, I don't know. I, I still have Tiger's faith and, and it could be blind. It could be wrong. Like they're playing. Are they going to go pitching chaos again? Because, like, I know they have a lead now, so they don't have to play, like, super, you know, they don't have to go there and just try to make things happen day in and day out because of the lead they built up because of how they started the year. But like it seems to

me like that's their best, like when do you start that? Yeah, I don't, I don't think you do, like I don't think you have to. It's not the same as last year. I'm just saying if we did, a lot of holes are being exposed right now. If we did these in a week and I don't know how it's going to go and this, it's the beauty of baseball and it's why these are fun. But like, The Tigers have two more with the white socks and then four with the twins. Like if we were recording this in a week, is it nuts to think that the tigers are hot and you could talk about them over the Blue Jays?

I still believe in the Tigers. No knock against the Blue Jays, and that's all Blue Jays will take it as. I love how they're playing. I realize it's a tough stretch for the Tigers. I just, I think they're going to turn it around. I still believe in that team. There's some, there's like some bad, bad record stuff with the Tigers.

Good. Give the first one. So yeah. So July 9th, I believe they're like 10 and 17 or 9 and 17. It's not good right now. Sure. Guardians were 15 games back one month ago. So you're going guards for your number 17?

I don't have them as my number 17. My number 17 is an AL team and it is the Red Sox. Whoa. Okay. Okay. I'm big on the Red Sox right now. I just think that they have kind of the mojo. They have enough starting pitching.

They have enough bullpen. I really like the way they play baseball. I think they have an offense that can beat you in different ways. They can hit the homer. They can take the extra base. They got like a bunch of young dudes that don't feel like they're young, which is like the best case scenario to me. And you got Alex Breggman casually posting like a 950 OPS leading the squad.

I actually texted them today. Wow. How about that? I got the quick response. I feel great about it. Nice, that is nice. Because you never know, right? I said, hey, man, it was awesome seeing you back in Houston.

Like, way to get one. Like, you're having a great year. I just wanted to let you know. I'm very happy for you. That's, um, Rob, I should have told you this beforehand. I don't know if it was the Cubs Instagram account.

They did an all denim day leaving their event. It was the Cubs, yeah. And oh my, Ian Hap brought it. You just leave this. Dan's Billsby looked great. Obviously. A fucking guy, dude. It's just we have Ian Hap's an interesting mix.

He's kind of stone cold. He's from Pittsburgh. He's established. Justin Turner looks like a country singer that showed up. Brought his best to the table. I think one more, I think, oh, that's not in half. Look at that. I mean, that's, yeah.

No way it was our last night. Like, golly. I don't know what that was. The Boston Red Sox. Okay, here's what I'll tell you. The next chunk of the AL, I think you could mix up pretty damn easily. My next highest American League team, I went Seattle. I have Seattle.

I have Seattle at eight. So the Tigers are currently throwing off your list in my list. So my next team is the Seattle Mariners that I have the Red Sox at 10. Okay. I have the Red Sox at 10. So why don't you keep chewing through your list and let's see where we sync up?

I do have the Mariners at 8. Okay. They did a good job at the deadline. They have the recipe to win. Huh? We're both at 8 with the Mariners. I don't love their bullpen. Oh, okay.

And maybe they can fix it. and they can they can they can turn it around and be lights out but i think i've just seen it i guess maybe i have not recency bias but like games watched bias you ever like get that where you like see a team oh yeah whenever you watch them they're like bad but then like when you don't watch them they're good but in your mind i've just seen that bullpen blow up so i don't think it's as strong as maybe it has been in years past um they have some guys out there there's no doubt there's arm talent there. But I like the offense. Like Randy

Randy's having an excellent year. Yeah, he is. Like he's crushing it. Love the additions that they made. So I like their team overall. I mean, having an eight on the power rank because it's really, really good. Yeah. I mean, we're in the same spot. I guess the bullpen doesn't freak me out too, too much.

And it's the part of the team that can change the quickest in theory. But yeah, we have them in the same spot. Okay. my next team and you can this is up for debate for me it's between the Astros and the Tigers I mean neither of these teams is playing great right now but I do think I'm going Astros at 9

so that would put Tigers at 10 for me the Josh Hader news is concerning we'll have to see what's going on with that I think they're looking at his shoulder because he's been a big part of that awesome bullpen that they've had Carlos Creus you know one dotting it since going over.

He seems like he's found new life there. I don't think Isok Paredes is going to be back. Like they're thinking maybe late September. Haven't heard an update on Alvarez, which scares me as well. I kind of have him factored in here. I haven't factored in in the fact that they've gotten to where they're at without Yordan Alvarez this year, which is nuts. He's a top five hitter in baseball.

If they get him back. Right. Like we're talking about a completely. completely different team. They got two unreal dudes at the top of the rotation, getting a little bit healthier in that regard. I like the way they play ball. So I'll go Astros 9, Tigers, 10.

Okay, yeah, no. I mean, we have the same jumble. So this would be, if we were doing this as a tier list or something of that nature, that, yeah, I went Blue Jays, Mariners, Astros. I think Mariners Astros, like, If you put the roster side by side, I think everyone would point to Seattle if you erase the team names.

Knowing their Houston, I think the last Yordan hand update was okay. Like, they're trying to get him back for the end of the year and he's Yordon Alvarez. If you look at them right now, Houston is so righty that, like, again, Houston's been a nightmare for my Yankees for the past decade or so, but especially if it was freed and Rodan in a three-game playoff.

Like you're walking into the wrong place. When I look at Seattle, especially lined up against them, and all their righty arm talent, in a way, they're like a really good matchup for them. I think they're A and B. We both had Seattle at 8. We both have Houston at 9, and then basically we have the Tigers and the Red Sox flipped.

I had the Red Sox at 10. They've gone on a great run. I Okay, we're going to start sneaking up on the New York team So I want to be careful with my words. Are we? We might not be. We might not be.

And that's okay. Kind of everything I talked about Between whether Brewers, Tigers, or a couple of these teams, the season is going to have another switch in it. It was about this time last year that the Tigers themselves kicked in the gear. It was almost like exactly.

Yes. I think it was like today, as we record this, that they were an under 500 team and kicked in a gear. And I wouldn't be shocked if we see a team do that this year. I don't know who it is. If you do, DM us. I guess we'll take that. For where the Red Sox have gotten to,

like I know the sky is falling for my Yankees right now. The Yankees are a game and a half behind them. So like, for my Yanks, I very much hope there's a different, tenor to the season. They also might not. They could stink. You've been on it early, Trev, and their four All-Stars have been bad since the All-Star Games. So yes, the team has gotten exposed. Hopefully, I'm hoping that changes. That was the top 10. It was all brought to you by Mountain Dew. Go out and do the do, man. What are you doing? Mm-hmm. Bold flavors, refreshing citrus kick. Mountain Dew is perfect for any occasion. Beach Days, poke.

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Well, Trev, 11 and 12. Any New York for us? Yes, but I have a team before that. Please. I'm putting the Guardians at 11. Okay, give me your pitch. 21 and 9 in their last 30 8 and 2 in their last 10 they've it's I say this all the time I see this team a lot they are like sneaky inevitable like not the way that the Astros are but like go back

to 2015 like they're one of the best organizations in baseball as far as winning percentage like they just win and they find ways to do it this current streak is just a shit ton of like timely hitting, which is like they just do it. And Jose Ramirez and Stephen Kwan aren't really the guys right now. Like they're getting like Manardo's doing his thing. Like Rochios found his stroke a little bit there. Like they're figuring it out. They're scoring enough runs.

Gavin Williams all of a sudden is like whoever thinks he can be, which is just a base. He's an ace. He can be an ace. Like he has that type of stuff. Class A goes out and their bullpen gets better. Like their bullpen has been untouchable. as of late.

Like they're just, they're a team that just wins baseball games. And I think when it gets to a certain point of the season, like that matters a ton and they're chasing down the tigers. They've cut down that deficit by a ton. I think we'd be remiss. I had to include them this high because of what they've been doing lately. It just,

they have to be there for me. The Guardians are an interesting case. 61 and 56 right now. Like you said, they've been hot recently. If we had done the July 1st power rankings, I mean, where would the Guardians have been? I think they got under 500 at one point. Yes.

I mean, my counter to your guardians are doing the right thing and getting the clutch hit is that you said previously, like, the Tigers were the team that was doing that for so long, and then it went away. that I don't know. Yeah, but they have a couple guys that you know are going to be great offensive players on that team. Jose Ramirez is a Hall of Fame.

He's going to get back and do fine. Like, he can carry the offense. Yeah, and I think Detroit has enough of those between Kerry and Riley and different guys that it comes and goes in baseball a little bit. They're clearly on their hot streak, and maybe they ride it the rest of the way. Maybe they are this year's tigers.

and maybe they should be elevated more than that because kind of what you're saying is it seems like this happens every year. There's one or two outliers, but they find a way back in the mix. They're back in the mix. That's a little high for my blood. I'm still not bought in on Cleveland.

Just don't give up runs. Yeah. Excuse me, I really misspoke earlier. There were eight games under five on eight games under five after the game on July 6th. And then July 7th came around and they've just crushed it. So again, there's a huge part of me that respects that. There's a huge part of me that's in fear of the other shoe dropping

because no team continues winning at that pace that I guess has been kind of the theme of my power rankings. I had Cleveland at 15. I'm a little, I'm nervous for their next steps, but they have been playing great. My next two then, so 12 and 13 would be Mets and Yankees. I don't really have them in a particular order. I think I'm going to go, I think I'd put the Mets above the Yankees.

And that's not just because I'm talking to you and I'm going to like twist the knife a little bit. I like the lineup. Sure. Of the Mets, better. Okay. So that's basically it. That's really it.

That's what it came down to. Kind of, yeah. I mean, if you can find a different separator, I don't know what you have. I'm assuming you have Yankees than Mets. I want Yankees, Mets. Both are just not good right now. Right. I mean, both are in the bad place. And it's, you know, you said you like the Mets,

the Mets lineup better. They're 13th in OPS. They're 17th and run scored where the Yankees are second in both. So like, I don't know. I get. That's crazy to me. That's real. That's real, dude. And I get why there's a target on the Yankees because the same reason they embarrassed themselves in the World Series. They started playing awful defense and just base running that blows your mind and they're blowing games in the bullpen.

I obviously like the Yankees, so I don't know where the line separates between love and hate with them sometimes. And maybe this is why I get sucked into it. The Yankees have the fourth easiest schedule the rest of the way. And if you look at their schedule coming up, it truly is easier. They have been the easy.

schedule for a lot of teams. If you played them the last month and a half, they have been part of your easy schedule. So it's not exactly how it works. I think the parts, the Yankees lineup, I go down it. And I'm like, I like almost everyone. I like how Trent has played this year.

I obviously love Judge. Belly's been a revelation. Stanton has been a good version of Stanton. Ben Rice, jazz, like McMahon and Volpe have their roles. That's what I'll say. Paul Goldschmidt. So they've played horrible. They need to stop spinning.

And maybe they won't. And maybe it's out of control. And everyone's opinion on the internet is right. I think there's going to be another part of this Yankee season. There's going to be another part of this Mets season because it can't stay this bad. Can it? Maybe it can. Maybe it can.

Definitely have my tabs mixed up on the New York teams right there. That's fine. Flip on page. Wrong roster resource page citing the offense. Although I will be honest with you. I like the Mets offense. Looking at, if I put them up next to each other with no statistics, right.

I think I like the Mets better. But the stats are there. And shockingly there. like jarringly there, like enough where like you can't even really say that. If the Yankees, I think in the past week and a half have had three comically bad losses, if that comic show didn't happen, I think there's just a different tone. But they did. And you can't take them back.

And they are, they are no way out of the hell they've put themselves in. So I'm not defending that at all. Do you keep hearing that noise? No, what's going on? It sounds like someone's, doing a like a hair, like an electric hair

Oh. Trimmer. Like a buzz? I've heard it twice now. Yeah. I'm on Aaron Judge's page and I mean. Pretty good, right?

He's the reason you guys are. Right? Also weird. They played bad while he was out. Like not shocked. Not shocked. His numbers are unbelievable on the year. Yeah.

And he's, actually a little funk coming off the IL, but did the twins make him up? I think so. I went Yankees, Mets, Cincinnati Reds. I have the Reds at 14. So I had Guardians, Mets, Yankees, Reds. And now I feel like we can kind of, like,

this is a different tier now. These are like the grasping, you know, last ditch effort to make the playoffs. I have Reds. I have Roy. and I have Cardinals. Ooh, interesting. Okay.

So I went Reds, Rangers, Guardians. This is where I had the guards because they still... Oh, no. Did I not even include the Rangers in my power ranking? Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I don't. Okay.

I omitted the Rangers. Trevor Plu's top 29 teams. Okay. Let me rethink this. Find a slot. I will go Reds, Rangers. Royals, Cardinals. Okay.

That's what I would do. I don't know. I like the Reds. I will say... I think you and I really are trying to speak it into existence more than anything when we talk about the Reds. But to me, the Rangers, for some reason, they've had a bunch of guys just not have any sort of offensive year whatsoever.

I mean, Adelis Garcia has like a 650 OPS. Yeah. And basically it's Corey Seeger and then Radite Chalais hits a homer or, you know, somebody else contributes every once in a while, but it's been Corey Seeger and basically nobody else. I know. This is, I keep saying it, but I'm coming up on my final days to quit them. And I wish I didn't have the Tigers date in my head as this is when they kicked in last year. Because I still look at, I still look at Texas's names and I still like a lot of them, but they haven't been playing two. that yeah, I went Reds, Rangers, guards, cards, royals. Just because Cardinals have been kind of the Cardinals all year, and it's been a tick above the Royals and the Giants and the Marlins who are coming,

that in a way they deserve respect for that, that if I'm going to give those other teams credit for like, hey, maybe Texas kicks into gear, what if it is St. Louis? I don't fucking know. there's some they have some players there like they're you know like again yeah they're all just like pretty good players nothing there hasn't been a time although i believe them and the twins went on a crazy run together this year yes if you if you take out i don't think you want to be lumped in with the if you take out their run and the twins run the season looks a lot uglier but also it's it's run

if you were to tell the ranger rangers fans before the season that jacob begrong was going to be doing what he's doing, they would have said, we're going to the World Series. And maybe they are. Maybe they sneak in, maybe they do it. Maybe they ride that. He got him and Iovaldi, even though Iovalli just got shell. They won that game, though. Maybe they do.

I would love that. It'd be really, really fun to see. But they're not going to win unless they, like something happens with the offense. I believe it's Wyatt Langford, second best OPS on the team, 770, something like that. He's getting it going, but they need more.

Indeed they do, Trevor. And speaking of Indeed, wow, today's episode is sponsored by Indeed. Just realize your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites.

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to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash baseball. Just go to Indeed.com slash baseball right now. Support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast, Indeed.com slash baseball. All terms and conditions apply hiring. Indeed is all you need. I mean, Trev, from here... I want to say, sorry, Josh Smith,

you actually have the second highest OPS with the weight on it. At 740, White Lankford, 733. That's crazy. Just a good baseball player, Josh Smith. That team having one player with an 800 or above OPS. I mean, over a 740 OPS, you have one player? It literally does not make sense. It doesn't make any sense.

I know that we have these baseballisms where it's, yeah, move on to the next day and something's going to click. For me, it's so hard to picture it's August 12th and you're in that Texas Rangers lineup and being like maybe today's the day it clicks. Tough. Now we go. So, I mean, I went all the way down to the Cardinals. Yep. It's crazy. Like the Giants are one game under five and they're four and a half games back.

they go on a run? Yeah, they can't. Why not? I like a lot of giants. They're my next team. I have now Giants, Marlins, D-backs. Three for three, Trev. Boom. Three for three. I don't have a lot on any of these teams. The Marlins were making a really fun

run and then they ran into the Braves and lost a huge series. Now, like, they're, I mean, it's not going to happen for that this year. Like, I would consider this for the Marlins, a great year considering what they were going into the season with. Four games under 500 right now with a chance to end at 500 or a little bit better. Take that. McCullough's got something brewing down there.

Maybe. Yeah, I almost started talking myself into D-backs because I was like, are they going to do another end of the season, just have like a really nice September and finish with 83 wins, 85 wins? and then they had another tragic loss last night. Blaze it baby, though. Blaze Alexander replacing Aeohannio at third base, looking like the light bulb might have gone off.

Okay, hey, I'll be honest to the rest of the teams. We even debated doing a top 16 list, but we can fill out the rest of our bracket. I went, raise. Yep. Angels Yep Twins

No Yeah you got them You got them lower than I did They've been playing okay Since the break I think they're 500 since the break Stop Yeah

I went Orioles A's Braves Nats White Sox Rockies Pirates Do you got pirates

In there? I did not They would be After the Nats Sorry Okay Yes I

My rounding out my list 21 through 30. I went Ray's Angels, Orioles, A's, Braves. God, this brave season. What the hell was that? Crazy. Twins, I'll be honest, it might be a spot or two, too low,

but I was twisting the knife. Pirates, Nats, White Sox, and your Colorado Rockies, who I don't know how historically bad. Like, we did talk about it a lot. Do we need to talk about it again? How Rockies? Yes.

No. They're on pace to be worse than the White Sox, right? I don't know that. Yes. Oh, my gosh. That's insane. I swear to you, like they have some fun pieces on that team. They sure do.

Trev, can you give me 22 through 30 again, must? So it went rays, okay? And then it went angels. They went twins. It went Orioles. It went A's, Braves, Nats, Pirates, White Sox, Rocks. And I guess if people do care, we'll comment below. What do we get right?

What do we get wrong? From our last power rankings in May, which is insane. And that meant, probably a miss. Probably a little miss. And I'm part of the reason. Quarterly should do it. I'll take the fall for that. Trev, your teams that you had in the exact same spot from the last rankings,

you've got a few. The Dodgers, the Padres, and the Mariners. So three of your top eight in the exact same spot. After that, a little more thin. But that's pretty impressive. My same team's in the same spot were Padres guards, So not super impressive. The Brewers got both of us

because the last time we checked in in May, I mean, Pat Murphy was benching guys and no mention of pocket snacks. I did have been 11 after April. Okay. So we'll give you credit for that. Then they went down. We both did that on the New York team.

Shocker. And obviously Toronto, a massive climber. for both of us, and deservedly so, because they've been incredible, along with the Marlins, 10 spots up. Oh, God, the Braves. We still had Braves Hope in June. I bought stock after the 0-N-7.

It's worthless now. God, I was keeping track. If you took out the 0-1-7, what a bad year. My God, sorry Braves fans. Those were our power rankings. Any final comments, Trev? We do have to bet the cycle.

I think that I'd love to see some chaos. I'd love to see going into the playoffs. I'd like to see my top 12 not look like the playoff teams. I don't know if that's going to work or not, but we'll see. I guess. So who are the options outside of the playoffs looking in? It's Cincinnati, it's Texas. Kansas City, like the, I guess the Guardians count.

They're out of the playoffs. Kansas City's four games back. The Guardians are one game back. Texas, two and a half. I guess that's... In the National League, it's two, three, and four and a half, Cincinnati, St. Louis, San Francisco. I guess that's the thing.

We're doing a lot of, you know, a few of these very high-up teams. What the Brewers have done is insane. The Blue Jays hot streak has been incredible. the guardians. They should be the example. If someone... I'm not saying any team in baseball

can pull off a 21 and 9 in their last 30, but like the Royals could. Like they have pitching. They have guys in their lineup. That if they do that, the royals are going to become a part of this season again. I don't know if they'd be my pick. I mean, for me, it would be the Texas Rangers

because I just... Yeah. I get tantalized by that lineup. But there's good, odds that one of those teams is going to finish off the season really strong. San Francisco? Somebody, yeah, history has told us that these are not, this is not set yet. What else has history told you?

What is history told us? Sometimes you are looking for a certain place when you're perusing the open seas. You think you found it, but you actually found something completely different. Wow. Yeah. I don't think that was about sailing at all. Christopher Columbus was in dumbass. I'm sorry.

You're not wrong. I think he's like... I hate that guy so much. He's out. He's out. He was totally wrong about where he landed. He kind of got lucky. Like didn't really discover America.

Like other people had been here before. Like a lot of stolen valor for Christopher Columbus and also like a bad person to boot. Bad person. I think bad person with good marketing at the time. Yeah, like the pilgrims like. Right. He wasn't even a pilgrim. He gets like lumped in as the pilgrim.

He wasn't a pilgrim. Was not a pilgrim. Pre-pilgrim. No. Christopher Columbus stayed in the colonies? No. No, he wasn't invited there and he wasn't invited to Best Western. Because only good people stay at Best Western.

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the loyalty point collectors, and the I Just booked it crowd. Everyone gets taken care of at Best Western. So pack your bag, cue the playlist, hit the road. Life's a trip. Make the most of it at bestwestern.com. Didn't Christopher Columbus, like people think he landed like in Virginia,

but it was like in like, where did he land? See, that's where? Where did. I thought he was Florida. Actually land. I think it was like, hold on.

The island of the Bahamas. Bahamas, San Salvador, he called it. Like his marketing is nuts. Right? The Waitling Island. He's just a... He didn't land in Virginia, people. Plymouth Rock.

He got the Caribbean. Massacring. Great discovery. The Caribbean, that's how I say it. Nice place. Great, great spot. Great spot. All right, everyone.

We thank you so much. much. You guys know on Wednesday, there's only one way to end the show. For those of you that are in it, it's time. For Bet the Cycle brought to you by Draft Kings, use code jam baseball when you sign up with the Draft King Sportsbook. We got our single last week. That was it. That's okay. Sometimes that happens. It's time to get hot. It's dog days, coach. What do you got? I'm going with the Padres to win the opening game of the series against the Dodgers on Friday. The Pagers are 12 and 3 in their last 15 heading into today's game, which is Tuesday. It's going to be interesting to see what happens.

That's a huge, huge series. And I think that San Diego might be the more complete team right now. Hmm. How about that, going against your Dodgers. People always talk about it. Yeah, people always say. I'm a central elitist, you know. True.

For the double. a guy who's tantalized all year, Matthew Boyd, over 18 and a half outs recorded, aka more than six innings pitch. First, the Blue Jays on Thursday, watch out. And his last five outings, five innings, seven innings, five innings, seven, eight innings.

Boyd's been incredible this year going for the over. For the triple. I feel like I like this more. Yes. The single. Yes, I'm taking this. Cow Raleigh homers in Williamsport for the Little League Classic on Sunday, heading into today's game.

He homered in all three games of his last series in Seattle. So he's on a heater, and there's no reason that that would stop. I feel like all these exhibition-type venues, the guys go nuts and hit homers there. Yeah, sometimes the balls have a little funk in them. I really like the trick. like white was like, give me those balls. Yeah. Hmm.

Why not? The home run. Underdog Heroes. How about putting a bow on the episode? Bryce Terrang and Isaac Collins. Kings. Both have two plus bases Saturday against the red. Terang has been on fire.

A 1.251 OPS and his last save seven. Collins better than that. A 1.394. heading into Tuesday. Those are our Draft Kings bet the cycle. Make sure you guys join us, ride with us at the Draft King Sportsbook. Use code J.M. Baseball

when you sign up. Treff? Safe travels. Thank you. We've got another epit coming. We're going to figure it out. It could be both of us. Maybe it's three.

Cole Tucker's going to be in town. Maybe make him go to work. maybe we finally start our cult together. It's like a peaceful cult. But everyone knows how it ends. Jake sucks. What do we do at the end of our cult? I'm like not into the whole like, you know,

we all go out together thing. I'm out on that. There's usually one problem at the end of every cult. And people are hooking up. I don't want to be in a cult. I don't want to be in a cult. It feels like a cool one. just never ends it.

It's a gang. A pack. A pack. A posse.