Prior to losing three straight games to the Rockies in Colorado, the Oakland Athletics were having a great July and had gone 15-5 in the month to run their record to 61-43 overall.
Now perched at 61-46 despite the spate of losses, the A’s are still only two games behind the Seattle Mariners for the final Wild Card spot. And with 10 games remaining against their division rivals, the team is very much in control of its own destiny when it comes to making the postseason.
That’s very important because with the non-waiver trade deadline looming today at 4 p.m. ET, the Athletics are poised to be buyers instead of the sellers as it appeared they would be earlier in the year.
Joining the A’s as somewhat surprising deadline buyers are the Milwaukee Brewers, Arizona Diamondbacks, and aforementioned Mariners, all of which are clubs that have made moves or may make some by the end of the day in order to bolster their rosters for the stretch run.
If they do make moves, it’s possible these clubs will move up, but for now they’re all second stringers in this week’s installment of RealClearLife‘s Ultimate Power Rankings, which crunches ratings from ESPN, CBS and USA Today to get a single rank for all 30 teams in Major League Baseball and use segmented tiers to arrange them.
Here’s where the hierarchy of baseball powers stands after Week 17 of MLB action:
The Best of the Best (1.00-5.00)
No. 1.33, last 1.33, two weeks ago 1.33: Boston Red Sox – (ESPN, 2), (CBS Sports, 1), (USA Today, 1)
No. 2.33, last 1.66, two weeks ago 1.66: Houston Astros – (ESPN, 1), (CBS Sports, 3), (USA Today, 3)
No. 2.66, last 3.00, two weeks ago 2.66: New York Yankees – (ESPN, 3), (CBS Sports, 2), (USA Today, 2)
No. 4.33, last 4.33, two weeks ago 5.00: Chicago Cubs – (ESPN, 4), (CBS Sports, 5), (USA Today, 4)
The Best of the Rest (5.01-10.00)
No. 5.66, last 5.66, two weeks ago 9.66: Los Angeles Dodgers – (ESPN, 5), (CBS Sports, 7), (USA Today, 5)
No. 6.33, last 7.66, two weeks ago 11.33: Oakland Athletics – (ESPN, 7), (CBS Sports, 4), (USA Today, 8)
No. 8.00, last 6.33, two weeks ago 7.33: Cleveland Indians – (ESPN, 6), (CBS Sports, 11), (USA Today, 7)
No. 8.00, last 10.66, two weeks ago 5.00: Milwaukee Brewers – (ESPN, 9), (CBS Sports, 9), (USA Today, 6)
No. 9.00, last 12.66, two weeks ago 11.33: Arizona Diamondbacks – (ESPN, 8), (CBS Sports, 10), (USA Today, 9, tie)
No. 9.66, last 7.66, two weeks ago 5.33: Seattle Mariners – (ESPN, 14), (CBS Sports, 6), (USA Today, 9, tie)
So You’re Saying There’s a Chance (10.01-15.00)
No. 10.33, last 9.66, two weeks ago 9.00: Philadelphia Phillies – (ESPN, 10), (CBS Sports, 12), (USA Today, 9, tie)
No. 11.00, last 11.66, two weeks ago 15.66: Colorado Rockies – (ESPN, 12), (CBS Sports, 8), (USA Today, 13)
No. 12.00, last 8.66, two weeks ago 8.33: Atlanta Braves – (ESPN, 11), (CBS Sports, 13), (USA Today, 12)
No. 15.00, last 15.00, two weeks ago 19.66: Pittsburgh Pirates – (ESPN, 16), (CBS Sports, 14), (USA Today, 15)
Stuck in the Middle with You (15.01-20.00)
No. 15.66, last 16.00, two weeks ago 13.00: St. Louis Cardinals – (ESPN, 17), (CBS Sports, 16), (USA Today, 14)
No. 15.66, last 16.66, two weeks ago 14.33: Washington Nationals – (ESPN, 13), (CBS Sports, 17), (USA Today, 17, tie)
No. 15.66, last 17.66, two weeks ago 16.33: Los Angeles Angels – (ESPN, 15), (CBS Sports, 15), (USA Today, 17, tie)
No. 17.66, last 18.33, two weeks ago 17.33: Tampa Bay Rays – (ESPN, 18), (CBS Sports, 19), (USA Today, 16)
No. 19.00, last 15.33, two weeks ago 16.00: San Francisco Giants – (ESPN, 20), (CBS Sports, 18), (USA Today, 19)
It’s Probably Not Your Year (20.01-25.00)
No. 20.33, last 21.00, two weeks ago 22.00: Minnesota Twins – (ESPN, 19), (CBS Sports, 21), (USA Today, 21)
No. 21.00, last 21.66, two weeks ago 21.00: Cincinnati Reds – (ESPN, 21), (CBS Sports, 20), (USA Today, 22)
No. 21.33, last 20.33, two weeks ago 20.00: Toronto Blue Jays – (ESPN, 22), (CBS Sports, 22), (USA Today, 20)
No. 24.00, last 25.00, two weeks ago 24.33: Detroit Tigers – (ESPN, 23), (CBS Sports, 26), (USA Today, 23, tie)
No. 24.00, last 23.66, two weeks ago 22.33: Texas Rangers – (ESPN, 24), (CBS Sports, 25), (USA Today, 23, tie)
No. 25.00, last 24.66, two weeks ago 26.66: Miami Marlins – (ESPN, 27), (CBS Sports, 23), (USA Today, 25)
No. 25.00, last 25.33, two weeks ago 26.66: New York Mets – (ESPN, 25), (CBS Sports, 24), (USA Today, 26)
See You in 2019 (25.01-30.00)
No. 26.66, last 26.33, two weeks ago 24.66: San Diego Padres – (ESPN, 26), (CBS Sports, 27), (USA Today, 27)
No. 28.00, last 28.00, two weeks ago 27.66: Chicago White Sox – (ESPN, 28), (CBS Sports, 28), (USA Today, 28)
No. 29.00, last 29.00, two weeks ago 29.33: Kansas City Royals – (ESPN, 29), (CBS Sports, 29), (USA Today, 30)
No. 30.00, last 30.00, two weeks ago 29.66: Baltimore Orioles – (ESPN, 30), (CBS Sports, 30), (USA Today, 29)
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