First Power Rankings Of 2012

I recently listened to the January 31st edition of ESPN’s Baseball Today podcast, which ranks high on my list of baseball-related activities, especially during the season when it’s on Monday through Friday. At the top of the show, co-hosts Eric Karabell and Mark Simon said they would give their first power rankings of the new year, so I immediately turned off my Ipod and started thinking about mine. Power rankings list teams from the best at the top to the weakest at the bottom. Who would they be? I decided to write them down, and then listen to the rest of show, so I could compare my rankings with theirs. This particular power ranking covered only the top ten teams. Here are the results:

#      Grubby Glove            Eric Karabell                     Mark Simon

1.      Rangers                    Rangers                               Angels

2.      Cardinals                  Yankees                              Yankees

3.      Yankees                   Angels                                  Tigers

4.      Tigers                       Phillies                                 Red Sox

5.      Phillies                      Rays                                     Phillies

6.      Angels                      Tigers                                   Cardinals

7.      Rays                         Red Sox                                 Rangers

8.      Giants                      Cardinals                              Rays

9.      D’backs                   D’backs                                  Reds

10.    Red Sox                   Braves                                   Giants

The three of us had nine of the same teams in our top tens. Eric and I agreed on the Rangers in the first slot and the Diamondbacks in the ninth. Mark and I had the Phillies in fifth place. They each had the Yankees in the second slot, while I thought the Bronx Bombers were third. And so it went.

This was fun to do. With pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training in less than three weeks, most of the teams have their pieces for 2012 in place. However, six weeks of spring training often changes a team. Young players emerge. Some veteran players have lost a step and are no longer able to play a full, 162 game season, or even at the major league level at all. Pitchers who were successful in previous seasons suddenly have difficulty locating the plate. Still others, given a chance by a big-league club to make the team with a successful showing during spring training, work hard and make the roster. Developments of this nature will cause these rankings to change several times before the season opens on March 28th, when the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics get things going by locking up for two games in Japan.

In the meantime, we’ll monitor the comings and goings of the thirty clubs, and report out from time to time. We’re all excited here at Team Grubby, because spring training is just around the corner.

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And The Big “E” Lights Up On The Rheingold Score Board!

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