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Power Rankings (cont.)

Posted: Tuesday August 1, 2006 3:46PM; Updated: Tuesday August 1, 2006 5:03PM
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MLB Power Rankings
Rank LW Team
11 13
San Diego Padres
GM Kevin Towers is taking some heat for releasing third baseman Vinny Castilla without a decent backup in place. The Padres are 5-7 post-Castilla. That tells you everything you need to know about the Padres -- people are complaining about cutting a guy who was hitting .232.
12 14
Los Angeles Angels
All that pre-deadline bush-beating for a bat led to ... nothing. Zero. A big halo. No Soriano. No Miguel Tejada. The Angels, once again, will have to rely on their pitching to get them to the postseason. Problem is, Bartolo Colon is on the DL again and Jered Weaver's still just a rookie. That's trouble.
13 15
Arizona Diamondbacks
Eric Byrnes is nuts. And we say that in the nicest of ways. After blasting an eighth-inning homer off Houston's Chad Qualls to tie Sunday's game, Byrnes made a mad dash into the wall to snag Eric Munson's fly to end it. Nobody's more fun to watch in the NL West. Nobody.
14 12
Texas Rangers
Carlos Lee is 7 for 16 in Texas. Michael Young (.310 overall) is 12 for 16 (.750) in three games as a DH this year. Mark DeRosa broke out of a mini-slump with a four-hit game on Sunday. OK, OK, we know they can hit. But what about the pitching? Have we been over this before?
15 17
Seattle Mariners
The M's are hanging just under .500. In the AL West, that's a series sweep away from first. "I laugh when I hear people say no one wants it," manager Mike Hargrove said. "It might be a case where everyone wants it too bad." If anyone figures out how to get it, call us.
16 11
San Francisco Giants
The cure for an ailing and old ball club, evidently, is trading for a 39-year-old reliever (Mike Stanton) and talking about dealing away your 33-year-old ace (Jason Schmidt). Go figure. The Giants, losers of eight straight, may just up and quit out of boredom.
17 16
Los Angeles Dodgers
Still wheeling and dealing, the desperate Dodgers stole infielder Wilson Betemit away from the desperate Braves and are shooting for a postseason spot. "I think it will take 86 to 88 wins," manager Grady Little told the L.A. Times. "We can do that." Wow. Aim high.
18 21
Colorado Rockies
Not to keep harping on these miserable West teams, but the Rocks had lost five straight series before taking three of four from the Padres last weekend. And the Padres were in first place at the time. Still are. Ergo, either the Padres are bad, the Rocks are better than we thought, or ... it's the West.
19 19
Milwaukee Brewers
David Bell, Francisco Cordero, Tony Graffanino, Kevin Mench ... is this some sinister plan to make fans actually have to pay for new scorecards? After dumping Carlos Lee and making a couple of other moves, this is a whole new team. Same old results. But it is a new team.
20 18
Houston Astros
Where do you start with the Astros? Terrible hitting, still. (Craig Biggio, .228; Aubrey Huff, .224; Chris Burke, .196; Preston Wilson, .185, all since the break). Brad Lidge blowing saves, again. That $12 million for the Rocket is looking like the worst investment since an Enron retirement fund.

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