Post-All-Star break burning questions for every team

We didn't have a whole lot going on in baseball last week. Unless, of course, you count Gary Sheffield tripping over his tongue again, or the Phillies losing the 10,000th game in the history of their franchise. (Seems to me as if they've lost 10,000 games in the last 10 years. But maybe that's just me.)

Anyway, it's hard to do a lot of moving and shaking in the Power Rankings when half the week is spent on a glorified homer-hitting contest and what has turned into a lopsided exhibition game. Nevertheless, we here at the PRs have our obligations to meet. So here's our first rundown for the second half of the season, complete with one killer question facing each team over the final 11 weeks or so:

MLB Power Rankings Rank LW Team 1 1 Detroit Tigers The best team in the game over the first half split a series with the surprising Mariners last weekend. Sheffield, never one to be distracted by outside factors -- even when he's doing the distracting, which is always the case -- stole home in the Sunday finale, an 11-7 Detroit win. The Tigers clearly have the starting pitching, the lineup and the defense to make a run at the World Series. But can they trade for bullpen help? 2 2 Boston Red Sox When Julio Lugo is one of your hotter hitters, something's wrong. Boston's light-swinging shortstop has jacked his average up 21 points in the past nine games by going 12-for-30. Yeah, he's still hitting .210. But for a team just 19-20 since the beginning of June, at least one guy's doing something positive. Can the Sox, averaging an anemic 4.5 runs a game over that stretch, get Lugo, J.D. Drew and Manny Ramirez rolling? 3 3 Los Angeles Angels The once well-balanced Angels are teetering a little lately because of some injuries (Howie Kendrick, mainly) and some shaky starting pitching. Bartolo Colon, who hasn't started since July 6 (he's up again Tuesday) is 1-4 in his past eight starts with a 9.07 ERA. Ervin Santana has an 8.00 ERA over his past five starts (0-4). These guys should win the West. But can Colon and the rest of that rotation hold on? 4 4 Cleveland Indians I don't think anybody's going to take Cleveland's pitching staff over Detroit's. That means the Tribe will have to outhit everybody. And that means Travis Hafner, with his new $57 million contract, has to mash. Pronk, with a pedestrian (for him) .842 OPS in the first half, is off to a fine second half, including a monstrous homer on Sunday. Oh, and by the way: Is C.C. Sabathia (0-2, 10.64 ERA in two starts) OK? 5 6 Milwaukee Brewers The National League Central race between the leading Brew Crew and the surging Cubs will be one to watch ... less so if ace Ben Sheets (10-4, 3.39) can't come back soon from a sprained finger he suffered Saturday. (His next start looks very iffy.) Sheets, simply put, is indispensable. The Brewers, though, have shown they can do without Rickie Weeks (.141 over 20 games). What is his problem? 6 5 San Diego Padres Chris Young has a 1.14 ERA over his past 10 outings, with nine quality starts in there, yet his record is only 4-0 in that swing. And if that doesn't say just about everything that needs to be said about the balsa-swinging Padres, you're just not paying attention. General manager Kevin Towers has tried to add some punch with Milton Bradley and Michael Barrett. Can that be enough in a dogfight of a division? 7 7 Seattle Mariners No matter what some across the country may say, the five-year, $90 million deal that Ichiro signed last week was a must for Seattle, and a not-bad deal in the grand marketplace of things. You could see how important Ichiro is to the M's by the scare sent through the team when he was hit by a pitch Sunday and had to leave the game. He'll be OK. I wonder if Jeff Weaver (2-1, 2.76 ERA in past five starts) is back? 8 8 Los Angeles Dodgers The Dodgers took over first place in the NL West with a sweep of the lame Giants. New first baseman James Loney is hitting .385 with a 1.039 OPS through his first 27 games this season. If he can keep that up, the Dodgers can stay in first. But then there's the question: Can they really win with a back end of Chad Billingsley, Brett Tomko and Mark Hendrickson? 9 9 New York Mets A shakeup sent 48-year-old pinch-hitter Julio Franco out of town, but it's the starters, not the bench, that has made this team look so creaky scoring runs (4.48 a game, ninth in the NL). Jose Reyes is hitting just .255 in 12 July games. Carlos Beltran is hitting .133. The lead is down to 1 1/2 games over the Braves. Can the Mets hang their hopes on the return of Pedro Martinez and Moises Alou? 10 10 Atlanta Braves Both the Braves and catcher Brian McCann have been scuffling along after a good start. Now, both seem to be coming out of it. Since his team dropped to .500 on June 24, McCann is hitting .333 with a 1.144 OPS (six homers and 18 RBIs in 14 games). The Braves, meanwhile, are 12-4 in that stretch, hitting .312. This team can score. Still, after John Smoltz, Tim Hudson and Chuck James ... what?