42 – 8, 25 – 3, 19 – 1, 10 wins in a row. These are all significant numbers put up with a team with deep pockets, the ability to outdraw everyone for park attendance, and owners willing to do whatever it takes to bring home the 1st World Series Title since 1988. No one can touch these guys right now. Best 3 Starters in the NL and hottest 2 NL Hitters in Puig and Ramirez. Oh yeah, the Bullpen has been lights out for the last 50 contests!

By Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner): Follow @mlbreports

It is time for the MLB Power Rankings.  These are based on my thoughts on whether who has the best chance to win the World Series.

A lot of these positions are based on who has the toughest Strength of Schedule left, who their competition is for the Division, and possibly even the League they are in,

The races for the Divisions (AL East, AL West and NL Central are starting to tighten up, while the NL West, AL Central and most notably NL East are looking to be foregone conclusions

The Braves have rattled of a 18 – 3 stretch, and have been ousted by the Dodgers for the #1 spot in the MLB Rankings .

The Rangers are trying to ricochet off of a couple of great deals, in order to flame down the Oakland Athletics.

With 18 RBI in 4 games, Soriano is a lock in for the AL Player of The Week Honors. With adding Mark Reynolds to the fold, plus A-Rod and Granderson into the mix, they have a punchers chance, but need to eat up the cupcakes – and hold their own with the big boys in the AL East. Sabathia, Pettitte and Hughes will make or break the next coming weeks as offense looks best it has all year!

Team Rankings (Last Week in Parenthesis) and Moving of spots up or down.

*Denotes Division Leaders

Standings as of Aug.18/2013

1 WORD Answers will describe today’s teams

1.  LA Dodgers* 72 – 50 (3) +2: Historical!

2.  Atlanta Braves *75 – 48 (1) -1: Attendance?

3.  Detroit Tigers* 71 – 52 (2) -1: Talent.

4.  Texas Rangers* 71 – 52 (4) Even: Consistency.

5.  Boston Red Sox* 73 – 52 (6) +1: 2011!

6.  Tampa Bay Rays 69 – 52 (9) +3: Pesky!

7.  Pittsburgh Pirates* 72 – 50 (5) -2: Winners.

8.  St. Louis Cardinals 70 – 52 (7) -1: Zombies!

9.  Cincinnati Reds 69 – 54 (10) +10: Yo-Yo!

10.  Oakland Athletics 69 – 53 (8) -2: MoneyBall.

11. Cleveland Indians 66 – 57 (14) +3: Cusp.

12.  Kansas City Royals 64 – 58 (12) Even: Gamblers!

13.  Baltimore Orioles 66 – 56 (12) -1: Close.

14.  New York Yankees 63 – 58 (16) +2: Late.

15.  Arizona DiamondBacks 63 – 58 (13) -2: Fighters!

16.  Washington Nationals 60 – 62 (15) -1: Karma.

17.  Colorado Rockies 58 – 66 (22) +5; Humidor!

18.  Toronto Blue Jays 57 – 66 (17) -1: Remorse!

19.  San Francisco Giants 55 – 67 (23) +4: Pride.

20.  New York Mets 56 – 65 (19) -1:  Buyouts.

21.  Seattle Mariners 56 – 66 (20) -1:  Carousel.

22.  LA Angels 55 – 67 (17) -5: Fishing!

23.  San Diego Padres 55 – 68 (24) -1: Mediocrity!

24.  Philadelphia Phillies 53 – 69 (21) -3:  Denial.

25.  Minnesota Twins 54 -67 (26) +1: Future.

26.  Milwaukee Brewers 54 – 69 (27) +1:  Abandoned!

27.  Chicago Cubs  53 – 69 (25) -2: Sellers.

28.  Chicago White Sox 48 – 74 (29) +1: Sale!

29:  Miami Marlins 46 – 75 (28): 2016.

30.  Houston Astros 40 – 82 (30): Drafting.

The Rays will likely have Moore back by next weekend, have seen Cobb return, and may be able to finally curbside the Pitcher formerly known as Fausto! Wil Myers and Chris Archer decisions to callup may haunt – and yes I mean not bringing them up until June, when clearly the team needed them both in May with Price on the shelf for injury. They must win the AL East or win the Wild Card Game in order for me to relent.

*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com or their partners.***

Chuck Booth – Lead Baseball Analyst/Website Owner and author of the Fastest 30 Ballgames:   To learn more about my  “The Fastest 30 Ballgames Book” and how to purchase it, click here .

You can also follow my Guinness Book of World Record Successful Bid to see all 30 MLB Park in 23 Days – click here. 

I am happy to be part of such an awesome Magazine-Style Baseball Website and am looking forward to talking to all of the fans of the MLB. 

You can reach me on Twitter here Follow @mlbreports

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Paul Goldschmidt,

Yasiel Puig,

Bryce Harper,

Buster Posey,

Brandon Belt ,

Carlos Gonzalez,

Andrew McCutchen,

Justin Upton,

Shin-Soo Choo,

Brandon Phillips,

Andrelton Simmons,

Gregor Blanco,

Domonic Brown,

Marlon Byrd,

Zack Cozart,

Michael Cuddyer,

Adam Eaton,

Freddie Freeman,

Adrian Gonzalez,

Jonathan Lucroy,

Kirk Nieuwenhuis,

Angel Pagan,

Martin Prado,

Hanley Ramirez,

Wilin Rosario,

Giancarlo Stanton,

Troy Tulowitzki,

Neil Walker,

Rickie Weeks,

Clayton Kershaw,

Matt Harvey,

Francisco Liriano,

Adam Wainwright,

Jose Fernandez,

Zack Greinke,

Jordan Zimmermann,

Dillon Gee,

Stephen Strasburg,

Bronson Arroyo,

Homer Bailey,

A.J. Burnett,

Patrick Corbin,

Yovani Gallardo,

Cliff Lee,

Shelby Miller,

Madison Bumgarner,

Matt Cain,

Jorge De La Rosa,

Jaime Garcia,

Gio Gonzalez,

Cole Hamels ,

Mat Latos,

Tim Lincecum,

Mike Minor,

Ricky Nolasco,

Wily Peralta,

Hyun-Jin Ryu,

Eric Stults,

Travis Wood,

Barry Zito,

Miguel Cabrera,

Chris Davis,

Jacoby Ellsbury,

Prince Fielder,

Adam Jones,

Alfonso Soriano,

Mike Trout,

Jose Bautista,

Robinson Cano,

Yoenis Cespedes,

Josh Donaldson,

Stephen Drew,

Alex Gordon,

Victor Martinez,

Adrian Beltre,

Billy Butler,

Edwin Encarnacion,

Travis Hafner,

Torii Hunter,

Raul Ibanez,

Austin Jackson,

Desmond Jennings,

Howie Kendrick,

Evan Longoria,

Justin Maxwell,

Mitch Moreland,

Brandon Moss,

Mike Napoli,

Daniel Nava,

A. J. Pierzynski,

Josh Reddick,

Alex Rios,

Adam Rosales,

Matt Moore,

Yu Darvish,

R.A. Dickey,

Felix Hernandez,

Max Scherzer,

Clay Buchholz,

Bartolo Colon,

Derek Holland,

Justin Masterson,

David Price,

Anibal Sanchez,

Justin Verlander,

Mark Buehrle,

Alex Cobb,

Jarred Cosart,

Jeremy Guthrie,

John Lackey,

Jon Lester,

David Phelps,

Chris Sale,

James Shields,

C. J. Wilson,

Chris Archer,

Joe Blanton,

Kevin Correia,

A.J. Griffin,

Ubaldo Jimenez,

Corey Kluber,

CC Sabathia,

Ervin Santana,

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