Orioles 6th in SI Power Rankings

[OFFNY]

oo

(AUGUST 11th)

The Orioles hold at # 5.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings

1)1 Athletics (72-45)

2)1 Angels (68-49)

3)1 Dodgers (67-52)

4)1 Tigers (63-52)

5)1 ORIOLES (67-50)

6)1 Nationals (63-53)

7)1 Brewers (65-53)

8)1 Pirates (62-55)

9)1 Giants (62-56)

10) Royals (63-53)

11) Cardinals (62-54)

12) YANKEES (61-56)

13) Braves (60-57)

14) BLUE JAYS (63-56)

15) Mariners (62-555)

16) Reds (60-58)

17) D-RAYS (57-60)

18) Indians (59-59)

19) Marlins (57-60)

20) Mets (56-62)

21) White Sox (56-63)

22) Padres (54-62)

23) Twins (52-64)

24) RED SOX (52-65)

25) Cubs (50-66)

25) Phillies (53-65)

27) Diamondbacks (51-67)

28) Astros (49-69)

29) Rangers (46-71)

30) Rockies (46-71)

[Wish]

Wait, can someone please explain to me why the Tigers are ahead of us?

[Can_of_corn]

Wait, can someone please explain to me why the Tigers are ahead of us?

ESPN likes big flashy names.

[blid]

The way I see power rankings is that they're supposed to be about who's playing the best right now and is good in general, so with Oakland's record they're the auto #1 but you look at the Angels and they're 4-6 in their last 10, we're 7-3, and we've beat them a bunch lately, their record is only better than ours by 1 game, so we should clearly be ahead of them... Meanwhile, we're hotter than the Tigers as well, and are 3 games up on them, so we should be ahead of them too... but if the people doing the ranking are taking into account, like, pitching staffs for the playoffs and stuff, then the Tigers' high ranking makes sense.

[Orioles4Life21]

Lots of parity in baseball this year.

[Can_of_corn]

Lots of parity in baseball this year.

I read this morning (so forgive me if I have it slightly wrong) that only four teams are on pace for 90 wins while 11 teams hit that mark in 2013.

[TonySoprano]

I read this morning (so forgive me if I have it slightly wrong) that only four teams are on pace for 90 wins while 11 teams hit that mark in 2013.

90-72 would be .556. That would be A's, Angels, O's and Dodgers with Milwaukee on pace for 89 wins.

[BohKnowsBmore]

I read this morning (so forgive me if I have it slightly wrong) that only four teams are on pace for 90 wins while 11 teams hit that mark in 2013.

I haven't done any research on this, but wouldn't it follow logically that teams would increase their win paces at the end of the season following deadline deals? That the top third of the league would win more games down the stretch as the bottom third has traded away some stud players and is trying out young guys? Essentially the records at the top end and bottom end of the spectrum would diverge away from the mean more dramatically than they did in the first 60% or so of the season.

[TonySoprano]

I haven't done any research on this, but wouldn't it follow logically that teams would increase their win paces at the end of the season following deadline deals? That the top third of the league would win more games down the stretch as the bottom third has traded away some stud players and is trying out young guys? Essentially the records at the top end and bottom end of the spectrum would diverge away from the mean more dramatically than they did in the first 60% or so of the season.

One year ago today, 11 teams were on pace for 90 wins, including the Orioles.

Note, the Orioles on August 11, 2013 were 5.5 games ahead of the Yankees, and as we all know we ended up in a tie with them.

ETA: this week is a perfect example of why you shouldn't put any stock in ESPN's weekly rankings. Detroit and the Angels went 2-5 and the O's went 5-2, and the rankings went unchanged.

[isestrex]

The voters this week were Jayson Stark, Tim Kurkjian and Dave Schoenfield.

I'm really shocked the Tigers and Dodgers are ahead of the Orioles right now. It's plausible that one of those voters actually had Baltimore lower than the Brewers or Nationals if the mean rests at 5th. It really is shocking.

[SteveO]

The voters this week were Jayson Stark, Tim Kurkjian and Dave Schoenfield.

I'm really shocked the Tigers and Dodgers are ahead of the Orioles right now. It's plausible that one of those voters actually had Baltimore lower than the Brewers or Nationals if the mean rests at 5th. It really is shocking.

I agree its insulting and ridiculous but fortunately our team knows what matters and that is winning games. Stark, Kukijan and Schoenfield should be embarrassed.

[SteveO]

Wait, can someone please explain to me why the Tigers are ahead of us?

Because the baseball writers at ESPN love to slobber over big market teams or teams with big names. That and the fact that we are ahead of their beloved BroSox and MFY. That means they will have to slum more covering this team than being wined and dined in the big city *being sarcastic*

We have a blue collar team that is not their cup of tea.

[OFFNY]

oo

(AUGUST 11th)

The Orioles hold at # 5.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings

1)1 Athletics (72-45)

2)1 Angels (68-49)

3)1 Dodgers (67-52)

4)1 Tigers (63-52)

5)1 ORIOLES (67-50)

6)1 Nationals (63-53)

7)1 Brewers (65-53)

8)1 Pirates (62-55)

9)1 Giants (62-56)

10) Royals (63-53)

11) Cardinals (62-54)

12) YANKEES (61-56)

13) Braves (60-57)

14) BLUE JAYS (63-56)

15) Mariners (62-555)

16) Reds (60-58)

17) D-RAYS (57-60)

18) Indians (59-59)

19) Marlins (57-60)

20) Mets (56-62)

21) White Sox (56-63)

22) Padres (54-62)

23) Twins (52-64)

24) RED SOX (52-65)

25) Cubs (50-66)

25) Phillies (53-65)

27) Diamondbacks (51-67)

28) Astros (49-69)

29) Rangers (46-71)

30) Rockies (46-71)

Just a little bit of fun, in between games.

Fortunately it's not like college football, where you have to be concerned about "getting your shot" via "style points," strength of schedule, opinions of the sportswriters and the other coaches, etc.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Because the baseball writers at ESPN love to slobber over big market teams or teams with big names. That and the fact that we are ahead of their beloved BroSox and MFY. That means they will have to slum more covering this team than being wined and dined in the big city *being sarcastic*

We have a blue collar team that is not their cup of tea.

The irony here is that the orioles truly are a hard-working gritty team who takes games one game at a time and grinds out the season, all while having a great time doing it. This is the image espn painted and fetishized for the Red Sox.

[OFFNY]

oo

(AUGUST 18th)

The Orioles hold at # 5 for the 3rd straight week

http://espn.go.com/mlb/powerrankings

1)1 Angels (72-50)

2)1 Athletics (73-51)

3)1 Nationals (69-53)

4)1 Dodgers (70-56)

5)1 ORIOLES (70-52)

6)1 Royals (68-55)

7)1 Brewers (70-55)

8)1 Tigers (66-56)

9)1 Mariners (67-56)

10) Cardinals (66 -57)

11) Pirates (64-60)

12) Giants (65-58)

13) BLUE JAYS (64-61)

14) Braves (64-60)

15) YANKEES (63-59)

16) D-RAYS (61-63)

17) Reds (61-63)

18) Indians (62-61)

19) Marlins (62-62)

20) Padres (58-65)

21) Mets (59-66)

22) White Sox (59-65)

23) RED SOX (56-67)

24) Twins (55-67)

25) Phillies (54-70)

26) Cubs (53-70)

27) Diamondbacks (53-71)

28) Astros (52-73)

29) Rangers (48-76)

30) Rockies (49-75)