MLB final power rankings for 2008 regular season

By Rick Morris

NOTE: Each team’s final record is listed, along with the record I predicted for them at the beginning of the year in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1. Los Angeles Angels 100-62 (93-69)

2. Chicago Cubs 97-64 (87-75)

3. Boston 95-67 (92-72)

4. Tampa Bay 97-65 (82-80 -- Well, I was closer than most.)

5. Philadelphia 92-70 (97-75)

6. Milwaukee 90-72 (88-74)

7. Los Angeles Dodgers 84-78 (88-74)

8. Chicago White Sox 89-74 (78-84)

SECOND TIER

9. Minnesota 88-75 (80-82)

10. New York Yankees 89-73 (89-73 – BINGO!)

11. New York Mets 97-75 (89-75)

12. Toronto 86-76 (82-80)

13. St. Louis 86-76 (78-84)

14. Houston 86-76 (70-92 – WHOOPS!!!)

15. Florida 84-77 (60-102 – DOUBLE WHOOPS!!!)

16. Arizona 82-80 (91-71)

THIRD TIER

17. Cleveland 88-74 (81-81 – Imagine that, I overestimated the Indians – but not nearly as much as their apologists in the media!)

18. Texas 79-83 (72-90)

19. Kansas City 75-87 (77-85 – They didn’t surprise me – I actually thought they’d be a tad more respectable.)

20. Cincinnati 74-88 (78-84)

21. Colorado 74-88 (89-73 – You mean that 21-1 streak last year was a fluke?)

22. Oakland 75-87 (74-88)

23. Detroit 74-88 (91-71 – Well, I wasn’t alone in being fooled!)

24. Atlanta 72-90 (88-74 – My prediction could have been worse; there were actually some in the media pegging this team as a sleeper for a World Series run – paging Ken Rosenthal!)

25. San Francisco 72-90 (65-97)

FOURTH TIER

26. Baltimore 68-93 (60-102)

27. Pittsburgh 67-95 (74-88)

28. San Diego 63-99 (87-75 – They never recovered from Matt Holliday’s phantom tag of home plate!)

29. Seattle 61-101 (88-74 – TRIPLE WHOOPS!!!)

30. Washington 59-102 (68-94)

Here’s how the divisions shaped up in terms of how many wins the teams collectively had vs. the .500 mark – the number in parentheses represents the number of games I had projected each division to collectively finish above or below .500.

1. AL East +30 (+3 – OOPS!)

2. NL Central +15 (-27 – WHOA!)

3. AL Central +2 (-1)

4T. AL West -9 (+9)

4T. NL East -9 (Even)

6. NL West +17 (-30 – DOUBLE WHOA!)