MLB power rankings for start of August

By Rick Morris

NOTE: Mid-July rankings are in parentheses.

TOP TIER

1 Tampa Bay (5)

2 Oakland (4)

3 Boston (1)

4 Pittsburgh (3)

5 St. Louis (2)

6 Detroit (10)

7 Atlanta (7)

8 Baltimore (8)

9 Cincinnati (9)

10 Texas (6)

11 LA Dodgers (16)

12 Cleveland (11)

13 NY Yankees (13)

14 Arizona (12)

15 Kansas City (20)

16 Washington (14)

17 Seattle (25)

18 Colorado (18)

19 Philadelphia (15)

20 San Diego (23)

21 Toronto (17)

22 LA Angels (19)

23 Chicago Cubs (22)

24 NY Mets (24)

25 Minnesota (26)

26 San Francisco (21)

27 Milwaukee (27)

SECOND TIER

28 Miami (29)

29 Chicago White Sox (28)

THIRD TIER

30 Houston (30)

BIGGEST RISERS: Seattle (8 spots), Kansas City and LA Dodgers (5 spots), Detroit and Tampa Bay (4 spots), San Diego (3 spots)

BIGGEST FALLERS: San Francisco (5 spots), Philadelphia, Texas and Toronto (4 spots), LA Angels and St. Louis (3 spots)

RANKINGS BY DIVISION – AVERAGE PER TEAM OF 1 POINT PER RANKING SPOT, LOWEST SCORE IS BEST

1 AL EAST 46

2 NL CENTRAL 76

3 AL WEST 81

4T NL WEST 89

4T AL CENTRAL 89

6 NL EAST 94

RANKINGS PER LEAGUE

1 AL 216

2 NL 259