Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum are firmly embedded as the top-two players in our rankings, but Justin Morneau, Dan Haren and Chase Utley aren't too far behind.
There has been some 40-40 buzz surrounding Matt Kemp this spring, but Grady Sizemore and Hanley Ramirez are more realistic candidates for that hallowed club currently featuring the who's who of PED legends.
Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez believes that his relationship with Madonna will allow him to bring a championship to the Bronx in 2009.
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By Christopher Reina
The Opsera is a statistic I created in order to rank teams by how well they hit (OPS) and pitch (ERA). In order to determine a team's Opsera, I take their OPS, move the decimal point over one place to the right and then subtract the team's ERA from that number.
* Previous week's ranking in parenthesis.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers: 4.03 (1st)
Andre Ethier has a 1.208 OPS and three homers during the first seven games of June.
2. Boston Red Sox: 3.77 (6th)
Coming off a 2.38 ERA in May, Josh Beckett brought lethal stuff to his start last week in Detroit when he struck out nine and walked two in 7.2 innings.
3. New York Mets 3.73 (2nd)
Livan Hernandez had a 2.70 ERA in May and has been even better in June with a 2.13 mark through his first two starts.
4. Tampa Bay Rays: 3.64 (9th)
B.J. Upton has begun his recovery from awful performances in April and May to hit for an OPS of 1.244 in June.
5. Toronto Blue Jays: 3.61 (7th)
As Roy Halladay continues to amaze, he has 7.33 strikeouts for every walk this season.
6. St. Louis Cardinals: 3.54 (3rd)
Despite an ordinary 6.55 K/9 rate, Ryan Franklin continues to hold down the closer slot, with a 1.23 ERA and 0.77 WHIP.
7. Texas Rangers: 3.51 (5th)
The move of Michael Young to third base has greatly improved their defense at two positions. They were dead last in UZR last season and are currently first.
8. New York Yankees: 3.51 (10th)
The Yankees have dominated lefty pitching, with an OPS of .887.
9. Detroit Tigers: 3.50 (4th)
The Tigers have recorded an MLB best seven shutouts this season, 23% of their 30 wins. The club was dead last in 2008 with just two.
10. Philadelphia Phillies: 3.46 (16th)
Raul Ibanez had a 1.151 OPS in April, 1.027 in May and .958 in June, so you can call that trending downwards, but I think the Phillies will gladly accept how he is taking his time regressing back to the mean.
11. Milwaukee Brewers: 3.38 (8th)
Somewhat quietly, Prince Fielder has put up excellent numbers, with a 1.026 OPS and 15 homers.
12. Chicago Cubs: 3.35 (14th)
Naturally, Rich Harden has a 10.92 K/9 rate and has been plagued by injuries.
13. Seattle Mariners: 3.33 (19th)
Bedard, Washburn and Hernandez have been quite good and joined by Jason Vargas, who has a 1.93 ERA.
14. Cincinnati Reds: 3.33 (11th)
Laynce Nix has seven homers in 119 at bats and three in his last 28.
15. Atlanta Braves: 3.16 (12th)
Nate McLouth has an OPS of .580 since coming to Atlanta via trade.
16. San Francisco Giants: 3.13 (16th)
Matt Cain, the younger right-handed ace, has a 2.55 ERA compared to Tim Lincecum’s 2.96. The combo has combined for a 12-1 record.
17. Minnesota Twins: 3.09 (18th)
Denard Span has a .942 OPS against lefties this season.
18. Houston Astros: 3.06 (22nd)
Despite very rough starts in his last three outings, Wandy Rodriguez had enough good innings in the bank to keep his ERA below 3.00.
19. Colorado Rockies: 3.00 (24th)
The Rockies are hitting for an OPS of .815 against lefties and .741 against righties.
20. Pittsburgh Pirates: 2.94 (17th)
Zach Duke continues to pitch well, with a 2.62 ERA and going at least seven innings in each of his past five outings.
21. Kansas City Royals: 2.77 (13th)
The Royals offense is flatly horrible, with Alberto Callaspo leading the team in OPS amongst batters with at least 13 at bats.
22. Arizona Diamondbacks: 2.77 (25th)
At 33 years of age, Doug Davis is having a career season with a 3.36 ERA and 1.27 WHIP. Undoubtedly he has been aided by a .258 BABIP, well below his career mark of .345.
23. Los Angeles Angels: 2.76 (23rd)
Vladimir Guerrero is 13-for-51 with just three extra-base hits since coming back from injury.
24. Chicago White Sox: 2.74 (20th)
Matt Thornton has a 13.3 K/9 rate and 1.61 ERA.
25. Florida Marlins: 2.61 (28th)
The depth I thought Florida would have in their rotation hasn’t materialized, with Josh Johnson and Chris Volstad being the only reliable starters, though Sean West has shown good promise in his first three starts.
26. Oakland Athletics: 2.59 (29th)
Vin(sanity) Mazzaro has pitched 13.2 scoreless innings in his first starts, despite a 3.29 K/9 rate. He is giving up a .193 BABIP and didn’t have incredible strikeout rates in the minors, so this could be a short-lived phenomenon.
27. Cleveland Indians: 2.54 (27th)
Shin-Soo Choo has an .879 OPS, even hitting .792 against lefties.
28. San Diego Padres: 2.53 (21st)
The Padres have hit one homer for every 28.3 at bats on the road and 38.2 at home.
29. Baltimore Orioles: 2.20 (26th)
The Orioles, like their Parkway brothers in Washington, have just 17 quality starts, which is last in baseball. Meanwhile, Matt Wieters is four for his first 28 at bats.
30. Washington Nationals: 2.18 (30th)
Big week for the Nationals with the Stephen Strasburg contract showdown getting underway. Could the Nationals go through the same thing next year if Bryce Harper figures out a way into the 2010 MLB Draft?
