By Christopher Reina 1. Los Angeles Angels Douglas Benton leaves for one week to bring you his MLB draft coverage and I slide a new team into the number one slot. John Lackey has been every bit as dominant and impressive as Josh Beckett, while Kelvim Escobar has out-pitched Daisuke Matsuzaka and I?ll definitely take Bartolo Colon, Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana over Curt Schilling, Time Wakefield and Julian Tavarez. 2. Boston Red Sox If someone said Mike Lowell would have more homers than David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez at this point and they would be 10 games up in the AL East during the first week of May, would you have believed them? 3. New York Mets (35-20): The Mets are position much better than they thought they would be without Pedro and injuries to Alou, Valentin and Green. 4. Cleveland Indians (34-21): Grady Sizemore is my favorite player in the game, Ryan Garko has emerged as a legit slugger, Travis Hafner is everyone?s favorite ?underrated player? and Jhonny Peralta has rebounded from an off 2006 to the tune of a .300 average and 11 home runs. 5. Los Angeles Dodgers (34-23): Like always, the Dodgers win with excellent pitching and adequate hitting. Grady Little?s club is 6 games over .500 against NL West opponents while the Padres are the only other team above .500 against the same foes. 6. San Diego Padres (33-23): The Padres? 2.94 team ERA is remarkable and balances out their .245 team batting average, the third worst in the MLB. 7. Detroit Tigers (32-24): The Tigers aren?t out to the kind of start they enjoyed last season, but there are no doubts now that this team is amongst the best in the game. 8. Milwaukee Brewers (32-26): Prince Fielder and J.J. Hardy could combine for 90 home runs and a place in the playoffs for the Brewers for the first time since 1982. 9. Arizona Diamondbacks (34-24) The Diamondbacks have been the hottest team in baseball of late, going 5-1 on their Philly-Shea swing. 10. Atlanta Braves (32-25): The Braves will have a very difficult time making the postseason if Andruw Jones doesn?t come around at the plate. 11. Seattle Mariners (29-25): The Mariners have quietly put themselves into the Wildcard chase behind a very good bullpen and timely hitting. 12. San Francisco Giants (27-29): The Giants went 3-4 in Philadelphia and New York, but with their starting pitching being as dominant as it has been, they are better than their record indicates. A trade for a much needed bat appears imminent. 13. Philadelphia Phillies (28-29): The Phillies have one of the most exciting line-ups in baseball, but it is nearly impossible to imagine the club going anywhere with Charlie Manuel as their skipper. 14. Oakland Athletics (29-27): The A?s pitching is a step or two below the Angels and their lineup is three or four steps below. They always finish well, so a run isn?t out of the question, but I think most baseball experts have given up on waiting for Eric Chavez and Bobby Crosby to become anything more than .260 hitters. 15. Minnesota Twins (28-28): If the Twins were in the NL, they would be about 10 games over .500. 16. Toronto Blue Jays (27-29): I remained optimistic about Toronto?s chances even when they got off to their slow start. Their pitching and lineup is closer to Boston?s than the ten games in the standings. 17. Chicago White Sox (26-27): Ken Williams appears nearly ready to become sellers despite being just 4.5 games back in the Wildcard standings. 18. Florida Marlins (28-30): Larry Beinfest may not be my favorite GM, but he amazes me as much as any other GM in the game. 19. Colorado Rockies (27-30): Matt Holliday is having an All-Star season, Todd Helton has found his game again and winning games against the Rockies has become a huge chore again. 20. Baltimore Orioles (27-31) Since climbing their way back to .500, the Orioles have lost four in a row. 21. New York Yankees (24-31): The wait for them to rally off 12 of 14 remains and looks even more unrealistic now with some of their recent injury setbacks. 22. St. Louis Cardinals (24-30): A nightmare season on and off the field for the Cardinals. 23. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (24-31): There are few lineups in the game that are more exciting to watch on a daily basis. 24. Chicago Cubs (24-31): Alfonso Soriano has busted out while Sweet Lou has busted up. 25. Pittsburgh Pirates (24-33): Tom Gorzelanny is one of the most overlooked young pitchers in the game, as he sports a 2.53 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 45/23. 26. Houston Astros (23-33): It is scary to think what the Astros record would be if Carlos Lee wasn?t producing like a $100 million man. 27. Washington Nationals (23-34): I thought Dmitri Young?s playing days were over, but he?s having a nice season with a .323 batting average and 5 homers. 28. Cincinnati Reds (22-36): Ken Griffey, Jr. and Adam Dunn are both on a nice home run pace and they club is already over 10 games under .500. Nothing changes in Cincy. 29. Texas Rangers (20-37): As huge of a disappoint the Yankees and Cubs have been, the Rangers did not look this bad on Opening Day. 30. Kansas City Royals (21-37): The Alex Gordon is the next George Brett talk died as quickly as you can say .172.