2009 CHONE Power Rankings

Sean's updated his projected standings with recent roster changes and also provides a power ranking based on team strength, not projected wins.

Top Ten:
1 Yankees
2 Red Sox
3 Rays
4 Indians
5 Tigers
6 Angels
7 Phillies
8 Mets
9 Braves
10 Cubs

That's six teams out of ten from the East divisions and six out of ten from the American League. The next five are all from the AL, too, meaning the NL projects to have 4 teams in the top half of MLB.

Bottom Ten:
21 Padres
22 Royals
23 Diamondbacks
24 Rangers
25 Rockies
26 Marlins
27 Giants
28 Nationals
29 Pirates
30 Astros

Those Diamondbacks and Giants ratings are definitely against the grain. Notice no Mariners here -- they're 14th. Get ready for the talking heads to be completely wrong about Seattle two years in a row.

almost 3 years ago Sky Kalkman 14 comments 0 recs |

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NL West looks funny

Four teams within five games of each other and the Padres with 80 wins when Vegas has their over/under at 67.5 wins. Looks like a lot of regression to the 81 win mark for the NL West teams.
vr, Xei

by Xeifrank on Feb 23, 2009 1:04 PM EST reply actions

projection wise

doesn’t it look like that the NL west / AL west / AL Central is all a huge crapshoot? the AL/NL E are both 3 team deathmatchs. with only the NLC seemingly pretty predictable in how it’s going to turn out.

by RollingWave on Feb 23, 2009 9:33 PM EST reply actions

I agree with the top 3 and the bottom 3

All the other ones are head-scratchers. If these rankings are purely by team strength than I don’t see how the Angels will be in the top 10, and the Blue Jays should be much higher.

vivaelbeñsheets

by vivaelpujols on Feb 23, 2009 10:12 PM EST reply actions

Blue Jays were like 5-7th last year in talent.

They lost two really good young pitchers in Marcum and McGowan. Lind and Snider should be upgrades. y guess would be in the 8-10th range this year, which is only slightly better than what CHONE says.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Feb 23, 2009 11:00 PM EST up reply actions

They have a lot of young pitching to replace Marcum McGowan and Burnett

David Purcey looks like a stud and Fangraphs did an article on Brett Cecil, who looks like the read deal. Also they were unlucky with health next year. Getting a full season of Aaron Hill and possible Scott Rolen could make them an excellent team again, albeit a 4th place excellent team.

vivaelbeñsheets

by vivaelpujols on Feb 24, 2009 12:16 AM EST up reply actions

I'm not calling Sean's integrity out at all

But look who the system is named after :)

Can't get enough of the Oakland A's? Visit Oaktown Awesomer's. For further statistical analysis, Beyond the Box Score.

by iamawesomer on Feb 24, 2009 12:16 AM EST up reply actions

Twins

There is no way the Twins finish under .500. They should be better on offense this year and they always get quality pitching. If they add Cruz to the bullpen I think they have a chance to win the AL Central. If they finish under .500 then I would be shocked, especially in a division with no dominant teams.

by antone on Feb 24, 2009 8:31 AM EST reply actions

Look at their clutch hitting last year. That can't be expected to repeat. And Nick Blackburn's ERA was way too low for his skills.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Feb 24, 2009 8:35 AM EST up reply actions

They will have a full season of Span. Crede if healthy is an uprgrade at 3B. Liriano for a full season would be an upgrade. They have a ton of other players who could improve based on age, skill set: Gomez, Kubel, Young.

The Twins almost always play better than expected. I don’t know how they do it because you can’t quantify it with the stats they have, but somehow they find a way.

All I’m saying is there is no way they don’t finish above .500 based on everyone being healthy. If they do then I will be the first to admit I am wrong, but I just think to predict them under .500 in a division that is good, but not even close to great, seems off to me.

by antone on Feb 24, 2009 8:46 AM EST up reply actions

And Nick Punto.

by R.J. Anderson on Feb 24, 2009 11:55 AM EST up reply actions

I agree on Crede and Liriano, and maybe a bit on Young.

Span I’m a bit more wary about. He didn’t have any real good seasons before last year and was just crazy in MLB. Living up to that will be tough. I could see Gomez improving at the plate, though.

Baserunning is one stat that gives them a bump.

Beyond the Boxscore // Calling BJ Upton lazy is lazy.

by Sky Kalkman on Feb 24, 2009 3:07 PM EST up reply actions

The Padres are worse than that.

I'm spent, just can't rosterbate anymore.

by oldjacket on Feb 24, 2009 12:33 PM EST reply actions

so are the Astros

vivaelbeñsheets

by vivaelpujols on Feb 25, 2009 1:20 AM EST up reply actions

Bodog Over/Unders

Arizona- 86.5
Atlanta- 84.5
Baltimore- 74.5
Boston- 94.5
Chicago C- 94.5
Chicago W- 76.5
Cincinnati- 76.5
Cleveland- 83
Colorado- 76.5
Detroit- 79.5
Florida- 75.5
Houston- 74.5
Kansas City- 75.5
LA Angels- 87.5
LA Dodgers- 84.5
Milwaukee- 85.5
Minnesota- 79.5
NY Mets- 90.5
NY Yankees- 96
Oakland- 81.5
Philadelphia- 87.5
Pittsburgh- 66.5
San Diego- 67.5
San Francisco- 77.5
Seattle- 72.5
St. Louis- 83.5
Tampa Bay- 89.5
Texas- 81.5
Toronto- 81.5
Washington- 68.5