BTB Power 30 - Continued

First off, someone needs to make a Blue Jays site on SportsBlog Nation and call it Blue Jay Way, as a tribute to the Beatles song.

Lots of good material on the website today, but I have some time, and I figured that I should give the breakdown of the Power 30 from this morning.

1. Marlins (High Rank: #1, by 3rd order Pythagenport, Scotto, Mike Greenfield, and the Prospectus Hot List, Low Rank: #7, by Sportsline) - So far, the Marlins have earned this top spot, IMO. Their starting pitching has been dominant, and they've got a scary top of the order. We'll see how long this lasts in a tough NL East.
   
2. White Sox (High Rank: #1, by Sportsline, FoxSports, SI.com, Low Rank: #6, by Scotto) - The results are correlating fairly well with the peripherals, considering, but they're still not scoring too many runs. Wait for the pitching to stop coming.
   
3. Orioles (High Rank: #1, by RotoTimes. Low Rank: #9, by Mike Greenfield) Greenfield's ranks are computer-generated, and I don't quite know the formula, but they're not too high on the Orioles, ranking even the Phillies (what??) ahead of them at #8. Greenfield's system takes the divisional strength into account heavily; lots of NL East teams up at the top of his.
   
4. Dodgers (High Rank: #2, by me, Low Rank, #8, by ESPN RPI) - They win the tiebreaker b/c the tiebreaker subtracts the "Power Rankings" and just goes with the other 3.
   
5. Cardinals (High Rank: #2, by Sportsline, RotoTimes, SI.com, Low Rank, #9, by me): My formula's fairly disagreeable so far, but it is only measuring production, not results. The others look into more results, so we can see why I'm so mean. If it weren't for me, the Cards could easily be at #2.
   
6. Nationals (High Rank: #3, by me, Low Rank: #19, by FoxSports.com): Our first major disagreement. The polls tend to disagree with me, but Greenfield, Pythagenport, and RPI are all very high on the Nats, too. The year's biggest surprise south of Baltimore, so far.
   
7. Twins (High rank: #4, me, Low Rank: #11, by Mike Greenfield): This is my last serious disagreement for a while. Twins pitching looks good. Morneau is crushing the ball early on. My Cleveland pick is floundering, so I might be jumping to this bandwagon soon.
   
8. Mets (High rank: #7, Greenfield, Low rank: #17, SI.com, RotoTimes): Streaky team thus far, powered by oscillating hot streaks and a fantastic April from Cliff Floyd. They'll need more from the starters to be serious contenders.
   
9. Blue Jays (High rank: #9, ESPN RPI, Low rank: #13, by Greenfield, Sportsline, and the Hit List) - Nothing too contentious here. Interesting that their consistency puts them at #9, which is also their highest ranking. Sum of parts v. whole, I guess.
   
10. Braves (High rank: #1, ESPN RPI, Low rank: #21, by Pythagenport): Whoa. The ranks takes the compromise route at #10, but there are soome outliers here. The polls like the Braves, as does the RPI (opponents' strength coming through), but I don't like 'em and neither does Prospectus.
    
11. Tigers (High rank: #7, by me, Low rank: #24, by Rototimes): Another tough one to call. The production figures are good, but the media hasn't caught on. Give them another week or two.
    
12. Red Sox (High rank: #7, by Prospectus, Low rank: #16, by Greenfield) - Slow start, but starting to hit their stride now. A boost from Wade Miller would be very helpful.
    
13. Giants (High rank: #10, by Pythagenport, FoxSports, Low rank: #19, by RPI): Bondsless Giants hanging in there, hovering at .500. Losing Benitez cripples their pen.
    
14. A's (High rank: #10, by me, Low rank: #22, by FoxSports): Haven't hit a lick and are still right in the thick of things.
    
15. Brewers (High rank: #14, by Pythagenport, SI.com, Low rank: #23, by RotoTimes) - Fairly consistent across the board. The Beermen find themselves 4.5 out with a 7-game winning streak without Sheets. Impressive.
    
16. Angels (High rank: #4, by RotoTimes, low rank: #25, by me): I think that the media is intoxicated with KoolAid on this team. All four media-type polls have them in the Top 10, and while they're about on the fringe, IMO, they shouldn't be Top 5. RotoTimes ranks them ahead of the Marlins and Dodgers.
    
17. Diamondbacks (High rank: #7, by SI.com, RPI, Low rank: #29, by me): My system's obviously not perfect if it rates the Rockies and everyone ahead of the Diamondbacks, but if the Royals are outproducing them, isn't something wrong? This can't last.
    
18. Padres (High rank: #16, by Pythagenport, SI.com, Low rank: #22, by Sportsline): This is the type of team that makes me question if I should park adjust my method. But they're right in line with the other ones and the standard deviation's low. They've underachieved so far at .500, but they've won 3 straight. Stay tuned.
    
19. Indians (High rank: #13, by Pythagenport, Scotto, Low rank: #26, by RotoTimes): Horrendous offensive start. Hafner's picking it up now, but still little from Victor Martinez.
    
20. Astros (High rank: #8, by Pythagenport, Low rank: #26, by RPI): I'll stand by my preseason prediction that they don't win 80 games this year. Berkman's return will dictate if I'm right. Without Pythagenport, everyone's pretty agreeable on these guys.
    
21. Rangers (High rank: #13, by SI.com, Low rank: #23, by FoxSports, Scotto): Considering that they're .500, I'm surprised at the pessimism.
    
22. Cubs (High rank: #13, by RotoTimes, Low rank: #25, by RPI): Just imagine if Derrek Lee were human right now.
    
23. Yankees (High rank: #15, by Sportsline, Low rank: #24, by Pythagenport): They haven't been able to sustain a winning streak this year... every time they seem to have gotten over the funk, it comes back. Sportsline's the nicest grader.
    
24. Phillies (High rank: #8, by Greenfield, Low rank: #28, by Pythagenport): The pitching hasn't been there. Thome's sucked and now he's hurt. Burrell's tapering off. Weak bullpen outside of Madson and Wagner. Sum? Another underachieving year.
    
25. Mariners (High rank: #16, by FoxSports, Low rank: #26, by Sportsline): Tough division. 5 game losing streak. One starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.50. Weak start from Beltre. And they're only 4 under. Let's see if they can stay in this race....
    
26. Devil Rays (High rank: #15, by Scotto and Prospectus, Low rank: #29, by Greenfield and Pythagenport): Kazmir + Young + Upton + Crawford... they're building a nucleus. Not this year, but coming. Anyway, the stats aren't awful, so they fell in the middle on my rankings. The pollsters don't like 'em much.
    

27-30. Reds, Rockies, Royals, Pirates: None peaked #23 in any poll. They're all fairly bad. The Reds are probably a bit better than the others, but, as I said earlier in the year, betting under 78 on them was a gift, if you're into that sort of thing.