May 8, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Twins right fielder
Torii Hunter(48) is congratulated by Minnesota Twins first baseman
Joe Mauer(7) after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
The Minnesota Twins are the story in this week’s power rankings.
Coming into today, the Twins are winners of nine of their last 11 games and are just 2.5 games out of first place in the American League Central.
Manager, Paul Molitor has pushed all the right buttons with his lineup and the results have propelled the Twins into the top five in the AL in runs, RBIs and batting average.
The Twins now join the Astros and Mets as among baseball’s surprise teams this season and may find themselves as buyers when the trade deadline arrives.
How good would Cole Hamels look at the front of their rotation? The Twins farm system is one of the best in baseball so they have the prospects to get the deal done.
Of course the Twins are one of 20 teams on Hamels no-trade clause that he can refuse to be traded to but it’s only right that general manager Terry Ryan does his due diligence in seeing if Hamels would waive it to get out of a losing situation in Philadelphia.
Other teams who are on the rise this week include the Washington Nationals, Toronto Blue Jays and Texas Rangers.
Teams on the decline include Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics.
Here are the rankings.
Next: Nothing new at the top.