MLB Power Rankings: 5/3/2010

The Yankees and Rays keep rolling, while the Twins fall off a bit due to the injury of the franchise, Joe Mauer. Also, the New York Mets have emerged as a possible contender in the NL East, as their chemistry has never seemed better. Here are the latest power rankings:

1. Tampa Bay Rays (18-7)- I hate to say it but they're the best team in baseball right now. Their pitching staff looks real solid, and Evan Longoria is emerging as a possibly MVP candidate. LW: 2

2. St. Louis Cardinals (17-8)- Jamie Garcia looks to have outdone the production they lost from Joel Piniero. If he keeps pitching like an ace, St. Louis is scary. LW: 4

3. New York Yankees (16-8)- Robinson Cano is on a tear, and is emerging as an MVP candidate for this team. Once Mark Teixiera heats up the offense should get a major boost. LW: 3

4. Minnesota Twins (16-9)- They're still a good team without Mauer, but need him healthy in order to be a playoff quality team. With Mauer and Morneau healthy, they're a World Series contender. LW: 1

5. Philadelphia Phillies (14-10)- Joe Blanton will be back soon, and that should definately help, but their rotation still needs to improve to hold off the streaking Mets. LW: 5

6. Detroit Tigers (16-10)- Who would've known Austin Jackson would actually be better than Curtis Granderson. Dave Dombrowski is making Brian Cashman look like a fool. LW: 12

7. San Francisco Giants (14-10)- Their pitching is definately among the best in baseball, but we knew that coming into the season. Someone's going to need to step up offensively. LW: 7

8. New York Mets (14-11)- The Mets haven't looked this good in years, with everything seeming to be clicking after that 20-inning win in St. Louis. Pelfrey and Santana getting rocked in back-to-back games may be a concern though. LW: 14

9. Texas Rangers (13-12)- The Rangers are starting to come around after a slow start. C.J. Wilson's made a very smooth transition from the bullpen to rotation. LW: 18

10. San Diego Padres (16-9)- They're seven games above .500. I can't really ignore that anymore. LW: 13

11. Florida Marlins (13-12)- Hanley Ramirez's bat is starting to wake up, and that will hopefully be the spark the Fish need to break from the middle of the pack. LW: 9

12. Colorado Rockies (12-13)- The potential emergence of youngster Jhoulys Chacin, should help bolster an injury-ridden starting rotation. LW: 6

13. Atlanta Braves (11-14)- They look like their coming back after that dreadful seven game losing streak, with a three game sweep of the Astros. They should look to continue this momentum in Washington. LW: 16

14. Boston Red Sox (11-14)- It's the Red Sox. There's no way this team is so bad that they would get swept by the Orioles, is there? Think again. LW: 11

15. Chicago Cubs (13-13)- The Cubs look pretty good right now, but I don't know if Marlon Byrd and Kosuke Fukodome can keep up their success at the plate for much longer. LW: 19

16. Los Angeles Angels (12-14)- This definitely isn't the same team that was considered the best in baseball for most of last year. We'll see what they can do in Boston early this week. LW: 10

17. Oakland Athletics (13-13)- Brett Anderson going down really hurts this rotation, especially as Ben Sheets continues to struggle. LW: 8

18. Seattle Mariners (11-14)- The AL West is so completely wide open right now, that anybody has a chance to win. Seattle was my early favorite, but they are struggling right now. LW: 15

19. Toronto Blue Jays (13-13)- Vernon Wells has been dominant offensively so far, but even if he keeps it up, this team will have little chance to make the playoffs in their division. LW: 17

20. Washington Nationals (13-12)- Stephen Strasburg recently got called up to AAA Syracuse and looks to be right around the corner. Maybe, just maybe this team is legit. LW: 22

21. Los Angeles Dodgers (11-14)- Andre Ethier is flat out raking, but isn't getting much help. The rotation is in complete shambles right now for Joe Torre. LW: 20

22. Arizona Diamondbacks (11-14)- This team just seems to strike out way too much to contend in the NL West. Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds need to hit for a higher average. LW: 21

23. Cincinnati Reds (12-13)- The Reds were looking real good going into a three game series in St. Louis, where they got beat two out of three. I still don't really see them contending. LW: 27

24. Milwaukee Brewers (10-15)- They recently got swept by the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers. It's really looking bad in Milwaukee right now. LW: 25

25. Cleveland Indians (10-14)- Austin Kearns has emerged as a bigtime hitter for this team, but let's be honest. It is Austin Kearns, and it is the Cleveland Indians. LW: 23

26. Chicago White Sox (10-15)- I promise this writeup will not be about Ozzie Guillen. Mark Buehrle does not look like a guy that has two career no-hitters. LW: 26

27. Kansas City Royals (10-15)- They've kind of hung in there with Tampa Bay, but in all honesty the Royals once again just aren't very good. LW: 28

28. Houston Astros (8-16)- Lance Berkman is back, but has not been very impressive at the plate. Carlos Lee, though, has been worse, hitting just .191 so far this year. LW: 24

29. Pittsburgh Pirates (10-15)- Jeff Karstens is not the answer to that miserable rotation. End of story. LW: 29

30. Baltimore Orioles (7-18)- They did sweep the Red Sox, but I'm putting that 100% on the Red Sox playing terrible baseball, rather than the Orioles actually playing good.