Power Ranks- 6-10

Spots five through one to follow later this week

10. Philedephia-NL (Previous Rank: Not Ranked (NR))
Hineii landed the biggest fish in the off-season pool with the
signing of R. Santiago that plus bullpen depth signing M. Speaker was enough to boost the Phillies into the top ten. The previous season as Chicago this franchise almost reached the .500 mark. Adding the best pitcher in Hunter, pushes this team to the playoffs, I had them ranked 10th prior to the season the 7-2 start means I might be pushing them up even further in the future ranks

9. Baltimore-NL (Previous Rank: 10)

The 9th and 10th spots were especially hard to determine it was essentially a game of musical chairs, I had four teams for two spots. Philly grabbed the wooden chair & Baltimore grabbed the chair with the slightly better cushion, leaving Minnesota & Cleveland just out of the top 10. What pushed Baltimore up a spot was the signing of top of the order bat in Trace Manning. After a very slow start Baltimore has won 4 straight and sits at 5-4.

8. Pittsburgh- NL (Previous Rank: 4)

The biggest fall in the updated power rankings are the Stubbabubbas, they fall 4 spots in the rankings and behind 2 other NL teams. While Pittsburgh returned the majority of their hitters from last season they failed to adequately address their hole at SP missing out on the major FA pitchers. They brought C. Johnson back hoping he can re-create some magic & lost another FA SP to a major injury during spring training. This is still a strong squad but the lack of an elite SP limits their upside. Dizz needs to right the ship after a 3-5 start to avoid falling further in the All-Star break update

7. Kansas City-AL (Previous Rank:NR)

No team was busier in the off-season than the Comets, if R. Santiago was the biggest fish in the off-season pond then G. Kerr was the 2nd best catch. Kerr along with Santiago became the first two players in Hunter to receive max deals. In addition to signing an Ace, KC had 4 additional major signings. They added stout defensive C B. Rameriz from their division rival SF, strong RP T. Garland, quality SS M. LaRocca & perhaps one of the more underated signing was adding M. Cheng. While Cheng is getting closer to the end of this career, he would still be a quality SP1 for a number of teams in the league & giving the signing of Kerr he slots in fantastically as an SP2. When you upgrade the top 40% of your rotation it jumps you in to the top 10. In my first rankings I noted only 1 new owner was in the top 10 however after FA that was likely to change. Well it did, ptwoner joins Hineii to double the number of new owners in the top 10 (stazrunner & Minny just slide out). The Comets are off to a 5-3 start & lead the AL West, for long-time Hunter owners it feels odd seeing SF in 2nd, no matter how early it is.

6. Washington- AL (Previous Rank: 9)

Let_trys had a very subtle off-season working with a core of strong players instead of the big FA signing he worked on the edges of FA and improved with roster with minor changes. He picked up quality 2b Birdie Leonard for a song (see what I did there, Birdie……song……great stuff). M. Everett improves his offense from the CF position for a very reasonable price & D. Roth offers a cheap and decently skilled stop-gap at first base. Had the Quakers choose to retain the services of V. Kraemer they would very likely see themselves in the top 5. The Quakers currently find themselves in 2nd place in NL East at 5-4