NIBABaseball.com
The NIBA
has kicked off to another successful season. Here's your latest edition of
the Power Rankings!
| 2006 POWER TEN: April
27, 2006 |
| Rank |
Team |
Rec. |
Comment |
 |
1 |
Mets |
16-4 |
Alan
Benes (3-1, 3.33) is the darkhorse on this staff, as he's pitched wonderful
so far. With the big three ahead of him, he could be the difference maker
with a tough divisional battle in the next five months with Atlanta looming.
Some in the organization are worried that there's more to
Carlos
Deglado's back problems than he's letting on. His power seems to be lacking
somewhat, and he'll miss the next five days to rest it. With a huge contract
on the plate, it could end up coming back to haunt the
Mets. |
 |
2 |
Braves |
14-5 |
Braves management said before the year this team would contend,
and that's exactly what they're doing.
Trey Hodges
(5-0, 0.79) looks like he could be a superstar in this league, and will be
the main reason for the Braves contending this year. However,
Jarrod
Washburn has bounced back from a 2005 season he would like to forget,
and has established himself as a quality starter yet again.
|
 |
3 |
Yankees |
14-6 |
Things started slow enough for the Yankees, and there was some
speculation that moves could be made soon if things didn't change. However,
since then the Yankees have won seven straight and taken control of the AL
East once again.
Endy Chavez
has been the early suprise, hitting .397 with 11 RBI early for New York.
He's been a spark at the bottom of the lineup that needs it with quite a
few hitters struggling.
Joe Nathan
(1.76 ERA) is looking more and more ready to take the closer job over from
Mariano
Rivera, its just a matter of time. |
 |
4 |
Tigers |
13-6 |
Robinson
Cano (.303, 4, 19) has responded to management's faith in him by being
most likely the best hitter early on for the suprisingly good Tigers. The
Tigers real turnaround has been fueled by the pitching staff, with the addition
of A.J.
Burnett (3-0, 2.92) and
Eric DuBose
(1-1, 2.49) have been unbelievable so far.
Huston
Street (5 svs) has also continued to develop into a big game closer,
and those close to the organization say he's basically
untouchable. |
 |
5 |
Cubs |
12-8 |
Thank God for
Mark Prior
(5-0, 1.37) who has saved a pitching staff that otherwise has looked
pretty horrible. He's probably developed into the best pitcher in the league
at this point, and is one of only a handful of guys in the league who the
Cubs know will dominate every single start.
Alex
Gonzalez (.375, 4, 17) has continued to establish himself as one of the
dominant shortstops in the game after a breakout year in
2005. |
 |
6 |
Dodgers |
11-7 |
Mark
Loretta is finally healthy, and showing it, hitting .400 over the first
month of the season. When he's healthy and hitting well, the lineup just
seems to click.
Masao Kida
continues to be one of the league's biggest suprises, turning from journeyman
reliever into a very effective starter. While he can't pitch very deep into
games, he's been very effective while he has been pitching this year. He
could move back to the bullpen if the Dodgers can find another starter to
replace him in the staff, although
Darren
Dreifort has looked very good out of the pen so far
too. |
 |
7 |
Rangers |
11-8 |
Ichiro
Suzuki hasn't had a season with under 200 hits yet, and don't expect
this to be the first. He's off to a blistering start, including 17 steals,
not being caught once. He's forming quite a duo with
Carlos
Beltran both in the outfield and at the plate. The pitching staff may
still be too weak to get them to the playoffs though.
Kris Benson
(1-2, 6.46) has been an early dissapointment as the #2 pitcher, as he is
still struggling to recover from a bicep injury that almost ended his 2005
season. Joel
Pineiro is expected to miss another three weeks. |
 |
8 |
Brewers |
11-8 |
The Brewers have easily been the suprise team of 2006, coming
out to a very nice start. While you shouldn't expect an NL Central title
yet, .500 certainly isn't out of the question. The unbelievable pitching
has fueled the hot start, led by ace
Ben Sheets
(2-2, 2.78) and rookie phenom
Taylor
Buchholz (1-1, 3.55) who has looked phenominal thus far. The offense
is scoring just enough runs to win, with contributions from places they
didn't think they'd have at the start of the year, with
Jason
Hoorelbeke and
Brent
Butler looking very solid thus far. |
 |
9 |
Athletics |
11-8 |
The bullpen has been downright horrible so far for Oakland, blowing
quite a few games for a staff that has looked very solid behind
Johan
Santana and
Claudio
Vargas, two newcomers.
Erubiel
Durazo is off to a great start, giving management some relief after a
2005 season that was well below what their expectations for him was. His
1.093 OPS has helped to fuel quite a potent lineup from top to bottom for
the Athletics. |
 |
10 |
Orioles |
11-8 |
The pitching continues to be dominant, and could make the Orioles
quite a force if they can somehow sneak into the playoffs in October.
Odalis
Perez has been solid so far (3-1, 4.18) but there's room for some improvement
for a guy getting paid quite a bit to lead a young, inexperienced staff.
There are some in baseball who believe the bullpen is getting worked wrong,
with Fernando
Rodney pitching quite a few innings so far, and
Robb Nen
sitting on the bullpen bench in quite a few games. |
 |
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11.
Blue
Jays |
12.
Cardinals |
13.
Twins |
14.
Giants |
15.
Astros |
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16.
Diamondbacks |
17.
Marlins |
18.
Angels |
19.
Padres |
20.
Red
Sox |
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21.
Royals |
22.
Reds |
23.
Rockies |
24.
Pirates |
25.
Devil
Rays |
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