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RotoBaller's Kevin Larson drops his latest MLB Power Rankings. Analysis, insight, and rankings for all 30 MLB teams from worst to first as of August 4, 2025.
MLB Power Rankings: Where Does Every Team Stand?
With the trade deadline passing and the calendar turning to August, we now face a pivotal stretch that will start to separate the contenders from the pretenders. August is a major inflection point where teams either really start to define themselves as a threat or they self-destruct and mentally start checking out as they drift away in the standings. Who in the middle do we think will catapult themselves to the top. And who at the top actually wants to win? It’s a mess at the top of our rankings yet again. But who prevails as our number one team? Let’s dive in and find out.
30. Colorado Rockies
The Rockies put together a comeback for the ages on Friday night, starting the game down 9-0 in the top of the first and winning on a walkoff two-run bomb from Brenton Doyle. Sure, it was just against the lowly Pirates but the Rockies will tell you it’s simply that Lodo Magic. Not only do the Rockies have a winning record in the second half, they also have been more than thrilled with the performance of Warming Bernabel, who’s been absolutely scorching at the plate since getting called up more than a week ago. The Rockies just want their young players to develop and Bernabel’s giving some Rockies fans hope for the future.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates came out of the break surprisingly hot, taking care of one of the AL’s best in the Detroit Tigers and then winning a series against Arizona and then sweeping the San Francisco Giants. Only the Colorado Rockies can cool them off, apparently. Pittsburgh’s offense has been due for some positive regression and it may be turning a bit. Their 98 wRC+ in the second half isn’t overly impressive, but it’s much improved from their season-long mark of 81. They may be able to play spoiler down the stretch, especially if the offense can keep up and give Paul Skenes some much needed run support.
28. Washington Nationals
The Nationals were a bit active at the trade deadline but they held onto their young stars that were rumored to be in trade talks. MacKenzie Gore would have been a headline making name had he been traded but Washington has smartly chose to keep him around. It’s a little more surprising to still see veterans like Josh Bell still in the lineup, but the Nationals at least made some moves that position themselves better for the future. In the meantime Nats fans simply hope that James Wood can turn things around. After an incredible first half the young slugger has cooled down significantly. In a low stress environment, Washington would love to see him emerge as a huge threat at the plate yet again.
27. Chicago White Sox
We mentioned it last week and it’s still true: The Chicago White Sox have one of baseball’s best offenses since the All-Star break. Posting up a 131 wRC+, their offense since the break stands up with the likes of Milwaukee and Toronto. That’s being driven by Colson Montgomery, who has driven in 17 RBI since the break. Luis Robert Jr. has started to find himself as well and is expected to have his $20 million club option picked up this offseason. Baseball is once again fun on the Southside; at least for now.
26. Atlanta Braves
A city where baseball is simply not fun is Atlanta. They’ve performed well below expectations and the constant injuries have derailed their season. They were unable to move Marcell Ozuna at the trade deadline. Ronald Acuna Jr. was placed on the 10-day IL with Achilles inflammation, taking away even more potential excitement away from the last couple months of this season. At the very least, Michael Harris II has started to get things turned around and Eli White helped lead the Braves to a win in the first ever Speedway Classic (that finally was able to get played on Sunday). That may be all Braves fans really have to root for the rest of the season besides keeping that pesky injury bug as far away as possible.
25. Athletics
The A’s were active at the trade deadline too and surprisingly traded away closer Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres. It’s probably a better move for Miller’s career since he wouldn’t be much help to the A’s this season, but it was a bit surprising indeed. They were able to pluck Leo De Vries away from the Padres, further building the A’s future as something their fans are really looking forward to. De Vries is the No. 3 overall ranked prospect in all of baseball. Putting him alongside Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz may look very unfair in the future.
24. Minnesota Twins
The Twins didn’t trade Joe Ryan at the deadline, much to the dismay of Red Sox fans (who thought they had him for all of two minutes thanks to a couple media outlets incorrectly posting that they acquired him). But they did trade quite a few other assets to try and salvage what has been a bit of a disaster season thanks to injuries. The rest of the season they’ll simply aim for the health of their young stars while aiming for a new direction in 2026.
23. Arizona Diamondbacks
Arizona’s playing like a team that knew it was selling because of a season riddled with injuries. The offense has been very lackluster, unsurprisingly after shipping out Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez. Arizona hasn’t been the best pitching team this season either. It makes for a bad combo for a team that looked like it’d be pretty formidable for most of the first half. By fWAR their position players still rank fifth overall on the season, but when it comes to pitching they rank 27th. The old adage of, “good pitching beats good hitting,” isn’t quite as applicable in today’s game but it would certainly help Arizona in the future.
22. Los Angeles Angels
The Angels didn’t quite sell at the deadline as Taylor Ward’s name seemed to be a hot commodity. Instead they chose to bolster up their bullpen, acquiring Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia from the Washington Nationals. They believe they are contenders, though they sit 5.5 GB of the final wild card spot in the American League. That’s not unobtainable, but the question has to be made as to if buying was the right idea for the Angels. The starting pitching is very questionable outside of Jose Soriano and Yusei Kikuchi and may not be enough to overcome that large of a deficit. We’ll just have to wait and see if the Angels have enough in them.
21. Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore sold off most of its assets at the trade deadline, admitting that this season is a lost season. That’s probably fine at this point since they haven’t had a single inning pitched by Kyle Bradish or Grayson Rodriguez. Without those two key pieces in their rotation they’ve been very inefficient as a staff, posting a 4.85 ERA on the season. Offensively they’ve been very strong since the break, posting a 124 wRC+. That offense will have to be the highlight for the rest of the season as Baltimore aims to simply get ready for 2026.
20. Tampa Bay Rays
Earlier this season Tampa had been on a run that made them look like one of the best teams in baseball, contending with the Yankees for the AL East lead. But they’re now 8-20 since the beginning of July and that’s knocked them back to 5.0 GB of the final wild card spot. They were both buyers and sellers at the deadline, putting themselves in a confusing situation. Similar to the Angels, they are going to need to make a real run to make it seem worth it since they didn’t quite make any efforts to get better in the future.
19. Miami Marlins
Sandy Alcantara is staying with the Marlins for the rest of the season after Miami decided to keep him at the deadline. He’s had two good starts in a row now after a string of bad outings for the former NL Cy Young winner. As he’s starting to turn it around, Edward Cabrera and Eury Perez have been showing a lot of promise in the rotation. Miami is six games out of the final wild card spot and likely won’t make a serious run to snag it. But if the offense stays hot and the pitching keeps things locked down then there’s an outside chance that Miami could put together something memorable.
18. St. Louis Cardinals
The Cardinals made a concerted effort at the deadline to trade their bullpen pieces in Ryan Helsley and Phil Maton. They also shipped out Steven Matz and Erick Fedde. Without much pitching help left in their rotation and bullpen it’d appear St. Louis is likely just aiming for 2026. It doesn’t help that Nolan Arenado’s name continued to be in trade discussions, though it always seemed much more likely that he’d be a name moved in the offseason anyways. At 6.5 GB of the final wild card spot they’re not out of it, but they’re not likely to make a run. The Cardinals will simply look to stay somewhat competitive throughout the rest of the year and stay healthy.
17. San Francisco Giants
At one point the NL West looked to be a pretty stacked division outside of Colorado. Slowly but surely they’ve started to separate, though, as the Diamondbacks and Giants have fallen off. It’s a bit more upsetting for Giants fans to be in this position, especially after the midseason move to acquire Rafael Devers. The 28-year-old has been a league average hitter for the Giants and hasn’t quite hurt them, but the team as a whole has underperformed. The pitching staff had a 4.46 ERA in July, a huge reason they were only 9-15 in the month. They didn’t exactly sell at the deadline and sit 6 GB of the final wild card spot. That’s a big deficit to overcome if both the staff and lineup are struggling.
16. Kansas City Royals
Are things looking upwards for the Royals? They have to be feeling that way after going 15-9 in July. Salvador Perez hit nine homers during the month while Vinnie Pasquantino hit six. Rookie pitcher Noah Cameron has started to come into form as well, posting a 2.68 ERA on the season and a 1.84 ERA in July. They’re still a few games back of the final wild card spot, and it won’t be easy to catch either Seattle or Texas, but Kansas City is starting to get hot at the right time and needs it to continue if they want to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
15. Cleveland Guardians
So it’s been an interesting couple of weeks for the Guardians. After the Emmanuel Clase incident it looked like Steven Kwan was sure to be shipped out. But after all was said and done he stayed in Cleveland. A 14-12 July has gotten them back into the wild card race. But the question that has to be asked is if they will simply have enough to compete. July was a good month but without an elite closer, or a top of the line starting pitcher, can they continually replicate that success? By shipping Shane Bieber to Toronto it’d appear they don’t think they have enough this season. But wilder things have happened.
14. Cincinnati Reds
After missing out on Eugenio Suarez the Reds acquired another third baseman in Ke’Bryan Hayes. Though he’s not anywhere close to the same player as Suarez is offensively, Cincinnati feels he’s going to help complete their roster with his spectacular glove (99th percentile in Outs Above Average). It’s going to be a tough ask for this Reds roster to keep up with the Padres for that final wild card spot, especially given that San Diego was very active at the deadline. Three of their next four series come against the Cubs, Brewers and Phillies, giving them a real tough stretch. But if they hold their own that will go a long way in building confidence and hope that they can indeed snag that last wild card spot.
13. Texas Rangers
The Rangers had a golden opportunity to try and gain some ground on the Mariners for the final AL wild card spot but ultimately couldn’t capitalize and lost three of four games in Seattle. It puts them two games back of Seattle. There’s still plenty of time left in the season for Texas to make up ground but Rangers fans would have liked to have at least split. With Cleveland and Kansas City hot on their heels, the Rangers can’t slip up without consequences. The pitching continues to be very solid for the Rangers but the offense needs to pick up. And without a new bat added at the deadline, they’ll have to do it with in-house sources.
12. Seattle Mariners
Seattle did all it could to ensure that its lineup is as formidable from top to bottom. By acquiring Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez, there are next to no breaks in the lineup. They hold the final wild card spot in the AL and vibes are high in Seattle. Outside of Logan Evans, all Mariners starters had an ERA of 3.70 or better in July. If Seattle can keep that up, along with having a very solid lineup, they may not be setting themselves up just for a wild card spot. Rather, they may have a chance at winning the AL West. And with the Astros on a major slide, there’s a chance for the Mariners to capitalize.
11. San Diego Padres
One of the Padres’ biggest needs heading into the deadline was simply more powerful bats with a focus on a better hitting catcher. They didn’t quite upgrade anything by adding Freddy Ferman, but they did make splashes elsewhere. They were able to acquire both Ryan O’Hearn and Ramon Laureano from Baltimore. They also made headlines by landing Mason Miller from the A’s. The bullpen hadn’t been a big issue for San Diego but good luck trying to score on them going forward. The Padres made a very concerted effort to improve their team and on paper it certainly looks like they did. They’re holding onto the final NL wild card spot with a four game cushion over Cincinnati, giving them a great chance to be playing in October yet again.
10. New York Yankees
It’s more than normal for Yankees fans to be overly worried about their team’s performance, even if it isn’t all that bad, but any worry they had before can’t even possibly measure up to what’s happening with them now. Aaron Judge’s elbow injury is certainly going to be a cause for concern, though he should be fine as a DH once he’s back. But their June swoon has started to carry on longer than they’d like. They were 42-25 before visiting the Red Sox in Boston on June 13th and now they have a 60-52 record after getting swept by the Marlins. They’re only a half-game ahead of the Mariners in the final wild card spot and 2.5 games ahead of the Rangers before they’re on the outside looking in. Things need to change quickly in the Bronx.
9. Boston Red Sox
Fresh off a sweep of the Astros at Fenway, the Red Sox have to feel like they’re in prime position right now. With a two game lead over the Mariners for the final wild card spot they’re got an OK cushion. But they may now have their eyes set on the Blue Jays with just a three game deficit for the AL East lead. Their 7-1 run was just what they needed to really get back into things. It’s got Red Sox fans excited enough to have them completely forget about the time they had Joe Ryan on their roster for two minutes on trade deadline day. Well, maybe not completely, but there’s definitely hope for October baseball in Boston these days.
8. Houston Astros
Speaking of those Astros, they made a very concerted effort to improve their injury-riddled roster at the deadline. They reunited with Carlos Correa, acquired Jesus Sanchez from Miami and traded for Ramon Urias from Baltimore. Jeremy Pena also returned from injury on Friday night, knocking three singles. But none of that helped the Astros as they got swept in Boston this weekend. They’re now on a 2-8 slide and in danger of losing their AL West lead to the Seattle Mariners. Houston’s about to be playing some high-stress baseball if they can’t get things turned around quickly.
7. New York Mets
It’s a chaotic mess of our next seven teams, all of whom have an argument to be the best team in baseball. But there’s so much chaos surrounding these teams. For the Mets, they made a focus of upgrading their lineup and bullpen at the deadline, acquiring Cedric Mullins and Ryan Helsley as the main headliners. But they’ve entered a funk this week after previously running hot. They’re now a half game behind the Phillies for the NL East lead and may be behind them the rest of the way given the advantages Philadelphia has pitching. They’re not in danger of losing a playoff spot, but they need their lineup to pick it up. They posted a 93 wRC+ in July. Not effective enough for continuous success, especially at a playoff level.
6. Philadelphia Phillies
The Phillies are back in control of the NL East, but it’s not by very much. In a tight race with the Mets, the Phillies have been unable to get on a run. They’re winning but they’re not stringing wins together and really getting on a streak. At their best they could be considered favorites to win it all, but the lineup this year has been underwhelming (at least by their standards). Kyle Schwarber is going his best to steer them back in the right direction, posting a 1.093 OPS in July. His success, along with Cristopher Sanchez breaking out in the rotation, has kept the Phillies from falling. But the others need to pick it up for Philly to reach its full potential.
5. Detroit Tigers
A very concerning start out of the break for the Tigers has started to subside as they get back on the right track. Though they lost their series to the Phillies this weekend, they’ve won five of their last seven games. It’s helping to ease a lot of the worries they had over the past few weeks. One of their biggest concerns they addressed at the deadline was starting pitching help, acquiring Chris Paddack and Charlie Morton. Both were very solid in their first starts for Detroit. The Tigers will need their lineup to return to form in order to feel really good about their chances in the playoffs yet again.
4. Chicago Cubs
Chicago missed out on many of the bigger names in the starting pitching market at the deadline, though they were able to acquire Michael Soroka from Washington. That may end up looking like a great acquisition for the Cubs consider his current 4.87 ERA is paired with a 3.33 xERA. But will it be enough for Chicago? Their lineup has continuously been solid, but the starting pitching will continue to be their biggest question mark. It doesn’t help that they lost an important series to the Brewers this week, putting them two games back of Milwaukee in the NL Central. Chicago’s poised to make the playoffs for the first time since 2020 (first time in a full season since 2018), but their fans would prefer it be with a division title on hand.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
The scary thing about the Dodgers is that it feels like they’ve been very underwhelming thanks to yet another injury-riddled season that’s held them back from quite a few angles. Mookie Betts is underperforming a lot by his standards, Shohei Ohtani has yet to pitch more than three innings and Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been their only consistent and non-injured starter. Yet they’ve got the third best record in the majors and it feels like they’re underperforming. When the Dodgers get right it’s going to be a tough sight for the league. With two months to go in the season LA has all the time they need to get things right for October.
2. Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto’s ridiculously hot run has finally come to an end, but it’s still got them tied for the best record in the American League. They may be kicking themselves down the road for not being able to take care of the Orioles and Royals this week, but in the meantime they’re still in a good position. They also made potentially one of the better trades at the deadline by acquiring Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians. It’s a bit of a risk as he’s still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, but he will certainly be able to help out Toronto in October as long as his arm’s healthy. The Blue Jays need to get back on the right track with a series against the Rockies before heading off to LA to face the Dodgers.
1. Milwaukee Brewers
Our top team this week is the Brewers. Don’t get too happy yet Brewers fans, this hasn’t been a good spot the last few weeks but maybe your boys can buck the trend. Milwaukee won a pivotal series against the Cubs pretty convincingly to start the week and then swept the Nationals.
The return of Brandon Woodruff has been more than Milwaukee could have asked for, pitching to a 2.22 ERA and a 2.92 xFIP. That will help ease the sting of Jacob Misiorowski landing on the IL. Either way, the Brewers have been rolling. Negative regression is still around the corner for starting pitchers Freddy Peralta and Jose Quintana, but if the lineup keeps mashing then it won’t matter all that much. Milwaukee takes our top spot this week.
