Are you telling me you believe that the Orioles have a better team then the Tigers based on one week. Power rankings are a judgement based system. I for one won't beleive that the Orioles remotely are close to being good because they got off to a fast start. It means nothing. The rankings are based on strength of team. Not a first week record. You must be an Orioles fan to sound this ludicrous. I may not agree with some of his rankings but I certainly don't think the Orioles should be on top of the rankings simply because they had a good first week. That is like saying Ryan Howard isn't a home run threat because his first week of baseball he had poor power numbers. Basically you need to crawl back in a hole and shut the hell up for saying something like this!
Call me crazy... but maybe the Orioles ranking has something to do with the fact that the teams they're 6-1 against are ranked 20th, 23rd, and 26th? At this point in time, they've beaten up on bad teams and their starting pitching has escaped not just Cabrera and Loewen's bad starts, but Guthries as well... they're 7 games into the season, and their starters have been knocked around 4 times... I don't think Luke Scott will hit .500 all season, and Millar/Huff in the middle of the order can't continue to make up for that kind of performance from your starters
What is Eric thinking?!?!?!? He has the Orioles ranked 22nd while they are 6-1 and have a demanding lead in the Al East. He writes that they have the second lowest ERA, the only team lower is the Marlins (ranked 27th) and they are leading the Nl East so obviously they are getting the job done with the bats and both teams deserve a much higher rank.
For starters, these power rankings mean nothing. Especially in the first week of the season. Yes you guys got the sweep, but the M's blew two saves in that series because their true closer was out, and the M's lost a late lead on another day. That series could have easily gone 3-1 in favor of the M's or at list split at 2-2 if J.J. Putz would have been in those games.
I have to say though, George Sherrill is going to be an awesome closer for you guys.
As a Seattle fan, I am dumbfounded by the Orioles position, as well as the Yankee's, who lost a series to the Rays and an opener to the Royals. We (Seattle), are well placed.
As an O's fan, I have to say I think our ranking was tough but fair. But then I tend to look at these rankings almost as odds on who has the best chance of winning the World Series? When teams are hot, they move up and when they're cold, they move down. And even though the Tigers are 0-7, there's probably a better chance that they make the playoffs and make a run for a Series title than there is for the O's.
I'm thrilled that the Birds have started 6-1. They're a blast to watch as many predicted they would be with some hungry young talent. But the bottom line is that the bullpen will tire if they have to work this many innings throughout the season. Maybe Trembley will add a 13th pitcher and we'll have a team in serious contention. That would be some Orioles Magic! But until we see that this team can win week after week, I'm hesitant to put them in the top two-thirds of teams in the league. I'll just enjoy the success they've had and anticipate more success as they develop over the next couple of years.
Since this is all in fun, and it is so early in the season, and everyone does still have a chance to win the World Series, why not let the fans have some fun and rank the Brewers and Orioles 1-2 and the Tigers last? I think it would be much mor fun to watch one or both of them sink back down through the rankings and see the Tigers slowly rise back up to the top 10 don't you? Then at least there would be some rhyme or reason to how this fool came up with all this. There would still be whiners, but at least the whining would be subjective instead of the rankings.
I for one think the Tigers do have a chance to be horrific and finish below the Orioles. Of course that may be somewhere below .500 and not #1, but I still think it could happen. i don't know if I would have placed the Orioles at the top either, but it does seem reasonable that the team withthe best record at any point inthe season, could at least be in the top half, and the team that has yet to sniff a win should be last.
I do think this is an omen of things to come for the O's and the Brewers. they are building or have built teams that will mature into winners for a long time. These starts are just confidence builders. First you win, then you believe you should.......
Just a few things I've looked at about the Orioles..mainly, extreme luck. 7 of their top 8 pitchers (by VORP) are relievers. That is appalling, and you can't win now, next week, or ever like that.
Secondly, pythagorean expectation (first-order wins), the Orioles should only beat .766%, not 1.000%. Whether it is clutch or luck, they should have lost at least one of those games.
