2015 MLB Power Rankings Week 3

Did you happen to see the big fight last week? No, I'm not talking about Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. I'm talking about the brawl between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox. Things were said. Benches were cleared. Punches were thrown. Ejections were plentiful. Suspensions were doled out. Appeals have been filed. Sheer madness I tell you. This marks the second week in a row the Royals were involved in something like this. While tempers and emotions are running hot in K.C. the team is still playing well as they have the second best record in the American League. Now let's take a look at how the rest of the teams are doing after three weeks of baseball.

*Note ~ All records and stats are through Sunday's games.

1. Detroit Tigers (13-6) ~ The Tigers continue to roll despite the fact that former MVP and Cy Young winner Justin Verlander has not played yet. An MRI confirmed a strained triceps and he is out indefinitely. (Last Week's Ranking 1)

2. Kansas City Royals (12-6) ~ I mentioned the melees in the opener and Yordano Ventura has been front and center in both of them. The result? A seven-game suspension. As the ace of a young staff he needs to show some more maturity. (LWR 2)

3. New York Mets (14-5) ~ Their club record 11-game win streak came to an end on Friday with a 6-1 loss to the crosstown Yankees. The battle of New York may not have gone the Mets' way but this team looks ready to contend this year. (LWR 4)

4. St. Louis Cardinals (12-5) ~ Ace Adam Wainwright injured his achilles over the weekend and is lost for the year. While the Cards have tremendous pitching depth losing Wainwright will be tough to overcome. (LWR 5)

5. Los Angeles Dodgers (11-7) ~ Talk about a team bit by the injury bug. Yasiel Puig and Joel Peralta were both placed on the 15-day disabled list. Peralta has been closing games for the injured Kenley Jansen. Also started Brandon McCarthy was diagnosed with a torn UCL and is lost for the season. (LWR 3)

6. Chicago Cubs (10-7) ~ The Cubbies are off to their best start since 2008 when they were 11-6 out of the gate. There's a lot of optimism surrounding this club and a good start will only add to it. (LWR 10)

7. Pittsburgh Pirates (11-8) ~ Pittsburgh continues to ride their hot arms as a five-game winning streak has them back in the thick of the NL Central. Francisco Liriano has now beaten 29 of the 30 teams in baseball. (LWR 13)

8. Houston Astros (11-7) ~ Are the Astros ready to take the next step? They showed signs of improvement late last year and have carried it over into 2015. (LWR 19)

9. Tampa Bay Rays (11-8) ~ Don't look now but the Rays are getting healthier. James Loney and Drew Smyly were activated from the disabled list and the Rays have ridden a five-game win streak atop the AL East. (LWR 21)

10. New York Yankees (11-8) ~ A-Rod watch continues as the slugger sits just one home run shy of tying Willie Mays for fourth on the all-time home run list with 660. Expect a lot of live cut-ins on his at-bats until he puts another ball over the wall. (LWR 18)

11. San Diego Padres (11-9) ~ Ian Kennedy returned from the disabled list and was blown up by the Dodgers. He was tagged for eight runs including three long balls in 4 1/3 innings. Maybe he wasn't quite ready? Just a guess. (LWR 8)

12. Colorado Rockies (10-8) ~ Carlos Gonzalez may be healthy but boy is he struggling to the tune of .197/.229/.364. The Rockies will need him to return to his all-star form. (LWR 15)

13. Boston Red Sox (10-9) ~ The big question mark surrounding the Sox entering the season was how the rotation would fare. Three weeks in and they have a collective 5.75 ERA. That's.....not good. (LWR 6)

14. Baltimore Orioles (9-10) ~ They put on an offensive display Sunday by plating 18 runs against the Red Sox. It is the most they have ever scored against Boston in the long history between the division rivals. (LWR 9)

15. Los Angeles Angels (9-10) ~ The long, national nightmare is over. Josh Hamilton has officially been traded to the Texas Rangers. The Angels will cover most of the $83 million remaining on the contract and get cash or a player to be named later in exchange for Hamilton. (LWR 16)

16. Atlanta Braves (9-9) ~ The Trevor Cahill experiment has not gone well for the Braves. Cahill, acquired just before Opening Day, is 0-3 with an 8.03 ERA and 1.78 WHIP through his first three starts. (LWR 7)

17. Toronto Blue Jays (9-10) ~ After missing the past five games with a shoulder injury Jose Bautista is back in the lineup. One has to wonder if he wasn't able to go today if the Jays would have backdated a disabled list stint. (LWR 12)

18. Oakland A's (8-12) ~ Ben Zobrist will have knee surgery and is out 4-6 weeks. Kendall Graveman was also sent back down to Triple-A and Jesse Chavez will slide into the rotation. (LWR 14)

19. Washington Nationals (7-12) ~ Anthony Rendon could be back and the Nats need him. Last season he had his breakout year batting .287/.351/.473 with 21 home runs, 83 RBI, and 17 stolen bases. (LWR 11)

20. Miami Marlins (8-11) ~ Jose Fernandez is now an official U.S. citizen. He is also slated to throw to live batter this week for the first time since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. He is due back in June. (LWR 27)

21. Chicago White Sox (8-9) ~ Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija, Chicago's top two pitchers, were both suspended for five games as a result of last week's brawl. Both pitchers are appealing. (LWR 24)

22. Seattle Mariners (7-11) ~ Hisashi Iwakuma has landed on the disabled list with a lat strain. He has had a rough go to start the year but brings in a career 3.07 ERA in 524 innings over three seasons with the Mariners. (LWR 22)

23. Cincinnati Reds (8-10) ~ For the second time this season Homer Bailey has landed on the disabled list. Is it too early to start thinking what the Reds could get by trading ace Johnny Cueto? (LWR 20)

24. Arizona Diamondbacks (8-10) ~ All throughout Spring Training it was thought the D'Backs needed a catcher. Now that the Marlins have DFA'd Jarrod Saltalamacchia one has to wonder if Arizona will make a play for him. (LWR 17)

25. San Francisco Giants (8-11) ~ While San Fran has strung together a few wins they really need to start scoring runs to keep it up. They rank 28th in baseball with just 58 runs scored in 19 games for an average of just over three runs per game. (LWR 28)

26. Minnesota Twins (8-10) ~ Former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire is rumored to be looking to get back into coaching. He has hired an agent for the first time since 1987. I guess that means business. (LWR 23)

27. Texas Rangers (7-11) ~ Welcome back Josh Hamilton. The slugger was beloved during his time in Texas winning MVP honors in 2010 and going to All-Star Games in each of his five seasons with the club. He hit 43 homers and drove in 128 runs in his final season there in 2012. (LWR 26)

28. Philadelphia Phillies (7-12) ~ Just because it was the first series I got to watch my Braves play the Phillies took two of three. Sigh. (LWR 29)

29. Cleveland Indians (6-11) ~ Cleveland just can't stop Miguel Cabrera who has already tagged them for three home runs and nine RBI. It may be time to give him the Barry Bonds treatment. (LWR 25)

30. Milwaukee Brewers (4-15) ~ Milwaukee went 2-3 last week. That's an improvement over the 2-12 record they had over the first two weeks. (LWR 30)

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