Thanks to some hot streaks (Blue Jays, Brewers, Mets) and some not-so-hot streaks (Tigers, Dodgers, Astros), the MLB standings have, right on the cusp of the Trade Deadline, gotten almost absurdly tight. The Jays have the best record in baseball. The Cubs and Brewers are a half-game back of them; the Mets are 1 behind them; the Dodgers, 2; the Tigers, 2 1/2; the Astros, 3. It is incredibly difficult to rank all of these teams: They’re just too close. So wish us luck.
These rankings, as always, are compiled from MLB.com contributors whose names you can find at the bottom of this (and every) piece, but the words are mine. If you dislike the rankings, yell at all of us. But if you dislike the words, feel free to yell at me.
1. Cubs (previously: 2)
We know that Brewers fans are going to be yelling at us that the Cubs are so much higher on this list than they are, considering how close they are in the standings. But helpfully, the two teams play this week and can settle the issue. (For now.) Here’s one quiet key for the Cubs’ success this year: Their Nos. 6-9 hitters lead the Majors in batting average (.267), on-base percentage (.326), and slugging (.432). Pretty good for a club that also has Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki, none of whom bat in the sixth-through-nine spots.
2. Blue Jays (previously: 6)
Do you realize the Jays have never won 100 games in a season? Did you know they’re on pace for 96 now, and if they were to keep up their pace of the last two months, they’d win 102? Can you believe, considering where we were one year ago, that we’re even talking about this?
3. Mets (previously: 5)
This Mets hot streak hasn’t just put them in first place in the NL East: It has put them in legitimate contention for having the best record in baseball, something they have not done, of course, since 1986. But everyone’s so tight, record-wise, that they’re just as close to having the No. 5 seed in the National League. Every game suddenly matters so much.
4. Dodgers (previously: 3)
It will be a fascinating week for Dustin May. He has been as reliable as anyone in the Dodgers rotation has been this year, currently second on the team in innings behind Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pretty impressive considering he missed all last year with injuries. But with other Dodgers pitchers coming back from injury, there’s also a possibility he, if you can believe this, gets traded; he’s showing up in all sorts of rumors. The Dodgers pitching is just a hall of wonders and mysteries.
5. Phillies (previously: 8)
Forget Cal Raleigh and Shohei Ohtani. Is Kyle Schwarber going to make it to 60 homers? He’s currently on pace for 55, which is just a hot streak away from approaching 60. He’s also close to Ryan Howard’s team record of 58 back in 2006.
6. Brewers (previously: 7)
The Brewers were the hottest team in baseball until running smack into the bewilderingly hot Marlins over the weekend. They’re still in great shape — they’ve got a 93 percent chance of making the postseason — and they have that downright massive series with the Cubs that kicks off this week.
7. Astros (previously: 4)
The Astros had an absolutely miserable weekend against the A’s, not just getting swept for the first time in a four-game series at home to them ever but of course assuring their place as supporting players in Nick Kurtz highlight videos until the end of time. They’ve still got a somewhat comfortable lead in the AL West, but you do wonder if, after somehow floating above the fray despite all their injuries this year, they might be returning to earth a little bit.
8. Tigers (previously: 1)
The Tigers were surely just relieved the bleeding finally stopped with their win on Sunday, over their former ace Max Scherzer, on his birthday, no less. So, now that they’ve at least not lost six in a row, perhaps we survey the damage. The Tigers still have an eight-game lead in the AL Central, still have a 91 percent chace of winning the division and are still very much in the hunt for the best record in baseball. It has been a very rough few weeks, but the nice thing about the Tigers is that they built themselves a lot of cushion. They haven’t used all of it yet.
9. Mariners (previously: 14)
All this fuss about Cal Raleigh — very deserved fuss, to say the very least — has distracted from a phenomenon Mariners fans are quite used to by now: A Julio Rodríguez hot streak in July. He hit four homers over the weekend … even more than Raleigh hit, as if such a thing is humanly possible.
10. Yankees (previously: 10)
How you take the news about Aaron Judge’s injury may tell you a little bit about your general attitude on the world. Do you hear, “Back before the end of the season?” and take that as a positive, that you will see him in pinstripes earlier than the worst-case scenario? Or do you hear it and think, “How in the world are the Yankees going to keep their head above water with Judge gone? Will it be too late by the time he returns?” It’s possible both are right here.
11. Padres (previously: 10)
Quite a few Padres hitters are hot right now, including Manny Machado, who went 11-for-17 during the four-game series in St. Louis, but don’t forget about Luis Arraez. He’s in the midst of a 10-game hit streak right now, during which he’s 16-for-41. They are the reason the Padres are still clinging to that final Wild Card spot.
12. Red Sox (previously: 11)
Alex Bregman had been slowly working his way back into top condition after spending all that time on the injured list with a quad strain, and he hadn’t quite made it back to the form he showed at the beginning of the season. But he looks like he’s almost there: He went 3-for-4 on Saturday against the Dodgers and then homered on Sunday. He’s not only helping the Red Sox immensely; he could be back to building up a free-agent case for himself.
13. Rangers (previously: 17)
The Rangers are, at last, playing the way their fans (and many prognosticators) thought they would heading into the season. The reason is of course the offense, led by Corey Seager who, now finally fully healthy, is playing like the MVP candidate we’ve all known him to be. During his 27-game on-base streak, he’s hitting .340 and slugging nearly .700.
14. Reds (previously: 16)
Few teams have helped themselves more in the past few weeks than the Reds, who, with their sweep of the Rays over the weekend, are a season-high six games over .500. They had not reached that mark since September 2023. Remember, too: They haven’t made the playoffs in a full season since 2013. Now that they’re only one game out of a Wild Card spot, there’s every reason to dream big.
15. Giants (previously: 12)
Maybe this is why Rafael Devers was so hesitant to play first base. His misplay of a ground ball on Saturday cost the Giants a double play and led immediately to a two-run double from Mark Vientos that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish. Devers also made an error in the game. His defense is not the reason the Giants are plummeting right now. But it’s not helping.
16. Rays (previously: 13)
That news item about the Rays being able to potentially host postseason games at Steinbrenner Field is starting to feel rather aspirational now, isn’t it? The Rays have lost 17 of their last 23 games and fallen all the way to .500 … and are now on the outside looking in at the Wild Card chase. The reason has in large part been the bullpen; nine of those 17 losses, more than half, have featured the Rays blowing a lead.
17. Cardinals (previously: 15)
The Cardinals rebounded from a miserable, potentially season-altering series loss in Denver by winning their first two games at Busch this week against the Padres, a team they are chasing in the Wild Card race. But losses Saturday and Sunday dropped them to 3 1/2 games back … and probably back into full-on selling mode.
18. Guardians (previously: 22)
Even with the Tigers’ collapse of late, it’s still highly unlikely anyone in the AL Central is catching up with them. But the Guardians’ hot play heading into the All-Star break and just after it may end up salvaging their whole season. They’re still within striking distance of the Wild Card: They’re now fully incentivized to go for it.
19. Royals (previously: 21)
It’s not often that you see under-.500 teams trading for pending free agents this time of year, so you’ve got to credit the Royals for seeing a current deficiency – a right-handed bat — and addressing it with their trade for veteran Randal Grichuk. The question is whether he will be enough to help make a run, or if any single player could be.
20. Diamondbacks (previously: 20)
The D-backs kicked off Deadline Week with their trade of Josh Naylor to Seattle, and no team will be watched more closely over the next few days. You can tell they’re going to get something of high quality back for Eugenio Suárez when sites like ours are doing Eugenio Suárez Suitor Power Rankings. Everybody wants this guy.
21. Twins (previously: 18)
Twins fans do not need to be reminded how their team tends to fall apart, or at least struggle mightily, when Byron Buxton is out of the lineup. He left Saturday night’s game with “left side soreness” and was later diagnosed with cartilage irritation in his left rib. The Twins likely cannot survive another extended Buxton injury.
22. Angels (previously: 19)
It took him nearly four games, but Mike Trout finally got his 1,000th career RBI on Sunday with a two-run blast off Logan Gilbert. He’s still 291 RBIs behind Garret Anderson for the all-time Angels lead in RBIs, but for what it’s worth: That’s just about the only category he doesn’t lead the Angels all-time. He’s first in homers (397), runs (1,165), walks (1,034) and WAR (86.9, almost double second-place Jim Fregosi). He’s behind Anderson in hits, total bases and doubles, but for a very understandable reason: He has played 415 fewer games as an Angel. We’ll check back in a few years to see Trout atop every leaderboard.
23. Marlins (previously: 25)
The Marlins, out of nowhere, are one of the hottest teams in baseball – and within striking distance of .500 – and if you’re wondering how they’re doing it, check out their bullpen. Since June 22, the bullpen has a 2.02 ERA and .547 opponent OPS, by far the best in baseball. Now the real question: Did it adjust any of their Deadline plans?
24. Orioles (previously: 23)
Is there a front office in baseball that has a more pivotal 2026 coming than the Orioles? After this disastrous season, general manager Mike Elias said, “We’re not blowing up the team. We think we’re going to be very good again in 2026 and have that intention. We’re not interested in blowing up the foundation of the team.” Whatever your thoughts about the Orioles’ stasis this year, they are definitely going to be all in for 2026.
25. Braves (previously: 24)
The Braves are all but certain to miss the postseason for the first time since 2017, and it’s of note that their primary trade chip, Marcell Ozuna, is not only struggling, he hasn’t even played that much lately: When Sean Murphy catches, the Braves have mostly been putting Drake Baldwin at DH rather than Ozuna, which is maybe not the best way to show off one’s potential merchandise.
26. A’s (previously: 26)
Of all the great things about Nick Kurtz’s otherworldly game on Friday, my personal favorite is that three of his four homers were to the opposite field. Oppo taco power is a huge part of his game; since Kurtz made his MLB debut, only Aaron Judge, with 13, has more opposite field homers than Kurtz’s 10.
27. Nationals (previously: 27)
The Nationals finally scored some runs on Saturday, nine to be exact in a 9-3 win over the Twins, and it was a desperately needed breakthrough for a team that had been shutout for 22 consecutive innings. The Nats have been feast-or-famine since the break; right before that streak, they’d scored 16 runs in two games.
28. Pirates (previously: 28)
The Pirates have been out of the playoff chase for a very long time, and the only thing anyone has been talking about them these days has involved which players they may or may not trade. So let’s take a moment to remark on yet another beautiful performance from Paul Skenes on Sunday, tossing another six shutout innings in a 6-0 win over the D-backs. His ERA is now 1.83. In five July starts … it’s 0.67. Yikes.
29. White Sox (previously: 29)
So yeah: The White Sox came storming out of the All-Star break, winning six of their first seven and scoring the most runs per game than any team in baseball. Everyone on the Sox is hitting well right now, but of perhaps most urgent Trade Deadline notice is the fact that Luis Robert Jr., finally, is one of them. He’s battling nagging going tightness, but before sitting over the weekend, he had put together a .375/.459/.594 slash line during a nine-game hitting streak.
30. Rockies (previously: 30)
The trade of Ryan McMahon may well clear a spot for Colorado’s No. 8 prospect Kyle Karros, who was recently promoted to Triple-A. Karros is the son of former Dodger Eric Karros, which is a nice touch, considering he may end up being a bridge prospect at third base for Ethan Holliday … quite famously the son of a former Major Leaguer himself.
Voters: Nathalie Alonso, Jason Catania, Mark Feinsand, Daniel Feldman, Will Leitch, Travis Miller, Brian Murphy, Arturo Pardavila, Andrew Simon, David Venn, Zac Vierra.
