Heading into the first week of the MLB season, the New York Yankees were given the top spot in the ESPN MLB Power Rankings by a panel of selected baseball "experts" on ESPN. Since that first week, the Texas Rangers have pretty much held a stranglehold on the top spot with the exception of a week or two.
Heading into the all-star break, the Yankees have once again claimed the top spot, dropping the Rangers to No. 2 as both teams enter the break with 52 wins but the Yankees having one less loss at 33.
This week's voters were Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN The Magazine and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com.
About the Rangers, the rankings say the following: The Rangers enter the break at 52-34. A year ago, they were 51-41 and up by one game but were in the midst of a 12-game winning streak. They pulled away from the Angels with a 19-6 September. What's in store this year?
The Rangers will host the Angels in the third series coming out of the break after road series in Seattle and Oakland. That's when things will start to get really interesting as the Rangers currently hold a 4-game lead over their chief rivals as the Angels checked in at No. 4 in the rankings.
The Washington Nationals stayed in their place at No. 3 while the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates moved up to round out the top-5 with a mark 11 games over .500 heading into the break.
Rounding out the top-10: Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants and New York Mets.
