MLB Power Rankings: Where All 30 Teams Stand the Week After the Trade Deadline

The dust has now settled on the MLB trade deadline, and while we saw a whirlwind of activity on deadline day, we're no closer to a clear picture of who will be battling it out in the postseason this October.

With so many teams on the fringe of contention, both wild-card races figure to go down to the wire, as well as the NL Central and AL Central division titles.

Entering play Monday, there were 17 teams within six games of a playoff spot, and all it takes is one hot streak to alter the MLB landscape. For now, it's time for an updated look at how all 30 teams stack up with our weekly MLB power rankings.

These rankings remain fluid. Teams will rise and fall based on where they were ranked the previous week. If a team keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it's as simple as that.

Here are the rankings:

	Updated Rankings
1	Houston Astros (73-40)
2	Los Angeles Dodgers (74-40)
3	New York Yankees (72-39)
4	Oakland Athletics (64-48)
5	Atlanta Braves (66-47)
6	Minnesota Twins (69-42)	1
7	Tampa Bay Rays (65-48)	1
8	St. Louis Cardinals (58-52)	1
9	Cleveland Indians (66-45)	3
10	Chicago Cubs (60-51)	3
11	Washington Nationals (58-53)	5
12	New York Mets (55-56)	4
13	Philadelphia Phillies (58-53)	2
14	Boston Red Sox (59-55)	3
15	San Francisco Giants (56-56)	5
16	Milwaukee Brewers (57-56)	2
17	Cincinnati Reds (52-58)
18	Texas Rangers (57-54)	1
19	Arizona Diamondbacks (56-56)	1
20	Los Angeles Angels (56-57)	2
21	Colorado Rockies (52-60)
22	Seattle Mariners (47-67)
23	San Diego Padres (51-60)
24	Chicago White Sox (48-61)	2
25	Toronto Blue Jays (45-69)	3
26	Pittsburgh Pirates (48-63)	2
27	Miami Marlins (42-67)	2
28	Baltimore Orioles (38-73)	1
29	Detroit Tigers (32-75)	1
30	Kansas City Royals (40-73)	1

           

Teams That Impressed

Fresh off the surprising decision to acquire Marcus Stroman while also holding onto their top trade chips, the New York Mets (5-1) are now just one game under .500 and three games back in the NL wild-card standings.

Interestingly enough, Stroman (4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER) struggled last week in his Mets debut, while oft-rumored trade chips Noah Syndergaard (14.1 IP, 8 H, 1 ER) and Zack Wheeler (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER) were both excellent.

With a 9-1 record in their last 10 games and upcoming series against the Miami Marlins and Kansas City Royals over the next two weeks, the Mets are in an important spot in their schedule with a chance to continue their strong recent play.

The Cleveland Indians (4-2) and Chicago Cubs (4-2) both used weekend sweeps to climb back into the top 10 in the rankings.

The Indians took three straight from the Los Angeles Angels after dropping a series to the Houston Astros, while the Cubs won three in a row against the Milwaukee Brewers after losing two of three against the rival St. Louis Cardinals.

Both of those teams have been unable to break through into the top tier all season, shuffling between spots just inside and outside the top 10.

To that point, there remains a clearly defined top seven teams, with the Houston Astros (5-1), Los Angeles Dodgers (5-2), New York Yankees (5-1), Oakland Athletics (4-1), Atlanta Braves (4-3), Minnesota Twins (5-1) and Tampa Bay Rays (5-0).

The Indians will need to crash that party if they're going to reach the postseason, while the Cubs and Cardinals both have their sights set on an NL Central title in hopes of avoiding a crowded NL wild-card race.

Further down the rankings, the Toronto Blue Jays (5-2) continue to provide fans with plenty of reason for optimism, with a number of young players up and down the roster emerging as key contributors. If nothing else, they're going to be a thorn in the side of AL East contenders the rest of the way.

Teams That Disappointed

The Boston Red Sox (0-7) stood pat at the trade deadline after acquiring Andrew Cashner earlier in July, and the team is now in a complete free-fall. During their current eight-game losing streak, they have seen their playoff chances dwindle from 64.6 percent to 15.9 percent, according to FanGraphs.

With 12 of their next 15 games at home, it would seem they have reached a beneficial stretch in their schedule, but they've actually been better on the road (32-26) than they have at Fenway Park (27-29) this season.

Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for the San Francisco Giants (2-4) after they clawed back into contention in July?

What had been a red-hot offensive attack managed just 21 runs in six games last week, and after winning seven straight series, they've now dropped two in a row. The return of Evan Longoria from a plantar fasciitis issue should help, but this team doesn't have a big enough margin for error the rest of the way to have many more weeks like last week.

Series losses to the Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks cost the Washington Nationals (2-4) five spots in the rankings and 1.5 games in the NL East standings as they continue to chase Atlanta.

It was also a tough week for the Milwaukee Brewers' (1-5) playoff hopes, especially considering they were swept by the same Cubs team they're chasing for the NL Central lead over the weekend. With a 4-8 record in their last 12, they will need to get on track soon before they slip out of contention.

The Los Angeles Angels (1-5), Pittsburgh Pirates (2-4), Miami Marlins (2-4) and Kansas City Royals (0-6) were the other teams to lose both of their series last week.

Players of the Week

AL Hitter: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays

Stats: 13-for-26, 3 2B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 R

Rookie phenom Vladimir Guerrero Jr. may not be the immediate superstar many assumed he'd be, but amid unreasonably high expectations, he's put together a strong season and now finally seems to be hitting his stride.

After a strong month of July in which he hit .284/.370/.455 and racked up 20 RBI in 24 games, he's off to a scorching start to August, going 10-for-17 with five extra-base hits in four games.

"He's getting hot now," Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters. "I knew that was going to happen.… He's seeing the ball better, having better at-bats, because he wasn't doing that early, but he was still getting hits, because he's that good. … Now, he's getting really hot and hitting the ball hard."

Minor league teammate and fellow top prospect Bo Bichette also made his presence felt last week, going 13-for-32 with five doubles and two home runs as he settles into life in the majors.

AL Pitcher: Justin Verlander, Houston Astros

Stats: 2 GS, 2 W, 13.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 23 K

The Astros may have made the biggest splash of the trade deadline by acquiring Zack Greinke, but there's no question who the ace of the staff is in Houston.

Over his last three starts, Justin Verlander has allowed a combined seven hits and one earned run in 19 innings of work, walking four and striking out an eye-popping 34 batters.

That's complete and total dominance.

The 36-year-old leads the AL in ERA (2.68) and WHIP (0.81), and his .168 opponents' batting average is tied for the second-lowest mark in MLB history by a qualified pitcher, trailing only Pedro Martinez (.167) during the 2000 season.

The way things have gone all season, and particularly of late, it might be time for him to start thinking about where he wants to put his second Cy Young Award.

NL Hitter: Adam Duvall, Atlanta Braves

Stats: 10-for-26, 2 2B, 4 HR, 6 RBI, 6 R

The Atlanta Braves were dealt a blow when right fielder Nick Markakis was hit by a pitch and suffered a fractured wrist on July 26. The 35-year-old was having another strong season at the time of the injury with a .284/.358/.429 line.

Rather than making an outside addition at the trade deadline, the Braves opted to call up Adam Duvall from Triple-A. Despite having two 30-homer seasons and an All-Star Game appearance under his belt, Duvall had spent the entire 2019 season in the minors before he was promoted on July 27.

In 94 games with Triple-A Gwinnett, he posted a .931 OPS with 29 home runs, and he hasn't missed a beat since joining the MLB roster.

The 30-year-old is 14-for-35 (.400) with two doubles and five home runs in 38 plate appearances since returning to the big leagues.

"I mean, I feel blessed because a lot of work went into coming back here," Duvall told Michael Hebert of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I wanted to be able to come up and contribute right away…and I've done that."

He should see everyday playing time until Markakis returns, and he's given the Braves a real shot in the arm as they push toward a second straight NL East division title.

NL Pitcher: Walker Buehler, Los Angeles Dodgers

Stats: 1 GS, W, 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 15 K

According to Game Score—a point-based measure of a starting pitcher's performance with regard to outs recorded, hits and runs allowed, and strikeouts and walks recorded—Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler has turned in two of the most dominant starts of 2019.

His 16-strikeout complete game on June 21 was good for an 89 Game Score, which is tied for ninth on the list of highest Game Scores of 2019. His 15-strikeout complete game last week was not far behind, registering an 88 Game Score that checked in tied for 12th on the year.

All of that is really just a fancy way to say that when Buehler is on, he's one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball.

The 25-year-old has followed up a strong rookie season by establishing himself as one of the best young pitchers in the game, posting a 3.22 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 152 strikeouts against just 20 walks. That's good for a 7.6 K/BB ratio that ranks first among all qualified starters.

"Just looking at the way he was throwing the baseball, there was no stress, the delivery wasn't compromised at all," manager Dave Roberts told reporters. "He was getting ahead all night long. He had his way with a good lineup over there. It's hard to imagine having more command than he did tonight. Was as dominant as [he] could be."

Must-See Upcoming Matchup

Cleveland Indians vs. Minnesota Twins (Thursday-Sunday)

Since June 15, the Minnesota Twins have seen their lead in the AL Central standings shrink from 11 games to just three.

The Cleveland Indians—who are working on a fourth straight division title—are charging hard, and the two teams are now set to clash in a huge four-game series at Target Field starting Thursday.

Last time the two teams played in the middle of July, the Twins took two of three on the road, and overall, they lead the season series 5-4 with a plus-eight run differential.

The Indians will have budding ace Shane Bieber (3.31 ERA, eighth in AL) on the mound Friday, while the Twins will hand the ball to their own ace, Jose Berrios (2.80 ERA, third in AL), for Sunday's series finale.

The Twins will have their hands full early in the week with a three-game series against the NL East-leading Braves, so it's a tough road ahead for Minnesota.

The Twins and Indians both occupy spots inside the top 10 in our rankings, and the winner of this series could climb as high as the No. 4 spot in next week's rankings, while the loser risks slipping out of the top 10 altogether and down the division standings.

All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.