Phil Watch: PFRM

This will be a quick one.

Phil released a marginally reasonable power rankings list this week.

I say reasonable w/r/t the rankings only. It's more of the same bullshit when telling us why they're respectively ranked.

Let's get started.

4. Rays (5): As if things weren’t going well enough for Tampa Bay, the Rays have the first pick in the draft on Thursday. Florida State catcher Buster Posey could be the choice over Tim Beckham, a high school shortstop from Georgia.

(Sigh)

Here's what Phil wrote yesterday (he said in a defeated and exasperated manner):

According to sources, Tampa Bay will select either Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez or Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham with the first pick in Thursday's draft.

Did I mention he said that yesterday? I mean...he just wrote it.

5. Braves (4): When will the trend of one-run losses on the road end? They’ve had at least one in all 10 series away from Turner Field. Atlanta might have the most misleading record in the majors. It easily could be 10 over .500.

Has everyone got that? The Braves have a bad one-run game record. Got it?

And how is this misleading? They lost those games for a reason. Like the other team scoring more runs than the Braves when the game is considered over.

Last year, Boston was 22-28 in one-run games. Philadelphia was 14-23 (but 13-8 in extra-inning games - odd). It's just a statistic and an overrated one at that.

The Braves are a decent team. But Jurrjens is starting to unravel, Glavine's 96 years old, Jo-Jo Reyes is feast or famine and Chuck James is Chuck James. Chipper Jones is going to stop hitting .900 at some point.

But the no. 5 spot for a team one game over .500? No. Not in that division.

9. Blue Jays (13): The rotation had a 1.66 ERA during an 8-1 run that put Toronto back into contention. The Blue Jays play the Yankees and Orioles this week but then spend the rest of June out of the division, including a series against the Cubs. They could catch Tampa Bay and Boston before the next time those teams meet.

Toronto? Grrrrreeaaaatttt pitching. But any team fielding Brad Wilkerson, Kevin Mench and Matt Stairs...in the same lineup will not challenge the Red Sox or - and I can't believe I'm saying this - the Rays. Heck, throw Rod Barajas and Marco Scutaro into that mix.

Here's the lineup the Jays fielded against the Angels Sunday:

D Eckstein SS
M Scutaro 2B

A Rios CF
S Rolen 3B
L Overbay 1B
R Barajas C
B Wilkerson RF
K Mench DH
J Inglett LF

See. To most baseball minds, that's a collection of retreads, castoffs and leftovers not suited to challenge anybody in the realm of offensive baseball goodness.

Again. Great pitching. Again. Bad at scoring more runs than the other team. Both matter.

15. Athletics (12): Eric Chavez came off the disabled list just as Frank Thomas, Mike Sweeney and Ryan Sweeney went on it. Thomas, who was hitting .167 when he was released by Toronto, is batting .319 in 28 games since joining the A’s.

Phil. The point of Frank's release wasn't a question of him eventually starting to hit. It was the fact that the Blue Jays were on the hook for $10 million in 2009 if Frank reached 376 plate appearances in 2008. $10 million for a guy who would be 41 years old in 2009 and has a history of being a bit tweaky (see current quad strain and every other issue in the last six years).

16. Rangers (18): Amid rumors of his imminent demise, Ron Washington guided Texas to a 19-10 May despite continuing uncertainty at the end of the rotation. If the Angels stumble, the Rangers may be the team that puts pressure on them after the All-Star break.

Nope. Still worry about the A's more. Rangers starting rotation: Padilla, Ponson, Millwood, Gabbard and Jennings. I fear it not.

20. Brewers (22): Milwaukee started winning when Ned Yost stopped batting his pitcher eighth, but it hasn’t been scoring more runs since.

Whhaaaaaa? Phil doesn't actually think the Brewers' lack of runs lately has anything to do with the pitcher not batting eighth, does he? I don't think Phil came out in favor of that crap, has he? We here at BRE will continue to monitor this as it further develops.

BTW, the Brewers were 6-1 this week, taking 2 of 3 from the Braves and sweeping Houston. But unfortunately, the Brewers' two wins against the Braves were of the one-run variety, so those don't count.

22. Tigers (20): Teams built to win high-scoring games rarely succeed, and Detroit is proving that point. The Tigers were 1-16 during May when they scored fewer than six runs.

And that's why the Rangers are false prophets.

29. Mariners (29): This outfit has won back-to-back games only twice in its last 35 games. Carlos Silva is beginning to look like a free agent bust.

I forgot that Phil thought Silva was a good signing. Totally forgot. He was another example of a guy whose value skyrocketed solely because everybody else on the free agent market sucked ass. Even a cursory look at his numbers could have told you this was a possibility.