You might be surprised...

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/31682/power-rankings-all-30-teams

Love the #9 level from an optimistic viewpoint, but where do you think the A's were ranked heading into 2012?? Adding AJ gives the Rangers another 2-3 WAR, filling a hole and giving the Ranger a 78-88 win interval. Now, you add an effective LH, high OBP, solid D corner outfielder plus another solid bullpen arm and we're back to a ceiling over 90 wins. Can JD pull it off?? Calling Arizona and Miami.

I quite like this list, but it should be noted that these are the rankings of espn blogger Dave Shoenfeld, not the ESPN power rankings voted on by there main talking heads during the season.

Shoenfeld is a smart guy. Unlike most national writers, he understands that Hamilton doesn't figure to be more valuable than Tori Hunters career year was for LAA was last year and that their starters don't look to improve either. He also gets that, unlike Baltimore, the A's did not depend on beating their Pythagorean record or on unrepeatable career seasons. They are being wildly over looked in the national conversation.

Rumors of the Rangers demise, meanwhile, are greatly exaggerated. They had a Pythagorean expectation of 95 wins last year. They have lost Hamilton, Napoli, and Young. Hamilton hurts, but they get some of that back simply by subtracting Young. At catcher they don't figure to be very good, but no worse than last year. There is upside in the young players they are working in, as well as tons of versatility. No, the Rangers don't look as strong as we had hopped going into the off season, but they are right there in contention right now and with more money and prospects to work with at the deadline than anybody else.

I love theStrangers, and am optimistic about the battles that lie ahead, but ESPN sucks. So, f u fat ass!

ESPN that is, no ill feeling towards LSU.

Those rankings and the reasoning behind them are fairly ridiculous. He touts the Cardinals for their offense's ability to score runs while dismissing the loss of Lohse. Wainwright was terrible after coming back, Carpenter is an injury waiting to happen and everone else in that rotation is a 4.00 era guy.

He touts the Yankees rotation and their run differential so he ranks them 3rd despite losing Swisher, Martin, and Soriano, then he ranks the Rays 11th because they lost Shields. Nevermind they added Myers and upgraded at SS and 1B. If there was a team that could give away pitching it was the Rays and maybe he missed it but they got Jeff Neimann back.

He's supposed to be a smart guy but hes got the A's ranked 7th, sings the praises of their young guys apparently ignoring the FIP numbers and the zips projections that show team wide regression. Fluke seasons are flukey, sir. Also is Colon going to perform at the same high level now that he's not on PEDs? There are so many candidates for implosion on this team it's not funny, but he seems willing to ignore all of it because the pitching staff is young.

He ranks the Angels 12th and is quick to talk up how Hunter had a career year and how they have questions in the rotation. Why is Hunter's 2012 his new baseline while at the same time ignoring how awful Haren and Santana were for the Angels. Based on last years performance Hunter was better than Hamilton, but their new pitchers all project to be better than what they had last year. He seems to pick and choose his arguments depending on the teams.

He's got the defending Champs ranked 13th. He uses pythag records for and them ignores it for everyone else. He brings up Melky, ignores their record without him. He brings up how awful Lincecum looked but apparently the younger multiple Cy Young winning guy is a real concern and Santana and Haren can be counted on to be what they used to be. He talks about regression, the same thing he completely ignores when talking up the A's. He also used wOBA to suggest they overperformed their run scored .. again he completly ignored this while talking up the A's.

He's got us at 9th because of our strong playoff caliber rotation. A 3.90 ace, granted with upside,. A guy that is outperforming his periphs. A guy who is hot and cold. A guy who's never pitched more than 170 innings and finds a way to end up on the DL. and a rookie with a 5.00 era but upside. Apparently losing Melky will ruin the Giants but us losing Hamilton and Napoli are easily replaced. As are the 200 innings we have yet to replace in the bullpen. Madsen is a question mark but Soria isn't?

Sorry, but those power rankings seemed extremely shortsighted, biased, and seem intended to create conversation more than anything. The fact that he's completely inconsistent with his arguments is what makes his rankings a joke.

Good post Pitch.

Always remember when it comes to the ESPN two key points: 1. they are based in Connecticut and have an East Coast bias, as if they were the New York, Boston, Philadelphia home station, and 2. they are notorious for jumping on the bandwagon. So always take that in mind when weighing ESPN rankings. The E may stand for Entertainment, but it might as well be East Coast Sports Network.

"But the reason to still like the Yankees is simple: They have the deepest rotation in the AL with CC Sabathia, Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, David Phelps and possibly Michael Pineda."

How exactly is Andy Pettitte, Phil Hughes, Ivan Nova, Pineda behind CC and Kuroda the most pitching depth in the AL? Pettitte's almost drawing social security, Hughes is a HR machine, Nova is a joke 10 hits/9 and 1.46 WHIP, I guess Phelps is decent as a 4-5, and Pineda is a HUGE question mark. C'mon Schoenfield get your head out of your ass

To me hamilton is the only loss offensively but losing koji and adams reall hurts. A jp howell addition can help ease the pain a little