1. RED (+1) So I know what you are thinking; another episode, Krukkie, and another change of heart as to who is number 1? Well...yes, its true. I actually really wanted to put the Spartans here, but things are just going too well for the Aces for me to do that. After sweeping a strong Green Sox team, I have to say that everything is working for this team at the moment. Sure, they don't have the best record in the league, but one of their losses came from a freak loss to the Darkpaws. If you look at them, they really look the strongest to stay competitive down the stretch. We'll see if I change my mind again by next episode, but just know this: by the time I set foot in Bobby's Burger Palace, I already know what I'm going to order and...and if I change my mind, it's almost always a good decision. 
2. BOB (+5) How do I justify the biggest jump in power rankings to date? Two words: Ronde Barber. This guy has done nothing but make his team stronger each step of the way; just look at the way new additions Roy Halliday, Tom Glavine, Ichiro and Luis Aparicio have performed last series. If they keep it up, we are talking MVP paces here, people. Barber's latest move has proved very controversial, with a few critics saying that Barber's arrogance created to a poisonous lockeroom atmosphere that lead directly to the departure of long time Spartans Jamie Moyer and Byung Hyun Kim. I say that's poppycock. It's true that the Spartans have different corporate processes than other teams, but everything that Barber has touched has turned to gold thus far and I see no reason why that would change now. Fourth starter John Burkett has the full force of the bullpen behind him; Seaver starts in Game 2; this teams success in my mind is entirely up to the offense. And in Ichiro we trust. 
3. ZSY (+3) I was a little shocked to hear that the Z-Slayers have been actively looking to make roster moves, trying to get even more offensive firepower. Well I have to tell you guys, if you put any more hot sauce on that chili dog, you're going to give yourself throat cancer. So long as the pitching staff continues to over perform, this team has the potential to put together a serious win streak with a relatively weak schedule coming up in the next few series. They certainly put JELLY QUEEN DREAM TEAM in their place in series 4.
4. MMD (-1) Another sweep in favor of Coach Taklamente's squad, but this most recent one over the Warriors was not particularly impressive or assuring. The pitching continues to be top notch, but I'm just not seeing any offense. Notice how Eric Chavez is number 2 in the league in terms of homeruns, but doesn't appear in the top 10 for RBIs? You know, watching this team is a lot like the time I ordered a Big Mac and they forgot to put the Big Mac sauce on it. I mean, it's still a Big Mac, but there's just something missing. They've got a super tough series against the Aces this round, I think they'd be quite happy to come out of this one with a split.
5. TYC (-1) That's right; I'm putting four teams ahead of the team with the best record in the league. Week in and week out I get all sorts of hate mail calling me biased against the Tycoons. Well guess what; I am biased! I'm a sportswriter but I'm also human, so of course I have biases. But if you are going to eat at the Bacon Boutique for nine straight meals, you eventually have to face the facts. The nutritional facts in this case. For the Tycoons, the facts are very simple: They've had the easiest schedule in the league so far and most of their wins have been ninth inning squeakers at that. I know Randy Johnson made me look at little foolish last week, but I'm going to call it as I see them: He's going to get owned next week when he goes up against a Tom Seaver eager to cement himself as the ace of the best pitching staff in the league. 
6. TEN (+1) A very tough sweep at the hands of the Aces, but they really put up a gallant fight and very easily could have ended up with two wins instead of two losses. Still a lot of potential here with J.D, Drew and Magglio Ordonez still performing below expectations. David Ortiz will continue to put up MVP like numbers, its just up to the rest of the team to step up and put men on base. Remember, part of the problem with this team are generally awful on base performances. The team hits a lot of homeruns, but a very large percentage of those are only solo shots. If they could get more baserunners, they'd be putting up a lot more runs. As a final note, I like the addition of Brent Mayne to play catcher and moving Posada to DH. Keeping Posada's bat in the lineup is critical, but his weak arm clearly was a defensive liability.
7. LIN (-7) I really have to reach out and apologize to the JELLY QUEEN for a sevenfold tumble in the power rankings. But a lot has changed since last series, namely that this team showed that it just didn't have what it takes to win the tough games, as evidenced by their two losses at the hands of the Z-Slayers. I'm particularly worried about a lot of key players who aren't performing, most notably starter Scott Schoenweiss and closer Robb Nen. Steve Karsay also stumbled mightily. Manny Ramirez and Rondell White continue to have All Star if not MVP type performances, some other people need to step up and help the team pull out some wins. Brian Roberts was an interesting player to watch in the beginning of the year, but he's been cooler that a chocolate shake in the last series or two. I think this team has better days ahead of it, especially with a favorable matchup against the Marauders in Round 5. But JELLY fans are certainly feeling a certain amount of pressure as they see just how competitive the top three spots in Division 1 are becoming.
8. MEL (+2) After shellacking the Cardinals for 12 runs in their most recent contest, I'm going to have to grant another two position jump to the Marauders in this edition. It was a critical game, and Dr. Vindaloo's team showed a lot of heart to put together a big win. I think their veteran pitching will serve this team very well down the stretch, but I'm worried a bit about the offense here. Anchors Scott Rolen and Adam Kennedy came alive against the Cardinals, and will need to continue to produce. After a rather disgusting start, the team has looked incrementally better in each series regardless of who they were playing so I take that as an encouraging sign of potential.
9. STL (0) For the third time in a row, I'm placing the Cardinals in the ninth spot, despite the fact that technically they would make the playoffs if the season ended tomorrow. They really are the ultimate wild card team; inconsistently relying on anybody in addition to Larry Walker to show up and play baseball halfway decently. Personally I find their matchup against the Z-Slayers intriguing, as I think they will give the Tuldarians a little more trouble than the average person might think. We'll see what happens, but I can't say much since this team has looked radically different week to week, with their power ranking ironically remaining number 9.
10. QEY (-2) After four straight losses, I think it's safe to say that this team has hit rock bottom. Most of the losses were close, but even still, they have a tough task to right the ship this series against the Green Sox. The pitching has been much worse than expected, especially the bullpen, which has burned a few good efforts from the starters, as well as the hard earned run support that came with that. I'm really discouraged by what I've seen so far, especially considering that this was the team that won Division 1 last year. But if this team is known for anything, its their streaky-ness. If that's a word. Let's see if they can string together some wins to erase some or all of this most recent downturn. 
11. AXN (0) Nothing to really insightful to say here except that this team really sucked last series. ALLIED_MASTERCOMPUTER clearly got the message that he wasn't going to get any wins with the roster he had so hence the roster changes. But I'm not really convinced it's going to change much. The morale of this team is just completely broken, you could see it on the player's faces while Spartan catcher Charles "Greenstick Fracture CJ" Johnson just busted open a can of whoop ass on former reliever Lance Carter. We'll see what they can do against the Bombers, but my prediction is that this team isn't going to ever get out of the basement of Division 1, let alone claw their way back to a playoff position. As ALLIED_MASTERCOMPUTER said in an interview earlier, this series represents must win games, especially with a schedule that gets significantly tougher after the Maxions. My feeling is that they will probably split the series.
12. MAX (0) Although I don't think the Bombers are in so dire straits as the Darkpaws, I think there might be less reason for optimism here. Despite good performances from Edgar Martinez and Richie Ashburn, most of the team has just struggled dreadfully. The defense has been strong, but that doesn't help much when the pitchers give up doubles and homers all the time. But listen here, Bomber fans: a sweep of the Darkpaws really would be a big turnaround and give this team a much healthier record. For now the priority is to end their losing streak, but if there ever was a team to launch a turnaround against, wouldn't you pick this matchup?That's all for today folks, hope I didn't generate another stack of hate mail. The matchups for this series are all pretty interesting, and I for one am looking forward to some Bobian turducken, so strap yourselves in for an exciting series. Next time I have something a little different planned for the next Kruk Bucket. Stay tuned.
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