Season 23 Power Rankings # 1

We're about a quarter of the way through Season 23, so it's time to check in with the power rankings!  Dover, the # 1 team for an amazing 14 consecutive rankings, spanning close to 3 seasons, is off to a great start at 27-14.   With a start like that, it would be hard to imagine taking the top spot away from them.  Nonetheless, a team has put up an even better start that warrants being awarded the # 1 ranking.  Atlanta is your new top team, as it can no longer be argued with their impressive start that they don't deserve it.  A still excellent Dover team is # 2.  A very good Tampa Bay squad comes in at number 3, although they are battling in a tough division where everyone is over .500.  In other news, new ownership in Florida has the squad over .500 to start with a team that didn't top 57 wins over the past 4 seasons.  Truly an impressive feat, they jump from 31 to 19. 

Some favorites are off to slow starts.  Houston hasn't lived up to their preseason hype being ranked # 2, but are certainly capable of bouncing back.  Pittsburgh and Los Angeles are off to slow starts as well, but it's a good bet they'll be a factor in the races to make the postseason.  

An interesting first quarter of the season, here are the complete power rankings!

	Team	W	L	PREV	Comments
1	Atlanta	29	12	5	It can no longer be denied that they are the top team
2	Dover	27	14	1	Still a very good team, but pitching is down a notch
3	Tampa Bay	24	17	3	Nice numbers, but division is tougher this season
4	Boston	26	15	7	Offense rolling, pitching not bad even with injuries
5	Little Rock	25	16	13	Looks like they're back, pitching is a slight concern
6	Buffalo	24	17	10	Great pitching, and offense has been good enough
7	Pawtucket	24	17	18	League's top pitching so far, and getting offense too
8	Louisville	24	17	19	Offense is crushing it so far, pitching is a bit shaky
9	Helena	23	18	11	Playing well, with good numbers across the board
10	Salt Lake City	24	17	21	Pitching has carried them, definitely a nice start
11	Pittsburgh	20	21	4	Starting slow again, but always turn it up at the end
12	San Juan	23	18	12	Back in the thick of it, although pitching not great
13	Charlotte	23	18	15	Good start, but pitching is a bit of a concern
14	Rochester	23	18	26	Nice start, proving preseason ranking was too low
15	Los Angeles	20	21	6	Out of the gate slow, but always seem to find a way
16	Houston	18	23	2	This is a surprise, but they should get back in it
17	Ottawa	21	20	17	Excellent pitching so far, but offense is fairly weak
18	Colorado Springs	21	20	20	Why a winning record?  73 should win division again
19	Florida	23	18	31	This start is amazing, considering the team's past
20	Austin	19	22	16	Numbers not terrible, could use a little more offense
21	New York	21	20	24	Pitching not great, but winning games with offense
22	Texas	21	20	27	Numbers almost identical to New York, same story
23	St. Louis	17	24	8	A bit of a surprise, pitching has been rocked so far
24	Trenton	16	25	29	Numbers aren't bad, record may be a bit of bad luck
25	San Francisco	16	25	32	Pitching is still a major problem, but nice offense
26	Las Vegas	14	27	9	Horrid start, but not as bad as the record indicates
27	Seattle	18	23	22	Offense really struggling, pitching has not been bad
28	Syracuse	18	23	25	In a bit of a slump all around, but could pick it up
29	Albuquerque	16	25	23	Pitching has been rocked, but offense is doing ok
30	Salem	13	28	28	Looks like rebuild mode, as they are just not good
31	Durham	12	29	14	A bit shocking, they are majorly struggling all around
32	Philadelphia	13	28	30	Rebuild continues as the majors team struggles

Season 23 Preseason Power Rankings

Season 23 is the brink, which means it's time for the preseason power rankings!  There were some interesting off-season events, including a change in ownership for the back-to-back champs Dover, who still come into the season as the #1 team, although they should be heavily challenged for that spot throughout the season.  Coming in at #2 is Houston, who has broken into the ranks of the elite by adding 3-time Cy Young Award winner Norman LaPorta and 2-time MVP Dustan Jackson to an already solid squad.  Tampa Bay comes in at #3, as they should have another great year, along with #4 Pittsburgh who has won 100 games 3 out of the last 4 seasons.  World Series runner-up Atlanta comes in at #5, despite being the undisputed, unchallenged #1 in their owner's mind.  Jokes aside, it wouldn't be shocking to see them a top the rankings at some point this season.   Here are the complete rankings, good luck to all the teams in Season 23!

	Team	W	L	Comments
1	Dover	109	53	Hard to drop the back-to-back champs at this point
2	Houston	94	68	Adding LaPorta and Jackson should make them elite
3	Tampa Bay	109	53	Some argue they are aging, but should be solid again
4	Pittsburgh	105	57	Looking like a contender again with great pitching
5	Atlanta	96	66	World series runner-up should have a great season
6	Los Angeles	92	70	Always in the thick of it, and should be this season
7	Boston	105	57	Not sure if they can repeat last season, but still good
8	St. Louis	89	73	Solid across the board, so should be in it this season
9	Las Vegas	86	76	NL West is tough, but they should be up for the fight
10	Buffalo	88	74	Great pitching, but how will the offense produce?
11	Helena	87	75	If the pitching improves, they could be on the rise
12	San Juan	83	79	Made some moves in FA, and have solid core of youth
13	Little Rock	86	76	Coming off a down season, have the talent to rebound
14	Durham	88	74	This team is up and down, what will this season hold?
15	Charlotte	82	80	Pretty solid club here, and could be headed higher
16	Austin	84	78	Offense needs to improve for them to contend
17	Ottawa	81	81	Offense was an issue for them, can they improve?
18	Pawtucket	80	82	Have some potential here, and city move should help
19	Louisville	77	85	Losing Jackson hurts, but pitching is the main issue
20	Colorado Springs	73	89	AL West contenders, but not because of team talent
21	Salt Lake City	80	82	Fell apart at the end last season, and lost some FA's
22	Seattle	61	101	Have good prospects, can the offense get it down?
23	Albuquerque	70	92	Lost a few FA's, as the new owner makes it their own
24	New York	72	90	We'll see if they're able to take a step forward
25	Syracuse	75	87	Pitching needs to improve for them to get better
26	Rochester	74	88	Pitching got rocked last season, will it improve?
27	Texas	67	95	Surprisingly bad offense last season needs to improve
28	Salem	71	91	At least you can't count them out of the AL West race
29	Trenton	69	93	Lost some FA's, so they're a bit of a question mark
30	Philadelphia	51	111	Not really sure where they're at with the rebuild
31	Florida	53	109	This is a rebuild for sure, but new owner is solid
32	San Francisco	55	107	Can they finally get it together this season?  Not sure.