Opening Day Power Rankings

Opening Day is so close you can almost smell the hot dogs and fresh cut grass. And the injuries are really starting to pile up. My mouse clicking finger and wrist are sore from all the on-line fantasy baseball research, and my bracket is busted. Seriously though, have you ever seen such a tremendous number of key players injured before the season even started?

If you’ve been following any of the Astros players on twitter, you know they are happy to be home. Houston plays one last exhibition game tonight against the Red Sox at Minute Maid Park. Tthe game starts at 7:00 CDT and will be carried live on MLB Network. But then again aren’t all Red Sox and Yankees games on national television? Brad Mills will be starting all the regulars tonight against the number one team in my power rankings. Click below to view my complete list from 1 to 30.

1 Boston – Addition of Crawford & Gonzalez makes BoSox the team to beat

2 Philadelphia – Best starting rotation in baseball

3 N.Y. Yankees – A-Roid seems to have regained his power stroke

4 San Francisco – Defending champs will have targets on their backs

5 Tampa Bay – Great crop of young talent

6 Minnesota – If Morneau is healthy Twins should win Central

7 Texas – Will Michael Young situation be a distraction?

8 Atlanta – Can Braves win without Bobby Cox?

9 Colorado – Could it be the Rockies year?

10 Cincinnati – Ailing rotation raises concerns

11 Chicago White Sox – Should challenge Minnesota for division title

12 L.A. Angels – Could get back to post-season

13 Milwaukee – It’s now or never for the Brew Crew

14 Detroit – Youngsters need to continue to develop

15 L.A. Dodgers – Underachieved last year

16 Oakland – Young rotation a nice match with big ballpark

17 St. Louis – Wainwright injury hurts their chances

18 Toronto – Not enough to challenge in tough A.L. East

19 Florida – Won’t be as good without Uggla

20 Chicago Cubs – Already fighting amongst themselves

21 San Diego – Upgraded middle infield can’t make up for A-Gone

22 Washington – Nats are headed in the right direction

23 Houston – Offense needs to improve over last year

24 Baltimore – Buck Showalter is calling out the competition

25 Cleveland – What will Grady Sizemore bring to the table?

26 Kansas City – Great farm system, but still a couple of years away

27 New York Mets – Castillo & Ollie gone but still getting paid

28 Arizona – No bullpen = big problem

29 Pittsburgh – Talented youngsters but none of them can pitch

30 Seattle – Not much to get excited about in the Pacific Northwest