get everyone back from their club sides and have a week

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the latest entrant into the top five this week. While losing two of three to the Miami Marlins was a disappointing way to finish the week, the Dodgers won four of six and finished the week with a 3?-game lead in the NL West.A little lower in the rankings, the New York Yankees moved into the top 10, jumping from No. 14 to No. 9. A loss Sunday to the Tampa Bay Rays put a dent in the Yankees playoff hopes, but theyre still one of baseballs hottest teams. The Yankees won six of seven for the week, but might have to keep playing at a similar clip to keep their playoff hopes alive.This weeks voters are Jim Bowden of ESPN Insider, Eric Karabell of ESPN Fantasy, Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, David Schoenfield of the SweetSpot Blog Network/ESPN.com and Jayson Stark of ESPN.com. Most of the team comments come courtesy of the SweetSpot Blog Network.Past rankings: Week 22?|?Week 21?|?Week 20 |?Week 19 |?Week 18 |?Week 17 |?Week 16 |?Week 15 |?Week 14 |?Week 13 |?Week 12 |?Week 11 |?Week 10 | ?Week 9 |?Week 8 |?Week 7 |?Week 6 |?Week 5 |?Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1 | Preseason1. Chicago CubsRecord: 91-51 Week 22 ranking: No. 1This figures to be a fun week for the Cubs as they should clinch the division title, and have a chance to do it against St. Louis. Fans also get to see the ongoing saga of?Anthony Rizzo vs.?Wily Peralta. In 32 at-bats against Peralta, Rizzo is hitting .500/.568 /1.250 with seven homers.?--?Joe Aiello (@VFTB), View from the Bleachers2. Washington NationalsRecord: 85-58 Week 22 ranking: No. 3Trea Turner has been worth 2.9 WAR in 54 games. Prorate that over 162 games and youre looking at 8.7 WAR -- or better than Kris Bryants 8.1 162-game rate.?-- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot3. Texas RangersRecord: 85-59 Week 22 ranking: No. 2On Sunday, Adrian Beltre clubbed his 28th and 29th home runs of the season, and hes still finding ways to make a name for himself despite a crop of young stars crowding his position throughout the sport. Perhaps more impressive is that, at 37 years of age, Beltre finds himself neck-and-neck with Manny Machado for the title of the ALs best defensive third baseman.?--?Brandon Land (@onestrikeaway), One Strike Away4. Cleveland IndiansRecord:?83-59 Week 22 ranking: No. 4Both Mike Napoli and Carlos Santana cleared the 30-homer threshold this week, the first time the Indians had two players with 30 or more since 2002 (Jim Thome and Ellis Burks). Napolis 32 home runs and Santanas 31 are career highs for both players.?--?Stephanie Liscio, Its Pronounced Lajaway5. Los Angeles DodgersRecord: 80-62 Week 22 ranking: No. 7After seven perfect frames Saturday, Rich Hills Dodgers résumé is as follows: 3-0 with 19 scoreless innings, 20 strikeouts and just two walks. Clayton Kershaw said on Saturday that he was physically fine one day after his first start in more than two months.?--?Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit6. Boston Red SoxRecord: 80-62 Week 22 ranking: No. 6The Red Sox pulled into first place in the AL East for the first time since late July, and stayed there by taking two of three from the Blue Jays. David Ortiz passed Jimmie Foxx with his 535th career homer, which drove in the go-ahead runs on Sunday, and is now one bomb shy of Mickey Mantle at 17th on the all-time list. --?Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the Zona7. Toronto Blue JaysRecord: 78-64 Week 22 ranking: No. 5A seven-game trip to Anaheim and Seattle starts Thursday, and then Toronto finishes the season with 10 games against the teams fighting for the AL East and wild card (Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox).?-- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit8. Baltimore OriolesRecord: 78-64 Week 22 ranking: No. 8The Orioles, who are two games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and tied with the Blue Jays for the wild-card lead, are in a nice position with 20 games left. But if they want to make the playoffs, theyll have to take care of things in the division. Seventeen of their remaining games are against teams in the AL East, with 13 coming against the Red Sox, Blue Jays and Yankees (all teams still in the playoff hunt).?--?Matt Kremnitzer (@mattkremnitzer), Camden Depot9. New York YankeesRecord: 76-66 Week 22 ranking: No. 14That we are even mentioning playoff odds in mid-September speaks volumes about how well this team has turned it around recently. A seven-game win streak ended on Sunday, dropping the Yanks chances at making the playoffs to 13.2 percent, which is approximately 13.2 percentage points higher than everyone expected at the trade deadline. Meaningful games, people! -- Jason Rosenberg (@Jason_IIATMS),?Its About the Money10. San Francisco GiantsRecord: 77-65 Week 22 ranking: No. 9The Giants lost three of four to the Cubs and two of three to the Rockies, but the Diamondbacks showed up on their schedule just in time. Since Arizona swept San Francisco early in the season, the Giants have gone 13-3 against their division foe, keeping them afloat in the wild-card race. -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the Zona11. Detroit TigersRecord: 76-66 Week 22 ranking: No. 10Eight of the Tigers last 10 wins have come by three runs or fewer. The last time they beat their opponent by five runs or more was on Aug. 26. A wins a win, but a blowout win would give the bullpen a rest and might help manager Brad Ausmus hairline.?--?Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers12. New York MetsRecord: 76-67 Week 22 ranking: No. 15Yoenis Cespedes has eight homers and 19 RBIs and is batting .307 since returning from the disabled list on Aug. 19. The Mets are 15-4 in the 19 games he has started since that date.?-- Joe Janish, (@metstoday), MetsToday.com13. St. Louis CardinalsRecord: 75-67 Week 22 ranking: No. 11After splitting four games with the Brewers, the Cards are a half-game behind the Mets for the wild card. Now comes the tough part of the schedule: a series this week against the Cubs at home (where the Cards are just 32-39) and then four in San Francisco. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot14. Houston AstrosRecord: 75-68 Week 22 ranking: No. 12Carlos Correa batted just once on Sunday after missing the previous four games with inflammation in his shoulder. He was replaced by a pinch-hitter in the fourth.?-- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot15. Seattle MarinersRecord: 75-68 Week 22 ranking: No. 17The Ms made up some ground by taking three of four from the Texas Rangers and then all three from the Oakland As. They remain in the wild-card hunt, but time is running short. Key series loom with Houston (six games) and Toronto (three games). -- Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the Zona16. Kansas City RoyalsRecord: 74-68 Week 22 ranking: No. 13Talk about hot: In his past 11 games, Kendrys Morales has hit .349 with seven home runs and 19 RBIs to help keep the Royals wild-card chances alive.?-- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot17. Miami MarlinsRecord: 71-72 Week 22 ranking: No. 18A wild-card berth seems unlikely now, especially since Miami has only three games remaining versus any of the teams theyre competing against. A winning season is still doable, but would require nearly sweeping the 10 games remaining versus Atlanta and Philadelphia. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit18. Pittsburgh PiratesRecord: 69-72 Week 22 ranking: No. 16The Pirates eight-game losing streak came to an end last week when the team salvaged a win against the Cardinals, but a sweep at the hands of the Reds over the weekend dropped them to six games back in the wild-card race with just 21 games to play. -- Ryan P. Morrison (@ryanpmorrison), Inside the Zona19. Colorado RockiesRecord: 69-74 Week 22 ranking: No. 19One reason why DJ LeMahieu is pushing for a batting title is the power he has added to his profile. He has set a career high in doubles (27), triples (8) and home runs (10). While hes peppering Coors Field with hits, a .297 road batting average is nothing to sneeze at, either. --?Richard Bergstrom (@rbergstromjr), Rockies Zingers20. Chicago White SoxRecord: 68-74 Week 22 ranking: No. 20Carlos Rodon has emerged as a solid complement to All-Star hurlers Chris Sale and Jose Quintana. An improved changeup -- a pitch hes throwing more often and more effectively -- has helped spark his breakout second half. With Rodon clicking, will Chicago reconsider trading Sale or Quintana this winter??--?Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the Zona21. Milwaukee BrewersRecord: 64-79 Week 22 ranking:?No. 24Milwaukee has been playing competitive baseball against teams flirting with the playoffs as of late. After sweeping the Pirates, the Brewers took a series against the Cubs and played competitively against the Cardinals. Jonathan Villar has been tearing things up in the past week, batting .320/.370/.880 with four home runs. He also became the fourth Brewer in history to homer from both sides of the plate in a game.?-- Gabe Stoltz (@Stoltzy3), Disciples of Uecker22. Los Angeles AngelsRecord: 63-79 Week 22 ranking: No. 21Sometimes its not how many runs you score and allow, but when you score them. The Angels run differential is minus-21, while the Yankees is only slightly better at minus-7. But one team is a disaster and the other is one of the feel-good stories of 2016. -- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot23. Philadelphia PhilliesRecord: 63-80 Week 22 ranking: No. 22Offense will clearly be something the Phillies focus on improving for 2017. The Phillies have scored the fewest runs in baseball (520) and have the lowest team OBP (.295) and OPS (.676). --?ESPN.com24. Oakland AthleticsRecord: 60-82 Week 22 ranking: No. 25The Billy Butler $30 million contract was much criticized when the As signed him last year, and now theyve released him (in part because of a fight with a teammate, but mostly because hes not good). Moral of the story: Signing a guy nicknamed Country Breakfast is probably a bad risk.?-- David Schoenfield (@dschoenfield), SweetSpot25. Tampa Bay RaysRecord: 60-82 Week 22 ranking: No. 23With the changing of the guard at hitting coach from Derek Shelton to Chad Mottola,?it makes you wonder just how warm the chair is under manager Kevin Cash.?--?Jason?Hanselman?(@sandykazmir), The Process Report26. Cincinnati RedsRecord: 60-82 Week 22 ranking: No. 26Joey Votto celebrated his birthday this week by going 4-for-5 with a double and a homer. Hes now hitting .427 in the second half, and his OPS of 1.187 after the All-Star break is 85 points higher than the second-best OPS in either league.?--?Chad Dotson (@dotsonc), Redleg Nation27. San Diego PadresRecord: 59-84 Week 22 ranking: No. 27San Diego clinched its sixth consecutive losing season this past week and is on pace to finish with its worst record since 2008, when it went 63-99. -- Diane Firstman (@dianagram), Value Over Replacement Grit28. Arizona DiamondbacksRecord: 58-84 Week 22 ranking: No. 28Can the D-backs scrape together a plan to compete in 2017? One of the teams biggest question marks has become what to expect from Paul Goldschmidt, who just celebrated his 29th birthday, but has hit .200 over the past two weeks and has just six homers in his past 300 plate appearances.?--?Jeff Wiser (@OutfieldGrass24), Inside the Zona29. Atlanta BravesRecord: 55-88 Week 22 ranking:?No. 29While there may not be anything left to play for this year in Atlanta, Braves fans are turning their attention to the minor leagues, where the organizations Triple-A, Double-A and low-A clubs all won their first playoff series. The teams philosophy of starting pitching wins championships was on full display. The 11 starting pitchers used across those three minor league teams -- a group that included seven first-rounders -- combined for a 1.71 ERA. -- Martin Gandy (@gondeee), Chop County30. Minnesota TwinsRecord: 53-90 Week 22 ranking: No. 30Its tough to feel optimistic about a turnaround from Minnesotas league-worst rotation when rookie Jose Berrios, its brightest beacon of hope for the future, continues to flounder. He sits at 2-6 with a 9.27 ERA after Sundays clunker.?-- Nick Nelson (@NickNelsonMN), Twins DailyUSA Soccer Jerseys 2019 . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. Fake USA Soccer Jerseys . -- The proud fathers huddled near the Dallas Stars dressing room, smiling, laughing and telling stories while wearing replica green sweaters of their sons team. https://www.cheapusasoccer.com/ . Jordan Lynch, the all-purpose Heisman Trophy finalist from Northern Illinois, failed to make it into that exclusive club. Custom USA Soccer Jerseys . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Stitched USA Soccer Jerseys . LOUIS -- Attorneys for the St.CARDIFF, Wales -- Wales woke up on Saturday morning targeting the worlds top four, and with revenge against Australia very much on their collective mind.On arriving at the Principality Stadium, fans were implored to cheer on the team as red flags emblazoned with the word TRY were left dotted around the ground.But, while some fantastic attacking rugby did follow before those same supporters filed out into the Cardiff evening, it was played almost exclusively by players wearing gold. The Wallabies frenetic first-half assault on the Welsh line - which could have yielded a far greater margin of victory than the 32-8 final score - secured Australias 12th successive win in this fixture and only highlighted just how far Wales currently are from achieving their goal.The score shows we struggled a little bit in defence in the first half, Ross Moriarty admitted afterwards.You could obviously tell they had been together for a long time, on the back of the [Rugby] Championship. You could see how experienced and well-drilled they were.The Gloucester back-rower added: Obviously it was quick and its not comfortable when youre a forward coming out of the scrum and theyre making quite a decent gain off the first phase.Of course, there were mitigating factors. Interim head coach Rob Howley was already without Sam Warburton, Alun Wyn Jones and Taulupe Faletau when Jonathan Davies withdrew with a tight hamstring hours before kick-off.Scott Williams introduction from outside of the match-day squad would have disrupted defensive systems in a team that already featured Moriarty playing out of position at No. 8.But that does not completely explain how a side that not too long ago prided itself on its defence has shipped 26 tries in their last five Test matches.At times it looked as though the Wallabies were playing a different game to their hosts, as a sparsely populated Principality Stadium was subdued by the running lines of Bernard Foley, Tevita Kuridrani and Israel Folau.Australia were able to carve through the Welsh defence with such alarming ease that it was a surprise that the hosts were able to hold out when Dan Biggar went into the bin for 10 minutes.They were cutting us quite well in the backs, Moriarty conceded. A bit of composure in our defence and I think we would have been alright.dddddddddddd.The veracity of Australias start in Cardiff also hinted at another factor in their one-sided win - preparation time. Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika has been able to fine tune his squad following a series against England and a full Rugby Championship campaign.Australia might not have fared well in either but the time the squad has spent together, and the work it has done on the training pitch, will have been invaluable. By contrast, Howleys squad had less than a fortnight to pick up where they left off in New Zealand, in June.We always knew the challenges of coming in with such a short preparation and the Welsh probably faced that [on Saturday], Wallabies fly-half Bernard Foley said. Its tough when you get everyone back from their club sides and have a week to prepare.Test match footy is something totally different to your provincial and club competitions. It goes up a notch and you only have to be off by little margins and you lose Test matches.But as Howley prepares Wales to face Argentina next Saturday, it is not all doom and gloom. Warburton played 80 minutes for Cardiff Blues against Treviso on Friday night, suggesting a recall might not be far away, while Faletau was moving spritely as he left the Principality Stadium.Moreover, replacement Hallam Amos provided an electric cameo against Australia that threatened to inspire an improbable fightback.The Newport Gwent Dragons wing provided a much needed spark when he came on for George North, engineering the move that ended with Williams try and almost dotting down himself.Amos provides Howley -- and ultimately Warren Gatland -- with an alternative to the brute force of North and Alex Cuthbert. Wales have needed such subtlety since Shane Williams sidestepped into retirement.The problem for Howley, though, is that with Rhys Webb potentially providing another injury headache, Argentina lie in wait next Saturday and not Japan.The Pumas are not an opponent you want to face when feeling anything other than 100 percent. Experimentation might have to wait. ' ' '