Every week, we ask a selected group of our baseball writers — local and national — to rank the teams from first to worst. Here are the collective results. Here’s a question: How committed is Major League Baseball to the rule saying every division winner has to make the playoffs? Because I’m looking at the American League West, where every team has a negative run differential and seems to be fighting for its life just to stay above .500, and wondering: Do we really need that in October?The answer, of course, is sure we do. Wouldn’t you be at least a little bit nervous if your team ran into the Seattle Mariners rotation in the first round? And the Houston Astros have one of the highest-scoring lineups in the AL. So, the real question is: Which AL West team is going to win the division and try to play spoiler in the playoffs?Questions like that is the theme of this week’s Power Rankings. As the final month approaches, we’re asking one big question about each team.1. Milwaukee Brewers (Average ranking: 1.0)Record: 81-50
Last Power Ranking: 1One big question: Is Christian Yelich an everyday player?Milwaukee enters the week with baseball’s best record and an offense that ranks fourth in runs per game. But its veteran leader hasn’t been a big part of that offense lately. Yelich has followed up 2025’s outstanding season with the worst offensive production of his career: He’s below a league-average OPS now, and he’s been in an extended slump since the All-Star break (though he did have a very nice week last week, providing some encouragement). The Brewers have other options to potentially DH. Both Andrew Vaughn and Gary Sánchez have hit well enough to take on larger roles. — Tim Britton 2. Los Angeles Dodgers (2.0 )Record: 80-51
