MMDA Power Rankings: Block Five Edition

An attempt to rank the league's best teams after five blocks (138 games). Teams sorted by wins, then by run differential. Note that this is not the official tie-breaking method for playoff seeding or draft order.

After waiting patiently for four blocks, Central Division clubs got their first crack at the soft underbelly of the Pacific Division in Block 5. Goldenrod and St. Louis charged up the power rankings thanks to a schedule heavy on games against No. 15 Columbus, No. 19 California and No. 20 Miami. That trio of teams has combined to win 40 percent of its games to this point.

For the sake of comparison, the bottom three teams in the other three divisions have put up a much stronger fight. To wit, those cellar-dwelling win percentages are Northeast (.493), Central (.464) and Atlantic (.457).

No	Team	W	L	Division	R/G	RA/G	Diff
1	Northeast	97	41	Northeast	5.57	3.70	+258
2	Wilmington	95	43	Atlantic	5.71	4.16	+214
3	Mohawk Valley	84	54	Atlantic	5.33	3.96	+189
4	Goldenrod	81	57	Central	4.91	4.40	+70
5	St. Louis	79	59	Central	4.51	4.18	+46
6	Brooklyn	78	60	Atlantic	5.89	4.80	+150
7	Spokane	77	61	Pacific	4.23	3.59	+88
8	West Side	75	63	Northeast	4.76	4.37	+54
9	Northwest	73	65	Pacific	4.51	4.03	+67
10	Rosehill	71	67	Central	4.14	3.94	+27
11	Fighting	70	68	Northeast	4.37	4.59	-31
12	Jersey	66	72	Northeast	4.14	4.22	-11
13	Cape Cod	59	79	Northeast	4.15	4.54	-53
14	Lake County	58	80	Central	4.33	5.20	-119
15	Columbus	58	80	Pacific	3.77	4.86	-150
16	Death Valley	56	82	Atlantic	4.34	5.49	-158
17	Rochester	55	83	Atlantic	4.33	5.35	-141
18	Elysian Fields	53	85	Central	4.04	5.07	-142
19	California	49	89	Pacific	3.86	4.82	-132
20	Miami	46	92	Pacific	3.67	5.30	-226

Top Run-Creation Teams (R/G)

Brooklyn (5.89)
Wilmington (5.71)
Northeast (5.57)
Mohawk Valley (5.33)
Goldenrod (4.91)

The Gators enter the fray, supplanting West Side from last time

Top Run-Prevention Teams (RA/G)

Spokane (3.59)
Northeast (3.70)
Rosehill (3.94)
Mohawk Valley (3.96)
Northwest (4.03)

Wilmington drops out of the top five, replaced by Northwest

Divisional Races

Barring epic collapses, Northeast (22 games ahead of West Side) and Wilmington (11 games ahead of Mohawk Valley) have the Northeast and Atlantic divisions, respectively, locked down as they enter the sixth and final block.

That's not the case in the MMDA's other two divisions, where St. Louis trails Goldenrod by two games in the Central, and Northwest trails Spokane by four games in the Pacific.

MMDA Power Rankings: Block Four Edition

Teams sorted by wins, then by run differential after 108 games. Note that this is not the official tie-breaking method for playoff seeding or draft order. This is an attempt to rank the league's best teams to this point.

The Northeast Huskies maintain their place atop the power rankings with a league-best 77 wins and unsurpassed +203 run differential. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Miami Manatees have just 41 wins and have allowed 154 more runs than they've scored.

The Huskies may be best team to this point, but the next three—Wilmington, Mohawk Valley and Brooklyn—all play in the Atlantic division. What's notable here is that Brooklyn closed the run-differential gap on Mohawk Valley during Block 4 play. The Lions had a 15-run advantage entering the July.

No	Team	W	L	Division	R/G	RA/G	Diff
1	Northeast	77	31	Northeast	5.47	3.59	+203
2	Wilmington	77	31	Atlantic	5.84	4.13	+185
3	Mohawk Valley	64	44	Atlantic	5.21	3.86	+146
4	Brooklyn	63	45	Atlantic	6.15	4.80	+146
5	Spokane	61	47	Pacific	4.31	3.66	+70
6	West Side	60	48	Northeast	4.69	4.36	+35
7	Northwest	58	50	Pacific	4.63	4.31	+34
8	St. Louis	58	50	Central	4.43	4.28	+16
9	Fighting	57	51	Northeast	4.39	4.29	+11
10	Goldenrod	56	52	Central	4.67	4.56	+11
11	Jersey	52	56	Northeast	4.16	4.24	-9
12	Rosehill	51	57	Central	4.14	4.10	4
13	Cape Cod	48	60	Northeast	4.03	4.28	-27
14	Columbus	45	63	Pacific	3.56	4.65	-117
15	Death Valley	45	63	Atlantic	4.35	5.58	-133
16	California	42	66	Pacific	3.90	4.56	-71
17	Rochester	42	66	Atlantic	4.54	5.33	-86
18	Elysian Fields	42	66	Central	4.08	5.26	-127
19	Lake County	41	67	Central	4.09	5.36	-137
20	Miami	41	67	Pacific	3.66	5.08	-154

Top Run-Creation Teams (R/G)
Brooklyn (6.15)
Wilmington (5.84)
Northeast (5.47)
Mohawk Valley (5.21)
West Side (4.69)

Top Run-Prevention Teams (RA/G)
Northeast (3.59)
Spokane (3.66)
Mohawk Valley (3.86)
Rosehill (4.10)
Wilmington (4.13)

MMDA Power Rankings: Midseason Edition

Teams sorted by wins, then by run differential after 84 games. Note that this is not the official tie-breaking method for playoff seeding or draft order. This is an attempt to rank the league's best teams to this point.

Congratulations to the Northeast Huskies, who unseat Wilmington at the top of the charts thanks to a league-best +156 run differential. The Atlantic and Northeast divisions continue to be the most robust, with the top five teams in the rankings and with eight of 10 teams at .500 or better.

No	Team	W	L	Division	R/G	RA/G	Diff
1	Northeast	58	26	Northeast	5.60	3.74	+156
2	Wilmington	58	26	Atlantic	5.73	4.12	+135
3	Mohawk Valley	51	33	Atlantic	5.30	3.64	+139
4	Brooklyn	51	33	Atlantic	6.17	4.69	+124
5	West Side	47	37	Northeast	4.65	4.36	+25
6	Spokane	45	39	Pacific	4.12	3.77	+29
7	Northwest	44	40	Pacific	4.85	4.51	+28
8	Fighting	44	40	Northeast	4.48	4.27	+17
9	Jersey	43	41	Northeast	4.32	4.20	+10
10	St. Louis	43	41	Central	4.32	4.36	-3
11	Cape Cod	42	42	Northeast	4.29	4.23	+5
12	Goldenrod	42	42	Central	4.46	4.63	-14
13	Rosehill	41	43	Central	4.13	4.18	-4
14	Death Valley	39	45	Atlantic	4.30	5.05	-63
15	California	34	50	Pacific	4.14	4.73	-49
16	Columbus	34	50	Pacific	3.58	4.95	-115
17	Elysian Fields	33	51	Central	4.00	5.06	-89
18	Rochester	32	52	Atlantic	4.51	5.43	-77
19	Miami	30	54	Pacific	3.61	5.17	-131
20	Lake County	29	55	Central	3.98	5.44	-123

Top Run-Creation Teams (R/G)
Brooklyn (6.17)
Wilmington (5.73)
Northeast (5.60)
Mohawk Valley (5.30)
Northwest (4.85)

Top Run-Prevention Teams (RA/G)
Mohawk Valley (3.64)
Northeast (3.74)
Spokane (3.77)
Wilmington (4.12)
Rosehill (4.18)

Midseason Playoff Seeding
We have eight teams with 44 or more wins as our projected playoff field.

Bracket 1
No. 1 Wilmington (1)
No. 8 Northwest

No. 4 Mohawk Valley
No. 5 West Side

Bracket 2
No. 2 Northeast
No. 7 Fighting Irish (3)

No. 3 Brooklyn (2)
No. 6 Spokane

Notes on tie-breakers: (1) Wilmington wins the No. 1 seed based on a better  in-division record than Northeast—the two teams have not yet played; (2) Brooklyn wins the No. 3 seed based on a better head-to-head record versus Mohawk Valley; (3) Fighting Irish wins the No. 7 seed based on a better head-to-head record versus Northwest.

Midseason Awards
As selected by the Strat game engine.

MVP Award                             
M.Cabrera, Brooklyn
M.Trout, Brooklyn
D.Wright, Wilmington
R.Cano, Northeast
C.Headley, Mohawk Valley

Cy Young Award
C.Kershaw, Spokane
R.Dickey, Wilmington
J.Shields, Northeast
Y.Darvish, Mohawk Valley
C.Kimbrel, Northwest

First-Team All-Stars
CA—Y.Molina, Wilmington
1B—A.Pujols, Death Valley
2B—R.Cano, Northeast
3B—M.Cabrera, Brooklyn
SS—I.Desmond, Miami
LF—R.Braun, Goldenrod
CF—M.Trout, Brooklyn
RF—T.Hunter, Goldenrod
SP—C.Kershaw, Spokane
SP—J.Shields, Northeast
SP—Y.Darvish, Mohawk Valley
SP—D.Price, Mohawk Valley
SP—J.Weaver, St. Louis
SP—H.Kuroda, Columbus

Second-Team All-Stars
CA—B.Posey, Rosehill
1B—A.LaRoche, Mohawk Valley
2B—A.Hill, California
3B—A.Beltre, Rochester
SS—J.Rollins, West Side
LF—M.Prado, Rosehill
CF—A.McCutchen, Mohawk Valley
RF—G.Stanton, Fighting Irish
SP—R.Dickey, Wilmington
RP—C.Kimbrel, Northwest
SP—J.Verlander, Jersey
RP—R.Cook, Northwest
RP—F.Rodney, Wilmington
SP—J.Niese, Rosehill

MMDA Power Rankings: Block Two Edition

Here we present the second installment of the MMDA power rankings, with statistics through the first two months of the season. Teams sorted by wins, then by run differential. Note that this is not the official tie-breaking method for playoff seeding or draft order. This is an attempt to rank the league's best teams to this point.

No	Team	W	L	Division	R/G	RA/G	Diff
1	Wilmington	36	18	Atlantic	5.65	3.96	+91
2	Northeast	35	19	Northeast	5.65	3.78	+101
3	Spokane	35	19	Pacific	4.39	3.76	+34
4	Mohawk Valley	32	22	Atlantic	5.15	3.67	+80
5	Goldenrod	32	22	Central	4.46	4.11	+19
6	Brooklyn	30	24	Atlantic	5.91	4.96	+51
7	Northwest	29	25	Pacific	4.69	4.24	+24
8	West Side	29	25	Northeast	4.57	4.30	+15
9	Cape Cod	27	27	Northeast	4.57	4.39	+10
10	Jersey	27	27	Northeast	4.17	4.07	+5
11	Rosehill	27	27	Central	3.91	4.15	-13
12	St. Louis	26	28	Central	3.98	4.24	-14
13	Fighting	25	29	Northeast	4.26	4.65	-21
14	Death Valley	23	31	Atlantic	4.33	5.28	-51
15	California	22	32	Pacific	4.26	4.56	-16
16	Columbus	22	32	Pacific	3.46	4.94	-80
17	Elysian Fields	21	33	Central	4.13	4.78	-35
18	Rochester	21	33	Atlantic	4.81	5.48	-36
19	Lake County	21	33	Central	3.70	4.94	-67
20	Miami	20	34	Pacific	3.61	5.41	-97

Top Run-Creation Teams
Brooklyn, 5.91 R/G
Northeast, 5.65 R/G
Wilmington, 5.65 R/G

Top Run-Prevention Teams
Mohawk Valley, 3.67 RA/G
Spokane, 3.76 RA/G
Northeast, 3.78 RA/G

MMDA Power Rankings: Block One Edition

A sample of 30 games doesn't tell us much about the true quality of baseball teams—but who cares! Ranking teams is fun, and the conclusion of Block One is a good vantage point to take stock.

Here we present the first installment of the MMDA power rankings. Teams sorted by wins, then by run differential. Note that this is not the official tie-breaking method for playoff seeding or draft order. This is an attempt to rank the league's best teams to this point.

No	Team	W	L	Division	R/G	RA/G	Diff
1	Northeast	19	11	Northeast	5.53	3.60	+58
2	Spokane	19	11	Pacific	4.00	4.07	-2
3	Mohawk Valley	18	12	Atlantic	5.20	3.20	+60
4	Brooklyn	18	12	Atlantic	5.97	4.30	+50
5	West Side	18	12	Northeast	4.67	3.40	+38
6	Wilmington	18	12	Atlantic	5.20	4.00	+36
7	Fighting Irish	16	14	Northeast	4.83	4.50	+10
8	Jersey	16	14	Northeast	3.93	4.03	-3
9	Goldenrod	16	14	Central	4.53	4.80	-8
10	Rosehill	15	15	Central	3.43	4.30	-26
11	Rochester	14	16	Atlantic	4.43	4.17	+8
12	Cape Cod	14	16	Northeast	4.43	4.20	+7
13	Northwest	14	16	Pacific	4.40	4.87	-14
14	Death Valley	14	16	Atlantic	4.23	4.87	-19
15	Elysian Fields	13	17	Central	4.83	4.70	+4
16	Lake County	13	17	Central	3.50	4.70	-36
17	California	12	18	Pacific	4.20	5.03	-25
18	Columbus	12	18	Pacific	3.93	5.50	-47
19	Miami	11	19	Pacific	4.00	5.57	-47
20	St. Louis	10	20	Central	3.43	4.90	-44

Top Run-Creation Team: Brooklyn, 5.97 R/G. 
Top Run-Prevention Team: Mohawk Valley, 3.20 RA/G.

MVP AWARD
A.Pujols (DVD) 373
A.Beltre (ROC) 371
M.Trout (BRK) 217         
M.Cabrera (BRK) 137
C.Kershaw (SPO) 100

CY YOUNG AWARD
C.Kershaw (SPO) 114
J.Shields (HUS) 103
A.Wainwright (HUS) 46
H.Street (JER) 16
C.Kimbrel (NWS) 8

All-Time Mohawk Valley Team

The recent blockbuster trade of Curtis Granderson, Zack Greinke and Mark Teixeira signals the end of an era in Mohawk Valley franchise history. All three players were crucial components to five playoff teams between 2006 and ’12,

With those ties severed, Rickie Weeks and C.C. Sabathia now stand as the only links to the ’06 team, the first playoff entrant in club history. As a new chapter opens, the time is nigh to look back at a Mohawk Valley all-time team.

All statistics run through the 2012 season.

Manager: Preston Wilson
Tenure: 2002-07.
Playoff Teams: Two.
Acquired: Drafted in 1999; inherited from previous regime.
Performance (for Mohawk Valley only): .245/.310/.465 in 2,535 PA (326 runs created).

Perhaps only Casey Stengel with the early-’60s Mets endured more bad baseball than Wilson did in the five seasons from 2000 through ’04. The center fielder played for clubs that lost an average of 118 games per season—and never fewer than 111. The nadir: 139 losses. That's not a typo—the Oklahoma City Cannon Dealers won 23 games and finished 81 games out of first place in 2000.

Those early Mohawk Valley clubs for which Wilson played featured a few worthwhile lineup fixtures—himself, third baseman Corey Koskie and left fielder Carlos Lee—but the secret to the Jive's poor showing in their inaugural ’02 campaign becomes apparent when you see the pitchers most responsible for the 5.77 team ERA: Bobby Jones, Brian Tollberg, Mac Suzuki, John Thomson, Paul Byrd, Dan Reichert, Danny Wright and Blake Stein. All made at least 10 starts.

Wilson occupies a unique position in Mohawk Valley franchise history as the only player inherited by the current front office who stuck around long enough to play for the first playoff team in ’06. For that he's earned the right to stand on the top step of the dugout and cuss at umpires.

Lions Welcome New Blood, Bid Fond Farewell To Franchise Icons Granderson, Greinke & Teixeira

Mohawk Valley beat reporters could sense an air of bewilderment in the Lions clubhouse as franchise icons Curtis Granderson, Zack Greinke and Mark Teixeira cleaned out their lockers as they prepared to meet their new employer halfway across the country.

The three distinguished veterans, plus the Lions' second-round pick in 2014, all belong to the St. Louis Maulers now, having been exchanged for center fielder Andrew McCutchen, first baseman Adam LaRoche and trade throw-in Javier Lopez, a lefty situational reliever. The transaction will take effect in time for Block 2 games in May.

Lions GM Matt Eddy acknowledged the difficult decision to part with three of the top talents in Mohawk Valley franchise history.

New Maulers righthander Zack Greinke

"Our rotation depth allowed us to make this trade," he said, referring to the starting-pitcher collective the local press corps had dubbed the $100,000 Rotation. "Trading Zack, Mark and Curtis hurts, but we knew our club's offense was deficient, and we feel that adding McCutchen and LaRoche makes it a little less so."

Following the trade, Derek Holland moves into the Lions rotation on a full-time basis, joining David Price, Yu Darvish, C.C. Sabathia and Stephen Strasburg.