| Power Rankings |
| Date | Ranking | Previous |
| 07/22/2008 | 23 | 24 |
| I wish there was an owner in my keeper roto league like Drayton McLane Jr., convinced that his team has the goods despite a heap of evidence to the contrary. Those guys are easy to fleece ... On the other hand, short of torching it for the insurance money, how do you make this team better in a hurry? ... From the dumb-comparison files: J.R. Towles boasts a .627 OPS in 91 plate appearances at Minute Maid Park, while Carlos Zambrano has a .780 OPS in 31 plate appearances. |
| 07/09/2008 | 24 | 21 |
| Miguel Tejada has slowed down considerably, which has helped account for the team's plummet to the cellar. They weren't going to contend with that pitching staff, though. |
| 07/01/2008 | 21 | 25 |
| The Shawn Chacon situation could have been handled better, but at least it hasn't kept them from creeping back from oblivion. Their 7-3 record in the past 10 has come against some of the best in baseball. A resurgent Roy Oswalt and an emerging Wandy Rodriguez help give a bat-heavy team some balance to the equation. This could be one team that is neither a buyer nor seller this July. Miguel Tejada could become bait, but he isn't part of the problem and won't figure to get them pitching either. |
| 06/24/2008 | 25 | 25 |
| They salvaged respect after an awful stretch by taking a series in Tampa Bay. They are just six games under .500, but without pitching now or for the future, they really don't have much hope to be anything more than a streaky slugging team. |
| 06/18/2008 | 25 | 17 |
| What is worse: That past homestand or their rotation? You have to expect a slugging team with a suspect rotation to be streaky, but 3-15 since late May is just ridiculous. |
| 06/10/2008 | 17 | 17 |
| A homestand was supposed to get them on track, but it hasn't helped. With that suspect rotation they are supposed to outslug teams, especially at home. |
| 06/03/2008 | 17 | 9 |
| They have really let this NL Central road trip eat them up. They get a shot at payback starting this weekend, though. |
| 05/27/2008 | 9 | 9 |
| We tried to downgrade them, but a 4-3 mark against the Cubs and Phillies last week shows they can stick around in the race with subpar starting pitching. Should be an interesting set against the Cardinals this week. |
| 05/20/2008 | 9 | 12 |
| A big-time offense was going to make them streaky, but they are sustaining a pretty nice roll. A bottom-10 team in ERA (4.44), their system provides little hope in the way of immediate arms and teams don't trade pitching during the season, if at all. |
| 05/13/2008 | 12 | 17 |
| We love their offensive potential, but their suspect starting pitching is backed by a bullpen that is tied for the league lead with 11 victories. We are not sure their suddenly solid pitching can last, but we're still sure that offense can help them rip off some winning streaks like they have. They are 16-5 since being a season-low six games under .500 (6-12) on April 19. |
