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MLB Power Rankings: New York Yankees Surging Up Rankings

By Kenneth Teape

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Aug 2, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; The New York Yankees celebrate after defeating the Chicago White Sox 12-3 at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports

With the MLB Trade deadline now behind us, we have a clear picture of which teams believe they are contenders and which ones are pretenders. There was a ton of movement at the deadline, as over 100 players were moved in deals leading up to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Could some of those players make or break a team’s chances of making the postseason?

We will have to see throughout August how things shape up, as teams will have a chance to still add talent to their roster if they were shutout prior to the July 31st deadline via the waiver deadline, which is August 31st. By that time every team will know where they stand with only a couple of weeks remaining in the season. A couple of players that could be moved at that time are James Shields, Aroldis Chapman or Jeff Samardzija. Could those players and others have new addresses as well by the time the calendar is changing from August to September?

We will have to wait and see as the playoff races will heat up in the dog days of August. But before we get to that, check out our MLB Power Rankings from Empire Writes Back as we head into Week 18 of the season and teams begin their push for the playoffs or countdown to the season finale.

More from Empire Writes Back

30. Miami Marlins (43-62) The Marlins came into the season with some heightened expectations, but they have come up woefully short. Injuries have hurt them, as Mat Latos, Giancarlo Stanton, Dee Gordon and Jose Fernandez. They were a part of massive 13-player, three team trade that was more of a salary dump than anything for the Marlins, as they shipped off Latos and Michael Morse. There isn’t much of a reason to turn in to watch the Marlins the rest of the season, but Stanton and Fernandez are two of the best at what they do and are must watch tv when they take the field.

29. Milwaukee Brewers (44-62) The Brewers were able to land quite a package for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers from the Astros, including two top-100 prospects in Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana. They will fit right along fellow top-100 prospects already in the Brewers system in Orlando Arcia and Trent Clark. It is a truly impressive package of assets after they were put in a tough spot with their original deal with the Mets for Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores fell through. They were also able to move Aramis Ramirez to the Pirates and Gerardo Parra to the Orioles, landing Yhonathan Barrios and high-upside pitcher Zach Davies. The Brewers have entered full on rebuilding stage and have some really high upside players to speed up the process.

28. Philadelphia Phillies (41-65) The Phillies are one of the hottest teams in baseball in the second half, going 12-3 thus far. Not only has the product been better on the field, the Phillies were also big winners at the deadline. They landed a huge package for Cole Hamels, highlighted by top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro and pitcher Matt Harrison. The Phillies also shipped out Jonathan Papelbon to the Nationals for Nick Pivetta. They also helped the Blue Jays in their pursuit of improving their all-world offense, shipping Ben Revere there for two right-handed prospects. The Phillies did well reloading their farm system, something that has been long overdue.

Next: Red Sox continue to struggle

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