2025 FTN MLB Power Rankings, May 5: Surging American League Teams

The American League is finally being heard from near the top of our FTN MLB Power Rankings. After the top six teams in last week’s power rankings were all from the senior circuit, the top two junior circuit teams rose to inside the top three this week. The Seattle Mariners in particular have been skyrocketing.

Let’s dive in to the entire power rankings, 1-30, for this week. You can see a takeaway from each team below, and then at the bottom you’ll find our full power rankings table.

All stats are through Sunday.

Fantasy Baseball Power Rankings (5/5)

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

23-11, 93.3 projected wins
Last week: 1

Not much is going wrong for the LA offense right now, but Michael Conforto is a worry — he’s only hitting .141/.286/.242 and is 0 for his last 29, 7 for his last 80.

2. Seattle Mariners

20-13, 93.3 projected wins
Last week: 9

The sweet-swinging Mariners? Seattle is fourth in team wOBA (.337), second in wRC+ (125) and fourth in home runs (49). Best team in the AL?

3. Detroit Tigers

22-13, 91.1 projected wins
Last week: 12

Where did this Javier Báez come from? After a .221/.262/.347 line in his first three years as a Tiger, Báez has, um, roared to a .309/.350/.479 start to 2025.

4. Atlanta Braves

15-18, 90.1 projected wins
Last week: 2

Since losing their first seven, the Braves are 15-11 — still not elite, but so much better. The problem is that Ronald Acuña Jr. still has a few weeks until his return.

5. San Diego Padres

22-11, 89.9 projected wins
Last week: 5

The Padres had a little lull, losing four straight at the end of April. They rebounded nicely, winning all five games they played last week.

6. New York Mets

22-13, 88.4 projected wins
Last week: 4

Where has the on-base gone, Brandon Nimmo? After putting up a .363 OBP or higher every year since his 32-game rookie campaign, Nimmo dropped to .327 last year and is stuck at .273 this year.

7. Philadelphia Phillies

19-15, 88.1 projected wins
Last week: 3

Alec Bohm was the subject of a lot of trade rumors this offseason, and right now, it looks like a missed opportunity — he’s off to a .228/.267/.283 start that has him among the worst hitters in baseball.

8. Boston Red Sox

18-18, 87.8 projected wins
Last week: 7

The awful injury to Triston Casas leads the Red Sox to a fascinating first base quandary. Rafael Devers? Trevor Story? One of the young guys? The success or failure of the next move will define a lot of the team’s rest-of-season.

9. Cleveland Guardians

20-14, 87.3 projected wins
Last week: 19

The outfield solutions haven’t been solutions. Jhonkensy Noel has a 29 OPS+ in 70 plate appearances. Nolan Jones, a 56 in 90 PAs. Lane Thomas is somehow at a 6 in only 48 PAs. The Guardians just haven’t found any outfield offense other than Steven Kwan in years now.

10. Arizona Diamondbacks

18-16, 86.0 projected wins
Last week: 5

The Diamondbacks are 4-7 since a 14-9 start, including losing three of their last four series, and they play the Mets-Dodgers-Giants for their next 10. We’ll learn a lot soon.

11. Chicago Cubs

21-14, 85.7 projected wins
Last week: 16

Shota Imanaga has left two straight starts with injury issues. With Justin Steele already done for the year, the Cubs’ rotation is getting thin.

12. San Francisco Giants

22-13, 84.9 projected wins
Last week: 15

The Giants steadfastly refuse to regress — they had their first three-game losing streak, but rebounded by winning three straight (admittedly against the Rockies).

13. New York Yankees

19-15, 84.1 projected wins
Last week: 8

Aaron Judge’s OPS+ when he won the MVP in 2022: 210. Aaron Judge’s OPS+ when he won the MVP in 2024: 223. Aaron Judge’s OPS+ right now: 263 (!!!). Yes, it’s early, but he is doing some insane things out there.

14. St. Louis Cardinals

16-19, 83.2 projected wins
Last week: 21

The “first baseman Willson Contreras” experiment hasn’t gone well so far, with the 33-year-old now-former catcher only managing a .696 OPS through 34 games. That might work for a catcher.

15. Tampa Bay Rays

16-18, 83.0 projected wins
Last week: 14

The Rays could absolutely use a return of Shane McClanahan soon (assuming he, you know, pitches like Shane McClanahan). The team’s current starting rotation has combined for only 1.0 bWAR, and three of the five (Zack Littell, Taj Bradley, Ryan Pepiot) have ERAs of 4.23 or higher.

16. Houston Astros

17-16, 83.0 projected wins
Last week: 11

An offense with Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Christian Walker being carried so far by Jeremy Peña and Jake Meyers goes a long way to explain why the Astros are floating around .500 (17-16) and in third place right now.

17. Kansas City Royals

19-16, 81.8 projected wins
Last week: 22

The Royals hitting seven home runs Sunday after 18 total in their first 34 games is pretty hilarious. Meanwhile, Bobby Witt Jr. just continues to rake.

18. Texas Rangers

17-18, 81.7 projected wins
Last week: 10

The Rangers have games of 15 and 8 runs scored last week, winning both. Otherwise? 1 run, 1 run, 0 runs, 1 run, 1 run. Five losses. That’s why Donnie Ecker is unemployed now.

19. Toronto Blue Jays

16-18, 80.7 projected wins
Last week: 18

Bo Bichette isn’t hitting like his vintage self (just a .384 slugging, first homer didn’t come until the weekend), but it’s still worlds better than last year, with his batting average and OBP up to .288 and .323 after last year’s .225 and .277.

20. Cincinnati Reds

18-17, 78.3 projected wins
Last week: 13

The Reds had a pretty disastrous doubleheader last Wednesday, losing 6-0 and 9-1, seeing their closer struggle so badly he got demoted in the first game and top prospect Chase Petty allow 9 runs in 2.1 innings in his big-league debut in the second. Overall they’ve been fine, but that was a very rough day.

21. Minnesota Twins

15-20, 78.3 projected wins
Last week: 24

The return? Brooks Lee hasn’t been bad so far, but the Twins activated Royce Lewis Monday to play third and DH, and as long as he can stay healthy, we all know what he’s capable of.

22. Los Angeles Angels

13-20, 77.2 projected wins
Last week: 17

The Angels’ offense has gone in the tank, a .253 wOBA the last two weeks. That’s worse than everyone (yes, Rockies included). Mike Trout wasn’t hurt that whole time.

23. Sacramento Athletics

19-16, 76.4 projected wins
Last week: 28

The A’s are in second place in the AL West. Ahead of Houston, ahead of Texas. Sure, there’s a long way to go, but this is already a nice success for the team. “What do we do if this Sacramento ballpark has to host a postseason series?” probably won’t be a question, but it would be a funny chat.

24. Baltimore Orioles

13-20, 74.3 projected wins
Last week: 23

It’s not a huge surprise that the Orioles aren’t pitching well, but the team having a bottom-10 offense is a big surprise. Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle, Gunnar Henderson, Heston Kjerstad and Tyler O’Neill hitting a combined .221, with none of them having an OBP over .300, is a rough start.

25. Milwaukee Brewers

17-18, 73.7 projected wins
Last week: 26

Brandon Woodruff is making a rehab start Tuesday, expected to be his last one before returning for his first game action in a year and a half. The under-.500 Brewers certainly hope he can somewhat resemble the guy with a 3.10 career ERA through seven seasons.

26. Pittsburgh Pirates

12-23, 72.7 projected wins
Last week: 27

The Pirates were 10-15 after April 23. Not great, but not embarrassing. Since then, they’ve lost eight of 10 and are once again buried in the NL Central.

27. Miami Marlins

13-20, 72.7 projected wins
Last week: 20

Did he rush back? Sandy Alcantara has only managed an 8.31 ERA through six starts, and while he’s probably gotten unlucky, a 5.57 FIP shows he’s just not what he once was right now.

28. Washington Nationals

16-19, 71.2 projected wins
Last week: 25

How unlucky has Josh Bell been? His BABIP is .132, less than half his previous career low, despite a barrel rate above his career average. His hard hit rate (35.8%) is low for his standards, but the hits should start to fall at some point.

29. Chicago White Sox

10-24, 59.6 projected wins
Last week: 30

The White Sox have wins of 8-1, 9-0, 11-1, 10-3 and 8-0 this season. Take those five games out (no, you can’t, but just for fun), and they’re 5-24 with a -63 run differential. A season of “lose almost every game, but absolutely wallop the teams when you do win” might not be a great strategy, but it sure is entertaining.

30. Colorado Rockies

6-28, 55.3 projected wins
Last week: 29

The Rockies got their first winning streak of the season! It was two games, Wednesday and Thursday, and they promptly lost their next three over the weekend. Baby steps.

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