Many of the top MLB teams have clinched - Minnesota, Texas, Philly - but our top two teams all year, the New York Yankees & Tampa Bay Rays, are unfortunately in the same division and still competing for 1st in the American League East. Whichever team finishes 2nd has the wildcard locked but home field advantage is always important come playoffs.

It is a true "Wild Card Race" in the National League. Both the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres are competing for 1st in the NL West while the Atlanta Braves are just trying to win games to secure the Wild Card spot since the Philadelphia Phillies took the NL East title. With the Giants and Braves both sitting at 88-68 and the Padres only one game behind, this division will be tight with the deciding series in San Francisco this Friday-Sunday.

If you think this wildcard race is exciting, just wait till we hit playoffs!

The top four teams - New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies look to be the front runners leading into October.

Let's not forget about the Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Red Sox, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies who follow the heavy hitters and round out the Top 11. The wildcard race in the National League will provide a lot of excitement this month as each win or loss drastically changes the standings.

The rest of the teams pretty much remain in the same category - "see you in 2011"

Heading into the final three weeks of the regular season, playoff contending teams are doing everything and anything to guarantee a spot in October.

In the AL East it looks to be a 'fight to the finish' between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox have fallen out of the race, as well a our top 10 this week.

The Colorado Rockies are coming on strong - winning and jumping into the #10 spot on the list. If this keeps up expect the Rockies to continue to move up in the rankings. Colorado has to pass the Padres who have slumped into 9th placea and the Giants who now hold the 8th spot.

Twins, Reds and Braves are stilling hanging in the elite group, but the Rangers still hold at #7.

Nail biting baseball right till the finish .. and a postseason that promises to be even more exciting

Yardbarker bloggers bring you the MLB's Power Rankings for Week 22. With playoffs right around the corner, the wild card race has really started to heat up. See if your team has a chance to make it to October this year.

This week the top six teams, Yankees, Rays, Braves, Twins, Padres, Red Sox haven’t moved. Could this be a clear sign of what ball-clubs looks to be heading to the playoffs?

One team looking to play in October is the Cincinnati Reds, who jumped into the top ten taking ninth place. The Reds continue to push away in the NL Central, while the Reds division rivals the St. Louis Cardinals step back landing at #11.

The most improved team was the Houston Astros who jumped five spots from #28 to #23. The L.A. Dodgers and Florida Marlins both landed at #15 and #16 respectively. As the saying goes, better late than never.

This week’s MLB Blogger Rankings still have the New York Yankees on top, followed by the Tampa Bay Rays.

The NL East leading Atlanta Braves slip into third place, as the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins land in fourth.

Another division leader, the San Diego Padres out of the NL West remain steady in fifth; the Boston Red Sox move to sixth place and the surging Philadelphia Phillies have pushed themselves into the seventh spot on the list.

Biggest losers were the AL West leading Texas Rangers, as fans lose confidence in the slumping team. Rangers get away with this sudden decline due to how weak their division has been in 2010.

The winners of this week are the Baltimore Orioles. The O’s show signs of life, moving out of the #30 spot for the first time all season. If you can believe it the Seattle Mariners and Pittsburgh Pirates ranked worse than the O’s.

The O’s made a good move hiring Buck Showalter as their new skipper. To get the ball finally rolling in Baltimore, with nothing to lose this season is a credit to the owners.

Other teams like the New York Mets and Seattle Mariners should take note.

Agree or disagree???? Bring it on....

Are you ready for the next seven weeks of MLB regular season?

Well get ready for the most challenging baseball playoff races in decades. Only safe team is the Texas Rangers, who own the AL West and have no legitimate competition. Rangers should remain in the #3 spot unless a collapse is on the horizon.

The other five divisions reveal 4 games or less between two leading teams respectively. The AL East is locked in a dead tie between the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees, who still rank one and two this week.

As the top five still remain the same, the Philadelphia Phillies have moved into the top ten and are going to fight the Atlanta Braves in the NL East till the end.

After five weeks in the top ten, Ozzie and his Whites Sox’s fell to #11 spot as the Minnesota Twins have leaped into first place in the AL Central. The Detroit Tigers hold third place within the same division, but even barely breathing the Tigers should never be forgotten about. Just ask last year’s Twins players.

In the NL Central, it’s a battle between the 9th and10th place teams, as the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds are still neck and neck, since all-star break.

Otherwise, the bottom feeders remain the same and will cause headaches for contending teams. It’s all these teams have left in 2010, but the power of elimination is no joke and that makes team’s like the Orioles still a factor.

It’s crazy to think that the two best teams in baseball both lost series last week to the same team.

That team was the Toronto Blue Jays who took two of three against the New York Yankees and followed that by sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays. The Blue Jays were a wake up call within the AL East, but not enough to dethrone the Yankees and Rays, who remain at one and two in our rankings.

Actually, this past week didn’t change much at all regarding the top 10, expect the San Francisco Giants moved to nine spot, the Cincinnati Reds moved into 10th and the St. Louis Cardinals are out of the top 10 for the first time landing then in 11th place.

The Philadelphia Phillies have won 13 of 20 but got bumped back two spots landing them at 13. The reigning NLCS champs are in the hunt for the division and the Atlanta Braves have reason to be worried.

Watch for the Reds as they play a three-game series against the Cardinals who are two games back in the NL Central. The Reds will either push away or get bullied, which will make for an exciting week.

The bottom feeders pretty much have elimination power at this point.

This week the top five teams remain, with the New York Yankees still atop the list. Following the Yankees are the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves. The Braves and Padres swapped spots, but that is the only real drama among the top teams in baseball.

The Chicago White Sox keep on winning, jumping two spots landing right behind the Braves.

Also, the Minnesota Twins are getting out of a mid-season slump, advancing the team’s ranking from the 10th to #7.

This weeks biggest shakers were the San Francisco Giants who after sweeping the Dodgers now rank 10th, after being 14th seven days ago

The biggest losers are the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels. These two teams have been staples in October baseball, but this season injuries have plagued both clubs. Tigers were in the top ten a week ago, but lost the nine spot and now sit at 17th place. The Angeles haven’t been a threat for a while, but now round out the top 20. Getting worse for LA who was 15th, but now 20th. Yikes.....

Over the next few weeks look for the Red Sox and Phillies to move-up on the list. These two ball clubs are as tough as can be and you can bet they will not go down without a fight

The dominant five teams remain the same, with the New York Yankees still atop of the list. Followed by the Tampa Bay Rays, Texas Rangers, Atlanta Braves and San Diego Padres.

The AL East still controls the top two spots and that might remain through the rest of the season.

Biggest trade move was the surprise announcement that the Los Angeles Angels picked up SP Dan Haren from the Arizona Diamondbacks. With this news, the Angels sent a message to their division rival’s Texas Rangers that the AL West is still up for grabs.

This week’s breakout team is the Philadelphia Phillies, who are playing really good baseball. The pitching has been dominant, even with the loss of SP Jamie Moyar. The Phillies need to remain this way, as they wait for 2B Chase Utley to get off the DL. Jayson Werth rumors are diminishing because it might cost the team a possible third World Series appearance.

The New York Mets are the big losers this week, dropping four spots in the rankings. The Amazins' have been nothing of the sort, with another unsuccessful road trip losing 9 of 11. Mets fans are starting to brace themselves, as their team has fallen out of Wild Card contention behind the Phillies once again.

Runners-up after a bad week are the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies will continue falling if they continue losing five games in a row. The Rockies dropped from the top ten to #13, not good news at all.

Question remains...can the top five teams stay hot down the stretch?

The trade deadline is on July 31st ...anything can happen, teams are hungry, but do they have what it takes or can they get it?