1980 Mid-Year Power Rankings

S Tier: The Reds, Yankees, and Giants are the only teams with win percentages above .650 and all three teams have clear paths to the playoffs. These are the cream of the crop in baseball right now. The only chink in the armor for any of these teams as far as the playoffs would be for the Reds - their division rival St. Louis is only 5 games back and has been playing strong lately after a slow start. However, even if the Cardinals were to overtake Cincinnati, the Reds would still have the pole position for the Wild Card. As for New York and San Francisco, each has at least a 10 game lead over the next best within their divisions. It would take an epic collapse for either to miss the playoffs at this point.

A Tier: These are the remaining prime playoff contenders. We'll have to break these down a bit more.

Milwaukee, the reining champs, have a strong case to be in the S Tier. They have a .631 winning percentage and an 8 1/2 game lead over the Royals in the AL Central. Furthermore, they have the second best run differential (124) in baseball. They are likely a lock to make another playoff appearance.

Detroit is currently the holder of the AL's wild card spot; which they will need to hold onto to have any chance of playing in October as they are unlikely to catch the Yankees in the AL East. However, their wild card lead is razor thin at only half a game. There are 5 teams that are within 5 games of Detroit and all of them will be fighting to take that last playoff spot.

The AL West is, yet again, a tight race between Oakland and California. Currently, the A's hold a 2 1/2 game lead, but both teams have led the division at various points so far this season. Whomever ends up finishing second in the West may end up coming out on top of the Wild Card as the Angels currently sit only half a game back from the Tigers.

On to the NL, the Braves at one point this season led their division by a commanding 10 games, but a rough second half of June reduced that lead and saw the Expos creep back to within 5. However, Atlanta started July strong and now hold a 6 1/2 game lead. The Braves will need to keep playing strong to hold off Montreal and keep the division lead.

St. Louis, as mentioned earlier, started the season slowly. Only in late May and June did their season really take off and put them in possession of the NL's Wild Card spot. Their 52-34 record is third best in the NL and they have a 5 1/2 game lead over the next best team for the WC.

B Tier: These teams have some bright spots but their playoff hopes are bit dimmer than the A Tier.

To be fair to the AL teams on this list, they really belong in a B+ Tier as they all have a somewhat decent shot of overtaking the Tigers for the Wild Card spot. The Red Sox, Royals, Indians, and White Sox are all within 3 1/2 games of the Tigers for the WC. All will have an opportunity to make a move, but the Royals may be a bit misplaced here as they currently have a -34 run differential, the 5th worst in the AL.

On the NL side, the Pirates might belong in a B- Tier as their recent trade history (shipping rotation cornerstone Josh Haun to the White Sox for a prospect haul) indicates that they have thrown in the towel on the 1980 season. The Padres are the last remaining B Tier team and they are putting together a quiet but successful season. After finishing the '79 season with a .426 winning percentage they currently sit at 48-41 which gives them a much improved .539.

C Tier: These teams are all, for now, below .500 and don't have much hope of making the playoffs unless they start to put some long winning streaks together and overtake their better-positioned division rivals. Of these teams, the Cubs, currently at 42-43, have the best case to move up a tier before season's end.

D Tier: These teams... aren't doing well. Some are rebuilding. Some are still building. But all had an opportunity to pick highly in the most recent draft. Minnesota currently sits at 39-46 and could very well move up a tier before season's end.

Playoff Predictions:

AL East: New York

AL Central: Milwaukee

AL West: California

AL Wild Card: Oakland

NL East: Atlanta

NL Central: Cincinnatti

NL West: San Francisco

NL Wild Card: St. Louis