MLB Power Rankings

The trade deadline looms closer by the day. Which team has made the necessary upgrades to compete for the October push?

1. Boston Red Sox (last week: 1): Steve Pearce (.340 BA, .429 OBP, .939 OPS in 47 at-bats) has been a nice addition to the Red Sox. Boston also acquired Nathan Eovaldi from Miami to bolster their rotation more and remain interested in relief help from the likes of Brad Ziegler and Craig Stammen.
2. New York Yankees (2): Losing Aaron Judge for three weeks is going to suck for New York, especially if they are to try and catch Boston in the race for the AL East. The Yankees are hoping that J.A. Happ will be the pick-me-up that the Yankees need for their starters; lefties are batting .188 against Happ this season with a paltry OBP of .239. Maybe the Yankees can seek temporary outfield help?
3. Houston Astros (3): Houston, we have a problem? Losers of five of their last six (including a home sweep at the hands of last-place Texas), losing Jose Altuve to the 10-day DL has the defending champions worrying a bit. The Astros just acquired Ryan Pressley from the Twins and Houston may make one more move before the deadline's over.
4. Chicago Cubs (4): Chicago's hoping that Cole Hamels can leave the woes of hitter-friendly Globe Life Park behind him. They'll need him to be an important piece to their World Series run: Jon Lester (3.06 ERA) is the only Cubs starter from Opening Day to currently hold an ERA under four.
   
5. Oakland Athletics (6): Before getting swept in Colorado, the A's ran off a six-game winning streak that included a comeback win from eight runs down against the Rangers. Oakland's hoping that Jeurys Familia will help shore up the bullpen a bit, but the A's might look into getting a starter.
6. Los Angeles Dodgers (7): With Manny Machado in tow, the Dodgers are set on making it back to the World Series. Can they get a low cost reliever and stay under or around the luxury tax threshold in the process?
7. Seattle Mariners (5): The Mariners actually made their biggest move long before the trade rumors picked up. They acquired speedy Denard Span and closer Alex Colome from the Tampa Bay Rays. Colome (1.07 WHIP, 3.09 ERA, 9.26 K/9 in 25 appearances with Seattle) has settled down in his new role as the eighth-inning set-up man for Seattle after a rough patch early.
8. Milwaukee Brewers (8): Will getting Mike Moustakas from Kansas City help the Brewers in their playoff push? Milwaukee missed out on Machado, so they settled for the next best hitter on the trade market. Milwaukee's also looking for another starter and is eyeing Zach Wheeler and Matt Harvey.
9. Colorado Rockies (-): After sweeping the Oakland Athletics, the Rockies are throwing their hat in the postseason conversation. Adding Seunghwan Oh as a late-inning set-up man will help Colorado, especially with the Rockies playing five straight playoff contenders after their road series in St. Louis.
10. Philadelphia Phillies (9): Philadelphia just missed out on Machado as well. However, they added Asdrubal Cabrera as a back-up plan (and as a versatile infielder). Cabrera (18 homers, 58 RBIs) hopes to boost the Phillies to their first NL East title since the days of Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.

In The Hunt: Arizona Diamondbacks, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Angels