The New York Yankees have 41 games left to play in 2024 before trying their luck at this year’s World Series, and a recent power ranking has them as the No. 1 team in baseball approaching the final stretch of the year.
Currently the No. 2 seed in the American League, the Yankees (71-50) are having another successful run through the regular season, and superstar outfielder Juan Soto’s presence has made their unit scary on paper and even more so on the field.
Yankees given top spot in recent CBS Sports MLB power rankings
Matt Snyder of CBS Sports propped up the Yankees as the team to beat in the MLB, saying this about their recent slump and how it factors little into their potency as World Series threats:
“The Yankees have a losing record since the beginning of July. In fact, they have one of baseball’s worst records since June 14. Only the White Sox, Marlins, and Rockies have been worse. Losing a home series to the Trout-less Angels? Get outta here, man,” Snyder wrote.
Are the Yankees stronger than a handful of juggernaut teams in the MLB?
How have the Yankees done against the best teams in the Majors in 2024? The other three playoff teams in the AL are the league-leading Cleveland Guardians (71-49), the Baltimore Orioles (70-50), and the No. 4-seeded Minnesota Twins (67-53). The Yankees are 12-7 combined against those three ball clubs. They’ve gone 4-6 against the Orioles, 2-1 against the Guardians, and a perfect 6-0 against the Twins.
Baltimore may have had New York’s number up until this point, but the Yankees have a regular season track record that would have them favored to win a playoff series against Cleveland and Minnesota at the least, and a great shot against Baltimore. Out in the National League, the two teams everyone is talking about are the NL-leading Los Angeles Dodgers (71-49) and the Philadelphia Phillies (69-50). Against those two teams, the Yankees are 4-2, owning a 1-2 record against the Dodgers and an unstained 3-0 record against the Phillies.
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The record shows that New York is well equipped to take on the best of the best when the lights shine brightest this fall. From a team perspective, they’ve been an elite power-hitting unit with the second-most home runs in the big leagues (183), but alarmingly have not converted many doubles (185) or triples (15) on the year, ranking No. 18 and No. 10 respectively in both categories among all franchises.
Encouragingly, they have two undisputed top-five AL MVP candidates in outfielders Aaron Judge and Soto leading their charge at the plate with unprecedented efficiency and power to show for it. While their pitching staff has gradually taken a step back from their hot start to the campaign, most notably being Marcus Stroman and Nestor Cortes, they have a young burgeoning star in Luis Gil giving them ace-level production, and their ace, Gerrit Cole, working to regain his AL Cy Young Award-winning form back. The Yankees have the star power, record, and head-to-head advantages to be deemed the best team in baseball. They’ll have to prove it come October and November.
