Note: These rankings were specifically written from the perspective of after all Week Two games, but without any Week Three games taken into account, which is why some of them may seem odd given the Week 3 results that have come out.

American League

1) Royals. Two weeks in, the Royals possess the two highest scores that have been seen league-wide. Their offense is tearing it up right now, and as long as that continues, any other considerations are virtually irrelevant.

2) Cubs. The Cubs put up a surprisingly mediocre score at Tin Can Alley. They’re still a force to be feared, but they’re a little short of utter dominance right now.

3) Braves.The Braves proved they could get it done against the Rangers this week, and assured us that their offense isn’t a complete pushover. So far their defense has held up well too; right now the big question is what sort of run output is going to be the norm for them.

4) Reds. After a surprisingly strong start, the Reds came crashing back down to earth in a game they couldn’t complete until the bottom of the sixth. Now, given the power on the Royals, this may be an extreme case for them, but in any case it does give one pause and force us to wait a few more weeks to see how strong this team will normally be.

5) Rangers. As could have been expected, the Rangers didn’t perform so well at a home field that favors power, not speed. If their strength is restricted to road games, then their impact on the season is going to be limited.

6) Devil Rays.Of the Devil Rays’ three coaches, one is completely missing, one is completely untested, and the third has only one game left. Their defense has been formidable so far and gives them a nice advantage, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see their stock continue to plummet in the coming weeks.

7) Angels. The good news is that the Angels are 2-0 to start the season. The bad news is that neither of their winning scores has been very high. If they’re to compete with the big dogs, they’ll need to start upping the output.

8) Rockies. The Rockies may be more comfortable than they were last season, but so far their otuput has still been pretty limited. Especially given they’ve been playing at the Alley, there’s still a lot of room for growth with this team.

9) Pirates. The good news for the Pirates is that their defense held up this game. The bad news is that they still weren’t able to score a whole lot of runs. Their prospects are looking bleak until they manage to punch through an opposing defense.

10) Orioles. It’s been a very rough start for a promising team. These early struggles are tanking their stock fast, and they need to see some success if it’s to rise back up.

11) Hornets. The situation remains the same for the Hornets.

National League

1) Monsters. The Monsters took most of Game 2 to really get going at TCA, but get going they did, and put up another of the NL’s best scores so far. They’re doing quite well on their own end, and the fact that their AI is also 2-0 is just the icing on the cake.

2) Giants. The Giants proved that Week 1 wasn’t a fluke by putting forth another solid performance in Week 2; even five runs surrendered to the AI wasn’t enough to bring them down. If they can keep this up, they should be able to cruise to a division title.

3) Diamondbacks. The D’Backs still aren’t scoring quite as much as one might expect from such a stacked offense, but the great news for them is that their defense also isn’t surrendering as many runs as one might expect. It’s held out well twice now, and if it continues to do so they’ll be in excellent shape.

4) Yankees. Week One was indeed a fluke as Crazy rebounded nicely in his second game. I’m not expecting a drop back down for this team, and while behind early, they stand a good chance of overtaking the D’Backs down the stretch.

5) Cardinals. Week Two was a significant one for the Cards, as they proved they can get it done on the road with a convincing victory. I’m still not sure how well they’ll do in their remaining home games, but at least in away contests, they’ve proven themselves to be contenders.

6) Twins. The Twins made a partial rebound this week, hitting several home runs at Steele to grab their first win. They clearly aren’t all the way back yet, though; there’s still room to recover more and their prospects on the road are questionable. The next few weeks should show if they’re to be true playoff contenders.

7) Marlins. After a very promising Week One, the Marlins fell right back down the next week, putting up a rather lower score in rather more favorable conditions while their defense didn’t do much. Their opening performance may just have been a flash in the pan.

8) Athletics. The A’s have put up similar performances in both games so far, but their defense fared a lot worse at home against an offense-focused team. If they’re to be serious contenders, they need to start upping their run output, and soon.

9) Melonheads. The Melonheads haven’t won any games yet, but at least they’ve kept it close so far. Their run output hasn’t been terrible even while they’ve left a lot on the table, and if they can ever put everything together, we’ll see some big scores and some wins from them. Their coach’s inability to reliably put everything together is the biggest thing keeping them down right now.

10) Brewers. A team that showed lots of promise in the preseason has struggled hard in the early games. They have the ability to bounce back, but potential does not equal reality, and the truth may be that there’s a lot more rough games ahead for them.

11) Fishes. The Fishes’ first games haven’t gone very well for them or left them with much of an upside to look at. Even if improvement does come later in the season, it may very well end up coming too late to matter.

12) Wombats. Things are looking about the same for this team after another week. Their biggest hope right now is that they can prove more effective on the road.