MLB Power Rankings: Giants, A's among elite for Bay Bridge Series

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The world is getting back to normal, and travel has started to pick up in the United States in recent weeks. But at the rate Major League Baseball's best teams are going, there might not be a lot of long flights required to cover this year's World Series. 

The power in MLB right now is in the West, with the Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres looking like the three best teams in the National League. The American League has a lot more parity, but at the moment, the two top teams by winning percentage -- the A's and Houston Astros -- sit in the AL West.

It's a very, very good time to be a baseball fan in California, and it should be an intense summer up and down the coast, starting this week. The Dodgers play the Padres early in the week and the Giants and A's square off over the weekend, with full ballparks finally allowed in the state. Before we get to all that drama, here's our biweekly look at all 30 teams:

30. Diamondbacks (20-53): What they are doing seems impossible. They've lost 17 straight, 31 of 33 and 40 of their last 45. That's a 144-loss pace that they've been playing at for a month and a half. It's not getting easier, either. Their next four opponents are the Milwaukee Brewers, Padres, St. Louis Cardinals and Giants. 

29. Orioles (23-48): Outfielder Cedric Mullins is making an All-Star push, with a .319/.389/.552 slash line and 13 homers. 

28. Pirates (25-45): Bryan Reynolds, the one who got away, is having a very, very nice season for a last-place club. The former Giant has a .394 OBP and 12 homers. 

27. Rangers (25-46): They should jump the market and get a haul from a team looking for starting pitching -- which is all of them. Kyle Gibson has a 2.09 ERA, and the 33-year-old isn't going to be around when this rebuild is over.

26. Tigers (30-42): At least their future appears bright. Top pick Spencer Torkelson recently got promoted to Double-A and has a 1.008 OPS across two levels this season.

25. Twins (30-41): Tyler Rogers' brother could be the best reliever moved at the deadline. Taylor Rogers has 41 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings, with a 2.73 ERA and seven saves. 

24. Rockies (30-43): After years of mashing at Coors, Charlie Blackmon is finally slowing down. The 34-year-old has just four homers this season and none have come on the road. 

23. Royals (32-38): Seven years after they faced off in the World Series, Buster Posey and Salvador Perez are going to be opponents in the All-Star Game. Perez has 18 homers and leads all AL catchers in voting. 

22. Nationals (33-36): Not a lot is going right here, but they did find something when they moved Kyle Schwarber to the leadoff spot. Starting with that doubleheader against the Giants, Schwarber has nine homers in 36 at-bats. 

21. Mariners (38-36): They have vastly outperformed their run differential, unlike the team two spots ahead of them here. They've been outscored by 46 runs already but sit above .500 because they're 16-7 in one-run games.

20. Braves (33-36): The big one-year deal they gave Drew Smyly hasn't worked out. He has a 5.11 ERA and his strikeout rate is almost half of what it was with the Giants. 

19. Marlins (31-40): They've outscored opponents by 18 runs and have played some pretty good teams -- including the Giants and Chicago Cubs -- tough, but they can't sustain success. They had an eight-game losing streak a few weeks back that included three losses to the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

18. Cardinals (36-36): Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt have combined for 23 homers, but both now qualify as just "very good" rather than "superstars." They're tied in on-base percentage at .320. 

17. Reds (35-35): The NL batting race remains a battle between two teammates headed for the All-Star Game, possibly as voted-in starters. Nicholas Castellanos is batting .344 and Jesse Winker is at .341; nobody else in the NL is above .322.

16. Phillies (34-35): Bryce Harper had a 1.063 OPS in April, but it's just .677 over 27 games since that month ended. He's probably not healthy, but still, that's not exactly what the Philadelphia Phillies are paying for. 

15. Angels (36-36): Shohei Ohtani has six homers in his last six games and the Los Angeles Angels have won nine of their last 13, staying without shouting distance in the AL race. If they can hang around .500 until Mike Trout returns, they could become awfully dangerous. 

RELATED: Why Giants sent Wade Jr. to minors amid roster crunch

14. Blue Jays (35-35): Vlad Jr. is going to flirt with a triple crown as a 22-year-old. He's second in the AL in batting (.337), tied for first in homers (23) and leads the league with 59 RBI.

13. Yankees (38-33): The Jameson Taillon move has been a disaster. He has a 5.59 ERA in 13 starts for a team that desperately needed starting depth in the offseason. 

12. Brewers (40-32): Of the top dozen teams by winning percentage, they're the only one that has been outscored this season. It would help if Christian Yelich -- three homers in 40 games -- found his old form. 

11. Indians (39-30): Jose Ramirez might be the most underrated player in baseball, even though he's finished top three in MVP voting three times. He's doing it again, with 16 homers and a 138 OPS+ for a team in desperate need of his punch. 

10. Cubs (40-32): Patrick Wisdom finally slowed down after he left San Francisco. He's batting .188 in his last 12 games but does have a couple more homers, giving him nine in 66 at-bats. 

9. Mets (36-29): Before Friday's Giants-Phillies game, a couple players from either side talked about how they really just want Jacob deGrom to stay healthy. Even his peers marvel at what he's doing: four earned runs in 67 innings; six RBI in 26 at-bats.

8. Red Sox (43-29): Old friend Christian Arroyo is becoming a fan favorite in Boston. The former Giants' top pick launched a pinch-hit, go-ahead grand slam last week and celebrated by Euro-stepping his way across third base. 

7. Padres (42-32): Petco Park was absolutely rocking once it opened to full capacity on Thursday, and that seemed to get the Padres back on track. They swept the Reds, although Fernando Tatis Jr.'s shoulder acted up just before the start of another series with the Dodgers. 

6. Rays (43-30): They responded to a six-game losing streak by calling up Wander Franco, a 20-year-old shortstop who is the game's best prospect. Franco had a .367 OBP, seven homers and six triples in 39 games in Triple-A despite being seven years younger than the average player in his league.

5. A's (44-29): There's a good chance the Bay Bridge Series this weekend is played between the best team record-wise in each league. The A's will prepare for their visit to Oracle Park with four games against the last-place Texas Rangers. 

4. White Sox (43-29): The better executives will tell you not to pay for saves in the offseason, but the White Sox are looking pretty smart for shelling out for Liam Hendriks. The former A's star has 18 saves, a 2.08 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 30 1/3 innings. 

3. Astros (43-28): Winners of seven straight, they very quietly have taken over the top spot in the AL. Jose Altuve is quieting opposing crowds with a .296 average and 16 homers. 

2. Dodgers (44-27): They've won 10 of 12 and should get Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Corey Seager back in the lineup over the next week. So yes, that yearly Dodgers run seems to be underway. They'll host the Giants next Monday.

1. Giants (46-26): They reached 45 wins faster than all but one team in franchise history and they're coming up on their 50th day in first place in a loaded NL West. That's more than enough to keep this team that does just about everything well in the top spot.

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