Hamilton and the Rangers: Can they be stopped? [MLB Power Rankings]

The Rays were on top of last week's Power Rankings, but they've cooled off over the past week, thanks to a couple key injuries. Who's taken over? You'll find out shortly, but it's a team we've seen at or around the top every week so far.

Some key baseball story lines right now: Matt Kemp and Josh Hamilton duking it out, both making an early run for the Triple Crown in their respective leagues. WIth the way they're both playing right now, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

Without further ado, your Power Rankings await:

1. Texas Rangers (Last week: 2) - Hamilton is just being Hamilton, and the Rangers are enjoying a ridiculous +80 run differential. This is definitely the team to beat in the American League, and I don't think it's even close right now.

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (3) - The Dodgers are still flying high, and that lead the folks over at MSF to name Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp the best hitter/pitcher combo in baseball. I agree 100%. Check out the whole list, it's pretty good.

3. Washington Nationals (4) - The Nationals are an absolute juggernaut right now. Stephen Strasburg is the real deal, and is a strong candidate for NL Cy Young. The only problem is that his innings limit might slow him down towards the end of the year. That would be a shame.

4. Baltimore Orioles (6) - Color me shocked. The Orioles are still hanging around, and they're actually beating up on some damn good teams in the process. How long is this actually going to last?

5. Atlanta Braves (7) - They just swept the Cardinals, another one of the best teams in the National League. This team is definitely legit, and will be contenders until the end in the talented NL East.

6. Tampa Bay Rays (1) - Injuries are starting to get the better of the Rays, and they've got a quite pedestrian 8-8 record vs the rest of the AL East. They're 13-6 against everyone else, but there are a lot more divisional games left.

7. St. Louis Cardinals (5) - Carlos Beltran is actually the one guy almost having a Kemp-ian year, barely outpacing the Dodgers slugger in both HR and RBI for the time being. Better than Pujols, eh?

8. New York Yankees (8) - They're welcoming back Andy Pettitte to a rotation that badly needs help, but is he really the answer? In other news, Robinson Cano, the best 2B in baseball, is absolutely en fuego right now.

9. New York Mets (10) - Both NY teams cracked the top 10 again, as the Mets' rebuilding process seems to be going pretty well right now. David Wright is leading the NL with a .400 batting average.

10. Cleveland Indians (9) - They're still leading the AL Central, despite dropping 6 of their last 10. Rough outings by both Ubaldo Jimenez and Justin Masterson against the Red Sox certainly didn't help.

11. Toronto Blue Jays (11) - Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow are a lethal 1-2 punch, and in case you haven't noticed, John Farrel is one of the best managers in baseball. You might want to write that down.

12. Cincinnati Reds (14) - Joey Votto is just being Joey Votto, which means he's been an absolute beast lately. Also, Aroldis Chapman is just out there making people look stupid. For example, Bryce Harper. Click here to check it out.

13. Oakland Athletics (15) - You might not know who Josh Reddick is, but the former Red Sox OF hitting the baseball better than almost anyone else in baseball right now, with an OPS of 1.126 in the month of May.

14. Miami Marlins (17) - It looks like Steve Cishek won't be closing for much longer, as Heath Bell's replacement already blew two saves. On a good note, Giancarlo (formerly Mike) Stanton is heating up.

15. Detroit Tigers (12) - The Tigers are actually underperforming right now, but the good news is that they're still only 1 game behind the Indians for the division lead. Look for them to get hot soon and run away with the division.

16. San Francisco Giants (13) - Melky Cabrera has really stepped it up as of late for the Giants, and he's now 4th in the NL with a very solid .348 batting average. Madison Bumgarner leads their staff with 5 wins.

17. Philadelphia Phillies (16) - The offense is struggling, especially without Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. If you're wondering how a team can struggle when they have as many aces in their rotation as the Phillies do, that should help explain it.

18. Arizona Diamondbacks (18) - If you missed Dan Majerle's awesome catch off Gerardo Parra's ground rule double, you need to check it out. It's one of the best sports videos of the week, I promise.

19. Chicago White Sox (19) - Chris Sale's takeover of the closer position lasted only one day, and the Sox realized they're better off with him back in the rotation. The closer position is now a bit of a question mark. 

20. Pittsburgh Pirates (25) - If it seems like I mention their woeful offense every week, it's because I do. They're terrible. Still, the Bucs are only 4 games out of first place, and might hang around for a while with their solid pitching.

21. Houston Astros (20) - After a 5-game winning streak last week, they've now dropped 5 of their last 7. This Astros team is young, streaky, and will need more pitching other than Wandy Rodriguez.

22. Seattle Mariners (22) - King Felix and Brandon League are having pretty good seasons, but the Mariners struggle from the same thing as always: They simply don't have enough talent to back up their ace.

23. LA Angels of Anaheim (23) - Even Jeff Weaver, who has been one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past few years, struggled against that ridiculous Rangers lineup, giving up 8 runs on Sunday.

24. Milwaukee Brewers (24) - The Brewers have a -29 run differential, and that's the simple reason they're not winning. Call this a "bridge year" for them, although it might be a pretty long (multi-year) bridge.

25. Boston Red Sox (26) - My beloved Red Sox are simply an embarrassment. They're banged up a bit, but there's no support for the manager, and the pitching has been atrocious. At least the lineup is doing ok, right?

26. Chicago Cubs (27) - Ryan Dempster's league-leading 1.02 and Bryan LaHair's 8 HR might be the lone bright spots on this team right now. Their bullpen is especially struggling, and it's costing them some wins.

27. Kansas City Royals (29) - They're won 2 in a row, but lost 6 of 8 before that, and are still a pretty bad team. The DID beat the Red Sox a couple times though. Not that there's anything impressive about that.

28. Colorado Rockies (21) - The Rockies are on a slide right now, and it might cost manager Jim Tracy his job if they don't turn it around soon. They'll need more help from everyone in their lineup not named Carlos Gonzalez.

29. San Diego Padres (28) - Their slugging percentage as a team is .328, worst in baseball. There are 18 players who have BATTING AVERAGES of .328 or more. The Padres are SLUGGING .328 ... that's awful.

30. Minnesota Twins (30) - I hate to harp on the same thing every week, but now the Twins are down to a -66 run differential. That's the worst in the league by a whopping 37 runs. Holy crap, that is terrible.

What's your take? Who's ranked too high or too low? Which teams do you expect to improve or take a dive soon? Let us know in the comments below.