Kuzul

The MLB All-Star break has arrived, and while our attention will turn to the festivities in San Diego for the next few days, we are also just a couple of weeks from this year’s Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

So how do our MLB power rankings shape up heading into the break?

The Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers continued to limp their way into the break, and we again have a new No. 1 team after the Cleveland Indians charged to the top spot last week but were unable to hold on.

The American League East is shaping up to be a great race as the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox both trail the Baltimore Orioles by just two games, and all three teams find a spot inside the top 10 in this week’s rankings.

Further down the line, the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals are three teams trending in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, the Houston Astros continue to climb, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are again showing signs of life.

One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.

Included in this week’s rankings is a look at where each team ranked on Opening Day, as well as its highest and lowest position so far this season.

We’ve also named a first-half MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year for all 30 teams.

With that, here’s a look at where all 30 MLB teams stand at the All-Star break.

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With the MLB All-Star break nearly upon us, the vast majority of the players who comprise this week’s All-Dud team will have to wait nearly a week before getting a shot at redemption.

For some, the chance to step away from the game and clear their heads will rectify what ails them at the plate. For others, such a lengthy layoff will only exacerbate their struggles. Sadly, there’s no over-the-counter remedy available to cure players of the funk, and what works for one may not work for another.

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The two teams that played in last year’s World Series lost key pitchers this week. New York Mets starter Matt Harvey was lost for the year, while Kansas City Royals closer Wade Davis landed on the 15-day disabled list.

Both players were major contributors to their respective teams.

The better news came from Davis who is eyeing a return on July 16 and will skip the All-Star festivities to focus on his health.

For other teams, though, MLB’s Week 14 had a positive undertone. Which teams might those be?

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From David Ortiz to Johnny Cueto to Jose Bautista, the Dominican Republic is an MLB star-producing factory unlike any other.

This season, Big Papi, Johnny Beisbol and Joey Bats are among the 106 Dominicans who have graced the biggest stage with their presence.

In the rankings that follow, we take a look around the Latin American world to zero in on the five countries that have supplied the most major leaguers in 2016.

In addition to ranking the countries in order of total number of players, we highlighted all the veteran heavyweights like Ortiz and the rising youngsters like Julio Urias of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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The Chicago Cubs finally relinquished their stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in our MLB power rankings last week. Now, for the second straight week, we have a new top team.

With one week to go until the All-Star break and teams starting to get a better picture of whether they’ll be buyers or sellers at the deadline, trade talks figure to heat up once the second half of the season begins.

For now, there continues to be a good deal of shuffling in these rankings, with a handful of teams separating themselves from the pack but the vast majority hovering around the .500 mark.

One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.

Here’s a look at where all 30 MLB teams stand.

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While Homer Simpson is sure to be a fan of the No. 13 (a baker’s dozen, resulting in one extra donut), the number has long been thought to be unlucky. Elevators in office buildings around New York City and other locales skip what should be the 13th floor entirely.

Chances are that the players who earned a spot on this week’s All-Dud team would agree it’s a terrible number—even if it’s the one on the back of their jerseys.

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All of a sudden, Cleveland has turned into the center of the sports universe.

Just weeks removed from the Cavaliers winning the 2015-16 NBA championship, the Indians are still riding a 14-game winning streak. And entering play Saturday with an AL Central-leading record of 49-30, you could argue they are World Series contenders.

Heck, Cleveland could play .500 baseball the rest of the way and probably would still make the playoffs. So it’s more than safe to pencil them into the October picture.

It’s probably reasonable to do it in erasable pen.

Other cities too saw their playoff hopes affected. Which cities might those be?

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The month of July has arrived, which means the MLB trade market is set to kick into high gear ahead of the Aug. 1 non-waiver trade deadline.

There is still a lot to be sorted out over the next few weeks, as teams on the fringe of contention are forced to make the tough decision between buying, selling or standing pat.

While those eventual decisions could alter the trade market as more teams become clear-cut sellers, for now we can already get a good read on what the trade block is expected to look like.

Ahead we’ve provided a look at the top 15 MLB trade targets for the 2016 deadline, with players ranked based on the contributions they could make to a contender and the value they provide from a financial standpoint.

We’ve also given a quick rundown of others players who could be made available as the month progresses and a few honorable mentions who did not quite crack the top 15.

This list took some last-minute tweaking after Fernando Rodney (SD to MIA) and Bud Norris (ATL to LAD) were both traded on Thursday, as both players were originally set to be included among our top 15 trade targets.

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For the first time all season, we have a new No. 1 team in our weekly MLB power rankings.

The Chicago Cubs have had a stranglehold on the top spot since Opening Day, but between a pair of series losses last week and a 9-11 record in their last 20 games, the gap has officially closed.

The Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles comprised the rest of the top five last week, and one of them managed to leapfrog the Cubs. That’s as much as we’ll say here.

A little further down the rankings, the Houston Astros and Cleveland Indians are each on the rise this week, while the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels dropped considerably. Both are starting to look more and more like deadline sellers.

One thing remains true: These rankings are a fluid process, with teams moving up or down based on where they ranked the previous week. If a club keeps winning, it will keep climbing—it’s as simple as that.

Here’s a look at where all 30 MLB teams stand heading into the week of June 27.

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Spoiler Alert: For the first time in weeks, Prince Fielder does not appear on our All-Dud Team. Texas’ husky designated hitter played his way out of consideration. But don’t think for a second we don’t have any players making another appearance on a team nobody wants to play for.

With summer’s official arrival and July 12’s All-Star Game drawing ever closer, expectations from most fans are that players should be in midseason form by now. But the athletes who made the cut this week prove that’s not true for everyone.

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