Cleveland Indians drop one spot in ESPN MLB power rankings

The Cleveland Indians continue the quest toward October and remain near the top of ESPN’s MLB power rankings as September approaches.

The Cleveland Indians are sitting at No. 5 overall in the latest edition of ESPN’s MLB power rankings.

This comes after the Indians were settled in at the No. 4 spot and my prediction was that the only team that could jump the Indians could be the Oakland Athletics. Sure enough, the surging A’s are the team that knocked the Indians down a spot.

The Indians cap off a top five that includes all American League teams, while spots 6-13 are all in the National League. So that puts things into perspective for fans who may be upset the Indians don’t have a better record.

The goal right now should be to continue fighting for the No. 2 seed in the AL. That is currently held by the Astros who are six games up on the Tribe entering today. Home-field advantage isn’t always a sure key to victory, as we have seen in the recent past, but it is still nice to open up the postseason at home.

The race for the second seed will also include the A’s as they sit only 1.5 games back of the Astros in the AL West. Currently, there is a potential for the two AL Wild Card teams to have a better record than the Indians. The hot takes should fly about that but it is out of the team’s control.

The division remains wrapped up and the Indians are still headed for the ALDS. The key now is to fix the problems plaguing the team, from the bullpen to the lineup. It isn’t the usual September intrigue, but it is still fun to watch as the team gears up for a World Series run.