MLB Power Rankings Week 27: Brewers Hold No. 1 as Yankees Surge Behind Them
The Brewers Aren't Going Anywhere
Week 27 of the 2026 MLB season, and the top of the board is starting to look settled. Milwaukee sits at No. 1 with a 1.40 rating — 1.399 runs better than an average team on a neutral field — and the Brewers are up a massive 0.26 in a week. That 103-59 record confirms this isn't a fluke. The market is still catching up, as the 0.31 versus-market edge shows this team has been undervalued relative to the number all year.
The theme of the week: the clubs at the top are separating, and the middle of the board is a mess of upward arrows. Six teams inside the top 20 gained at least a third of a run in a week. That's not noise — that's late-season form pushing ratings around.
The Top Five
1. Milwaukee Brewers (1.40, +0.26 wk, 103-59, SOS -0.00). The Brewers are the story of the season, and the rating says they've earned it. Up 0.26 in a week, with a record that backs it up. The market edge of 0.31 tells you the books have been slow to respect this team all year. At some point, the number catches up. It hasn't yet.
2. Chicago Cubs (1.15, +0.23 wk, 89-73, SOS 0.03). Chicago is the No. 2 team in my ratings at 1.15 runs better than average on a neutral field, and that number jumped 0.23 in a week. This is a club the market hasn't fully caught up to yet. At 89-73 with a 0.49 mark against the number, they've been a coin-flip for bettors all year — which tells me the rating edge has been hiding in plain sight.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers (1.06, +0.24 wk, 100-62, SOS -0.04). The Dodgers grade out at 1.06 runs better than an average team on a neutral field, third in the league, and that number jumped 0.24 in the past week even against a slightly tougher-than-average schedule. But the market is pricing them 0.86 runs better than this rating implies, which makes them a clear sell at the current number.
4. New York Yankees (0.82, +0.32 wk, 93-68, SOS -0.03). The Yankees rate at 0.82 runs better than an average team on a neutral field — a strong number, but still well below their 1.24 prior-season rating, so this is a team performing under its own established baseline. The 0.32 jump versus last week is the real signal here: a sharp upward move against a roughly neutral schedule.
5. San Diego Padres (0.74, +0.47 wk, 91-71, SOS -0.01). San Diego sits 5th with a 0.74 runs-neutral rating, up a sharp 0.47 from last week, yet still below its 0.85 prior-season mark despite a 91-71 record. That gap says the market is pricing them closer to their peak than their current form, so I'm a cautious seller at anything near a full run of lay value.
Risers and Fallers
The biggest rank moves this week: Chicago White Sox climbed three spots to No. 10 on the back of a 0.21 rating gain, and Philadelphia jumped four to No. 12. Arizona and Washington each moved up three. On the other side, Pittsburgh fell four spots to No. 13 despite a 0.47 rating gain — a reminder that rank change and rating change don't always move together when the teams around you are surging too. Detroit dropped three to No. 9, Atlanta and Boston each fell two.
By raw rating movement, the biggest gainers were San Francisco (+0.70), Baltimore (+0.58), Houston (+0.56), Cincinnati (+0.52), and Seattle (+0.51). That's a lot of upward pressure from the bottom half of the board. The biggest decliner was Kansas City (-0.01) — and that's it. Nobody lost real ground this week. The board is rising almost everywhere, which is unusual this late in the season.
How the Board Sets Up
Tampa Bay (No. 6, 0.71, +0.36 wk, 98-64). The Rays are climbing fast and the books have been slow to fully price this club — a plus-0.12 margin against the market. With a 98-64 record, this is a live overlay if the rating holds.
Cleveland (No. 15, 0.17, +0.38 wk, 85-77). The Guardians are up 0.38 in a week against a soft -0.10 strength of schedule. The 85-77 record and -0.09 vs. market mark suggest the public has been slightly overvaluing them all year, but the trend is real.
Minnesota (No. 22, -0.46, +0.46 wk, 77-85). A clear buy-low profile: the Twins have climbed from a -0.87 prior-season rating, are priced at just -0.15 against the market, and face a near-neutral schedule. The rating is still below average, but the direction is right.
Oakland (No. 30, -2.03, +0.46 wk, 64-98). The Athletics are dead last and grade 0.69 runs worse than the market prices them. The 0.46 weekly jump is a blip on a team that's a clear sell whenever the number looks reasonable.
The Bottom Line
Milwaukee has the rating, the record, and the market edge. The Cubs and Dodgers are right there, but the Dodgers are priced 0.86 runs above what the rating justifies — that's the sell of the week. The Yankees and Padres are climbing hard, and the middle of the board is full of teams the market hasn't caught up to yet. With one week left, the numbers say the top is real and the value is in the risers. Trust the rating, not the reputation.
— Earl