Stephen Strasburg, No. 37, at Nationals Park during his MLB debut on June 8, 2010.

We are now about two months into the major league baseball season and I thought I would take the time to prepare my own power rankings for the top ten teams. I know power rankings are subjective; even though the division leaders should be in these rankings –and in this case they are—I have offered my own take on what I think will happen based on what we have seen so far.

Additionally, I’m happy that two of my favorite teams are in the top ten list. One I expected to be there; I am a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan and they took us on a great ride last year by sneaking into the playoffs and winning the World Series. But that was not a fluke. They have a great lineup, even without Albert Pujols, and better pitching than I thought. We’ll see if they can maintain what they have accomplished thus far—they seem to be slipping a bit—but to my mind they fully deserve their high ranking. My surprise is the Washington Nationals; I thought they were still at least a year away from contending but with the combination of a maturing bunch of flamethrowers on the pitching mound and an offense that so far has scored just enough runs they look good. I really doubt if they can sustain what they have done thus far, but I’d really like for them to be in the hunt in August and September. At some level I think it is a combination of good things happening for the Nationals and the decline of the Phillies as the class of the NL East. We’ll see what happens.

And then there are the teams I would love to see in the top ten but don’t have the capability, at least this year. Near the bottom for so long, the Kansas City Royals looked to be in the hunt this year with a talented troupe of young players starting to make an impact. I’ve also been a Royals fan for decades—ever since I used to go to the games in Kansas City when I was in college in Iowa in the 1970s—and I loved watching that team rise to greatness behind the likes of George Brett, Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Hal McRae, Brett Saberhagen, and the like. But it has been a long time since they contended. I thought they might do so this year with such players as Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Jonathan Broxton but it doesn’t look like it will happen this year. We’ll see.

Whew! What a ride! As a life-long St. Louis Cardinals fan I loved the outcome of the World Series on Friday night, a Cards victory for the team’s 11th championship in Major League Baseball. It was agony for me getting there. I had to turn off game 6 for a while, after David Freese dropped an easy pop-up at third base, frustrated at the probability that the Cards would lose to the Texas Rangers. The Rangers! Oh my! Fortunately, I turned the game back on in time see the Cardinals make a remarkable comeback.

I have seen only two other Woirld Series games that came close to that game 6 in terms of excitement. The first was in 1975 in the 6th game of the Red Sox-Reds series when Carlton Fisk hit a 12th-inning home run that he essentially willed fair as it zoomed down the left-field line toward the foul pole in Fenway Park. The second great game 6 that I recall was the 1986 Red Sox-Mets World Series when Bill Buckner missed Mookie Wilson’s grounder to first base in the 10th inning and allowed Ray Knight to score. Those are the games that exhaust you as a fan, regardless of which side you are rooting for. The Cards-Rangers game 6 was in the same category.

I’m delighted that the Cardinals came from behind to win game 6, and as I told everyone who would listen afterward I was looking forward to game 7 but I could do without the drama. I just wanted the Cardinals to come out and take a commanding lead and win the series without the theatrics. And they did!

We have the winter to recover, and I suspect we’ll need it. Tony LaRussa announced his retirement after the series—what a way to go—and love him or hate him LaRussa’s affect on the Cardinals as an organization and as a team on the field has been profound since he arrived in St. Louis in 1996. His coaching staff may be replaced as well, including his longtime pitching coach and confidant Dave Duncan. Duncan is probably worth several wins to the team every year as he nearly always seems able to get superb pitching performances from a lot of players that other teams have given up on. Duncan’s personal situation is difficult and I feel for him and his family—his wife is battling cancer—and he may well take this opportunity to focus elsewhere, at least for a while. No doubt, this leadership team will be missed in St. Louis.

Then there is Albert Pujols. Will he stay or will he go? I certainly hope he stays but I understand his priorities. He is the face of the modern Cardinals in the same way that Stan Musial was the face of the mid-twentieth century Cardinals. For that reason alone I hope he continues with the Cards. He is, moreover, the greatest player of his generation. I believe he deserves to be paid as such. It’s not a question of greed; I believe it is really a question of respect. Do the Cardinals respect him enough to acknowledge his stellar accomplishments—head and shoulders above every other player currently in the game—by rewarding him with the highest paying contract in the current majors? Lots of people are talking about discounts for the hometown team and asking, “how much money does he really need?” Fair enough, but I think Pujol’s contract negotiations are really about respect and acknowledgment of his place as by far the best player in the game. I recognize it might be hard for the Cards, a middle-market team, but the owners really should reward this consumate professional with the best contract in baseball.