Dodgers ranked No. 1 by MLB.com

MLB.com released its first power rankings after the 2026 trade deadline on Aug. 5 and put the Los Angeles Dodgers at No. 1. The list placed the Philadelphia Phillies second, followed by the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox in the top five. (mlb.com) MLB.com said the rankings were meant to reset the field after the deadline and size up clubs for the stretch run. The Aug. 5 ranking landed two days after Major League Baseball’s trade deadline and after a market that MLB.com described as producing major-name movement around the league. (mlb.com) Deadline coverage on MLB.com highlighted deals involving Tarik Skubal to Los Angeles, Adley Rutschman to Boston, and additions by Philadelphia before the site published the updated order. ### Why did MLB.com move the Dodgers to the top? MLB.com’s Aug. 5 rankings opened with the Dodgers at No. 1 in what it called the first post-deadline edition. The site said the trade window had passed and it was time to “prepare for the stretch run ahead,” with the rankings meant to show “who’s set up for a postseason run.” (mlb.com) Los Angeles had already been near the top of MLB.com’s rankings before the deadline. In the July 27 edition, MLB.com had the Dodgers in the No. 2 spot, and in its inaugural 2026 rankings it had them at No. 1, showing the club entered the deadline period as one of the league’s strongest teams before the latest reshuffle. (mlb.com) ### Which teams made up the new top five? The Aug. 5 MLB.com list put the Phillies at No. 2, the Cubs at No. 3, the Tigers at No. 4 and the Red Sox at No. 5 behind the Dodgers. That order gave the National League three of the top four spots, with Detroit and Boston representing the American League in the top five. (mlb.com) Boston and Philadelphia were both tied closely to deadline headlines on MLB.com’s transaction coverage. MLB.com’s deadline tracker highlighted Rutschman’s move to the Red Sox and said the Phillies added Luis Arraez and reliever Brooks Raley before the rankings were published. (mlb.com) ### What exactly are these rankings measuring? MLB.com described the Aug. 5 edition as a snapshot of club strength after “roster upheaval” at the deadline. The framing was not standings-based alone; it was presented as a read on which teams were up, down, or newly positioned for the final weeks before October. (mlb.com) Other outlets published similar post-deadline ranking packages within a day of MLB.com’s list. Fox Sports posted its reshuffled rankings on Aug. 4, and Bleacher Report also published a league-wide post-deadline order, underscoring that the exercise had become part of the immediate reaction to deadline moves across baseball media. (mlb.com) ### How much of this was driven by the deadline itself? MLB.com’s own transaction tracker said nearly 50 deals were completed on Aug. 3 alone, with a flurry announced in the final minutes before the 6 p.m. ET deadline. That volume gave ranking writers a changed landscape to work from when they revisited all 30 clubs on Aug. 5. (mlb.com) The site’s deadline coverage singled out Skubal’s move to the Dodgers and Rutschman’s move to the Red Sox among the biggest developments. The Athletic, in a separate recap published Aug. 5, said the deadline’s aftermath was already showing up in debuts, position changes and roster churn around the league. (foxsports.com) ### Where can readers find the full list now? MLB.com published the complete post-deadline rankings on Aug. 5 under the headline “MLB Power Rankings after 2026 Trade Deadline.” The article was written by Will Leitch and lists all 30 teams in order after the deadline reset. (mlb.com) Aug. 6 games now provide the next test for the clubs at the top of that order, and MLB.com’s rankings page remains the league’s published snapshot of how it viewed the field entering the stretch run. (mlb.com 1) (mlb.com 2)