The Boston Red Sox are real and they are spectacular. After winning 24 of their last 27 games to move a season-high 10 games over .500, the Red Sox trail the New York Yankees by just two games in the American League Wild Card standings.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow also out-dueled Yankees general manager Brian Cashman ahead of Monday's MLB trade deadline, acquiring catcher Adley Rutschman from the Baltimore Orioles.
Add all that up and you get a Boston ballclub that has leapfrogged the boys from the Bronx in Will Leitch's latest power rankings for MLB.com.
He has the Red Sox ranked sixth overall, up one spot from the pre-deadline rankings.
"Whether or not Craig Breslow feels vindicated by how the Red Sox have come on in the last month-plus, it’s obvious this team is going all-in at this point: When he returns from the IL, Adley Rutschman is exactly what this Red Sox team needs. This year … and next year," Leitch wrote Wednesday.
Meanwhile, he has the Yankees falling from No. 5 to No. 7 in the power rankings.
"The Yankees added two big hitters -- including Luis García Jr., who was leading the NL in slugging when the Yankees acquired him -- but it was just as telling that they called up their top prospect, George Lombard Jr., the day after the deadline," Leitch noted. "They want to fix this offense, and fix it now. If they can, imagine what it looks like when (or if?) Aaron Judge returns."
However it's worth noting that FanGraphs still gives the Yankees the best odds (9.4%) of representing the American League in the 2026 World Series. The Red Sox (6.1%) will look to close that gap when they visit New York at the end of August for a four-game series at Yankee Stadium. Boston currently holds a 5-4 advantage in the season series between the blood rivals after a four-game sweep at Fenway Park before the All-Star break.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers remain the top two teams in the power rankings, with the Tampa Bay Rays (No. 3), Atlanta Braves (No. 4) and Chicago Cubs (No. 5) rounding out the top five.