The weekly rankings:

1. Detroit (1) – Expect to hear more about 1984 than a reading of George Orwell’s famous book.
2. New York Mets (3) – Carlos Beltran (33 homers) is once again a prime-time player.
3. New York Yankees (4) – Imagine how much you could have won betting that Chien-Min Wang (13-4, 3.58) would have a better ERA and more wins than Randy Johnson at this point.
4. Boston (2) – You can’t keep losing key players and expect to hold of the Yankees and their unlimited supply of money.
5. Chicago White Sox (6) – All of a sudden their starters don’t look so good, which is a big problem.
6. Minnesota (5) – As good as they’ve been they are still a year away from being a factor for the entire season.
7. Oakland (10) – The A’s are No. 1 when it comes to one-run victories (21).
8. St. Louis (8) – Crazy stat: In 70 games since May 12, Cards go 35-35 and increase their lead in NL Central by 3½ games.
9. Toronto (7) – Sorry, there’s no refund for signing free-agent A.J. Burnett (2-5, 4.84), who’s getting $55 mill for 5 years.
10. San Diego (11) – Todd Walker at third? What’s wrong, was Scott Spiezio not available.
11. Cincinnati (9) – A developing sub-plot for Cincinnati is a hunt for a Reds October, which would be its first playoff run since 1999.
12. Arizona (13) – Carlos Quentin begins with a bang, becoming fourth player to hit four homers in first nine days in bigs.
13. Los Angeles Angels (12) – John Lackey (10-6, 2.95) gets our vote for most underrated AL pitcher.
14. Texas (14) – Considering he won his debut with Rangers, we’ll hold off on the Kip Wells jokes. … for now.
15. Los Angeles Dodgers (21) – Not quite three aces, but Brad Penny, Greg Maddux and Derek Lowe give Dodgers best threesome in NL West.
16. Mariners (16) – Staying in the race keeps them ahead of Storm (but behind Seahawks) on area fans’ radar.
17. Colorado (18) – Not a good sign when you are trading for two Royals pitchers.
18. Houston (20) – Juiciest tidbits about deadline deals involved Astros trading Roy Oswalt and Roger Clemens.
19. San Francisco (15) – Nine-game losing streak was longest since 1996 and only one short of team record.
20. Milwaukee (19) – Let the Tony Gwynn Era (that’s junior, FYI), begin.
21. Philadelphia (24) – How does a team with Bobby Abreu, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins fail to win at least half of its games?
22. Atlanta (17) – Braves, with NL-low 22 home victories, should consider staying in hotels full-time.
23. Florida (23) – A little salt in Mariners’ fans wounds: Miguel Olivo is hitting .291 with 12 homers.
24. Baltimore (22) – If Ervin Santana and Erick Aybar are as good as everyone thinks, O’s will be kicking themselves for not trading Miguel Tejada for them.
25. Washington (25) – GM Jim Bowden faces real pressure now of having to sign Alfonso Soriano.
26. Cleveland (26) – Bullpen is so bad they’re thinking of asking Charlie Sheen if he wants to be the closer.
27. Chicago Cubs (28) – When you’re going nowhere, losing Kerry Wood (shoulder) for the year isn’t a devastating blow.
28. Tampa Bay (27) – Season won’t be a loss if super-prospect B.J. Upton finally shows he’s got it together.
29. Pittsburgh Pirates (29) – Freddy Sanchez trying to become first Buc to win a batting title since Dave Parker did it in 1977 and 78.
30. Kansas City (30) – Fair trade? Mark Teahen wins player of week the same week as the player he was traded for (Carlos Beltran).

Reliever Rafael Soriano was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Friday. To make room on the 25-man roster, the club optioned reliever Emiliano Fruto to Triple-A Tacoma.

Soriano, 26, was placed on the disabled list July 29, retroactive to July 20, due to right shoulder fatigue. He is 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA and two saves in 42 appearances. He has not pitched since July 19 at Yankee Stadium.

Fruto, 22, is 0-1, 5.68 over 14 games and three stints with Seattle this
season. He has allowed 22 hits and 12 runs in 19.0 innings with the Mariners.

On a previous post a couple of you had some questions. I figured it would be more informative (and easier!) to answer them here:

Q. Why not do a deal at the trading deadline? – jamesdhiggins

A. The Mariners weren't the only team not to make a trade deadline deal. 14 teams did not make a trade on Monday, including the usually active Oakland A's and the Arizona Diamondbacks, who, like the Mariners, are in a race when many expected them to be back of the pack.

This tells me that it was not a buyers market. Plus, the Mariners can't afford to part with their top tier talent because there's not a lot of depth right now in the organization of those guys.

And, I honestly think the Mariners, despite the impovement they've shown this year, are still a year away from being serious contenders.

Q. What ever happened to Matt Lawton? – jshmtred

A. Lawton was waived by the Mariners earlier this season and has not been picked up by another team.

Q. Roberto Petagine is with the Rainiers but not playing every day. What's going on? – servant

A. Petagine is sort of in a pickle. He's a first base-DH guy and the Rainiers have a logjam of players for that position. So, that makes it hard for him to get at-bats because the organization wants playing time going to guys like Bryan LaHair, Chris Snelling and Matt Clement.