Tonight marks this All Star game, and this time it matters. Not that I’ll be watching: I’ve got NCAA 2009 for the Xbox 360, and a dynasty with Tennessee seems imminent right now. I don’t really care who wins, but I will go out on a limb and say the AL will take the crown, since they’ve won, like, the last six or eight in a row. I can’t really remember how many, but that goes to show how little I care.

After being one of those really lame people that reads power rankings and gets upset with them, I’ve settled: I’m going to make my own rankings. I read ESPN’s and CBS’s power rankings each week, and every time I read I find myself asking the same ol’ questions: Why in the hell are the Yankees 4th on the list when they’re eight games under .500? Why is this team, who’s first in their division by three or four games ranked 18th, when a team who’s third in that same division is ranked 15th?

So here we are, the first week of Busted Play’s MLB Power Rankings. They’re not going to be like the power rankings you’ve read before — that is, there won’t be any biases. I’m also going to take into consideration what the team’s expected to do and what they’ve actually done. The Yankees, for instance, have some catching up to do. The Brewers, meanwhile start this thing off.

1.) Milwaukee Brewers: Raise your hand if you can tell me three guys on currently on this roster. They’ve won six in a row and are 10-1 in their last 11 games. And if you couldn’t name those three, I got five of ‘em for ya: Geoff Jenkins, JJ Hardy, Prince Fielder, Johnny Estrada and Kevin Mench, who are all hitting over three-hundred.

2.) Detroit Tigers: They hit a rift the other night, and when I say rift I mean they lost a single game. Their bats are starting to come alive, and Nate Robertson and Justin Verlander are looking like one of the better 1-2 pitching duos in baseball. When Jeremy Bonderman gets healthy, and if Kenny Rogers ever returns, this team could be destined for another World Series run.

3.) Boston Red Sox: Manny’s numbers are down — .242 with 6 jacks — and Dice-K hasn’t quite lived up to his billing (4.82 ERA). But Curt Schilling has been Curt Schilling and, even though Josh Beckett’s gotten all the props (7-0, 2.51 ERA), his buddy Tim Wakefield has been pitching better, minus the run support (3-3, 2.11 ERA). Oh, and in his 12 innings pitched, Papelbon has 10 saves with a 1.46 ERA.

4.) Atlanta Braves: They’re 22-12, and they’ve done it with Kyle Davis, Chuck James and Mark Redman sucking it up on the mound. Tim Hudson’s 4.1 with an ERA under two, and John Smoltz hasn’t let an aging arm bother him. Willie Harris, who was brought up from triple-A ball, is hitting .417 in his first ten games.

5.) New York Mets: Five guys in their line-up are hitting over .300, and it’s only time before David Wright gets going. Tom Glavine and John Maine have been great, and El-Duque has been quite the surprise.

6.) Cleveland Indians: The race in the AL Central should be close all year. C.C. Sabathia is 5-0, but I’m not certain this team has the pitching to keep up with the Tigers.

7.) LA Dodgers: They would be higher, but their recent skid drops ‘em. Juan Pierre’s only hitting .276, and Rafael Furcal is hitting a dismal .226. Your one-two hitters have to be more productive if you want to make a serious run in October.

8.) LA Angels: This team’s 14-6 at home but only 5-10 on the road. Big surprise for the Angels: Right fielder Reggie Willits, who’s had 58 at-bats and is hitting .373; one of three Angels players batting above .330.

9.) Chicago Cubs: They might be a little high with a 16-16 record. But they’re finding a groove, even if finding a groove meant playing their last nine games against the Pirates or the Nationals.

10.) Chicago White Sox: The pitching’s been solid enough to win more than 17 games at this point in the season. Their hitting, however, hasn’t been; of every day starters, Jim Thome’s the only guy batting over .300 this year.

11.) Arizona Diamondbacks: They’re two games over .500, which would merit a higher spot. But I just can’t take this team serious as a real playoff contender this year.

12. San Diego Padres: As long as Jake Peavy stays healthy and Greg Maddux stays decent, this team should be a playoff threat until the end.

13.) San Francisco Giants: Matt Cain’s 1-3 record isn’t indicative of how he’s pitched, and is hardly a concern out at the Bay. What is a concern is that, other than Bengie Molina, the Giants really don’t have much protection around Barry.

14.) Oakland A’s: They’ve won three of their last four, but their hitting’s got to be a concern. Dan Haren has a 1.89 ERA but only three wins, and Chad Gaudin’s 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA. Rich Harden’s expected to start throwing again today (May 11), and when he gets healthy, this pitching staff will be pretty unstoppable.

15.) New York Yankees: Yes, they’re this low. And yes, I know they just signed Roger Clemens. But they just 14-2 at home, and I think there’s too many holes for Clemens to try and fill.

16.) Minnesota Twins: It’s too bad Fransisco Liriano couldn’t be healthy this year. This team would be doing a lot better right now.

17.) Seattle Mariners: Their starting pitching is pretty solid. But they need King Felix to get healthy. Fast. Reports say he’ll be ready by next Tuesday.

18.) Florida Marlins: Everyone’ expecting that team from the second-half of last year to show up. Maybe letting Joe Girardi go wasn’t the right thing to do.

19.) Houston Astros: They started 1-5, so being here is obvious signs of progress. Carlos Lee has six home runs, but he hasn’t had the kind of production out to left field that everyone was expecting.

20.) Baltimore Orioles: They’ve had winning streaks: 3-straight, 4-straight, 3-straight. Unfortunately, they’ve also had losing streaks: 3-straight, 5-straight, 4-straight. At least they’ve both been pretty consistent, though.

21.) Philadelphia Phillies: What’s that, Jimmy? Though they’re not looking like the ‘team to beat in the East,’ they’re at least looking competitive right now, which is a far stretch from how they looked a month ago.

22.) Cincinnati Reds: The Reds seem to jump out of the gates fast every year, only to let their faithful fans of Cincinnati down after the first ten games.

23.) Tampa Bay Devil Rays: That offense can be fun to watch. They’re a young bunch that — and I know this is starting to sound old — is going to be a joy to watch one day.

24.) Pittsburgh Pirates: When the Pirates traded reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Braves for 1B Adam LaRoche, they were thought to have gotten the best of the deal; one month in, Gonzalez has appeared in 16 games and has a 1.17 ERA. LaRoche, meanwhile, has 35 strikeouts in 112 at-bats, and is hitting under .200.

25.) St. Louis Cardinals: It’s been a rough season for this bunch. The pitching woes were bad, and the loss of Josh Hancock was a tragedy. Hopefully this bunch can regroup.

26.) Texas Rangers: The bright side of being 14-20 is that you’re 14-20 in the AL West, where you’re only 4.5 games out of first place.

27.) Colorado Rockies: My guess is that Todd Helton will be wearing a different jersey by the time the All-Star break rolls around.

28.) Toronto Blue Jays: Well, at least you had the Raptors. That was fun while it lasted.

29.) Kansas City Royals: At least you’ve got the Nationals, yes?

30.) Washington Nationals: Hard to give this team such a poor rating. Nine wins at this point of the season might very well be considered a success, given the little talent they have is on the DL.