Power Polls: Where the Orioles stand in media rankings

Orioles fans live to tell the world their favorite baseball team is unloved by the experts and pundits. But is it really true? Do the baseball intelligentsia hate the O’s, or is that notion unfounded?

A review of Power Polls from national media shows us the O’s aren’t as unpopular as we’d believe.

MLB.com Power Rankings (6th)

This week’s experts rankings have the O’s firmly in the top 10 of the league. MLB.com doesn’t list its experts for the rankings, and offer no explanation for the expert’s ranking. But they must know what they’re talking about, given the Orioles are 6th, right?

ESPN.com Power Poll (9th)

The World-Wide Leader isn’t quite as bullish on the O’s, placing them in the Top 10 of the league, but just barely. From the explanatory text by Camden Depot’s Matt Kremnitzer : "Aided by a .455 BABIP, Caleb Joseph has done a more than adequate job of filling in for Matt Wieters."

SI.com: Power Rankings (7th)

No explanatory text, but I did find this interesting: High Vote: 6th. Lowest Vote: 17th. So, someone at SI.com thinks the O’s are in the bottom half of the league. After the last few games, there’s an argument to be made...

FoxSports.com Power Rankings (17th)

Our first outlier of the group. But, given they do their rankings solely on Baseball Prospectus’ playoff odds, it’s no surprise. Because computers hate the Orioles. It is known. "Bigger surprise: Chris Tillman and Bud Norris combining for 22.2 innings and 20 earned runs, or Miguel Gonzalez and Ubaldo Jimenez combining for 28.1 innings and 5 earned runs?"

CBS Sports Power Rankings (11th)

The Eye has the Orioles out of the Top 10, but does profess love for Adam Jones. That’s nice.

USA Today Power Rankings (6th)

The Nation’s Newspaper loves Adam Jones as well, but shows a little more love for the team with a 6th place ranking. "Adam Jones on a tear at the plate -- 20 hits in last 35 ABs."

Yahoo! Sports Power Rankings (13th)

Gotta admit, 13th feels about right. Although the Y! writer seems to be a bit over waiting for Matt Wieters’ return.  "Matt Wieters’ recovery has devolved into him getting his elbow rubbed while two trainers, two clubbies, a beat writer and that loud lady from the left-field bleachers just sit and stare at him."

Grantland.com The 30 (7th)

While Grantland spends an entire column focusing on the value of defense, the O’s aren’t mentioned. Odd.

Bleacher Report Power Rankings (6th)

Everyone’s least favorite sports portal does love the O’s, ranking them 6th. "Former Baltimore slugger Nelson Cruz may be off to a hot start in Seattle, but Adam Jones has been the best hitter in the American League to kick off the 2015 season."  Oh, and you can thank me for linking to a de-slideshowified version in the comments.

So most of the national polls have the Orioles in the Top 10 of Major League Baseball, and one of the two that do not is generated by playoff odds projections, which do not tend to be friends of the Birds.

In the words of Sally Field, "You like me, right now, you like me!" We’ll check back next week and see if that’s still the case.