We know how much you have missed your Power Rankings… Fear not, they have returned, just in time for the second half!

1. Yankees: In our first Power Rankings after a long hiatus due to site maintenance and the All Star Game, the Yankees are out in front. After doggedly chasing the Rays in the East for several weeks early in the season, Los Yanquis have finally proven themselves to be the best team in the division, league, and sport. However, their success does not come without concerns–injuries threaten to slow their pursuit of a second consecutive World Series.

2. Rays: As well as the Yankees have played, they will have to play a lot harder to put any sort of comfortable distance between themselves and the Rays. Tampa Bay wins with a well-balanced approach, and they have been hot over the last few weeks. They have come back from the All Star game just as strong, and are looking to take advantage of a close race.

3. Rangers: Several games ahead of their competition in the AL West, the Rangers have relied on the incredible bats of Vlad Guerrero and Josh Hamilton to carry them through the first half. Their are several grueling weeks to come, however, and they will need to step up their pitchin–oh wait, they traded for Cliff Lee. Look out for the Rangers in the second half.

4. Braves: Now that injuries have hampered their only real competition in the NL East (the Phillies), the Braves have turned it on in the middle of the season. Pitching, which everyone thought would be the Braves’ strength for the last two years, has finally come to Atlanta, and they are quickly putting distance between themselves and the rest of the division.

5. Padres San Diego is the best team in a very strong division right now, no small thanks to their pitching staff, which leads the league in ERA. However, to secure the NL West, they will need to hit much better. Adrian Gonzalez is the ONLY San Diego player in the top 120 NL OPS leaders. It is really, really difficult to put into words just how terrible that is.

6. Cardinals: With one of the most complete teams in the league, the Cardinals have been on a tear. It won’t be long before their lights-out play puts them higher on this list, as they came back from the break with a vengeance. Adam Wainwright is undefeated at home, and has more wins and a lower ERA than all but one player in each respective category. Chris Carpenter makes one of the best 1-2s in baseball.

7. Reds: Joey Votto, Scott Rolen, and Brandon Phillips sure can hit–but the Reds will need to pitch considerably better to catch up to St. Louis in the NL Central race. They are holding steady at the lower end of the Power Rankings for now, but don’t be surprised to see them fall a bit in the coming weeks; they just don’t seem to have the talent to continue at this pace.

8. Red Sox: The middle child of the AL East, the Red Sox keep winning games, but nobody seems to notice. Unfortunately for them, the old standbys in the Bronx and the young upstarts in Tampa have the division in a chokehold. They need to rebound quickly from several post-break losses if they want to be taken seriously as a contender in the AL East.

9. White Sox: The White Sox have the lead in the AL Central and are widening the gap every day. Paul Konerko has provided some surprising help for Chicago, who need only to keep up the good work to stay atop their division. Rumors are circulating of trade talks to pick up a player or two before the deadline, which will bode poorly for the perennially under-appreciated Miguel Cabrera and his second place Tigers.

10. Giants: The Giants supposedly have what San Diego lacks when it comes to players that can provide good hitting–however, Matt Cain’s awesome ERA of 3.3 has been wasted on a 7-8 record, thanks to awful run support (furthering evidence for my opinion that pitching wins are a useless statistic). If San Fran can actually put up more runs than 10th in the NL, they might have a shot at the division.