Backwards thinking

By now, you know me and how I think. It's a little different in B3-land, as I tend to skew towards prospects, the Minor Leagues and the Draft. Case in point: the MLB Standings. While most would marvel at the Yankees playing .640 ball or the Cardinals closing in on clinching the NL Central, I look at it backwards -- or is it upside-down? In any case, when someone asks me, "Who's No. 1?", I'm not looking at the best record. Quite the opposite. I'm looking at the worst record, or who's going to get the No. 1 pick in the 2010 Draft.

So I've got a little spreadsheet going with the "reverse standings" on it. I've decided to share it with you. Keep in mind that I haven't bothered to figure out tiebreakers yet for teams with the same record (didn't seem worth it with a few weeks in the season left). I am also aware that free agent signings will wreak some havoc with the second half of the first round. It also doesn't include the compensation picks for the Texas Rangers (14a) and Tampa Bay Rays (30a) for not signing their respective 2009 first-round picks. This is what it looks like heading into today's games. Unless there's a surge in the nation's capital and/or a collapse in KC, it's looking like the Nats will get the top pick for the second year in a row:

	Team	W	L	PCT	GA
1	Washington	47	90	0.343
2	Kansas City	52	85	0.380	5
3	Pittsburgh	54	82	0.397	7.5
4	Baltimore	54	79	0.409	9
5	San Diego	61	78	0.439	13
6	Arizona	61	78	0.439	13
7	Cleveland	60	76	0.441	13.5
8	Oakland	61	76	0.445	14
9	Toronto	61	76	0.445	14
10	NY Mets	62	75	0.453	15
11	Cincinnati	63	74	0.460	16
12	Milwaukee	66	71	0.482	19
13	Houston	67	70	0.489	20
14	Chi Sox	69	70	0.496	21
15	Minnesota	69	68	0.504	22
16	Chi Cubs	69	67	0.507	22.5
17	Atlanta	70	67	0.511	23
18	Seattle	72	66	0.522	24.5
19	Tampa Bay	72	66	0.522	24.5
20	Florida	72	65	0.526	25
21	Detroit	75	61	0.551	28.5
22	San Francisco	76	62	0.551	28.5
23	Texas	76	60	0.559	29.5
24	Colorado	78	60	0.565	30.5
25	Philadelphia	77	58	0.570	31
26	Boston	79	58	0.577	32
27	St. Louis	82	57	0.590	34
28	LA Dodgers	82	57	0.590	34
29	LA Angels	81	55	0.596	34.5
30	NY Yankees	89	50	0.640	41