Rays Climb Into Top 5 of MLB Power Rankings as Junior Caminero's MVP Case Grows

It was a great week for the Tampa Bay Rays. Before falling in a series over the weekend to the Houston Astros, the team capped off a 9-game winning streak to put them up 4 games ahead of the New York Yankees heading into a crucial series at Tropicana Field.

With great surges usually come great rewards, and that's exactly what happened in this week's latest polls.

On Monday, Bleacher Report dropped its latest power rankings, and the Rays moved up for the second straight week. After sitting at number 7 on the list for 3 straight weeks, the team moved up to 6th last week and now have found themselves cracking the top 5. B/R writer Joel Reuter gave the Rays MVP candidate a ton of credit for their movement upwards.

"The Junior Caminero Show continued in earnest this week, as four more home runs brought his total to 11 in the span of 11 games. He was also the first player to officially join the home run derby field, making that announcement amid Tampa Bay's nine-game winning streak. Despite losing to the Astros on both Saturday and Sunday, the Rays have opened up a four-game lead in the AL East."

Caminero refuses to slow down, and it's going to be a thrilling second half of the season if he can continue to do what he has done the past few weeks. If he finds himself close to 45 homers for the second season in a row, it will be extremely difficult not to have him as a frontrunner for the American League's top award.

Will Leitch of MLB.com gave the Rays a huge boost this week following the big winning streak and now views Tampa Bay as the 3rd best team in baseball. "Junior Caminero, who turned 23 on Sunday, came into the day having hit 11 homers in 11 games, the youngest player ever to do that and only the 12th player ever. Seriously, he may be making himself into a very legitimate MVP candidate. And he is absolutely the face of one of the most exciting teams in the entire sport."

This once again makes me stress the opportunity that is sitting right in front of this organization. The idea that Caminero should be considered for AL MVP should remind the Rays front office, especially Eric Neander, that this team is special and has the right foundation to make a deep run if the right supporting pieces are added. The young third baseman is certainly making a case to surpass players such as Jose Ramirez of the Cleveland Guardians as the best hot corner in the game today. 

Once Caminero steps onto the field for the All-Star game, he will make Rays history as the first player to start in two All-Star games during his career. If he shows off on a national stage there as well as in the Home Run Derby, it won't just be Tampa Bay fans screaming for the club to be as aggressive as possible. Baseball fans are going to want to see a talent like that in the Fall Classic.