Which surging AL squad broke into the top 3?

Another week has gone by in the 2022 MLB season and it seems no one will be able to top the Yankees. However, the Astros are certainly trying.

Houston will cap off a nine-game stretch against New York teams with one more against the Yankees on Thursday night. It won six of those first eight games, beating the Mets four times and the Yankees twice. Will this surging Astros team be able to further entrench itself among the top clubs in the majors?

Our expert panel has combined to rank every team in baseball based on a combination of what we’ve seen so far and what we already knew going into the 162-game marathon that is a full baseball season. We also asked ESPN MLB experts David Schoenfield, Bradford Doolittle, Jesse Rogers and Alden Gonzalez to weigh in with an observation for all 30 teams.

Week 11 | Preseason rankings

Record: 56-20

Previous ranking: 1

The Yankees and Astros played one of the best series of the season over the weekend, splitting four games. The Yankees won the first on Aaron Judge’s walk-off hit and then the finale on his walk-off three-run homer. In the third game, three Astros pitchers combined for a no-hitter — the first time the Yankees had been no-hit since 2003 … another combined no-hitter by the Astros. And if you’re going to challenge the single-season record for wins, you find ways to win like the Yankees did on Monday against the A’s, when two catcher’s interference calls in the same inning against Oakland’s Sean Murphy led to the go-ahead rally in the sixth inning. –– Schoenfield

Record: 47-27

Previous ranking: 4

Given the narratives surrounding the Yankees and star slugger Judge, it’s clear that as we approach midseason, Judge is the front-runner in the early AL MVP race. But on sheer merit, the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez continues to close the gap. Alvarez’s continued hot hitting has already brought him even with Judge from a numbers standpoint, with the lefty masher leading in the major slash categories, holding a 20-plus-point bulge in OPS+…