Well, the season has been zany, to say the least. All 30 teams in a quick dismissal sentence!
Al West:
Angels: Just this weekend they no-hit the Dodgers, and lost. They scored one run for the entire series. In a way, that's been a cataclysm for their entire season. Vlad's been hurt, Escobar's been hurt (or was it Saunders?), and their offense is putrid. Somehow, they lead the west, and for how much longer remains to be seen.
Athletics: Every year they are in it, and every year nobody knows why or how they keep doing it. Credit to Billy Bean for finding talent in every nook and cranny. It's not a team built for the playoffs though, especially since all of their closers keep getting injured.
Mariners: A popular pick for winning the west, until they actually started playing. They have been consistently the worst team in the entire league, and they've already fired their GM and manager Scott McCleran. The spiral downward continues, and only when the team is blown up can they rebuild.
Rangers: Every year they show offense, and every year they go nowhere. They have
the best story in Josh Hamilton. Milton Bradley has also rebuilt his career as well, but unfortunately it won't be enough. I wouldn't be surprised if both were traded in the near future.
AL Central:
Indians: One of two picks to win the division. However, due mostly to injuries to Fausto Carmona and Travis Hafner, ineffectiveness of Rafeal Bettancourt, and a bad start by Sabathia, this team is pretty much dead in the water. Many believe Sabathia will be traded very soon.
Royals: A trendy pick to contend for a while, but then they fell back to earth. Being no-hit may have had something to do with it (it was the start of their 10+ game losing streak). José Guillen decided to rant, and he and his team have picked it up (somewhat). If they can pick it up, they can finish as high as third (depends on how this now-insane race goes).
Tigers: The other of two picks to win the division. Early injuries to Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney was only a foreshadowing to their problems. With them down, they had no bullpen, so no lead was safe. To compound matters, their offense didn't show up. To that end, just yesterday they finally got back to above .500, and are breathing down the Twins and White Sox collective necks. If their offense can maintain itself, they will be in it.
Twins: Hunter leaves to sign with Angels. Santana is traded to the Mets for basically nothing. Nothing new.
Liriano coming off of Tommy John surgery has been ineffective. He's in the minors getting his confidence back, but whether or not he has the stuff he had before the surgery is doubtful. And as they do every year, the organization plugs holes. Right now, they are in the race. The team is basically winning by being clutch, but that can't keep up forever.
White Sox: I don't think anybody thought the Sox had a shot this year. Ozzie has been Ozzie, and he even threw his GM under the boss (I still believe the two planned it out) after losing a series to the Rays (right now both Chicago teams are 1-5 against the Rays). Their rotation has been really good, and their offense has shown up. Right now, they are the strongest of the three teams trying to win the division. Lou is right, the Sox should win the division by at least 5 games.
AL East:
Blue Jays: They had expectations to contend this year. They had reason to believe they could win the division. Really, there's no reason why they couldn't. They have one of the better rotations. Problem? No offense, at all. John Gibbons has been canned already, and he was replaced by Cito Gaston in what has to be a PR move. Fork is stuck.
Orioles: A feel-good story at the beginning of the year, though they've tapered off lately. For a while it looked like they would contend for a while (a while is not 2 weeks, I was hoping for at least 3 months) but they seem to be star-crossed. I don't know why, but they just can't seem to put things together.
Rays:
Seriously.
I guarantee absolutely
nobody saw this coming. They made some very quiet moves in the offseason. They acquired Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett from the Twins for Delmon Young. Rays have gotten the better end of that deal so far. They signed Troy Percival. Repeat,
they signed Troy Percival. For the first time ever, their bullpen looks scary. They locked up Evan Longoria long-term, and their roster is very solid. They only have one flaw, and that's them being young. Despite that, this team is for real.
Red Sox: Defending World Series champs. Attempted to acquire Santana, but didn't want to trade the prospects. Some may consider that to be a very dumb move, but the Sox look very smart for not doing anything. Already with one no-no under the belt, they have a real chance to repeat.
Yankees: Fear the power of the golden thong and the mustache! The circus that is this clown-team seems to revolve year in, year out. And with Mini-Me, errrrr, George Jr., errrrr, Hank making a lot of noise, they seem to be a lot of fluff. One way or another, they'll stick around. Some team always makes sure they do.
NL West:
Diamondbacks: It's the return of the NL worst!
The Diamondbacks were expected to contend, and contend they have. While leading the division at .500, they are also contending for the worst record to win a division (then again, all of these teams are). To their own defense, they've had a lot of injuries very early, including both hamstrings going on Eric Byrnes, and a cancer operation on Doug Davis. They'll be in it, simply because nobody else is. Randy Johnson is going for 300 wins (he's currently 12 shy), but there's no telling if he's going to make it.
Dodgers: The return of Joe Torre, and unfortunately his team has no offense to speak of. Granted, their offense is more or less dependent on Rafael Furcal, who is still on the DL. They will be in it, but they won't be a serious threat this year.
Giants: Other than Tim Lincicum, they don't have much to speak of. Unfortunately, I have no intelligence on this team, so I cannot comment.
Padres: Lucky for them nobody has decided to run away with the division (ok, the Diamondbacks did at first, but they fell back to earth since) which means they can finally make a run. With Peavy and Young healthy again, they are probably the strongest threat to the Diamondbacks.
Rockies: The Rockies are still trying to recover from the world series sweep. Tulowitsky (sp?) got hurt almost immediately after signing his long-term deal, and they have closer issues.
NL Central:
Astros: The club with issues. First it was banning Clemens from the facility because of getting a potentially bad rap, then it was Tejada with a birth certificate, and now it's Chacon throwing down his GM (and very promptly getting axed). This team has some real issues, and Lance Berkman can't get them past all of it by himself.
Brewers: Signing Eric Gagne was a mistake. To rectify it, they signed Solomon Torres, and he's been lights out as their closer. This is the fourth closer in the last two years now. Derrick Turnbow didn't work out, Gagne obviously won't work out, and Fransico Cordero signed with the Reds. This team has a lot of pop, but their rotation is shaky. They are expected to be in the Sabathia sweepstakes when he's put on the market. I'd like to know how, though, since he's going to want a lot of money.
Cardinals: This year's M*A*S*H unit. Everybody's hurt, and they are in it. Tony clearly knows what the hell he's doing if he's got this team this far ahead with not a single player healthy.
Cubs: By and large the division favorite from minute one. Soriano can't stay healthy though, and Big Z is showing signs of not being healthy. Hopefully that's just an apparition.
Reds: They already fired their GM, and it looks like they're going to be rebuilding soon. Ken Griffey Jr. recently his career homer 600, and that's probably the high point of the season. Whether or not Griffey or Dunn are traded this year remains to be seen, though I don't think either will be traded.
Pirates: This team is by default irrelevant. Their infield is still very flashy, but the rest of the team is "meh" at best.
NL East:
Braves: Tom Glavine went back to Atlanta, only to go on the DL for both the first and second time in his career. Smoltz is done for the year, and his career might be over. That's unfortunate, because he's been the face of that franchise for a long time. They have a chance to take the Phillies, because they have enough bats, but their rotation is really shaky.
Marlins:
Seriously.
I guess this one is less shocking, since we know this team can win with nothing. But still, this will mark the first time that both of Florida's teams will be a real threat this late in the season. It's kind of exciting.
Mets: After spinning their wheels out of the gate, and just playing terribly for basically the entire season, they canned manager Willy Randolph. I believe it was Billy Wagner that said they suck because they suck. It ain't Willy's fault that his players can't put it together. Also,
attention Mets fans. Get off Carlos Delgado's back.
Nationals: New ballpark, and that's about it. I have no intelligence on this team to make any comments.
Phillies: I'll say this now, Chase Utley will win the NL MVP. That'll make the third Philly in a row to win the award. They have the strongest team to win the division, even though probably everybody picked the Mets to win it. Hell, I know I did.
Topic: Baseball mid-season report (Read 1625 times)