Talk about a dead thread. Well, seems like so far, my predictions aren't very good. Both LA teams are doing bad, I've been impressed with Texas so far also. I didn't expect them to be at the top. And the fact that only one team in the NL East is over 500. And the D-backs? Did not see that coming at all.

So, this has been an exiting season so far. The Braves are the only team that has a lead over 2.5 games. The Blue Jays, Dodgers, and Angels underachieving, and Colorado and Arizona are doing much better than expected. So, anybody got anything to say?

Cleveland is also doing better than expected.

The pirates, cardinals and reds are right up with the best teams in baseball so that might be the division to watch.

Yes we know that there are 4 very legitimate teams in the AL east as well, but that was to be expected. It was more a matter of which teams it would be.

Its funny how the bull pen was the big ? on the jays team coming into the season, and theyre the only part of the jays team that is holding it together.

Eddy is doing very though, and Lind has a surprisingly good average. Melky and bats are doing alright to, but the other guys who were expected to make the depth of the jays lineup dangerous are just way to inconsistent. Arencibia appears to be an occasional home run hitter with a low average at best, and Rasmus is the same, but with better defense. The middle infield truly is the weak spot in the lineup for the jays, and Lawrie hasnt been as good as people had hoped, and is now injured. As far as our starting pitching, it seems like it is last year all over again with all our starters besides Buhrle getting hurt at one point, and also under performing when healthy. It looks like the same old jays as years past. They just cant get timely hitting, They cant support a good pitching performance with some offense, and when the offence does explode, the defense sometimes lets them down. The jays were supposed to fill in their starting pitching with some much needed depth, but it seems like they really did not do that at all. Arencibia and Rasmus need to learn how to not strike out so often. They need to have more plate discipline and stop going for the home run every at bat. All in all, the jays need to stop trying so hard and get back to keeping things simple.
 
I did say I thought it would take a whole year for the jays to really learn to gel together and find their identity, so I am hoping that this is just a learning process for them and that they can find some rhythm and end the season on a high note. The jays are expected to get Luis Perez, Kyle Draybek and Drew Hutcheson back before the season is over, so hopefully those guys get some valuable time in the majors before the playoffs start. I really do hope that John Gibbons is gone at the end of this season because it has been a disastrous one, to say the least. I dont mind the staff the jays have up, but the manager just isnt getting it done and isnt leaving a memorable impact on the team. It would have been interesting if Francona had signed on as jays manager, but perhaps it would not have been a great fit. I am not certain which valuable managers are available right now, but it does appear that most of them are very capable of doing better than what Gibbons has done so far. I really dont have the confidence that the jays can pull off what Oakland did in the second half of last season, but I still think that the jays are capable of finishing the year strong and setting themselves up for next season, much like what Baltimore did 2 seasons ago. The talent is there to be successful, but the jays need to learn how to utilize their talent to the maximum if they truly want to be a competitive team.

So, how about those Cardinals? 
I really can't wait to see how the NL Central pans out.  I think that will be the most interesting division this year. 
I wish the White Sox were better this year.  I hope they can recover and make a possible playoff run (unlikely).

mlb789 :

I definitely agree on that. It is very close, and it would be pretty sweet for the teams with the top 3 records to come from the same division. The AL east has had the top 2 a bunch of times, but not the top 3 I don't think.

When you think about it, its a real shame that one of the teams for sure wont make it past the wild card game, because all 3 of those teams (the cardinals, reds and pirates) are all for real this year, and any one of them is capable of going to the world series. I think this years wild card games are going to be very intense. Not quite "infield fly rule" intense, but extremely close and competitive.

It is hard to believe that that is how Bobby Cox ended his career. In Atlanta, facing the defending world series champs, and having a blown call ruin a very competitive game that leads to the field getting littered.

... I still think the brawl at the world baseball classic between Canada and Mexico was more intense though. I loved watching that.

The Atlanta Braves, only team in their division to be over 500. The Nationals are failing.

I cant believe Cabby has a chance to back to back the triple crown. I just hope Davis backs off and falls apart in the second part of the season cause I would love for Cabby to make history.

malkin77 : Boy, would that be something. It would be awesome to see him go back to back with something like that.

Well, as far as standings, did anybody see it coming that Arizona would be ahead of both the Dodgers and the Giants? And look! Seattle isn't last in their division! Toronto is not doing what people think either. It was World Series bound at the beginning of the year, but they've dropped off big time. And don't count out those Rays. I could see them pushing through and winning the division.

So far, a great baseball season. No hitter for Lincecum, tons of bombs for Davis, the sudden breakout of Puig, and Miggy looks even better than he did last year. And for the all-star game, the moment for Rivera was pretty cool. When people from the dugout are recording a pitcher they are playing with, that is something special.

Did anyone notice that the Oakland Athletics have the best record in baseball? (Tied with the Tampa Bay Rays) So the Pirates were the first time to win 50 games and the A's are in first......

So, Peavy went to the Red Sox for Iglesias (to Detroit) and some other guy.  Good for them for dumping salary, but they could have waited a year if they thought he would still be good.

How does Seattle give up a 7-2 lead in the bottom of the 9th to lose 8-7? Despicable. I guess too much of winning is a bad thing. I guess there goes any late season bids at a play off spot.

mlb789 : The White Sox got Detroit's second best prospect. So for Detroit, it's a pretty big trade, since the big suspensions should be handed out soon, and Peralta, our short stop, will probably be on that list. And those Indians are not going away.
   So, the Tigers only 2 games up, and the Indians have won 6 straight now I think. And KC may be 6.5 games back, but not because they are losing. 9 straight wins for them. I just hope Cabrera is ok though. He's been having injury trouble through this last week. But two days off in a week could be just what he needed.

   Don't mean to double post, but this just has to be said. Miguel Cabrera is amazing. He just got the Tigers a walk-off hit to beat the KC Royals. Not to mention, getting two home runs off the best closer ever, Rivera. And he's doing all this while he can barely run. His range is even more restricted than normal, and he's probably the slowest guy in the majors as far as speed goes right now, but he knows how to drive the ball into the seats.

   And now, as we know, Ryan Brawn has been suspended for the whole season, along with a bunch of other players. But A-rod is the only one that appealed his suspension. Really though, is there any doubt that he used PEDs? Personally, I can't take the guy. I want him out. I don't think that will happen though. Not really sure what's going on with it right now either.

   And for the post season race, the Braves are still the only team over .500 in the division. But strangely, the Dodgers have taken the lead in the division, and are on a crazy run right now. As for the NL central, don't count out the Reds. They are only 3.5 games back, and as we have seen, the Pirates can fall apart late in the year. But I don't know if those Cardinals are going away anytime soon though.

   As for Texas and Oakland, this looks like it could come down to the wire. After a little streak of doing bad, the A's are playing well again. But neither team can gain any ground. Looking forward to see what happens there.

Who do you guys think will win the AL Wild Card? The first team will probably be the Rays. I am thinking (more like hoping) that the second team will be the Yankees.

Michael Young got traded to the Dodgers and Morneau got traded to the Pirates.

I do not know if the situation at first is good or not for the Pirates, but Justin Morneau should be a good addition to an already great Pittsburgh team. As for Young to the Dodgers, that's an accessory at this point. They've gone 45-10 in their last 55 games IIRC from a few days ago.

Something I'd like to bring up is the effect that pitchers brought in by Red Sox GM Ben Cherington has had on the team . Boston has been great all season, but the pitching staff has been shaky with all the injuries. Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey, the two best options for closer, are both out for the season it seems, along with lefty Andrew Miller, who was pitching very well before he got a foot injury. Clay Buchholz was another big blow to the pitching staff, but Cherington was smart to sign Jake Peavy, who has pitched wonderfully after a slew of spot starts. Matt Thornton, a lefty reliever, has also pitched well. Koji Uehara was signed at the beginning of this season to bring in a veteran arm, and the Sox have gotten their money's worth from him. Taking over the closer spot is not easy, but he's made it look like a piece of cake. Sure, the patching job of the staff will eventually lead to some hard decisions of who to keep and who they'll have to let go, but that's a problem for the future.

Oldschool41 : Nope. Yankees all the way!

Yankees don't have a chance IMO. If Tito (Terry Francona) can get the Indians to win more consistently, then they will win a Wild Card spot.

tgags123 :