The Yanks appear to have another vintage squad of the oughts.  Playoff bound, but not enough to get it done in October.  Robinson Cano has to be one of the most unheralded superstars at the second base position.  If he does it for 10 more years, the sky is the limit in that ballpark…I seriously can’t get enough of Jon Lester.  He has no hit stuff every time and he is fun to watch…If Tampa has any hopes of getting back to post-season play, they need to have a couple awesome months from James Shields.  I see a pitcher who has nearly the same skill set as he did in 07 and 08 but has failed to win in any of his last 6 starts.  He is a great buy low candidate…Doc Halladay appears to being staying put and I believe its a good move.  I can’t even imagine opening day in Toronto next season without him toeing the slab.  Scott Downs has struggled since returning from the DL and is in jeopardy to losing his closer role to Jason Frasor…Chris Tillman’s debut was one to forget, however the other two pieces of the Erik Bedard trade (Adam Jones, George Sherrill) have been more than excellent.  Jim Johnson should close out games for Baltimore following the trade of Sherrill.

Justin Verlander has been so unreal this season that its hard to believe.  He will push for 280 k’s.  Curtis Granderson will crush his career high in homers this season but his BA (.259) pales in comparison to his last two seasons.  I hate when managers lead off guys that can run but are better suited for the middle of the order (Kinsler, Sizemore, Soriano, Hanley Ramirez in past years)…The Twins are in serious trouble with Kevin Slowey calling it a season.  Their rotation went from potentially frisky to unbelievably awful in a few months.  They should be sellers, but honestly who would you sell?…The ChiSox had a rough weekend in Detroit and may have put them sliding on the slippery slope.  There just isn’t a lot to like here…Cleveland has officially called it a season.  Expect Jhonny Peralta and Victor Martinez to go in the next two days…I thought Luke Hochevar had turned the corner with his last few outings.  But he proved to me that its always what have you done for me lately.  Mixed leaguers, run away.  Do not walk.  Wow.  This division is horrible.

Speaking of horrible divisions, lets get into the roundup of the AL West.  Kendry Morales is doing his best Vladimir Guerrero impression.  I just looked up and Anaheim is 20 games over.  Wow.  Vlad has 396 career jacks and looks like he will have a tough time getting to 400…  The Rangers are somehow hanging around with their classic jacksmoke rotation.  But wait, the entire division is too…Seattle has made a great decision on selling.  Jarrod Washburn is a professional and I think he is a good back end starter.  But just remember when you thought Nick Blackburn was the second coming six weeks ago.  Washburn isn’t that much of a difference…Billy Beane does it again with the Matt Holliday trade.  Brett Wallace has to play in the American League.

Despite the division races being close heading into August.  I see no changes here.  We will have the same four teams in the playoffs and New York and Boston will duke it out in the ALCS just like they did in 2003 and 2004.  Tampa Bay is easily the league’s third best team and will not see the playoffs.  The AL doesn’t even sniff how good it was in any of the past 5 seasons.

There is no doubt that Philadelphia improved immensely with the acquisition of Cliff Lee.  However, this is a huge stepdown from Halladay.  Philadelphia’s ace is another lefty and back end starters J.A. Happ and Jaime Moyer are also southpaws.  This may not seem like a huge ordeal but a potential matchup with Chicago or St. Louis in the post-season would be a downer.  Both are very right hand heavy and crush lefties.  Of course, Philly has all the good left handed hitting.  Their bigger issue may be the fact that Brad Lidge will be closing out playoff games.  I know he was historically unreal last year but sometimes you just gotta cut your losses…Hanley Ramirez appears to be the biggest threat from Albert Pujols winning the triple crown.  He should win the batting title and keep AP from winning all three.  When Matt Lindstrom returns from the DL, he should not be pitching in high pressure situations…I feel the Braves have a little friskiness going but now Rafael Soriano and Mike Gonzalez have decided to struggle and give away leads.  Atlanta knows that feeling all too well in recent years…S.O.S. Carlos Beltran.  Ok, when was Jose Reyes due back?  Washington has a solid 10 road victories and an empty new ballpark.

The Cardinals struck gold with the import of Matt Holliday and the Cubs appear to be hitting their stride with the return of Aramis Ramirez.  These two are huge rivals and just may finally meet in October.  That would be awesome…Milwaukee really needed Cliff Lee and Houston really needed Roy Oswalt to avoid the shelf.  Both had the wrong answer and are non contenders the rest of the way…Cincinnati continues to be a major disappointment.  They should sell but all their export candidates have high salaries…Pittsburgh made a few trades and judging from their history probably did not get any better.  Prospect Tim Alderson is a little exciting though (Sanchez trade) .

Is it just me or did the Dodgers peak way too early?  Chad Billingsley seems to be a shadow of his earlier season self.  Thank God for Clayton Kershaw.  This team really needs Jonathan Broxton to stay healthy…Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Garko are not the answer for San Francisco.  The Giants cannot lose any of Lincecum or Cain’s starts for the rest of the year…I am tired of hearing about how great Marquis, De La Rosa, Hammel and Cook have been.  It is boring and not built to last into October…Arizona didn’t get nearly for Felipe Lopez what Pittsburgh got for Freddy Sanchez.  Sometimes its all about who is traded first or how close it is to the deadline…San Diego phenom Mat Latos may have lost that second t from his name, but hasn’t lost either of his last two despite playing for the Fathers.  He looks legit…

The Dodgers and Phils are locks and I can’t imagine the NL playoffs without the 2009 Cardinals.  They appear to have that swagger again.  I expect the Cubs to be the other playoff team and I don’t think its that close.  The Cardinals matchup much better with LA than Philly so that is something to keep in mind.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 6:25 pm and is filed under standings look. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.