The season is winding down, and most division winners are firmly locked into their places. However there are still 12 teams marching around 8 open chairs, waiting for the music to stop. The team that has to feel the most pressure is the Detroit Tigers, who have spent most of the season casually atop the division, and now suddenly they can hear the Twins and White Sox coming up behind them and it might be too late to start pedaling harder.
The National League Wild Card still takes a mathematician to figure out who has a chance and who doesn’t, so I think we’ll just have to let the dust settle and figure it all out when it’s over.
Rank (Pv) |
Team |
Record |
Comments |
| 1 (2) |  |
89-56 | Matsui is back and Sheffield is supposed to be back some time within the next week, and if they are able to have a positive impact offensively, then watch the Bombers steamroll the competition in the playoffs. |
| 2 (1) |  |
90-55 | Just like Joe Torre on the other side of town, Willie Randolph probably won’t get the respect he deserves for coaching the Mets this season, even though their winning percentage is up .100 from last year. If they win, people say the team had too much talent to lose. If they do lose, then it was his fault. |
| 3 (5) |  |
86-60 | Liriano came back and looked every bit his old self. For all of 31 pitches. After number 32, however, he felt a pop and his season was over. The good and bad news of it is that the MRI came up negative, which, on one hand, means that he won’t require Tommy John, but, on the other hand, means that his injury might not be able to be fixed by doctors. |
| 4 (4) |  |
84-62 | Tuesday night I started working on this article and write that Freddy Garcia (much like Jeremy Bonderman) has been pretty bad lately. I listed all the stats, and the declining win-loss percentage, and then Wednesday came along and Garcia took a perfect game into the eighth inning, and finished the game allowing only one hit. It goes to show you that anything can, and frequently will happen, no matter how stacked the stats are against it. |
| 5 (3) |  |
87-59 | Bonderman has been awful as of late. The Tigers have lost the last five consecutive games he’s started, and six out of the past seven. Over his past 10 starts his ERA has gone from a very respectable 3.66 to a very mediocre 4.18. |
| 6 (6) |  |
83-62 | Eric Chavez will be crucial to the postseason success of Oakland. This year has been a down year, thus far, but all will be forgiven if he explodes in the playoffs like we all know he is capable. |
| 7 (7) |  |
77-68 | August showed signs that the offensive load was being more evenly distributed by the Cardinal’s hitters, and not relying solely on Albert Pujols. However, so far in September, they have four regular players hitting under .200, and only one hitting over .300. Guess who that is. |
| 8 (8) |  |
78-68 | I think the Angels are primed to make a big off-season move, either trading for Miguel Tejada, or going hard after Alfonso Soriano. |
| 9 (9) |  |
77-69 | Although his name doesn’t inspire the same confidence as Eric Gagne, Takashi Saito has been a sold closer since taking over the role. He’s converted 18 of 20 save chances, and has an ERA under 2.00. |
| 10 (10) |  |
78-68 | David Ortiz campaigning for MVP votes? I’ve always like Big Papi, but this sounds more the behavior of more selfish ballplayers… Sheffield, Bonds, Kobe Bryant, etc. |
| 11 (12) |  |
76-69 | San Diego is a team that looks to be in excellent shape for the future. They have their young talent locked up for a few years (Jake Peavey, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene, Josh Barfield, Cla Meredith, Chris Young), and their expensive, older veterans are all going to be free agents in the offseason (Chan Ho Park, Ryan Klesko, Woody Williams, David Wells, Mike Cameron, Dave Roberts, Todd Walker). These seven players represent $45 million of their current payroll, almost 75% of their entire team. |
| 12 (11) |  |
76-70 | What do the Blue Jays do next? They were willing to spend a bunch of money in the off-season (Burnett, Ryan, Glaus, Molina), but they still can’t stay competitive with the Yankees and Red Sox. Do they continue upping their payroll, or do they put their hopes and faith in some of their young pitchers? |
| 13 (14) |  |
74-72 | Ryan Howard is not the only reason the Phillies have jumped back into the playoff race. Their pitching staff, which had been an Achilles Heel all season long, has steadily gotten better since the All-Star break. In July they had a team ERA of 5.00. In August it was down to 4.39, and so far in September it is 3.75. |
| 14 (13) |  |
74-72 | Although the Rangers’ pitching staff looks better on paper, Vicente Padilla leads the team in ERA with a 4.44. Not very good. |
| 15 (19) |  |
73-73 | The Marlins are definitely gaining some attention as the team to be afraid of for the last couple weeks of the season, and perhaps through the playoffs. Some Las Vegas casinos had the Marlins listed at 50:1 for winning the World Series, while others had them as low as 20:1. Compare that to the reigning champions, who are looking at about 13:1. |
| 16 (17) |  |
74-72 | While his younger counterparts get more attention, Ray Durham has quietly put together a superb season. His 23 homeruns lead the team, and his 86 RBI rank 2nd amongst NL second basemen, only three behind Chase Utley, who has 100 more at-bats. |
| 17 (15) |  |
72-74 | With Guardado out, the Reds closer spot will again go to David Weathers, who has almost as many blown saves as he does converted saves (seven to ten). |
| 18 (18) |  |
71-74 | Brad Lidge has to be the single biggest bust of the season. Last year he converted 91% of his save opportunities, with an ERA of 2.29. The year before that his ERA was under 2.00. This year, an ERA over 5.00 and six blown saves. Does anybody remember Donnie Moore? |
| 19 (16) |  |
69-77 | The Arizona Diamondbacks say goodbye to fan favorite Luis Gonzalez. It might not be the right move in the fan’s eyes, but I think it’s the right move for the future of the ballclub. I think most teams are afraid of making moves like this, for fear of fan reaction, but end up doing more longterm harm by keeping around the old veteran. |
| 20 (20) |  |
66-80 | If Prince Fielder and Tony Gwynn Jr turn out to be as good as their fathers, the Brewers could be World Series contender before no time. |
| 21 (21) |  |
70-76 | The Braves run of 14 consecutive postseason appearances has officially come to an end, a streak that saw two MVPs, seven Cy Youngs, three Manager of the Years, a Rookie of the Year, a batting title, and one World Series ring. |
| 22 (23) |  |
69-77 | Seattle has been shut out 15 times this season, most in the major leagues. |
| 23 (22) |  |
68-78 | The Rockies might lose two of their key components in the bullpen during this off-season. Jose Mesa and Ray King will be free-agents. So will Byung Hyung Kim, but that’s probably a good thing. |
| 24 (24) |  |
68-78 | At least Cleveland fans have Browns football to look forward to. Or… maybe the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame… Or… Well, I’m sure there are good things about Cleveland, but right now, the Indians are not on that list. |
| 25 (25) |  |
63-83 | The Orioles, although disappointing all season long, do lead the AL in one major statistical category, hit batsmen (67). |
| 26 (26) |  |
63-83 | Every week I labor over finding something new and perhaps interesting to say about the Washington Nationals. I try to stay positive, or at the very least, not to stay negative. I try not to talk about Alfonso Soriano every week. This week, I’m done trying. Give me a break, there’s only 16 games left. Don’t tell me there was a Nationals fan out there somewhere just dying to find out what I had to say about the boys in red and white. If that fan is out there, I apologize, but you’ll have to come back next week. |
| 27 (27) |  |
57-89 | Tampa Bay’s stadium might be an aesthetic atrocity, and quite possibly the worst park in baseball (or even all professional American sports), but they do have one thing nobody else can boast: actual live Devil Rays. And I, for one, think that’s worth seeing in itself. |
| 28 (29) |  |
60-87 | If the Pirates only score 38 runs in their final 16 games they will have scored exactly 680 runs for the past three seasons, which is pretty spectacular, in a random coincidental kind of a way. I, for one, am rooting for them to do it. |
| 29 (28) |  |
59-88 | Kerry Wood will potentially be a free-agent this off-season (I believe he has a team option, that would be worth a ton of money of the Cubs chose to pick it up). I don’t believe in curses, but that could change very quickly if Kerry Wood signs with another team, gets healthy and has a big season (or even a full one). |
| 30 (30) |  |
57-90 | One thing is for certain. The glory days are long gone. So long gone, in fact, that most people forget how dominant the Royals used to be. From 1976 to 1985 the Royals won the Western Division Pennant six times, and were in the top two all but one season. They haven’t been back to the postseason since winning the seventh game of the ’85 World Series. |