AL East/AL Central

By Dr. Jekyll

It’s been a long hiatus, but thankfully baseball is a long season. Looking back on the first part of the season has offered a lot of incredible story lines. There’s the incredible performances of Ubaldo Jimenez, the deaths of The Boss and The Voice, and a complete dominance of big league pitchers. There are potential triple crowns and pitchers throwing their brains out and more than likely not breaking ten wins on the year. So with that, let’s take a look at how each team stacks up at the half way point of the season.

AL East
Let’s start things at the top, and by the top, I mean with three of the four best teams in baseball, who all happen to be playing in the same division.

New York Yankees: They lead the majors in runs. They’re deadly from top to bottom in the lineup. And as though that's not enough, they have a lot to play for. What better way for the Bombers to send off Steinbrenner than taking a championship home in his honor. Really, there’s no reason apart from injuries or their own division to keep the Yanks from putting up another banner come next season.

Tampa Bay Rays: Always the brides maid, never the bride. And this season looks to be playing out similarly. Behind a top 5 pitching staff and a very solid middle of the lineup the Rays are a dangerous team, and probably the best shot at knocking New York off their pre-made pedestal come postseason.

Boston Red Sox: Injuries, injuries, injuries. With an all-star lineup sitting on the DL, it’s impressive that the Sox have hung on as long as they have. As great as it is to have a gritty underdog, an August swoon looks inevitable for this club. The bullpen has been atrocious, and apart from surprising contributions from minor leaguers like Bill Hall, this season has turned into a feel-good wash.

Toronto Blue Jays: They’re leading baseball in homers, but that doesn’t do much when no one is on base for them. They’re probably the best .500 team in baseball, and in a weaker division may be making a playoff push. They’re starting to look like the Rays from a few years back when they showed flashes of promise but ultimately were left without a helpful result. Look for them to make a one and done attempt akin to what the Marlins do in the next year or two.

Baltimore Orioles: Anyone who saw this team going somewhere at the start of the season was either a season ticket holder or thought Matt Wieters could magically play every position. Neither happened, although the latter was probably for the best. Wieters is having a porous sophomore season after all the hype from tearing up the minors. This is a team that reeks of rebuilding, and probably should get used to their spot as division bottom feeders for the foreseeable future.

AL Central

Chicago White Sox: There is absolutely nothing special about this ball-club, and I’d be shocked to see them do anything come playoff time, assuming they’re still in position to even make the post season. Literally middle of the pack in every offensive and defensive category, this team is a testament to all that is good about Ozzie Guillen. Apart from being a great sound bite, he can coach a team. They make playoffs and this is a coach of the year candidate.

Detroit Tigers: Miguel Cabrera is putting together an MVP season and willing this team to stay in the division. Currently he’s sitting either second or first in all three of the triple crown categories, and the Tigers need every bit of it if they’re going to hope to hang in there until the end. This is a three team race, and they’re probably on the short end of the stick when it comes to a supporting cast for their star players.

Minnesota Twins: Probably the best team in the Central to seize control of the division, Minnesota is only just out of first despite losing their closer to start the season and having Joe Mauer play through quite the slump this season. They’ve found a diamond in the rough in Carl Pavano, and Francisco Liriano is showing some of the flash that made him so great a few years back. Once they start clicking they’ll be repping the division come playoff time.

Kansas City Royals: They have the best batting average in baseball. They have a top of the line starting pitcher. They’re everything you’d want in a sleeper team, but they just haven’t clicked quite yet. Still a year or two off, this is a team on the rise in a winnable division, just not quite ready to break over the hump. Get Billy Butler another season under his belt, and get some run support for Zack Greinke (who may not break ten wins despite a great statistical season), and this team can make some noise at the top of this division. A second place spot next year isn’t out of the question by a long shot.

Cleveland Indians: The Cleveland Indians are a shell of the team they were just three seasons ago. Fausto Carmona is the only player on this team even worth mentioning by name. Like the Orioles, they are in clear rebuilding mode, but don’t seem to have the depth of talent to make that a quick transition. Get used to the basement fellas.

Rounding the bases

By Dr. Jekyll

A weekly feature on the good, the bad, and the ugly happening around the diamond

Single: Good for you Barry Zito. You get a single. Do you deserve this single after your past three years? No, you don’t “deserve it”. You were paid to do it, and for the first time in a long time you’re producing. But now that you are, it’s at an elite level again: 5-0, 1.49 ERA, curveball once again one of the strongest in the bigs. This is the Barry Zito we knew and loved. And while that $126 mill will forever be regretted by the Giants, you and Timmy have put together another set of absolutely vicious top of the order starters in the division.

Double: As in the ones coming off the bat of the middle of the Tigers order. If Verlander can get his act together and Dontrelle Willis or anyone else in that mess of a pitching staff get their act together, this is a potent lineup. Between Miguel Cabrerra, Austin Jackson, and Brandon Inge, this team has enough solid pieces to be able to give the Twins a run if they can get the help on top of the rotation. Until then, the middle of this tiger lineup will find itself clawing to stay in contention as the season wears on.

Triple: To the lead leader in the category, and a pleasantly not-awful team this season, Nyjer Morgan. The Nat’s have a winning record after the first month, a solid man in the leadoff order, and Stephen Strasburg is inching closer and closer to the rotation. With Livan Hernandez throwing like a 50 year old with a record of a man still in his prime, all’s unexpectedly well in the nation’s capital.

Home Run: On a team with Matt Kemp and Man-Ram patrolling the outfield, you’d think it would be easy to overlook Andre Ethier. But he’s making that quite difficult. In addition to leading the Dodgers in all three triple crown categories, he’s also either tied for the league lead or leading in the same for the entire National League. Ethier had a very respectable sluggers year last time around, but with 32 RBI’s through 31 games, the kid is playing out of his mind.

Strikin’ them out: With no offense to Will Ferrell, Francisco Liriano is on an absolute tear in the American League. An afterthought in the Twins organization after releasing Johan Santana, Liriano is having a bounce back year so far in an incredibly winnable division. As though the 4-1 record and 1.19 WHIP aren’t impressive enough on their own, Liriano also treated us to a dazzling 23 straight scoreless innings for a three week span to chop in with a sub 2.50 ERA. If Liriano keeps this pace up the Twins can be a real threat with him starting a series come playoff time. Johan who?

Popping Up: The Seattle Mariners went from being a trendy pick to take the division to the makings of another disappointing season. Cliff Lee is looking at a Zack Greinke scenario, all the stats but no W’s. King Felix and Lee are being absolutely robbed. As the Red Sox have demonstrated this season as well, the pitching and defense is swell, but not at the cost of no offensive production. There is no pop in that lineup, and in a year where the division looks to be one of the worst in baseball, there is no excuse for them not to turn this around soon.

Caught Looking: It was going to be the Rays, as they’ve absolutely torn through the first month of the season so far. But now they’re the ones looking, at a spot in the record books and at a whole bunch o’ pitches. Just a few months short of a year after being shown perfection by Mark Buehrle, they replicated the feat with a far less renown pitches, Dallas Braden of the Oakland A’s. His season split isn’t that fantastic, but you have to take a note of perfection when the opportunity arises. The A’s have plenty of pitchers capable in the future of putting together these sorts of records, and it’s always a nice reminder to watch Moneyball at its best. Congrats Braden.

MLB pre season peak - AL

By Dr. Jekyll

Ah, spring training. A time of high hopes and dreams, where everyone in the Major Leagues is convinced that this could just be the year. After a five month hiatus, baseball is ready to get back in full swing. The sight of the bright lights in the stadium, the scent of freshly trimmed grass, and the sound of Ozzie Guillen enhancing the Spanish to English vocabulary of every boy and girl.

But most importantly, a time for looking into crystal balls and knowing exactly how this season will unfold. Just a quick side bit, order of appearance is order of division standing. So, without further ado:

AL EAST

The Yankees consistently find ways to upgrade what is consistently the most talented roster in baseball, and barring a slew of freak injuries look to be playing postseason baseball once again. Upgrading with Curtis Granderson and letting a struggling Johnny Damon walk. Letting Wang walk after this past season may come back to hurt the Yankees on pitching depth, but let’s be honest, as long as Mariano Rivera is closing things out, there won’t be much to fear.

The Red Sox bring arguably the strongest starting rotation in the majors to the mound, with an All-Star ageless wonder in Tim Wakefield even battling it out for a roster spot. But the hits on David Ortiz over the past two seasons have to make you wonder if a team in such a strong offensive ballpark is going to be able to keep pace with the Bombers.

The Tampa Bay Rays are one of those teams you just consistently feel sorry for. With one of the youngest and most talented teams in the league, it’s got to be frustrating being consistently stuck behind big spenders in Boston and New York. Look for Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford to go off, as well as David Price to have a great season. But in this division, you need to be stacked top to bottom. Heart says they deserve a shot at the division, crystal ball says they fade all but out of the wildcard by August.

Things in Baltimore haven’t been this hopeful since Ripken Jr. retired, but unless Matt Weiters can pitch and bat for all nine roster spots, this team is still a year or two from being in contention.

As for the Blue Jays, at least they still have Roy Halladay… er, I mean hockey. Yeah, they still have hockey…

AL Central

Apart from Minnesota, there really isn’t a terribly strong team in this division. And by Minnesota, I mean assuming Joe Nathan is either able to go or they find someone else (John Smoltz anyone?) to solidify the back end of the bullpen. You can’t go against the League MVP in a division this week. Unless of course…

Detroit can find someone, ANYONE, in that lineup to hit. The Tigers have a pretty solid front side of their rotation between Justin Verlander, Rick Porcello, and Max Scherzer, but they’re a bat or two short.

Chicago sits in a similar boat as Detroit, and both will be paddling upstream without a decent set of batting gloves.

Meanwhile, Zack Greinke mops in more sympathy votes after the Royals fail to put together anything impressive over the offseason. Alex Gordon isn’t ready to carry this team to anything other than a third place finish in the division at best.

Which leaves Cleveland staring up at everyone. With all of their pitching traded away, this is looking like a clear cut rebuild.

AL West

Folks in Seattle are about to see the best team this city has put together since the 2001, 116 win team. Ignoring the additions of Chone Figgins and Casey Kotchman, putting Cliff Lee at the top of the order with King Felix Hernandez is a lethal one-two punch in this suddenly lackluster division.

The fact that the Rangers look to finish second in this division is more a testament to the bleeding out of their California rivals than anything remarkable that they’ve done.

And on the topic of those Angels, so long Chone, Vlad, and Johny Lackey. Staples from this team’s success have all departed the golden state, and the man to replace them? Hideki Matsui. Yeah, good luck with that. The saddest part is that with enough injuries to Seattle’s pitching staff, they could still make a push for the division.

Money Ball hasn’t been worth a dime in quite a few years, and it still looks to be another solid year for coming to fruition. A healthy Ben Sheets makes this an average team, but without him they could be looking at one of the poorer records in the league.

Look out for the NL tomorrow.

'Grand' aquisition for Yanks

By Dan Rodgers

The Yankees buff up their outfield with the acquisition of Detroit Tigers star outfielder Curtis Granderson. This brings a ton of depth and youth to the Yanks outfield but puts a dent in their quality young pitching. The Bombers sent up and coming Phil Coke to Arizona, and Ian Kennedy and prospect Austin Jackson to Detroit.

Coke threw 2 2/3 innings in the postseason but most of it was in junk time. However, Coke did a reasonable job from the bullpen during the season. It was nice to see a young pitcher come out of the bullpen. Kennedy, who struggled in 2008, was rarely seen this year in a Yankee uniform, but if in the right organization could be a solid starter. Austin Jackson, a top prospect in the New York farm system, is an outfielder that has been working his way up the ladder.

Granderson is obviously the biggest name in the trade; he had 30 homers and 71 RBI and 20 steals. He has excellent range in center field and adds another impressive offensive threat in the lineup. Granderson has good speed but also has the ability to knock the ball out of the park at any time. He reminds me of a younger Johnny Damon with a better arm.

I think the Yanks definitely helped themselves here, however, they have a lot of outfielders and it would be smart to deal one and look for a young pitcher in return. The Yanks were looking to improve even though they just won the World Series. This should allow them to dominate in the coming season and cruise to an easy championship for the first back-to-back Series winner since the Yanks did so in '98-'00.

Rodgers That