Anybody else notice the standings today?

[joepepsi]

Ignore the won/loss records for a minute. Early in the season it seems like most teams are doing OK. Certainly the O's have had some success.

And yet, here's the way it shakes down as the first month winds down:
Boston .650
NY Yankees .556
Toronto .556
Baltimore .524
Tampa Bay .400

It's easy to look at games behind this time of year and see the Orioles are only 2-1/2 games back. But check those winning percentages. The Red Sox are on a pace to win 105 games, the Orioles 85.

Admitedly it's too early to reach any conclusions. There will almost certainly be adjustments in every division throughout the season. Still, things seem to be settling out this week. The division leaders in the AL are Boston, ChiSox, and the Angels. In the NL it's the Mets, Astros, and a tie between SF and Colorado.

[BoogP]

Once you get past Mussina and The Big Eunuch, the Yankees' starting pitching is suspect, IMO.

[joepepsi]

Yup. Still, fill out the staff with Jason Johnson clones and they'll be all right since they can score 6-7 runs a night.

At any rate, I don't think the AL East sends two teams to the playoffs this year. Considering the number of times those Central teams get to play KC, the records in that division should be sufficiently padded to get compete for the wild card. Cleveland missed the wild card last year because they lost their final 3 games while the Red Sox lost 2 of 3 to the Yankees.

The West may have some say in the wild card as well...

[BoogP]

I was thinking about this last night. The quality of play in the A.L. has far surpassed that in the N.L.

In the A.L., you have what looks to be three powerhouse teams in the East--Yankees, Red Sox and Toronto. In the central, you have the reigning World Series champs, plus the Indians, and even the Twins. In the West, there's the Angels, and the Athletics. That's eight very tough teams.

I'm not gonna guess yet from which division the wild card will come, but it'll be a dogfight. Good to watch, too.

[joepepsi]

I was thinking about this last night. The quality of play in the A.L. has far surpassed that in the N.L.

In the A.L., you have what looks to be three powerhouse teams in the East--Yankees, Red Sox and Toronto. In the central, you have the reigning World Series champs, plus the Indians, and even the Twins. In the West, there's the Angels, and the Athletics. That's eight very tough teams.


This occured to me during Spring Training. Aside from the teams you mention, the Rangers and Tigers also look very competitive so far. The only team that is truly wretched is the Royals, who may set some kind of record for rotteness this year.

Meanwhile, in the NL you have lots of mediocre teams. I'm not sure any team in NL West would have a winning season if they played in AL. Honestly who would you rather play, the Giants and Dodgers or the Rangers and Tigers?

In the East there's Florida, who sold off the team this winter. The Nats are mediocre. The Central is as good as it's been in years. But still, the Cards and Astros don't seem as strong, the Cubs are floundering imho. The Brewers have a nice team that just swept the Braves and the Reds have an excellent offense with iffy pitching. The Pirates are sort of like the D-Rays, some good young talent, but not there yet this year.

[BoogP]

In the NL East, the Braves aren't going to be as good as last year. Neither is Washington. The Marlins dumped most of their team, and the Phillies are still flawed.

The Mets have improved their lineup, but take a look at their pitching staff. Beyond Pedro and Wagner (who appears to have lost a little, imo), I'm not real impressed with it.

[J W]

Well, here are the standings now:

New York .607
Boston .600
Toronto .533
Baltimore .438
Tampa Bay .387

and, the Yankees are wining, and the Red Sox are beating down the Orioles.

- Roberts and Lopez are on the DL
- Chen has yet to win a game, and Lopez hasn't won since day one
- I take back what I said about the bullpen. They really are doing bad

sometimes it feels like Groundhog's Day, doesn't it? :o

[Mariano_Rivera]

And in response to an earlier post the Yankees rotation is pretty good after all, 2nd best in the division.

[riverfrontier]

This occurred to me. The Detroit Tigers.