9/10/07 Standings Update

Time for the weekly check-in. The number in the parantheses is the magic number within each division and wild card. The teams with an "E" in their division have been officially eliminated.

The Divisions

AL East
Red Sox ~ 87-57 ~ --
Yankees ~ 81-62 ~ 5.5 (14)
Blue Jays ~ 72-70 ~ 14.0 (6)
Orioles ~ 61-81 ~ 25.0 (E)
Devil Rays ~ 60-83 ~ 26.5 (E)

AL Central
Indians ~ 83-60 ~ --
Tigers ~ 77-66 ~ 6.0 (14)
Twins ~ 70-73 ~ 13.0 (7)
Royals ~ 62-80 ~ 20.5 (E)
White Sox ~ 61-82 ~ 22.0 (E)

AL West
Angels ~ 84-59 ~ --
Mariners ~ 75-66 ~ 8.0 (13)
A's ~ 69-75 ~ 15.5 (4)
Rangers ~ 66-74 ~ 15.5 (5)

Thoughts: No real change in the East. Orioles and Devil Rays are officially gone. Toronto had a rough week and dropped 2.5 games in the standings. I'm really surprised, as well as the D-Rays have played, that they haven't caught up with the Orioles yet. How interesting the weekend Boston-New York series is will depend on how Toronto and the Devil Rays play. The Blue Jays have the Yankees from Tue-Thu, and the Devil Rays have the Red Sox. Both are tough spoiler teams. Yankees only gained a half-game on Boston this past week, even with a sweep in Kansas City. ... It still amazes me how quickly the Tigers have free-fallen in the Central. Seems like they lost Gary Sheffield, and the ceiling came crashing down. He's back now, which could help in the Wild Card race, but unless the Indians have a catastrophic collapse it's going to take a LOT for the Tigers to make up six games. The Tigers do have the Rangers coming up early this week, but the Indians have the White Sox. Speaking of Chicago, the White Sox and Royals are officially gone. I'm still stunned by those White Sox. ... The Mariners lost another 1.5 games on the Angels in the past week. The division seems to be safely in the hands of the Angels. This week won't help, as the Mariners have to deal with the pesky A's and Devil Rays while the Angels have the far easier Orioles and White Sox. ... It's amazing how uninteresting the AL division races have become. The Yankees-Boston race has been dead for months, if we're being honest. But I have to remind myself that, just two weeks ago, the Central and West were both highly contested. That's baseball for you.

NL East:
Mets ~ 81-61 ~ --
Phillies ~ 75-67 ~ 6.0 (15)
Braves ~ 73-70 ~ 8.5 (12)
Nationals ~ 64-79 ~ 17.5 (3)
Marlins ~ 61-82 ~ 20.5 (E)

NL Central:
Brewers ~ 73~69 ~ --
Cubs ~ 72-70 ~ 1.0 (20)
Cardinals ~ 69-71 ~ 3.0 (19)
Reds ~ 64-79 ~ 9.5 (11)
Pirates ~ 63-80 ~ 10.5 (10)
Astros ~ 62-81 ~ 11.5 (9)

NL West:
Diamondbacks ~ 81-63 ~ --
Padres ~ 77-65 ~ 3.0 (17)
Dodgers ~ 75-68 ~ 5.5 (14)
Rockies ~ 74-68 ~ 6.0 (14)
Giants ~ 65-78 ~ 15.5 (4)

Thoughts: The Mets went on a role this past week and put some comfort room between them and their NL East competition. The Phillies lost 2.0 games on the Mets from last week, and the Braves lost 1.0 game. If the Mets have another hot week, they could bury their competition for good. The Mets play both the Braves and the Phillies this week. If the Braves have a good series against the Mets, the Phillies could benefit if they're able to defeat the fellow wild card hopeful Rockies. As the Phillies deal with the Mets over the weekend, the Braves will face the Nationals in RFK, who they nearly swept in Atlanta this past weekend. The Marlins are officially eliminated. The Nationals, meanwhile, face the Marlins this week and will look to extend their hold on 4th place in the division. ... Very good week for the Brewers, who went from being 1.5 games down in the Central to 1.0 game up on the Cubs. The Cardinals had a lot of problems with the Pirates, losing. 1.0 game in the division. The Brewers head to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates first, as the Cardinals take on the Reds in Cincinnati and the Cubs head to Houston to take on the Astros. Tough task for the Brewers, with the Pirates playing good ball. The Cardinals and Cubs both have a chance to make up games here. Huge series over the weekend, with the Cubs facing the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Brewers will be home to face the Reds, so whatever the Brewers lose in the early part of the week could be made up at the end when those teams face each other. ... Terrible week for the Padres, who went from tied in the NL West to 3.0 games behind the Diamondbacks. Dodgers couldn't take advantage of a weak Giants team and fell 1.5 games in the standings. The Rockies dropped back a game. And even with a good series against the Dodgers, the Giants still stink. The Giants have a chance to play spoiler against the Diamondbacks early in the week, while the Padres play the Dodgers in a very important series. One team or the other could be left reeling after that one. Over the weekend, another big series as the Diamondbacks take on the Dodgers. The Padres will take on the Giants, who they need to do a better job taking advantage of than the Dodgers did.

The Wild Cards

American League
Yankees ~ 81-62 ~ --
Tigers ~ 77-66 ~ 4.0 (16)
Mariners ~ 75-66 ~ 5.0 (16)
Blue Jays ~ 72-70 ~ 8.5 (12)
Twins ~ 70-73 ~ 11.0 (9)

Thoughts: The Yankees had a great week, and while it didn't show in the AL East standings it shows in the wild card. They were 2.0 games ahead of the Mariners and 3.0 games ahead of the Tigers last week. This week, they're starting at 4.0 games ahead of the Tigers and 5.0 games ahead of the Mariners. How those mighty Mariners have fallen. ... The Blue Jays lost whatever momentum they had, going from 5.5 games back to 8.5. But they still have that grudge against the Yankees thanks to Alex's "HA!" incident in May. No doubt, they're going to give the Yankees a fight starting Tuesday. And then, the Yankees head to Fenway to take on the Red Sox over the weekend. The Tigers have a chance to make up some ground as they take on the far easier Rangers and Twins. The Mariners have the A's and Devil Rays. ... I'd say the Twins are pretty much done. The Blue Jays would need a Herculean effort to get back in it, but stranger things have happened.

National League
Padres ~ 77-65 ~ --
Phillies ~ 75-67 ~ 2.0 (19)
Dodgers ~ 75-68 ~ 2.5 (18)
Rockies ~ 74-68 ~ 3.0 (18)
Braves ~ 73-70 ~ 4.5 (16)

Thoughts: The Padres are lucky that everyone else in the wild card chase, save the Rockies, had terrible weeks too. All four of the pursuing teams gained ground, but the Padres could have easily dropped out of the top spot without the other teams struggling. Padres-Dodgers is going to be a huge series this week. The Phillies-Rockies series will also be an important one. The Braves will have to pray that the Mets don't pull off another sweep. The Dodgers have the Diamondbacks over the weekend. Padres have the Giants, Rockies have the Marlins, Phillies have the Mets, and Braves have the Nationals. Winnable games for the Padres, Rockies, and Braves. It's do-or-die time for the Dodgers. They need a solid week, or they could be way out by next Monday.

Key series of the week:
Rockies @ Phillies (Mon-Thu)
Braves @ Mets (Mon-Wed)
Padres @ Dodgers (Tue-Thu)
Phillies @ Mets (Fri-Sun)
Cubs @ Cardinals (Fri-Sun)
Diamondbacks @ Dodgers (Fri-Sun)