The Standings

It's Monday, and I'm awake at an ungodly hour. What better time to revisit our standings?

The Divisions

AL East
Red Sox ~ 82-55 ~ --
Yankees ~ 76-61 ~ 6.0
Blue Jays ~ 70-66 ~ 11.5
Orioles ~ 59-76 ~ 22.0
Devil Rays ~ 56-81 ~ 26.0

AL Central
Indians ~ 78-58 ~ --
Tigers ~ 73-64 ~ 5.5
Twins ~ 69-68 ~ 9.5
Royals ~ 61-75 ~ 17.0
White Sox ~ 58-79 ~ 20.5

AL West
Angels ~ 80-56 ~ --
Mariners ~ 73-62 ~ 6.5
Athletics ~ 68-70 ~ 13.0
Rangers ~ 63-73 ~ 17.0

Thoughts: 6.0 games out of the East is less than 7.5 games last week, but the Yankees managed to lose a game back to the Red Sox after a sweep in the Bronx brought the Red Sox lead down to 5.0. It all came down to the Yankees not taking advantage of an unsuspected Boston loss Friday against the Orioles, only to go on to have a disappointing series against the Devil Rays. ... Very, very bad week for the Tigers, whose deficit in the Central increased from 2.5 games to 5.5. The Tigers need to hope that the Twins have some luck against the Indians as they face a far easier series against the White Sox. ... The Mariners are lucky that the Yankees and Tigers haven't taken advantage of their swoon because the Angels certainly did. Last week, they were 2.0 games out of the AL West. Now, they're 6.5. Things aren't about to get any easier for the Mariners this week. They have road series against the Yankees and the Tigers. The Angels did take a loss Sunday night against the Rangers. They go on to face the Athletics this week, followed by the Indians. ... Big week for the Devil Rays. With another series like they had last week against the O's, they'll be just two back of Baltimore in the loss column. ... Are the White Sox allowed to forefit the rest of the season? If the cards fall right, they could be the worst team in baseball by the end of the week, especially having to play the Tigers and Twins.

NL East
Mets ~ 76-60 ~ --
Phillies ~ 72-64 ~ 4.0
Braves ~ 69-68 ~ 7.5
Marlins ~ 60-77 ~ 16.5
Nationals ~ 60-77 ~ 16.5

NL Central
Cubs ~ 70-65 ~ --
Brewers ~ 69-67 ~ 1.5
Cardinals ~ 67-66 ~ 2.0
Reds ~ 62-75 ~ 9.0
Astros ~ 61-76 ~ 10.0
Pirates ~ 59-77 ~ 11.5

NL West
Padres ~ 75-61 ~ --
Diamondbacks ~ 76-62 ~ --
Dodgers ~ 71-65 ~ 4.0
Rockies ~ 70-66 ~ 5.0
Giants ~ 62-75 ~ 13.5

Thoughts: Can't put enough weight on the fact that the Mets swept the Braves these last three games. Their lead over the Phillies is down from 6.0 games last week to 4.0 this week, but that series in Atlanta was huge. It's still going to be a battle with the Phillies until the end, but while there's still hope for the Braves this past week's series may have been the nail in the coffin in the division race. We'll know for sure early this week, in a gigantic Phillies-Braves series that starts today. The Mets must be salivating. They, meanwhile, take on the Reds with a chance to pad their lead. 2-out of-3 is a must (I'm avoiding "sweep" because Harang Monday is going to be a tough order). Over the weekend, the Phillies host the Marlins, the Mets host the Astros, and the Braves host the Nationals. ... We're at a standstill in the NL Central. No movement in the top three. The Cardinals overtook the Brewers for a day or so this week before slipping back down a half-game. The bottom three teams all fell back a little more, but other than that? No big deal. The Cardinals and Brewers have a chance to pick up some ground as they take on the Pirates and Astros respectively. The Cubs, meanwhile, host the Dodgers for four. Cubs have the Pirates over the weekend, while the Brewers will head to Cincy. Tough weekend for the Cardinals, who travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks. And yes, they'll be seeing Brandon Webb. ... Huge week for the Padres, who cut a 3.0 game deficit in the West down to nothing with a sweep of the Diamondbacks and 2-of-3 from the Dodgers. That sweep of the Nationals helped the Dodgers in the standings too, as they go up from 6.5 games out of the West to 4.0. Enormous series to lead off the week, as the Padres head to Arizona to face the D-backs again. If the Dodgers have a good four games against the Cubs, they're in line to pick up some serious ground in both the division and the wild card.

The Wildcards

American League
Yankees ~ 76-61 ~ --
Mariners ~ 73-62 ~ 2.0
Tigers ~ 73-64 ~ 3.0
Blue Jays ~ 70-66 ~ 5.5
Twins ~ 69-68 ~ 7.0

Thoughts: Same story, but reverse the order. The Yankees can't be too excited about how they came out of Detroit and the way they played against Tampa Bay, but they had an excellent series against the Red Sox and it shows here. The Mariners, meanwhile, have been awful, losing nine straight to give up the lead in the AL Wild Card. Bad week for the Tigers too, who weren't able to do anything off that 3-of-4 series win over the Yankees. ... But the real winners? Check out those Blue Jays, who really took advantage of the swoons by the top three Wild Card teams to put themselves in striking distance. ... As stated above, gigantic series for the Yankees and Mariners beginning Monday, especially as the Tigers take on the White Sox. They'll trade places over the weekend, with the Tigers hosting the Mariners. Things could be very interesting in the wild card after this week. The Yankees will be out in Kansas City to take on the Royals over the weekend. Sounds easy, but the Royals have the potential to be a trap series, like the Devil Rays were this past weekend. Especially playing in their home park. ... The Blue Jays have an outside chance of making up some more ground this week. But they'll have to do so against the division leading Red Sox at Fenway. They'll then travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Devil Rays over the weekend.

National League
Padres ~ 75-61 ~ --
Diamondbacks ~ 76-62 ~ --
Phillies ~ 72-64 ~ 3.0
Dodgers ~ 71-65 ~ 4.0
Rockies ~ 70-66 ~ 5.0

Thoughts: The upcoming series between the Padres and Diamondbacks should do a lot to help the bottom three teams figure out who they need to be chasing for the Wild Card. The Phillies remain 3.0 games back. And while the Dodgers leapfrogged the Rockies in the standings, they lost a half-game to be 4.0 back instead of the 3.5 they were a week ago. ... Could be a good opportunity for the Rockies, who take on the Giants early in the week as the Dodgers deal with four games with the Cubs, the Phillies have the Braves, and the Padres and Diamondbacks battle it out. ... Even more intrigue over the weekend, as the Padres and Rockies will face-off. The Diamondbacks will host the Cardinals, the Phillies host the Marlins, and the Dodgers travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants.

Key series of the week:
Mariners @ Yankees (Mon - Wed)
Phillies @ Braves (Mon - Wed)
Dodgers @ Cubs (Mon - Thu)
Padres @ Diamondbacks (Mon - Wed)
Mariners @ Tigers (Friday - Sun)