Creepy

How creepy is this old Detroit Tigers logo?

When in doubt, write a random notes column!

I know there's a ton of stuff going on in the sports world right now, but a lot of things have already been covered extensively both here and on other blogs (Favre, MLB second half, NBA players leaving to play in Europe, the Dark Knight rules the world) so I'm going to hit you with a few quick points and call it a day. Did I mention I get out of work at 2:00 on Fridays? Holla.




Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito will fight for the welterweight title tomorrow night. I have fairly limited boxing knowledge (shocking!), but have a group of friends who are super into the sport. When I watched the Pacquiao fight with them last month, they were all psyched for this fight. Besides the fact that both guys are really, really good, one is from Puerto Rico (Cotto) and the other is from Mexico (Margarito). Something you might not know: Puerto Ricans and Mexicans HATE each other. Okay, that might be a strong generalization, but both countries take their boxing very seriously. Lots of pride. There is a storied history between Puerto Rican fighters and Mexican fighters in brutal matches. Trinidad/De La Hoya comes to mind as the last one to have a huge impact. Margarito (right in photo) obviously has a height advantage, but experts say that Cotto's deliberate style and brutal body shots will prevail. I know in this age of youtube and such that paying to watch live boxing/MMA isn't as appealing as it used to be, but this will most likely be the best fight of the year.


Rooting for the White Sox and following the Red Sox because there really is no escaping them if you live in the Boston area, I noticed both teams have big weeks ahead. Boston has a huge series with the Yankees starting tonight at Fenway. David Ortiz makes his return tonight to try and keep the physically ailing Yankees from gaining any more ground in the East. Beckett vs. Joba, 7:05, catch it! Then on Monday, the Angels roll into town and the Sox get a chance to avenge that ugly sweep from last weekend.

• Just wanted to make a quick mention about how Dice-K (11-1) is having a fantastic second year. I still remember sitting in my car during a lunch break when it was announced that Boston posted the highest amount of any team (51.1 mil) to negotiate with Dice-K and the Seibu Lions. Most people were pretty skeptical about how well he would play, but his numbers this year are fantastic. He had one really awful game when he came back from the DL and although his WHIP is kinda gruesome, he has 83 Ks in 95 innings, his ERA is 2.63, and his BAA is .202.

As far as my ChiSox go, they are on the road in Detroit Fri-Sun, then in Minnesota Mon-Thu. They have a 2.5 game lead right now and could really make a statement by performing well and expanding that lead a bit. Rookie Clayton Richard made his debut in place of Jose Contreras yesterday and wasn't phenomenal, but Chicago pulled out a 10-8 win thanks to my man Carlos Quentin. While it may be a bit early to give Quentin a membership to the Grown Ass Man Club, he is first in the American League in game winning RBIs and first in HRs. The pitching staff has been giving up a lot of runs lately, so hopefully that will change.

Next member of the Grown Ass Man Club?

• You HAVE to watch this: http://withleather.uproxx.com/post.phtml?pk=6456. This is definitely a Web Gem of the Year nominee. The White Sox weren't even sure if Alexei Ramirez was going to make the team during Spring Training. Second base isn't even his natural position! And in addition to making plays like this, he is batting .307 and is the only guy with the last name Ramirez to hit a grand slam this year...

The Golden State Warriors just locked up 22 year old Monta Ellis with a 6 year, $66 million contract. I think this guy is legitimately the fastest player in the entire NBA but the team is shifting him over to point guard. Not sure if he's got the handle to run a team but he's a great scorer. He finished with 21 point and 4 assist averages this past season playing in 81 games. The Warriors also traded for Marcus Williams to back him up. I don't think Williams ever got a fair shake in New Jersey as I thought he was originally the heir apparent to Jason Kidd once he retired. Then, the Nets traded for Devin Harris and the former UConn Husky got pushed to the side. Golden State is now looking at a starting lineup of: Ellis, Stephen Jackson, Corey Maggette, Al Harrington and Ronny Turiaf.

Lebron James will most likely miss the USA Olympic team's exhibition game tonight against Canada. Not a huge deal or anything, but the team can't really afford any more injuries. Lebron's ankle, Dwight Howard's chest, and now it looks like Tyson Chandler might not be the alternate due to an injured toe. Kevin Durant will most likely go in his place. Interesting... Anyway, this will be the only exhibition game that the USA team will play on American soil.

So there are some things to chew on heading into the weekend. I plan on writing a review of the Celtics' Championship DVD either Sunday or Monday. A special viewing might be in order and High Life may be prominently involved. Don't forget to see Step Brothers if the weather is lousy where you live. This will be the best Will Ferrell movie since Anchorman!

P.S. Have I mentioned they're making a sequel to Anchorman?!?!?!

"Get me Vaughn..."

The "Wild Thing" spent the entire season in the rotation but in the one game playoff, Lou Brown called for Rick Vaughn to come into the top of the ninth with two outs, to face Clew Haywood and give the Indians' offense a chance to win it. Now I know Major League wasn't a documentary and events didn't occur in real time, but this was my first real memory of a closer in a baseball game (I think I was nine or ten).

From Lee Smith and Goose Gossage to Trevor Hoffman and Mariano Rivera, pitchers have made careers out of shutting the door at the end of the game and picking up the "save". Guys like Dennis Eckersley and John Smoltz actually flourished in both the starting and closing roles. But many pitchers have and will continue to enter the Hall of Fame without ever being in a rotation. Back in ye olde days, dudes could pitch 12, 14, 16 inning complete games like ain't no thang and not bat an eyelash. Go back and look at some inning totals for a season in the 1920s. And of course four and five man rotations didn't exist either.

But the game was changing in the late 50s and a Chicago baseball writer named Jerome Holtzman saw the future of the sport. In 1959, he calculated a new statistic that wouldn't be adopted until ten years later - the save. Widely considered one of the greatest baseball writers ever, Holtzman passed away last Saturday at the age of 81. In addition to his tremendous body of work at both the Tribune and the Sun Times, he wrote the classic 1974 book, "No Cheering in the Press Box." Bud Selig actually named him the first official historian of Major League Baseball.

Also, from the Baseball Hall of Fame website,

"Holtzman also wrote the annual recap of the preceding season for The Official Baseball Guide, and contributed countless stories to stacks of magazines. He was the Cal Ripken Jr. of The Sporting News, writing more than a thousand consecutive weekly columns for the one-time "Bible of Baseball."

These days, we're stuck with Jay Mariotti. Yikes.

The sad thing is, Holtzman will miss the remainder of what could turn out to be the most impressive season by a closer in history. Last night, Francisco Rodriguez of the Angels recorded his 41st save. The Angels have only played 100 games so far this year! (Just to put things into perspective, the single season save record is 57.) That goes along with 47 K's in 45 innings. I've seen closers with lower ERAs and WHIPs before but this is getting ridiculous.

"Your concept of gravity amuses me!"

So for all you math majors out there, K-Rod has 62 games to record 17 saves and break the record. He's only 26 years old. If he pitches until he's as old as Hoffman or Rivera, what will his career stats look like? Here's the kicker for the Halos though. He's a free agent at the end of the year. Hmmm, a new contract for a guy who potentially shatters the single season record for saves? Artie Moreno better get ready to shell out the duckets. I've said before that I'm not really down with how much he celebrates after each save, but if no one on his team says anything (ala Youkilis and Manny) who am I to complain?

I don't want to short change the other young closers like Papelbon, Jenks and Soria (Nathan is 33...) but what Rodriguez is doing is borderline otherworldly so far. And his continued success will be crucial if the Angels want to win a second World Series this decade. He may not wear number 99, but I'm sure Lou Brown would be calling his number every chance he got.

Now things get interesting - Part Deux

Alright kids, time for some expert National League analysis from yours truly. Yeah, since none of you believe that, Adam Man has thankfully provided some insight into the National League Central race. Therefore, I will merely glaze over the only division in baseball with six teams. Less work for me! Seriously though, I blame TBS not having any damn Braves games on anymore for my lack of NL knowledge. I know the Bill Engvall show and House of Payne are quality programs and all but still. Oh wait, all their original programming is complete crap! Geez, next thing you know they'll give Frank Caliendo his own show...

NL East:Philadelphia Phillies

They've been in the top 3-4 in the entire league in run differential all year. They are one of three teams that have a winning record on the road. Also, having Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell and Jimmy Rollins in your lineup doesn't hurt. Brad Lidge has performed very well for Charlie Manuel going 21 for 21 in save opportunities. Unfortunately, after Cole Hamels, their rotation is kind of horrific. You know, horrific in the way that we had to see Britney Spears' girl parts every time she got out of a car for months at a time. (For those of you who don't read What Would Tyler Durden Do, I'll save you the feeling of mace in the eyes...it didn't look good down there.) Adam Eaton? Brett Myers? Yikes. I don't know how well Joe Blanton will fit into the equation but if Hamels misses more than a couple of starts, they are in trouble. But I'm assuming he'll stay relatively healthy, and thus fend of the Mets and Marlins (and Braves?). New York is riding a hot streak right now but they don't hit behind Santana and besides Mike Pelfry, they're rotation approaches "Spears bathing suit area" levels as well. Now with Wagner's shoulder becoming a problem, the last season at Shea most likely won't get extended into October. I have a couple of friends who are diehard Mets fans and they wanted to blow the team up before Willie Randolph was fired and just start over with Wright, Reyes, Pelfry, Santana and Church. They might get their wish in the offseason. Conveniently, Philly and NY start a three game series tonight, so we'll see what happens. And regardless of where Florida ends up finishing, it's amazing what they've done with a payroll lower than one year of A-rod's salary. Uggla and Hanley Ramirez are scary good.

NL Central:Chicago Cubs

Again, go back to Adam Man's post about the Central but with Soriano coming back, that lineup is unstoppable. Which means...

Wild Card:Milwaukee Brewers

Sabathia pushes them over the edge. St. Louis won't be able to compete. But that leads me to...

NL West:St. Louis Cardinals

Yeah, I said it. The West is embarrasing. There should be a rule where if no team in a division finishes above .500, they forfeit their spot in the postseason. Pujols, Ankiel and Ludwick are having phenomenal seasons even though their rotation is extremely suspect. When Kyle Lohse is keeping you afloat, you may be on borrowed time. Adam Wainwright is coming back which will help too. You could have the Mets or the Marlins here either and I wouldn't be upset. But since none of that is actually happening...

NL West(seriously):Arizona Diamondbacks

Colorado and San Diego have been HUGE disappointments. Just unforgivably bad this year. Everyone knew the Giants were going to suck but at least they don't have Bonds anymore. The Dodgers have a nice young core of players in Russell Martin, James Loney, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier so it's not a complete surprise that they're "contending." Furcal going down really, really hurts though. They'll miss Saito a lot as well. Clayton Kershaw was sort of a bust in his first stint in the majors and didn't have the impact LA was looking for. Billingsley, Lowe and Koruda don't strike fear into a lot of batters' hearts, but they've been serviceable. Now Arizona has two of the top pitchers in all of baseball. The team got off to that great start, but they're bats just went dead. Like Eddie Murphy's career dead. Remember when guys like Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton were hitting the cover off the ball? This division is so bad though that Haren and Webb can carry the team to a first place finish. Also calling Max Scherzer back up couldn't hurt.

Therefore:

Chicago vs. Arizona

Philadelphia vs. Milwaukee

I think the Brewers might be able slip past the Phillies because of the Sheets/Sabathia combo. Philly can't answer that. Chicago protected themselves by getting Harden to counter Haren and Webb. There's going to be some great pitcher's duels. To the awards!

Rookie of the Year:Edinson Volquez, Cin

Volquez will get heavy Cy Young consideration. He's having an amazing year so far, but like his trade counterpart Josh Hamilton, I'm not sure if he'll be able to finish his first full year as strongly as he started it. Either way, he's the clear cut favorite. Jair Jurrjens of Atlanta is having a nice year as well but Volquez and his 9.46 K/9 ratio is ridiculous. Pencil it in now.

*EDIT*-A reader pointed out that Volquez is indeed not a rookie anymore. Although he never pitched more than 50 innings in a season, he had a combined 80 innings pitched from his time with the Rangers. If he's not in consideration, I'd go with either Geovany Soto or Jay Bruce. Bruce got off to an insane start, cooled off but is starting to hit again and is currently on an 11 game hitting streak. Soto has done a great job behind the plate for the Cubs. Right now, he has 16 home runs and an .849 OPS. Joey Votto is also having a good rookie year.*EDIT*

Manager of the Year:Ned Yost, Mil

Does Lou Pinella deserve MOY honors just because he didn't screw up? The Cubs are cursed and whatnot, great, I get it. But they clearly had one of the best, if not the best, team on paper coming into the year. Pinella is a great manager (but leave the rapping to Rick Ross and such, okay Lou?) and I'm not taking anything away from the job he's done this year. But Yost had more on his plate in my opinion. I'll have to see if the different way he handles the fifth spot in the rotation works out. And of course, if Milwaukee falters down the stretch again and miss the playoffs completely, the hardware will go to Lil' Lou.

Cy Young:Dan Haren, Ari

He is at the top of every stat category. Every single one. I'm not kidding. His BAA and OPSA is first in the NL at .209 and .573 respectively. He's first in WHIP at .95. Get the point? His teammate Webb is also having a great year. Tim Lincecum has been the lone bright spot on the Giants and strikes dudes out like crazy. I mentioned Volquez already and Ben Sheets might get some votes as well. But this is Haren's year. Just filthy.

Most Valuable Player:Albert Pujols, Stl

And we get another year of, "Do we vote for Most Productive Player or Most Valuable Player?" Lance Berkman and Albert Pujols are having insane years (again). Pujols has the higher average and rarely strikes out. Berkman's power numbers are better and he actually has 15 steals already. That's almost not fair. They are a wash defensively too. Chase Utley is a tremendous all around player and has the stats to make an argument for MVP. But he still has great hitters in the lineup with him and isn't the most valuable guy by definition when compared to Berkman or Pujols. The problem is, Houston has no shot of making the postseason barring some insanity. Chipper Jones has to be mentioned but again, Atlanta most likely won't be playing in October. Yeah, he won't hit .400 but I don't know if anyone will ever again. That brings me back to Albert though. He's got the stats and his team will be contending through September. They are only 2 back behind Chicago right now and are tied for the Wild Card with Milwaukee. But I just don't see those younger guys in St. Louis' lineup being as productive without Pujols there.

Whew! That's a whole lotta baseball coverage right thur. I wonder what trades will be made in the next nine days. Will any superstars be on the move or just role players that GMs need to complete their rosters? I'll just keep my ears to the ground and listen to Peter Gammons whenever possible. I suggest you do the same.

EDDIE! EDDIE! EDDIE!

Contract extension, contract extension.... Who wants a contract extension?


That's right, Eddie's back for 2 more years. Tony Allen too. The team that won 66 regular season games and the NBA championship is bringing back all 5 starters, as well as every reserve who's not completely broken down, 5000 years old, from outer space, or named James Posey. Add in the top two draft picks (Semih Erden is not coming to America to play. Ever. There I said it) and you have a roster the Celtics could easily enter the 2008-2009 season with:

The Big Five, Leon Powe, Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glenn Davis, Gabe Pruitt, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker, Patrick O'Bryant.... and Brian Scalabrine. That's 14 roster spots confirmed.

The C's sound convinced Pruitt is ready to start contributing as a backup PG, so between him and Eddie that spot's settled. Tony Allen and House will both back-up the 2. Powe and Big Baby are your PF's off the bench. Patrick O'Bryant SHOULD be able to contribute as the backup Center, since motivation/focus sound like his biggest problems and he'll have KG screaming in his face for an entire year. He's only 22 years old and has put up huge numbers in college and the D-League, so if we can get him up to PJ Brown status with a stronger pulse, that position will be fine.

That leaves the question: Who's going to fill the void at SF left by Posey leaving? I honestly think J.R. Giddens is destined for the D-League for a lot of this year, but they could try and use him here. Bill Walker just had knee surgery (again) so you can't say for certain how much he'll be able to contribute, and he's not known for his D when healthy. Brian Scalabrine is the token white guy. So maybe they pick up another player to be their bench stopper/chucker of 3's.

A lot of role-playing swingmen have been snatched up already... Eduardo Najera and Jarvis Hayes to the Nets, Bostjan Nachbar signed on to play in Russia, Matt Barnes is a Sun now. Let's see who's still available:

Michael Finley hasn't signed yet, but he's 35 and made over 3 million last season. The guys I see unsigned so far are Kareem Rush, Gordon Giricek, Quinton Ross, Antoine Wright, Maurice Evans, and Kirk Snyder... and really all of those guys are more SG than SF.... and none of them would be a huge upgrade over using Tony Allen in the Posey roll, if you ask me.

I don't think they have the cash available to go after restricted guys, but there's two interesting options there. One is Josh Childress, who doesn't shoot the 3 like Posey but defends well and knows how to score.... though apparently he's considering signing in Greece. The other? And this is a dream scenario for me personally... Ryan Gomes. He was a great role-player in his first Boston tour and brings a lot of the qualities Posey possesses. Minny apparently wants to make a big push to sign him, but if the Celtics feel like they need one more piece, he could be the answer.

That being said, I don't expect them to make any more notable moves this off-season. The C's will clearly wise-up at some point and just start giving heavy minutes to Scals. Boom, 6th man of the year award. Done and done.

NL Central Second Half Preview: LET'S DO THIS

So the Scrobinator has gone ahead and given you a second half preview for the AL, the main league I ever pay attention to. What's a guy to do? Follow the headlines, that's what... and if you've been watching the transaction wire over the past few weeks, you know it's all about the NL Central. The ciphering of premier AL pitching to the "senior circuit" (which I assume they call the NL because Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux play there) has kept on going with the Harden/Sabathia deals. Let's look at the effect these trades may have on how the division that's tight at the top and flat out horrible at the bottom. In order of the current standings:

Cubbies (58-40):
The lovable losers are at it again, streaking out to the best NL record in the first half and doing it with style. How have they done it? The obvious answer is hitting. Going into today's action they're hitting .280/.357/.442 AS A TEAM, which is crazy-go-nuts, and leading the NL in all three. They're also tops in the NL in runs scored with 518, which is 26 ahead of the second-place Phillies (who swing a good piece of lumber themselves).

Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee are mashing as usual. The big surprise is rookie catcher Geovany Soto and his 16 dingers (my fantasy team would like to say domo arigato Mr. G. Soto). The kid slugged .652 over a full AAA season last year, so he could actually keep it up. Fukudome made a big slash early but his splits have gone down every month of the season, so you have to keep your expectations low for the rest of the season as he gets used to this side of the Pacific. The big wild card is Alfonoso Soriano coming back this week. Alfie had an insane May and a very good June before getting hurt. If he gets back in stride with his pre-injury pace, this team still hits with the best of 'em.

But we're talking trades, right? And the bad news for the rest of the division is that the team with the lowest BA against, 2nd lowest ERA, and 3rd lowest WHIP in the NL just picked up one James Richard Harden, who is scary good at pitching. It's impressive enough that they've been getting solid performances from Ryan "The Dump Truck" Dempster (11-4, 3.05 ERA, 1.15 WHIP), Kerry Wood (24 saves, 1.01 WHIP, 0 exploded body parts), and Ted Lilly (would you believe me if I told you he was top-10 in the NL in K's. Go ahead, look it up. I'll wait.... Back yet? Yeah I know, it's weird).

Throw in Zambrano and they've got 2 top-end pitchers, a few other solid rotation guys, a very good bullpen, and the best offense in the NL. There's a reason north-siders are so confident. I can't wait to see what's going to go horribly wrong to derail this. I've got 100:1 money down on a polio breakout in the clubhouse.

Milwaukee Brewers (56-43):
When the Brew-Crew started winning games last year, it was cute... novel... and nobody believed it would last. They faded down the stretch and missed the playoffs, but they stayed mostly in tact and the young players are developing. Ryan Braun is a grown-ass man, following up his insane rookie season with very good numbers again (.896 OPS). After a sluggish start, Prince Fielder's splits have been getting better and better all year. He won't reach 50 dingers again, but 35-40 are definitely in reach. JJ Hardy is having his best year yet and is EXPLODING in July, with a 1.173 OPS, 7 HRs, 15 runs, and 15 RBI. Then there's Corey Hart, who's been cosistent for the whole season. That's 4 guys between 24-26, hitting their stride in late July. The Brewers are young. The Brewers are good. This is not news to anyone. This IS the news:That's right, there's ANOTHER fat man in Wisconsin. The thought of these two men at the same complimentary buffet must have Marriott staff shaking in their boots all across the country. I love this trade for this team. Despite having the NL All-Star starting pitcher on their roster, they've been around the middle of the NL pack in all the major pitching categories. Manny Parra has pitched well, but he's walked a ton of batters and he's too young to depend on as your second best pitcher.

Now the 1-2 punch of Ben Sheets and CC Sabathia backed up by Parra, Dave Bush, and Seth McClung, they have a group of pitchers they can feel okay about. They'd be in good shape if they could just start avoiding crappy ex-Red Sox pitchers. Seriously... Eric Gagne, Julian Tavarez, Jeff Suppan... what were you THINKING? But the fact they've stayed so close to the Cubs despite how dominant Chi-town's been statistically, and that they're getting better every month (currently 6 straight wins), means they've got a serious chance in this race.

St. Louis Cardinals (57-45):
The story of the year in the NL is how the Cards have stayed in a tough NL Central race despite having, as many love to point out, a fairly craptastical roster. Of course they still have Poo-Holes, and he is still one of the scariest hitters in baseball (.356/.468/.600), but they're also depending on a Molina brother, which is never a good sign. Sure they're 5th in the NL in runs, but do you know who's 4th? That's right, the Pirates of Pittsburgh... and that's not working out so hot for THEM. They're getting very respectable years out of a slew of guys: Ryan Ludwick, Troy Glaus, and Rick Ankiel are all OPS'ing over .800, plus Skip Shumaker and the before-mentioned Molina brother are over .750. The bats have come alive this year and that's carried this team.

The pitching on the other hand is not so hot. When your staff ace is Kyle Lohse, even with as great of a year as he's having, you probably don't have a great rotation. Brandon Looper, Joel Piniero, and Todd Wellemeyer round out the starters, with Mitchell Boggs getting some starts as well, and they haven't been pretty to watch. Ryan Franklin has filled the closer role admirably after Isringausen's fall from grace, and Russ Springer and Kyle McClellan have had great seasons with sub-3.00 ERA's, but the Cards still rank last in BAA by relievers and dead last in bullpen WHIP.

And there's the problem. In a division where all the contenders can hit, the Cards were the only team that didn't go out and get another proven starter to bolster their rotation. And if Harden and Sabathia can help quiet some of the career years St. Louis's hitters are having, the Cards could be out of the picture by late August. They can only hope acquiring a highly touted A's pitcher will work out as well for the Cubs as it did for them with Mulder.

Cincinnati Reds (49-53):
They've got some great young talent both with pitchers and hitters, but all that talent still needs to mature. If they can continue to develop Jay Bruce and Joey Votto, hang onto Brandon Philips, and somehow convince Dusty Baker that it doesn't matter if Adam Dunn is hitting .237 as long as he's OPS'ing .934, they could have a formidable lineup in short time.

Pitching is a different issue for the Reds. Edinson Volquez has been amazing, which is why you don't hear anybody screaming that they're idiots for trading Josh Hamilton away. But Aaron Harang is having an anomaly of a bad year, while Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto have shown that they both have great stuff, but are still a ways off from knowing how to use it.

Pittsburgh Pirates (46-54):
The Pirates are not alone in last place in the division right now. Good for them. Call me when Ian Snell stops being a horrible pitcher (my fantasy team curses you Mr. Snellington). Pirates pitchers are dead last in team ERA, team BAA, and team WHIP... and it's not even close in any of them (5.26 ERA to 2nd worst Colorado's 4.88). If Richie Sexson could only hit against lefties who play for the Pirates, he'd be the next home run king. Actually, could we set that up? That'd be pretty hilarious

Houston Astros (46-54)
Houston Texas has a Major League Baseball baseball team named the Astros. Their best hitter looks like Fat Elvis Presley. They were in the World Series 3 seasons ago. They will not be in it this season.


PREDICTIONS:
Who's going to win the NL Central? I'll give you a hint: they love sausage and beer. No, it's not your mom (BURN!), it's the Milwaukee Brewers! The boost they get from CC, along with their coming-of-age hitters, and the inevitable injury to Rich Harden (bonus: Kerry Wood's on the DL now!) means that they'll catch the Cubs and take the crown. Chicago will still win the Wild Card, but their beer shower will be bittersweet when they realize they're showering in Miller, the official Beer Sponsor of the Division Champ Brewers.

Now things get interesting

Man did this weekend get away from me. Anywho, we are now firmly entrenched in the second half of the 2008 Major League Baseball season. Some major deals have already been made (Sabathia and Harden) with a few more surely to take place before the July 31st deadline. Certain teams are still trying to figure out if they are buyers or sellers while others know that they stink and have no chance at making the playoffs. When looking towards October, we can safely eliminate: Toronto, Baltimore, Kansas City, Cleveland, Seattle, Washington, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and San Diego. I suppose I could rip off Bill Simmons (10 week vaca to finish his book, nice) and do some sort of Dark Knight awards type deal but I'm still trying to process everything and it's two and a half days later. So we'll stick with a more conventional approach. Enjoy.

AL East:Boston Red Sox

While it'd be great to break up the monotony and have the Rays win this division, the Sox just have too many weapons. They have multiple MVP candidates (more on that later) and that doesn't even count David Ortiz because he's missed so much time with the wrist injury. Papelbon has shown blips of inconsistency but I think he'll be fine down the stretch. The young guys continue to impress and I think they need to keep Lowrie up on the big league club for good. Catcher and the bullpen are their only two week spots in my opinion and you can be sure Theo Epstein will make some kind of move that hopefully won't turn into another Gagne debacle. Tampa Bay and New York will certainly make things interesting though.

AL Central:Chicago White Sox

So you knew this was coming. It'll be a three team race for the rest of the year with Detroit finally waking up. It seems that the Chisox and the Twins have done this with basically smoke and mirrors all year. Up until yesterday, Chicago had all five starters in their rotation make every single start. They have either been first or second in quality starts. That is huge in today's game. But now Contreras is on the 15 Day DL and Vazquez has been strangely inconsistent. Their bullpen is very solid but Jenks is still a little banged up. Quentin, Dye and Crede all need to keep their production up and it wouldn't hurt if Konerko did anything. Anything at all. A HUGE factor in the Central race will be when Francisco Liriano gets called back up and how effective he will be. Seemingly 100% healthy, he has been dominating AAA ball but the Twins have come up with some garbage line that their is no room in their rotation for him right now. What?!?! Hey, keep him down there. You won't hear Ozzie Guillen or Jim Leyland complaining...

AL West:California Angels

This is the only division in baseball that looks like it's a wrap already. (And yeah, I know they're not called the California Angels anymore but their name now is so dumb that I refuse to acknowledge it.) Top to bottom, a great baseball team. Their rotation is filthy and K-Rod is a man possessed. No seriously, I think he needs an exorcism. Someone get John Constatine on the horn because no one should be celebrating that much after a save in July. Their lineup doesn't exactly set the world on fire, but Mike Scioscia will get the most out of his players. Oakland continues to amaze by playing above .500 with a cast of unknowns and Texas has some great young offensive players, but the Angels are just too far ahead and know how to hold a divisional lead.

AL Wild Card:Tampa Bay Rays

Now you may have noticed that these "predictions" are just the current standings. I realize I'm not going out on any kind of limb here. The Rays won't be able to fend of Boston but will keep New York, Minnesota, Oakland and Texas at bay with their youth, their impressive 1-2-3 of Kazmir, Shields and Garza and an attitude to prove to everyone that they aren't a flash in the pan. Troy Percival is still a ginoromous question mark especially since the Twins have Nathan and the Yanks have Mariano. Still, the Rays would make the postseason for the first time in the club's history.

So that means we're looking at:

Angels vs. Rays

Boston vs. Chicago

I'll let you draw your own conclusions as to who will represent the American League in the World Series. It sure is looking like another Red Sox/Angels showdown. Gotta love that home field advantage though.

Of course we can't forget the four postseason awards.

Rookie of the Year:Evan Longoria, TB

It might be overstating it slightly to say that he could even be considered an MVP candidate, but Longoria currently leads the Rays in home runs and RBIs. He plays a solid third base with only 7 errors so far this season and is fifth in the entire league in fielding % for third basemen. He was an All-Star and will be the face of the franchise longer than Kevin Costner will continue to star in awful movies. (Okay, maybe not that long. Swing Vote? Really?) Just one of the many young Rays who have turned a team that has been a laughing stock for a decade, into a title contender. Which leads me to:

Manager of the Year:Joe Madden, TB

Not a lot of people expected the White Sox to be where they are but NO ONE expected the Rays to be in first place on July 21st. He's really instilled in his players that they really have a chance to win. He realizes that he's got a group of talented young kids and they have the tools to succeed now, rather than two or three years from now. If they don't end up making the playoffs, I could see the award going to Sciosia or maybe Gardenhire/Girardi depending on who wins the Wild Card.

Cy Young:Roy Halladay, Tor

This was a tough one. There are two pitchers at the top of almost every category in the AL right now, but I don't see either of them having the success they had in the first half. Justin Duchscherer and Cliff Lee have been essentially lights out so far, but Lee in particular I see fading fast. And Duchscherer isn't even in the top 30 in K's. Ervin Santana should be considered too as he is having an outstanding year. He's in the top five in wins, strikeouts and WHIP right now. But his ERA is too high and I don't know if he'll start coasting in August due to his team's large lead. Now the Cy Young is a bit different than MVP because it's based waaay more on stats than playing for a contender. That's why Halladay will ultimately win. Losses aren't a great indicater of a starter's skill, and while he will have a few more than the other top pitchers, his other stats will completely overshadow them. This is all assuming that he stays healthy mind you. And while it is a shame that he pitches for the Blue Jays, he is the one true dominant pitcher in the American League. Dude has seven complete games! James Shields is next with three. It'd be great to see "Doc" pitch in the playoffs some day.

Most Valuable Player:Manny Ramirez, Bos

Mainly because I don't want to give JD Drew any kind of credit. There are a bunch of guys in the upper echelon here and no one truly stands out. I don't know if Carlos Quentin and Josh Hamilton will be able to keep up their paces in their first full years as pros. Ian Kinsler's home run and RBI totals are too low even though the stolen bases make up for it. I love my man Youk but he's a notorious poor second half player. A-Rod is always in the discussion even though he missed some time due to injury. Jermaine Dye (top ten in .OPS, average and HRs) is someone I could see vying for the title if he stays healthy. Of course as I write this, I see he left yesterday's game after getting hit in the knee with a pitch. Damn it! So Manny has the same kind of numbers as these other guys but he's the most consistent. And, I think when Ortiz comes back, he'll be more protected in the lineup. Plus with all the contract/options talk, you know Manny will try and put up the best numbers possible. Also heavily factored into this decision were the catch/high five/double play and cell phone call from inside the Monster. Just awesome.

So there's the American League for ya. I admit I don't follow the NL quite as closely but I'll be back at some point today (read: tomorrow) to give my thoughts that may or may not deal with excluding any NL West teams from the playoffs...