With the midseason summer classic officially over, it is time to take a look at the storylines of the second half.

American League East

Headline: Will the Yankees ever wake up?

It is the second week of July and the New York Yankees are a sub-.500 team and 10 games back of their most hated rival, the Boston Red Sox. If that wasn’t enough pressure, the Cleveland Indians boast an 8 ½ game lead over the Yankees for the wildcard. So what now? While Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera have been models of consistency; their starting pitchers, relief pitchers, and designated hitters have not been. Even with the addition of Roger Clemens, the Yankees starters are average at best. If a team is going to have average starting pitching, the bullpen must be relentless. However, the Yankees’ bullpen has been unusually sub-par early in the season. Even the Sandman, Mariano Rivera, has been sleeping on the job.

Outlook: The Yankees will contend for the wild card and should be back in the AL East race by August 10. The Yankees have 28 straight games against the likes of Toronto, Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Chicago (AL), and Kansas City.  These cellar dwellers should provide a nice pick-me-up for the down-and-out Yankees.

Side Note: Boston still wins the division because they will get healthy. That’s really a scary thought: Boston is in 1st place and Curt Shelling is on the DL, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz haven’t caught fire, Julio Lugo is batting below the Mendoza Line and Daisuke Matsuzaka is just now getting his routine down. Come October not a lot of teams are going to want to face this team. Especially if the team syncs like they did in 2004.

National League East

Headline: Can the Mets pull away?

Like that annoying little brother that always wants to go with you wherever you’re headed, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies have been tagging along behind the New York Mets since the beginning of the year. After destroying the division last year, the Mets have found a newfound respect for the Braves impressive 14-year stranglehold on the division. The Mets have had a few injuries, but so have the Braves and Phillies. Pedro Martinez is likely out until at least the playoffs, but Mike Hampton and Mike Gonzalez are gone for the year. Plus, the Phillies are without Freddy Garcia and Tom Gordon. The Mets have had veterans slumping, but so have the Braves and Phillies. Carlos Delgado has been in a slump for the last month, but Andruw Jones slump began on opening day. Not to mention, Ryan Howard was slumping all year until last month when he heated up. Why point out how poorly the Mets are playing, instead of how well the Braves and Phillies are playing, because the teams are still intact. The Braves and Phillies had virtually the same teams when the Mets stormed away from not only the division, but the whole conference.

Outlook: The Mets aren’t going to pull away and the Braves and Phillies aren’t going to go away either. Look for this race to become heated since the Wild Card winner will likely come from the other two divisions.

Side Note: The Phillies will win this division, because they always go on a second-half tear. The only reason they miss the playoffs is the fact that they are too far behind to catch the division or Wild Card winner. That’s not the case this time.
 

 American League Central

Headline: Who’s more now?

The Indians, Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins are up to their usual scrappy ways. This division has produced the last twp World Series participants. In addition, the race for the division crown always seems to go down to the wire. These three teams are very similar in team makeup: solid pitching, defense and hitting. The members of this division wish MLB incorporated more Wild-Card berths, because there is always an odd team left out at the end of the year. Last year, it was the defending champion Chicago White Sox, despite winning 90 games. Once again this race will go down to the wire with only one game currently separating the Indians and Tigers. The Tigers are proving that last year’s World Series berth was no fluke, and the Indians seem intent not to collapse down the stretch.

Outlook: The Tigers’ pitching is a little stronger, which will prove useful down the stretch and way into October as they capture the division crown.

Side Note: The White Sox only hurdle is their bats. The whole team is just about hitting at the Mendoza Line. Now, if the bats somehow wake up then the Sox might at least spoil some other teams’ chances down the stretch.

National League Central

Headline: Who’s least now?

This division is a classic case of overall mediocrity. At this point, at least four teams have a shot at the division crown. The Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are no more than four or five games apart. If either of these teams get hot or sweep a division foe, they’ll move up in the standings. While the Cubs decided to buy a division crown, the Brewers decided to cultivate one through their farm system. Then there are the defending champs, the Cardinals, who can’t seem to get above .500 or escape team distractions. The Brewers jumped out to an 8- or 9-game lead early in the year, only to witness the Cubs whittle the lead down to 4 ½. Yet, as the second half approaches one would have to wonder if the Baby Brewers are playing over their heads or if the high rolling Cubs just bought a playoff berth.

Outlook: The Cubs will overtake the Brewers in late August for the division crown. The Cubs have started to put it together under manager Lou Piniella and look for that trend to continue in the second half. At the end of the year the talk will be: Did the Cubs come on strong or did the Brewers fade away. As usual, it will be a combination of both.

Side Note: What’s the deal with defending World Series Champs? First the Red Sox in ‘05 get swept in the first round. Then the White Sox in ‘06 don’t make the playoffs after winning 90 games. And now the Cardinals in ‘07 won’t finish above .500? Go figure.

American League West

Headline: What about us?

The majority of the media outlets’ headquarters are located in the east, so it is only natural that east coast teams dominate headlines and power rankings. Well, that is a total injustice considering the best team in baseball right now resides in this very division. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim by way of Sacramento via Bakersfield... who cares? Maybe teams come in worrying about which city the Angels represent instead of their players. The Angels have been a consistently good team since winning the ’02 World Series. This year is no exception. Normally joining the Angels in the pursuit of the division are the Oakland A’s, who are known for bringing on wins in the second half thus creating a very competitive battle up to the end of the season. Before the emergence of the AL Central division in the past three years; the Wild Card winner usually came from this division.  However, new to the race this year is the team that “The Kid” built, the Seattle Mariners. Not since Ken Griffey Jr. was well on his way to attacking Henry Aaron’s home run record and Alex Rodriguez was a baby-faced rookie making a name for himself, have the Mariners been so competitive. Yet, the Mariners find themselves 2½ games behind the best team in baseball. If the Mariners experienced very little exposure before the All-Star break, there is no excuse for under exposure now that the All-Star Game MVP is also this team’s starting centerfielder. Ichiro Suzuki has been a model of consistency for the Mariners since Griffey and Rodriguez left.

Outlook: Look for the A’s to continue their second half push and the Angels to stay consistent. The Angels will win the division earlier than usual. The A’s injuries will halt their progress just short of overtaking the Angels and the Mariners need one more solid piece to maintain competitiveness. While Suzuki is good, the team is still missing an anchor.

Side Note: Will the Texas Rangers ever get on track? The Rangers last first place finish was in 1999 when Ivan Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez and Will Clark were powering the lineup. 

National League West
Headline: First to score wins?

This league reads like the who’s who among active pitchers. There are wily veterans like Greg Maddux, David Wells, Randy Johnson, Brad Penny, Derek Lowe and Barry Zito. The young guns aren’t any slouches either with the likes of Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Brandon Webb, Jeff Francis, Noah Lowry and Matt Cain. With all that pitching residing in one division, it’s no wonder three of the teams are in the bottom third of the league in runs scored, including the division leader, the San Diego Padres. However, every four out of five days, the Padres trot out one of the following: Peavy, Maddux, Young or Wells. That is 674 combined career wins. Not only do the Padres know how to start a game, their closer, Trevor Hoffman, is the all-time leader in saves. With pitching bookends like this, the Padres need only three or four runs a game to secure a victory. Yet, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies aren’t going anywhere. The Rockies are only 5½ games back of the Padres. Not the next team ahead of them, the division leader.

Outlook: The Padres pitching is too strong. Besides the Diamondbacks’ chances go as Johnson’s back goes, the Rockies are playing over their heads and the Dodgers’ offense is worse than the Padres.

Side Note: When will Barry Bonds break the record? With the record looming around the corner the pressure increases. Will he burst like a pipe? Bonds probably ties the record the third week of July and breaks it the next week. While Bonds is the most feared hitter in the game today; the pressure to pass Aaron coupled with the mandatory base on ball-a-thon will make a small number like five seem so large.