One Month in the Books

First things first, a quick look at the standings....

AL East AL Central AL West
1. Baltimore 1. Chicago 1. LA/Anaheim
2. Toronto 2. Minnesota 2. Oakland
3. Boston 3. Detroit 3. Texas
4. New York 4. Cleveland 4. Seattle
5. Tampa Bay 5. Kansas City



NL East NL Central NL West
1. Florida 1. St. Louis 1. Los Angeles
2. Atlanta 2. Chicago 2. Arizona
3. Washington 3. Houston 3. San Francisco
4. New York 4. Milwaukee 4. Colorado
5. Philadelphia 5. Cincinnati
6. Pittsburgh


Biggest Surprise Winner: Chicago White Sox. Have been incredible in 1 run games. Their pitching staff has so far been lived up to its potential as one of the best in baseball. It will be interesting to see if it can keep this up. Jon Garland of all people, a career 12 game winner, is leading the AL with 5 wins coming off his 2nd complete game shut out of the season. Frank who?

Honorable Mention : Baltimore Orioles - no one expected anyone but the Yankees and Red Sox to be close to first place past April.

Biggest Surprise Loser : New York Yankees. I'll refer to Chris "Maddog" Russo on this one. "If they're under .500 after 40 games , I'll start worrying." Fair enough. A-rod has recently caught fire and no doubt the Yankees should be able to overcome this rough start. But man if this weak pitching performance isn't a sign of things to come in the playoffs.

Honorable Mention : Philadelphia Philles. Just because year after year they are supposed to contend for the division. But between Terry Adams and Tim Worrell as their set up men , Billy Wagner is going to see limited save opportunities. And Charlie Manuel should already be fired. How long has it taken him to finally consistently start Chase Utley? THIS GUY IS THE FUTURE OF YOUR FRANCHISE. WAKE UP. The Phillies really turned Jim Leyland down for this guy? Unbelievable.

Most Likely to Plummet from their top spot : Florida. Let's think about this. Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett both have a history of arm trouble and they're pitching complete game after complete game. Yea, they're doing well now and good for them. But talk to me in late August when they've got nothing left - that's if they're not on the DL. (Willis too).



Just some quick thoughts for a little preview...more to come shortly