All World All Sports Blogs

Visit ALL WORLD ALL SPORTS.com

by Digger

2008 American League baseball has been full of surprises all season long. Tampa Bay earned their way onto highlight reels daily as baseball's stunner team of '08. Josh Hamilton has been the first half feel good story as Texas MVP candidate has torn up AL pitchers. His 28 homers display during All Star Home Run Derby will not be forgotten any time soon. Yankees baseball has been luke warm as they try to hang tough in third place. NL pennant contending teams created a buzz when CC Sabathia and Rich Harden were traded to Milwaukee and Chicago. Many New Yorkers are waiting for the Yankees to step up and fill holes.

AL EAST
Rays (58-40). When this season began most expected a two team race between Boston and New York. Tampa has been the divisions best team. If it wasn't for a recent slide right before the All Star break, Tampa would be more than 1.5 game leaders (heading into tonight's action). These kids are playing baseball the way it's meant to be played. 2nd half will prove to be challenging as most 1st half games were played at home. Champs must prove they can win on the road... Tampa gets their chance now. Offensively, a big power threat acquired via trade is probably needed. Barry Bonds could have been an interesting fit here as full time DH. Other thoughts could be to grab Atlanta's 1B Mark Teixeira, Pittsburgh's Xavier Nady, Reds' Griffey Jr. Another starter or big time reliever will fill depth voids. Tampa seems to be for real. Tampa's fate lies squarely on a young pitching staff.

Red Sox (58-43). No fan in Boston or New York would have guessed the Champs to be trailing Tampa Bay this late in '08. Francona has done a great job with a team battling injuries most of the year. They're sitting pretty with David Ortiz tearing it up on rehab assignment. I'm a bit surprised they haven't been a front runner in trade derby talk. All they need is a first class starting pitcher or Fuentes type reliever for an instant upgrade. This team is very deep and will win AL EAST.

Yankees (54-45). Yankees GM Brian Cashman gambled with an ill-advised plan of starting two unproven future talents in the rotation. They never won a game between them and both are disabled. Johann Santana should have been off season priority #1. In-season priority #1 should have been trading for CC Sabathia. They didn't and now he's a Brewer. Cashman has been reluctant to make any trades and if the Yanks are to contend they need help. Posada and Matsui are finished for '08. Relievers are pitching better but another arm should be had... Fuentes is the perfect candidate to replace Joba as Mariano's setup guy. Starting pitching needed... quickly. LF/CF or DH help too. Sexson was a gamble but worth every penny of the major league minimum. Yanks have begun to wake up a bit lately after spending most of the season trying to stay above .500... if they solidify pitching look for this team to take off and challenge for division / wild card.

Orioles (48-50), Blue Jays (48-51). Baltimore has played inspired baseball while hanging tough. They just don't have what it takes to challenge at this late stage and might sell off a couple of high priced contracts. Toronto is disappointed once again as injuries hurt this team coming out of the gate on consecutive seasons. Not sure which road these teams will take for remaining days... sell off, call up rookies? Probably both.

AL CENTRAL

White Sox (55-43). Interesting season for Guillen's White Sox. Big hitters Konerko and Thome haven't heated up yet. Pitchers a bit banged up. Batting averages tumbled. And here they are in first place playing tough baseball. Quentin has been the teams biggest surprise (24 HR, 72 RBI). Starting pitchers have been gritty but not dominating. Bullpen has been lights out all year and is Chicago's greatest strength. Once the hitters wake up, Chicago may never look back... all the way to the World Series.

Twins (55-44). Faces change season after season and this team keeps winning. Ron Gardenhire is a superb manager. No more Hunter, no more Santana... no problem. Young, energetic team will play their gutsy style to the end. '08 features one of the most competitive AL seasons in years. Minnesota probably will be one of the teams left out of post season play but no one should be surprised if they make it. They will stick to their guns and make no deals unless a serious injury pops up before the deadline.

Tigers (50-49). After many big off season acquisitions, Detroit was expected to roar from day one. 0-7 start was a Motor City lemon. It took them until game 80 to reach .500 for the first time. Which team will show up for the 2nd half? No deals will be coming down the pike unless Detroit goes after a bonified reliever/closer type. The lineup is finally showing signs of snapping out from inconsistency. Starting pitchers have been one game on, one game off. Not what champions are made of. They'll finish 2nd, ahead of Minnesota, but way off Chicago's pace.

Royals (45-55) and Indians (44-54) are done. I keep waiting for Kansas City to put together a Tampa or Florida type season... it never happens. KC has plenty of young talent from hitters to pitchers. They seem to have one really bad inning a few times a week which costs them ballgames. How about George Brett or one of the other winners from their 70's/80's teams come in to manage? As for Cleveland, they threw in the towel a long time ago and it shows. Trading away Cy Young winner CC sealed their fate for this season... and perhaps next too. Injuries to key hitters took them out of contention early.

AL WEST
Angels (60-39). Best record in baseball. Scioscia brought his NL style to AL West and it works. Many injuries have popped up but LA keeps rolling. They could use one more bat (DH/1B) and maybe a shut down reliever. Dunn, Bonds, Nady, Bay seem like good fits here. There isn't much work for the GM to do. Streaky team who can beat anyone but might not have enough juice to take on Boston or Chicago in a best of seven.

Rangers (52-48). Rangers have been playing solid baseball when most believed they would not. Josh Hamilton (.308, 28, 98), Milton Bradley (.306, 19 HR) and Ian Kinsler (.324, 134 hits) have led the way on offense. Hamilton's story has been well documented and he's still on fire as the 2nd half begins. Starting pitching is the biggest question mark. Very inconsistent year after year. There's hope in '08. If the rotation keeps games close... look out. Texas could be the 2008 version of the 2007 Rockies. Outside of Hamilton's heroics, no one seems to take this club seriously right now. It makes them all the more dangerous.

A's (51-48) and Mariners (38-61) have given up hope. Oakland reminded me of Chicago from a few years back... playing their hearts out to compete... then GM stuns players by selling off key players. Oakland traded Harden and Blanton, effectively removing themselves from playoff contention. Yes, they did receive great future talent so I won't rake Beane over the coals for this move. Seattle was baseball's biggest disappointment when so many anticipated a very competitive season. All moves went bust, vets playing sub-par, manager fired. Will they be sellers? Ichiro would fetch a slew of young future talent and could be worth trading.

Forecast: AL's biggest battle for post season play ever. Nine teams within ten games of each other. Boston, Chicago and LA seem like division winners to me. Wild Card is purely a guessing game with so many teams battling. Yankees? Tampa? Texas? Detroit? We'll find out soon enough.

Visit ALL WORLD ALL SPORTS.com

by Digger

2008 National League baseball has been a battle in all divisions. Will this finally be the Cubs season? Can the Dodgers survive an injury plagued season? What happened to Arizona? Who is NL MVP?

Rivalries intensified recently as division foes executed rotation bolstering trades. Milwaukee nabbed CC Sabathia from Cleveland. The next day Chicago traded for Harden. July 31st is baseball's trading deadline. Who will be next to bolster their teams?

NL EAST
Phillies (53-45). Philadelphia just traded with Oakland to land Blanton. Blanton had a rough year out west and should rebound nicely just in time for pennant fever. Utley is having a MVP type season. Howard has struggled until recently. Former MVP Rollins has been off most of the year and could be the difference between a slight division lead and what should have been multiple games. Pat Burrell has quietly been team MVP with timely hits and homers. Until last year, the Phillies had always found a way to choke in September. Now they know how to win. Can they hold off the Mets and Marlins? It'll be close.... Yes, Philly to play Playoff baseball in October.

Mets (52-36). Willie Randolph is gone. He just couldn't motivate this team of underperforming stars. They've been on fire ever since Willie was canned. A recent 10 game winning streak suddenly found the Mets bucking for division honors. Oliver Perez seems to have snapped out of his early season funk and is needed if the Mets are to contend. Pelfrey has been a great surprise and steady work horse. Unfortunately, his teammates don't hit for him in the clutch. Delgado was hearing it from NY boo-birds until finding his stroke right before the All Star break. He needs to stay hot or the Mets are doomed. Injuries decimated this team and is wearing the roster thin. Pedro, Alou, Church, Castillo, Hernandez all hurt for extended periods. The Mets need to trade for a corner OF. Tatis is hot, but cannot be counted on to produce down the stretch. Plenty of players could be had as this team has a fully stocked minor league system. Without a deal, the Mets will get caught looking in from the outside come playoff time. Chavez/Tatis will not carry this team. NY to miss playoffs without a big time trade.

Marlins (51-46). One of baseball's bright stories in 2008 has been the resilient Florida Marlins. Left for dead by most experts, the Marlins continue to show off how well their young team plays season after season. Who needs to spend $250M when you can win for $55M? Dan Uggla and Hanley Ramirez have provided the pop up the middle. Timely hits by most players have won big games for the fish. They're in this race to stay. Young gun pitchers, hustling on the basepaths, chasing down balls in play and a manager's manuevers all paying dividends. These guys will be playing for the division crown from here on in. Look out for the killer fish...

Braves (46-51). Bobby Cox is doing the best with what he has left. Injuries have really crumbled this team. Smoltz, Glavine, Diaz, Escobar and others have thrown a wrench into Atlanta's season. Chipper has been the headline maker as he flirted with .400 for much of the first half. Francouer has been a major disappointment for Braves fans. This was to be his breakout year and it's been a breakdown season instead. Teixeira hasn't delivered as expected and could find himself on another team before long. Never count this team out but it's not looking good by any means. Wonder if Hudson is on the trading block? A few AL teams would love to get him for the playoff run.

Nationals (37-61). I wonder how long this team will be rebuilding? Seems as though it's been going on 20 years. Injuries, lack of depth, young inexperienced players... you name it... Washington is a long way from fielding winning teams. They will challenge for 100 losses.

NL CENTRAL
Cubs (57-40). Can the Cubs finally make it back to the World Series? Do they have what it takes to win? Yes. Will they? Check back with me in September. Piniella has had these guys firing away all season. So far so good but this is Chicago... they play in the leagues toughest division... and rivals are hot. Right after Milwaukee announced their Sabathia deal the Cubs had some news too... adding Rich Harden from Oakland. Chicago vs Milwaukee and Chicago vs St Louis will keep everyone's attention. Cubs strengths are pitching and depth. For the most part good health to everyone except Soriano has been a major key. A fight to the finish... Cubs hold on for division crown. Will the preseason rumor of O's 2B Brian Roberts become a reality? If it does, Cubs to Series.

Cardinals (56-42). LaRussa deserves big time credit for dealing with massive roster injuries, new players and rookies. The Cardinals have sucked it up and played great baseball so far. Pujols has been joined by surprise power hitters Ankiel & Ludwick to lead the Cards attack. Strong pitching from unlikely sources has kept these guys knocking on the door. It's tough picturing the Cards holding off Milwaukee or over taking Chicago. St Louis will just miss the playoffs... but don't be surprised to see them sneak in.

Brewers (54-43). Watch out. The Brew Crew are armed and ready. CC Sabathia has been lights out since his arrival. He's even homered from the dish. Sheets and Sabathia create a dynamic 1-2 punch. On offense, Fielder's power stroke is back and just in time. No lineup weaknesses at the moment as sleeping bats are suddenly alive and well... while pitchers seem to be in stride. Perfect timing for things to be clicking. It's Milwaukee vs Chicago for the Central title. Loser takes home the Wild Card and playoff birth. NL will be repped by NL Central in this years World Series.

Reds (48-51), Astros (46-51) and Pirates (44-53). These teams are cooked with no chance of snapping out of whatever has kept them down. Typical Griffey and Dunn trade rumors swirling again in Cincinnati. Interest has also been shown in Arroyo & Harang. Houston will probably not entertain any trades and Pittsburgh's asking price is too high as their youngsters are signed to management friendly deals. Pittsburgh has dangled Bay and Nady while most teams seem to have set their sights on all those lefties starting pitchers. Mets can use both Bay and Nady.

NL WEST
Diamondbacks (48-49). First place belongs to a sub .500 club. Arizona began the year on fire but has fizzled. Lucky for them, NL West rivals have stunk it up too. In 2007, with runners on base... no team was more clutch than Arizona. Timely hits game after game. It's just not happening right now. Starting rotation seems to be one game on, one game off. This team has plenty of talent... just lacks a spark.

Dodgers (47-50). Torre's first season in LA has been difficult. Injuries to most positional players has left this team scratching and clawing for runs... a common theme for recent Dodger teams. Furcal was team catalyst and is probably lost for the year. Andruw Jones signing may go down in history as one of the greatest free agent busts ever. Kent has been slowed by nagging injuries. Torre has used different lineups nearly every night. Even his pitchers are banged up. Somehow, this team is right in the middle of things. It's like a boat held together by scotchtape... sooner or later, the water will come rushing in and LA sinks.

Rockies (42-57). 13 games under .500 and still commanding attention as having a legitimate shot at capturing the division crown. If Colorado can reach into their bag of tricks from one year ago...? One hot streak could be all it takes. Don't count this team out. Colorado hasn't played well all season and they're still in the hunt. Look out, here comes Colorado.

Giants (40-57) and Padres (37-61) trail with no hope of climbing the ladder. No one expected SF to play well this year. The front office would be all too happy (and fortunate) to trade Barry Zito. San Diego... what happened? No offense, no pitching, no defense = no chance. This team has crumpled from within from day one. Big time changes will be made before 2009. No trade bait for this season. It'll be a tough ride for both of these teams.

Stay tuned for AL updates.......