MLB month down: BoSox, Cubs, D-Backs look good
April 24th, 2008By Beltway Boss
BaseballBigMouth.com baseball news
In the early going, as we near the end of April, several MLB teams have yet to distinguish themselves. With an eighth of the baseball season in the books, three teams, however - the Arizona Diamondbacks, who I wrote about last time and the red hot defending champions, the Boston Red Sox, plus, the surprising Chicago Cubs - have done just that, putting the rest of their division mates on notice of their intentions to take their respective top spots.
As sun sets on April ‘08 MLB, Red Sox have game faces on
The Boston Red Sox, recent winners of 8 out of 10, have a two game lead on the supposed to be rebuilding Baltimore Orioles; the retooled White Sox are clinging to a slim 1-1/2 game lead ahead of the rest of the AL Central; the Oakland Athletics, who like the Orioles, are supposed to be rebuilding, are a tied with the Los Angeles Angels. For the wild card, the Angels and Oakland lead the Orioles by half a game.
In the National League, the low budget Florida Marlins lead AL East powerhouse New York Mets by a game and a half and last year’s champion Philadelphia by two and a half, while the Chicago Cubs lead the Milwaukee Brewers by two games and the St. Louis Cardinals by two and a half in what could be the best divisional race.
The Baltimore Orioles and Oakland Athletics, always batting it out for alphabetical superiority, both traded their best position player and best pitcher away citing the need to rebuild. Someone forgot to tell the players. Houston, who took on the suddenly 33-year-old Miguel Tejada from the Orioles, might wish they had that one to do over. Before their five game win streak, the Astros had one of the worst records in the majors despite Tejada’s strong play and having Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee in residence and strong performances in the rotation from everyone not named Roy Oswalt in the Astros fans might have hope for a turnaround in the next 140 games or so.
The Detroit Tigers who took on refugees from Florida, have shown some signs of a resurgence, going 8-2 in their last ten, but still rank near the bottom in the majors in runs allowed. The New York Yankees, still sporting a 200 million dollar payroll, areare two games out of last place. The team near last place in the American League East, despite all the recent noise about them showing some signs of something positive, is still - as always - the Tampa Bay Rays, saved only by the slumping Toronto Blue Jays now occupying the cellar.
Cleveland is another surprising last place team. Expect a turnaround, however. Their runs scored/runs allowed distribution is not what would be expected for a 8-12 team. Something closer to .500 should be expected. They have been tough to take the last 10 games, with just four wins in that span.
The third last place team in the American League is the Texas Rangers. Unlike some other struggling teams, the Rangers are the real deal. They have recently lost seven in a row and their runs allowed are near the bottom in all of MLB. Washington at 6-16 has the worst record in the majors. Like the Rangers, they are the real deal. It is a shame for Washington fans who have waited for so long that they do not have a winner to put their support behind.
Rounding out the league, the Pirates are near-last and Giants dead last the NL Central and West, respectively. There is some historical significance here. The Pirates are on the verge of their 16th consecutive losing season. The Giants meanwhile, now without Barry Bonds, were picked by this writer to set a record for most losses in a season. Nothing they have shown thus far is cause for any rethinking of that prognostication.
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