Down the Stretch

We're well into the 2nd half of the season, almost to the 2/3 point even. With a lot of divisions undergoing a leader change in the past few weeks, which of these leaders are for real? Who's good enough for the wild card? So, as we enter the stretch of the baseball season, I'll toss in my two cents on how this will finish.

AL West: Los Angeles Angels

This is simply a no doubter, they've opened up a 10.5 game lead on the Texas Rangers and have the best record in the majors. The offense looks like it has come around since plugging in Juan Rivera, while benching a guy making $50M in Gary Matthews Jr.

AL Central: Chicago White Sox

This team is kind of underrated to me, they have solid pitching throughout the order in Danks, Buerhle, Floyd, Vazquez, and Contreras (currently on the DL). Combine that with an offense stroking it out of the park, it makes for a playoff team.

AL East: New York Yankees

No, this isn't a knee jerk reaction to the Nady-Marte trade. It also isn't one to the recent surge. The trade DOES legitimately puts them at the top in this division, they needed that right handed bat in the outfield and adding a good left handed reliever in the pen is always a good thing. It also doesn't hurt that they traded peanuts to get them.

AL Wild Card: Boston Red Sox

This team is too good top to bottom to miss the playoffs. The offense however, is still very inconsistent, even in the games Ortiz has come back to play in. The pitching staff is very deep however, they have a guy like Justin Masterson in the bullpen...

NL West: Colorado Rockies

What the hell!!!!! Anyway, yeah it says the Rockies. The best move this team can do is hang onto Holliday and Fuentes. This division is pretty much the gutter of the majors and Colorado is 6 back. I'm a believer in this team's ability to surge late and re-capture the magic of Rocktober. Actually, I'm just picking them because they have the best offense and it should be enough to put them at the top of this "division".

NL Central: Milwaukee Brewers

Offense clicking on all cylinders, 2 bonafide aces in your starting rotation, and a closer who has basically saved Milwaukee's life after the Gagne signing. All of these, the Brewers have. All of these things have me believing that they can take over the Cubs.

NL East: New York Mets

The Mets finally realized that their pitching was going to be what put them over the Phillies, albeit it isn't that impressive, but it's better than the Phillies rotation. After many called for Pelfrey to be sent down to AAA early in the season, he has rebelled by shaving a full point off his ERA ( 4.65 to 3.67 ) and winning 7 of those 10 starts.

NL Wild Card: Chicago Cubs

The Cubs almost fall into this category by default, there is simply no other NL team that can push them here. When they got Harden, I thought it was over, but this offense has sputtered around and they just aren't being consistent. They've even started to lose games at home, which has been the bank for them. Again, this is the NL and it will be good enough.

Anthony

Deadline Dealing

The Trade Deadline is less than a month away and every contender has a hole or two to fill. We'll take a look at each division leader and see what they should do to keep that lead intact.

Angels: Lackluster offense, great pitching, and bundles of prospects. What else do you do with that? You trade for a big bat. In this case, the Angels are probably looking for a big left handed bat to fill the hole at DH.

Possible Targets: Adam Dunn (Cin - OF), Mark Teixeira (Atl - 1B), C.C. Sabathia (Cle - SP).

White Sox: Ever since Guillen went off on this team, they've been clicking on all cylinders and they really don't look like they have many holes. Look for them to stand pat at the trade deadline.

Possible Targets: None

Rays: For the first time in their history, the Rays can consider themselves buyers at the trade deadline. They have a hole to fill in the OF slot to go along with Crawford and Upton. They might also want to look for a solid veteran pitcher to put at the back end of the rotation:

Possible Targets: Xavier Nady (Pit - OF), Jason Bay (Pit - OF), Randy Wolf (SD - SP).

Diamondbacks: They'll mainly be looking to shore up the end of the rotation, so a solid #4-5 starter would work here.

Possible Target: Bronson Arroyo (Cin - SP)
Free Agency: Shawn Chacon (SP)

Cubs: Everyone has probably heard it, they want a starting pitcher. A top of the rotation pitcher is what many believe will put this team over the top.

Possible Targets: C.C. Sabathia (Cle - SP), Rich Harden (Oak - SP), Erik Bedard (Sea - SP), Xavier Nady (Pit - OF).

Phillies: Exact opposite of the Angels. Great hitting, they just take their time getting the opponent out, so a mid to top of the rotation pitcher seems like a great fit here.

Possible Targets: Erik Bedard (Sea - SP), Zack Greinke (KC - SP), Rich Harden (Oak - SP).

Anthony