Time to Take a Step Back

It's easy when you're blogging every day and playing fantasy baseball to neglect the big picture of where the teams are and why. On the one hand, I'm annoyed by fans who start moaning that their team is two games back of first when only a week's worth of games have been played. But the time is nigh to pull my head out of the everyday grind and take a peek at the standings, which are starting to settle in, and see what stories are out there.

AL East

Boston's on top, and that's no surprise, as they're playing solid baseball and trail only the Cubbies for the best record in baseball. Even with Ortiz and Dice-K kicking it on the DL, they continue to play strong, showing the depth of their bench and farm system. The surprise here, of course, is twofold; the Yankees and Devil-less Rays have changed places. It's Tampa that trails Boston by a game and a half, while New York is on the outside looking in, seven games out of first. It's only an underperforming Blue Jays team and the typically mediocre Orioles that are keeping the 32-32 Yanks from sealing up last place in the East, surely one of the signs of the apocalypse.

AL Central

What should scare the pants off of all the other teams in this division is that the White Sox are comfortably atop the standings, in spite of terrible starts by core hitters like Thome, Konerko, and Swisher. Their pitching staff is keeping the opponents' scores down, and the Terrible Three mentioned above are just beginning to heat up. Once they do, the ChiSox may be the first team to clinch. That's because the Royals have managed to return to their losing ways, the Indians' bullpen can't hold a lead, and the Tigers have suddenly become cute little kitties. The Twinkies are as solid and unspectacular as ever, but if they're the biggest threat to the ChiSox, Chicago may clinch even if they don't pick up their offense.

AL West

Well, the Angels are proving that Mike Scoscia is a genius, because most people saw them as too old and rickety to continue their winning tradition. With Lackey out early on and Escobar done for the year, the Angels didn't seem to care, and are running away with the division, 14 games over .500 for the second-best record in the AL. Oakland is starting to heat up, and their continuous stream of young talent should make this division interesting, while Texas could contend if someone could only learn how to pitch in Arlington's brutal summers. Seattle seems to have already packed it in for the year, and nothing short of a roster overhaul--long overdue--is likely to get them back into contention. They're certainly my vote for the biggest disappointment of the year, but I'm probably biased because my expectations for them were so high.

NL East

The Mets might be the runner-up for the biggest disappointment of the 2008 season, although (unlike the Mariners) they seem to be improving. But they're going to have to hope for a lot of things to break their way to take over the toughest division in baseball. Everyone knew the Phillies would play well, and they're living up to those expectations, while the Braves and Bobby Cox are again making something out of nothing, but Atlanta should be the ones primed to plummet further down the division. Their bullpen is decimated by incompetence and injury, Tex has been merely good instead of great, and Chipper's showing signs of his chronic injury problems. The Marlins, on the other hand, are playing like they ought to be in first, and are one of the most fun teams to watch. With so much youth and such low expectations, their joy is evident as they demolish their opponents, but they'll only go as far as their pitching will take them, and such a young and unproven rotation may wilt in the Florida heat. The Nationals wish that someone had moved them to a different division when they relocated to DC, and look to carry on the banner of bad baseball that has been such a long tradition in our nation's capital.

AL Central

The Cubs have the best record in baseball. Pause and read that sentence again, and contemplate if the apocalypse is not truly on the horizon. Will we be saying the same thing in September? Probably not, but if they can shake off the pesky Cardinals, Chicago should be able to hold on to their division lead over the rest of the pack. In St. Louis during spring training, everyone was wondering whether Pujols should risk further injury to his elbow by playing with such a middle-of-the-road bunch. Instead, the Cards showed that they can still play, and with surprising production across their outfield and superior pitching, they've done well. Injuries are starting to nibble at them in both of those areas, however, so it may not be long before they start to live down to those early season prognostications. The Brew Crew seems to find new ways to lose in spite of all their offensive talent, but they're a dangerous squad if they can put all those pieces together. Houston, on the other hand, is doing well to be at .500, and the same can be said of the Pirates, who are only two games below that mark. Cincinnati might make some noise if they get an upgrade for Griffey and solidify an exciting young rotation, but I'd say they're a year away from contention.

AL West

Nobody's really shocked to see the D-Backs in first, although a few weeks ago, most of us were surprised by just how much. They've cooled off since then, and things are tightening up, with the other expected contenders, Joe Torre's Dodgers, right on their heels. On the other hand, the Rockies seem like a shadow of last year's amazing team, and there's already talk of shedding guys like Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes if they keep looking like they're trying to play worse than the Mariners. San Francisco has surprised, with hints of things to come in their rotation, but no really strong offense to sustain a run at the top two. The Padres must love living in San Diego, so much so that they never seem to want to show up to play. They weren't supposed to be good, but they look at times pretty awful, in spite of Jake Peavy, perhaps the best pitcher in baseball, and some decent talent in the field. Still, they can say, at least we're ahead of the Rockies.

Will things continue like this? Probably not, but I'd say that we've got a good sense of how the season will shape up towards the end. The division leaders in the both leagues look like they should all make the postseason--but if you'd asked me my predictions at the start of the season, I would have only chosen three of those six teams correctly. 

This all to say that anything can happen in the next four months, and that's why they play the games.