MLB Power Groupings: Detroit Has the Carrot, but They Can't Stop Running

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

We've reached the point in the season where baseball has become secondary for a lot of people, especially the fans of those teams that are no longer playing for much.

It's nice for the people of St. Louis to have a baseball team to rely on in the Cardinals as the Rams start what is sure to be another down season.

I legitimately feel bad for my Cleveland Indians brethren, as they go from one disaster to what is looking like another one. I cannot share their pain as my football team plays for the neighboring state, and for that I'm not well-liked.

But to those of you who think hope is lost and are ready to not watch baseball, if you are going to depart, at least rejoin us in the second week of October.

Nothing is more intense than postseason baseball. I've experienced it with my team, and there is nothing more nerve-wracking than watching your team, pitch by pitch, play for the greatest honor in the game.

But I still get those anxious feelings watching other teams play for that honor, and it's still exhilarating to watch as a fan of the game.

My plea to you as football starts is this: You don't have to stick around, but at least come back in a few weeks and share a great experience that comes around as often as Christmas and every other holiday.

Welcome to the Disaster Zone

Tampa Bay, Toronto, Cleveland, Oakland, Seattle, Washington, New York Mets, Cincinnati, Chicago Cubs, Houston, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Arizona.

I just realized how depressing this section is to write. I never do it first, because then I'm in a negative mindset the rest of the article. Sometimes I'll do it after I do a few groups, but this time is the first time I saved it for last.

Maybe my subconscious is telling me to just throw everyone off to the side and forget about it, just write more about the good teams, or just don't write any more period—you already write too much.

Or just take up this group's spot with how much you are thinking about taking up this group's spot, rather than expressing yourself about some of the teams clearly.

By now, I've thoroughly confused you, but that was the point.

You are no longer thinking about how bad Oakland or Pittsburgh is. I know the frustration with Cleveland has been passed over, but that might be the college football talking to me.

I guess that's all we have now as fans of teams that have nothing left to play for, football, and Kanye West making a fool of himself. For the first time all year, I didn't watch two Cleveland games in a row. It was not by choice; however, I was rather indifferent about having to miss two games.

However, I do feel out of the loop, so let's make an effort to get into that loop before I fall off and land on my head.

We need to highlight the most awful of this past week and look no further than Tampa Bay, losers of 11 straight games. What everyone really wants to know when you get down to it is what happened.

I know Carlos Pena broke some fingers and they traded Scott Kazmir, but is there a team that fell harder and faster this season than Tampa Bay other than the Nationals at the outset of 2009?

That was a rather cheap one for Washington, especially after I promised myself I'd lay off.

Really though, Tampa Bay was in contention a few weeks ago. It may have not been serious, but they went from having a shot to completely falling off the map. However, I will say this about their management and their commitment to the plan: It's heady and very refreshing.

They know they'll be in the race next year and the year after that, so they aren't about to give that up for a run that might just end up failing. If it happens, it happens, but they aren't going to force it. My hat is off to Tampa for sticking to its plan.

Let's Have Some Fun

Baltimore, Kansas City, San Diego.

In an effort to get some recognition to spoiler teams and some sanity to their fans, I've created this group.

San Diego remains from last week after another decent week of baseball.

But the job that Baltimore and Kansas City did last week is the reason this group is around.

First off, let's start with Baltimore and their series win against the Yankees. This was just the second series lost since the start of August for New York. They've been playing unbelievable ball since the start of that month, and no team other than Texas was able to take two games from the Yankees in a three-game series.

They aren't really impacting the playoff race much with this win, but it says a lot for them to win two out of three from a hot team.

Kansas City did something a little more possible but a lot more impactful with their sweep of Detroit. The problem was directly with the teams chasing Detroit, and of course, that has to be addressed.

Not Out, but Let's Be Real, AL Central

Chicago White Sox, Minnesota.

I was getting ready to end it this week. I really was.

But apparently that wasn't meant to be in 2009, at least not this late in the season.

First of all, as I noted with Kansas City, Detroit got swept last week. They also lost two out of three to Toronto. You'd think that would be enough to get any team back into the race.

Wrong. We're dealing with the AL Central here, remember?

Minnesota dropped two each to Oakland and Toronto, while Chicago had a little better week and had a chance to gain amazing ground. But like Minnesota, they failed to do much at all. If you only win two or three more games than the leader does, you aren't going to make a big dent.

I'm not ready to pack it in, but like the title of the group says, let's be real here. The frustration of not being able to muster up something when the team you are chasing falters has to be boiling over in Minnesota and Chicago.

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