This has been a bit of a crazy season, at least in the American League East. The Rays are division leaders (weren't they supposed to suck?). The Yankees are lurking behind in third, and could miss the playoffs for the first time in a long time. And the Red Sox are looking at going after another World Series title, as they are in second.
The way the Rays are achieving success out of almost nowhere (even though I don't like them) is a very good thing for Major League Baseball. It makes more neutral fans watch when the Rays are playing, because instead of saying, "It's the Rays, they're going to lose big, I don't want to watch. BORING," they say, "Hey, the Rays are playing, this should be a good game."
Therefore, ratings go up; television networks are happy with more money.
I won't go into the stories of the year that has been, as every one of you who follows baseball will know them. Instead, I will prognosticate the rest of the season for everyone.
American League:
The horses out of the East are the Rays, Sox and Yankees. I see the Red Sox pulling off the division. They have great pitching, great hitting and an amazing closer, Jonathan Papelbon, who is one of the best flamethrowers in the Major Leagues. The 3-4-5 combo of Ortiz, Ramirez and Lowell will take them far, and the rest of the batting order will take this team to first in the division by two games over Tampa. This means the Yankees miss the playoffs.
In the Central, Chicago and Minnesota look to take the division, with Detroit a few games back. Minnesota seems like the team who you don't hear much about early. They are sort of there, don't make much noise; but then during the final two months of the season, they start to go after their division. All year, no one talks about the Twins, then all of a sudden, they make the playoffs. This year will be no different. Their pitching will be solid down the stretch, and their hitting, in the form of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau (the Home Run champ, but not really), will get a division win by three games over Chicago. Detroit is out.
Out West, it's all about one team, and one team only. The best team in baseball also happens to play in the worst division in the American League. It's a bit of weird proposition, but I guess the Angels will take it. Nobody in this division is going to stop this team; neither Josh Hamilton's Rangers or Oakland will be able to come from nine games down to beat the Angels. They win this division by eight games.
For the Wild Card, the surprising Rays will hold on. Their pitching is good enough to make it happen and the hitting gets them into the playoffs. Eva, I mean EvaN Longoria will help a lot on the way to the Ray's first playoffs.
The seeds will be (1) Angels, (2) Boston, (3) Tampa, (4) Minnesota.
National League:
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