4 Surprise MLB Teams That Can Remain Legit Contenders

As the baseball season moves into June, the cute, pleasant surprises of the early season should soon step aside for the teams that have been expected to win all along. Order will eventually restore itself, right? 

Maybe not this year. The traditional powers look creaky and flawed, while the upstarts look energized and just keep winning. 

But let's cross off one surprise contender. Fans and media keep expecting the Baltimore Orioles to falter. That slide is happening now. The O's have lost five in a row and eight of their last 10. The Rays have caught them for first place, and even the last-place Red Sox are only 2.5 games back. It's difficult to see how the Orioles are going to pull this off. 

But here are four other early surprises that are going to stay in contention late into the season. 

New York Mets

The NL East is beginning to look like one of those divisions where no one is going to pull away. The Atlanta Braves appeared to be the one team that could take off and run, but an eight-game losing streak pushed them back toward the bottom. 

After initially appearing to be a one-man show with David Wright, the Mets lineup is starting generate some offense. Kirk Nieuwenhuis has emerged as a surprise contributor, Lucas Duda is providing some punch in the middle of the order and maybe—maybe—Jason Bay will come back healthy and start living up to his contract. 

If general manager Sandy Alderson can find a lower-cost bat to add—let's throw the Chicago Cubs' Bryan LaHair out there, just for fun—this could get very interesting. 

Pitching help is on the way. Chris Young is nearly ready to re-join the team, according to ESPN New York's Adam Rubin. Matt Harvey is pitching well in Triple-A and is probably ready for a promotion to the big leagues. And what about Zack Wheeler, whom the Mets got in return for Carlos Beltran? He's dominating Double-A right now, and a call-up will be tempting.

Chicago White Sox

With a strong starting rotation and emerging talent in the bullpen, the White Sox were probably too easily dismissed before the season. John Danks and Gavin Floyd have been inconsistent, but the revival of Jake Peavy into a Cy Young Award contender has made up for those deficiencies. 

The big question mark with the White Sox lineup was whether or not Adam Dunn was as done as he looked last season. But he's re-emerged as a major power and an on-base threat. Dayan Viciedo and Alejandro De Aza are providing excellent outfield production, while Alex Rios isn't embarrassing himself out there. And Paul Konerko is an MVP candidate. 

If the White Sox stay close, you know general manager Kenny Williams is going to make some kind of deal—probably a crazy one—to put his team over the top. That should not be underestimated.

Washington Nationals

With all the injuries the Nationals have dealt with so far this season, the hope was to stay close in the NL East until some of those players returned. Then, with a healthy squad, the team could make a run at playoff contention.

The Nats have done better than that, of course, holding first place in the division for much of the season. Outstanding starting pitching and an excellent bullpen have made the difference. The starting rotation has two Cy Young Award candidates, while the relief corps keeps coming up with arms to replace the injured Drew Storen and Brad Lidge. 

Now, some of those injured players will be coming back. Michael Morse, the team's leading home run hitter and RBI man, is set to be activated from the disabled list. Lidge should be ready soon after that. And Storen is projected to be back at some point in July. 

In a matter of weeks, the Nats will have the team with which they hoped to begin the season. With significant contributions from rookies Bryce Harper and Steve Lombardozzi, it could be even better.

Cleveland Indians

The first impulse is to write off the Indians. The Tribe led the AL Central through the early part of last season, only to eventually finish 15 games behind the Detroit Tigers. Won't they just do the same thing again, once the Tigers get on track?

Except the Tigers look like a mess right now, with major holes throughout the lineup as well as the back end of the starting rotation and middle relief. This isn't a team that just has to pull itself together. They need some big fixes.

Meanwhile, the Indians are getting contributions from most everyone in the lineup and the lower part of their starting rotation. The bullpen also has been solid behind closer Chris Perez.

If Justin Masterson and Ubaldo Jimenez can pitch to expectations at the top of the order and the front office can pick up a big bat for first base or the outfield—let's mention LaHair again, along with Josh Willingham or Kevin Youkilis—the Tribe will not go away. The Tigers shouldn't expect them to tumble for the second consecutive season. 

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