American League: Welcome to the Two-Month Sprint

My apologies go out to the Cubs and Cardinals, who are set up for one of the most fascinating races of the summer in the NL Central. Also, we can’t forget about the Florida Marlins or Atlanta Braves, two clubs fighting to clip the coattails of the Phillies.

But as the dog days of summer suffocate us and wear down bodies, this is all about the AL races, and there are more than a couple of teams barking.

The long, arduous grind that is the 162-game baseball season has always been more about August and September than April and May, but that is truer than ever this season.

There is typically one division that is all but decided by the final few weeks of play, but it doesn’t look like that will be the case here; there are eight teams legitimately in playoff contention.

In the West, the Los Angeles Angels have held the throne for the better part of this decade, but they are as vulnerable as ever as they sit four games ahead of the Texas Rangers. The Angels should still be the pick to win it, but even they don’t quite know what they are going to get in the final two months.

The pitching staff has John Lackey at the forefront, who is 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA in his last seven starts, but what else?

Joe Saunders was dangled as a nice prize for Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, but he has had a down year and some talent evaluators don’t believe he is fully healthy. Jered Weaver’s 11-3 record sure is nice, but he gives up too many long balls (19 so far) and is susceptible to self implosion.

In other words, you may get an All Star-caliber guy or you may get an early shower, depending on the evening.

Ervin Santana? Yeah, I haven’t seen that guy, either.

The Angels have improved on offense, and that is what has kept them afloat while trying to stabilize the rotation and bullpen. Los Angeles ranks first in the league in runs scored despite ranking 10th in homers.

Kendry Morales enjoyed a huge series against the Minnesota Twins last weekend—a series in which the Angels outscored the Twins 35-15—and has 23 bombs on the year. The Angels are still waiting for a healthy Torii Hunter and Vlad Guerrero to return.

The Rangers may be playing a little bit above themselves, but it's no surprise to see them contending. They have loads of talent, and there's even more to come in the near future from their farm system.

2010 or 2011 may be the year Texas becomes an elite team, but that day is coming. In Arlington, it’s usually all about the hitting and hardly about the pitching, and therefore there's been no mystery as to why they haven’t seen the postseason since 1999.

This year has been different. Slugger Chris Davis disappointed in the first half, and with 114 strikeouts in 258 at-bats, it seems like he steps into the batter’s box with an 0-2 count. Texas is eighth in the AL in runs scored, but ranks fourth in the league in earned runs.

The improvement with the pitchers began with team president Nolan Ryan changing the attitude around town. We’ll see if the staff can hold up through the summer heat, but they play the Angels nine more times this season, and will have their chances to make a run.

The trade deadline has certainly made the competition in the AL Central more interesting. The Tigers acquired Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners in return for two prospects, and Chicago GM Kenny Williams countered by pulling off a four prospects-for-one star pitcher deal minutes before the deadline to bring Jake Peavy to the South Side.

Chicago trails Detroit by 1.5 games (three in the loss column), and the two clubs only play each other three more times this season, September 25-27 in Chicago. Neither team's offense has lived up to expectations, but there are plenty of arms to go around, making that late-September series possibly a classic.

Peavy has missed more than a month with an injured tendon in his ankle, but he threw a 50-pitch bullpen Sunday and says he will pitch this month. Assuming he’s healthy, the White Sox can roll out Peavy, Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd, and John Danks, while the Tigers can send Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson, Washburn, and rookie Rick Porcello to the mound.

If you like pitching, this is your race.

Oh, and of course, we have the beasts in the East who never seem to disappoint. The New York Yankees are in first place, according to the standings, but they have their own work to do after dropping three of four this past weekend to the White Sox. None of their starters were superb in the Windy City, and the bullpen, which has been magnificent, let them down.

So here we are, the Yanks, half-a-game ahead of the Red Sox, and many folks in the Northeast are beginning to sweat.

GM Brian Cashman seems to be pretty satisfied with the club on the field, as the Yankees didn’t do anything significant at the trading deadline.

A tough week has made this race closer than it was only a few days ago, but the Yankees absolutely have to address their fifth starter shortly. The big starters will pitch and the lineup will produce enough runs to remain near the top.

One of the most active teams in the last couple days has been Boston, as they shipped a quality package of prospects built around Justin Masterson to Cleveland in exchange for catcher/first baseman Victor Martinez. Martinez gave an immediate boost to the Red Sox by going 5-for-6 in Sunday’s 18-10 romp over the Baltimore Orioles.

Clay Buchholz, the prize that would have been sent to Toronto in exchange for Roy Halladay, couldn’t hold a big lead early on Sunday, but he’s had a stellar season in Triple A and has the stuff to succeed.

We know Josh Beckett and Jon Lester are going to take the mound and pitch well on a consistent basis, so the tipping point for the Red Sox comes at the back of the rotation. As is, they are solid. If one more guy steps up, they are great.

Will it be Brad Penny? John Smoltz? Daisuke Matsuzaka, if he returns from the DL? We’ll find out.

Then there’s the Tampa Bay Rays at six games back and probably a long shot from making the postseason since two of the best teams in baseball are in their own division.

If the Rays are going to make a run at the playoffs this year, they are going to need some serious hot streaks by Carlos Pena and B.J. Upton, and they must get much more from Scott Kazmir and David Price than they have thus far.

I wouldn’t count the Rays out just yet. It’s a steep hill to climb, but that’s the story of the American League with two months to play.

There are eight teams competing for four playoff spots, and all of them are within an extra-base hit of each other. With head-to-head play providing crucial opportunities to pick up games, a six-month journey has suddenly morphed into a two-month whirlwind. What a great finish it ought to be.

You can reach Teddy Mitrosilis at [e-mail].