Sliding into first: Catching up on the 2008 MLB

It's time to throw baseball a little love. The only baseball coverage ShotsHeard has done was two days ago to let you know that Chris Snyder busted a nut. But he is not moonlighting in porn.

But some of the MLB's players have been naughty. A-Rod has officially went over the edge. His wife is divorcing him after his wife found a note professing to Madonna that she was his soul mate. Is it the perfect match; the material boy and the material girl? ShotsHeard has an opionion: Ewww.

2008 American League mid season predictions

AL West winner: Angels
AL East winner: Rays
AL Central winner: Twins
AL Wild Card winner: Red Sox

2008 National League mid season predictions

NL West winner: Diamondbacks
NL East winner: Phillies
NL Central winner: Cubs
NL Wild Card winner: Brewers

American League West

Unfortunately ShotsHeard did not do preseason predictions, so we cannot officially see if my gut would have been right. I can tell you that I would have called the Angels to win the American League West like I have done every year since Arte Moreno took over as owner in 2004.

It is not that Texas or Seattle cannot match Moreno's spending. But those teams have not fostered pitching and defense like the Angels have. The A's have, but they have limited resources to sustain success. Nonetheless, Billy Beane's precision has made the A's the thorn in the Angels side since 2002 when the Angels settled for the Wild Card with 99 wins, but went on to win the World Series, probably because they lucked out and did not have to face Mark Moulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito in the second round after the Minnesota Twins came back from down 0-2 to win their second round series 3-2.

The Angels have gotten better at putting them away the A's quicker. Ever since the A's had a shot at booting the Angels out of the playoffs at home in 2004 in the last series of the year, the Angels have done better at not keeping it so close (except in 2006 when the Angels wallowed in mediocrity). The A's are only 5 games back, but expect them to fade fast.

Let's just hope that Mike Scioscia learned his lesson that home field advantage means something. He opted to rest his players the last weekend of the series. The Angels looked lethargic in Boston and quickly found themselves down 0-2 on their way to getting swept in three games.

American League East
I would not have called the Rays to win the division or make the playoffs in the preseaon. There were too many question marks. Would Percy's ERA be what is or would he be cut in May with a 6.60 ERA and six blown saves in nine chances. Would Matt Garza blossom? Could Scott Kazmir stay healthy? Did James Shields merely have a career year in 2007? Would B.J. Upton continue on his tear. He hit .351 with 15 home runs, 51 RBIs and nine stolen bases over the last three months of the season.

I would have saw the Rays potential and had them listed third ahead of the lackluster Toronto Blue Jays and inept Baltimore Orioles. I was not going to put them ahead of the defending champion Red Sox nor was I going to put them ahead of the Yankees sluggers who had young potential starters of their own with Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy.

The Yankees and Rays are virtually even in offense. The Yankees have 86 HRs to the Rays 94. The Yankees are hitting .269 to the Rays .266. The Rays have an ERA of 3.57 to the Yankees 4.20 ERA.

The Yankees are nine games back of the Rays and so they had better brace themselves for a run at the Wild Card. If the Red Sox do not watch out, they will soon be in the same boat. The Rays (55-32) own the best record in baseball and are now 5 games up on the Red Sox.

American League Central


How about those Minnesota Twins? They have won 16 of their last 18. It is almost like a scorching mid-season run is their right of passage. The Twins 19-1 run is part of a run that allowed them to win the division on the last day of the season over the Cleveland Indians.

But this time they do not have the dominant Latin lefty duo of Johan Santana (NY Mets) and Francisco (AAA Rochester) in the mix. Nor do they have Torii Hunter anchoring the middle of their line-up or patrolling center field. They do have the 2006 MVP, Justin Morneau and All-Star catcher Joe Mauer.

It really seems that their winning is much more a combination of their scrappy style and team chemistry. Nobody was calling these guys to win with an infield that included the powerless wonders Nick Punto, Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla. Also Carlos was not going to replace the thirty home runs they penciled in for Torii Hunter over the last two years. And Mr. 'Cannon for an arm,' Michael Cuddyer has battled injuries on both hands and only has three home runs to this point.

So we see that the (50-38) Minnesota Twins are special, but who will call them over the 2005 World Champion (51-37) White Sox or the 2006 American League Champion Tigers that are six games behind them, but finally playing well, hitting the .500 mark (44-44). The sports media is not jumping on that bandwagon, like they are the Rays.

Maybe that is because the Rays are better. But remember that the Twins are in the much weaker division and always have an edge over teams in the dome. This is a team that makes a living at deflating the air in other teams sails. Look for the Twins to win the Central and not the White Sox or the Tigers.

National League West

Every year we think that the NL West will be good, they suck. When we think they will be terrible, they do great. This year, the NL West was touted as the deepest and most competitive division in baseball and look where we are now. No team is even at .500.

The Arizona Diamondbacks came out blazing in the first month. Justin Upton and Chris Young looked like superstars in the making. Dan Haren, Brendan Webb and Randy Johnson looked like they were going to be the three headed beast. All of that has faded.

It may be a crawl to the finish like in 2005 when the San Diego Padres won the division with an 82-80 record. Or the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Diamondbacks may get hot and reach 90 wins. I would put my money on the crawl though. Ugly.

National League East


I would expect the second place Florida Marlins to drop out. But it has been exciting to see Hanley Ramirez emerge as the game's premier short stop. He will be a good replacement for Derek Jeter, when the Yankees are ready to move on. So for all you Marlin haters, "sit down, shut up and watch a future Hall of Famer (Ramirez) bat!"

That said this year looks to be another clash between the Mets and Phillies. But both teams look to win about 83-88 games, so it may just come down to who can get hot and stay hot for long enough.

Cole Hamels and Brad Lidge compared to Johan Santana and Billy Wagner is a wash. Both teams have weak starting rotations, but the Phillies look to have an edge on offense. Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and ChaseUtley look to be much more consistent than the Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes led Mets line-up. I give the edge to the Phillies.

The one good thing that may come out of this race is Chase Utley wins the MVP he would have won over teammate Jimmy Rollins last year, had he remained healthy. The Phillies will then have sported the last three MVPs (Howard, Rollins and Utley). I do not believe that feat has been accomplished in any sport.

National League Central

The only real "race" in the NL is an exciting one. Brace yourself for a photo finish between the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. Though I half-way expect one of those teams to drop out, this is the division that should sport the wild card team.

The Chicago Cubs have done very well all year behind the veteran leadership of Derek Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Zambrano.

Albert Pujols has raked as usual. He is hitting with 18 home runs. But if last year showed us anything it is that Pujols cannot succeed as a one man band. Relative unknowns have emerged. Ryan Ludwig (.290, 17 HRs 58 RBIs) and Skip Schumaker (.291, 6 HRs, 31 RBIs), who sounds more like a horse jockey than a baseball player. It has also helped that veterans like Adam Kennedy, Troy Glaus and Rick Ankiel have been dependable all year long.

In a five player trade, the Brewers acquired rent-a-player CC Sabathia in hopes of winning it all this year. I was originally against the deal, knowing possible future ace Jovani Gallardo will be back next year and trading Matt Laporta could be like when the Red Sox traded away Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett. It worked out for the Red Sox who rode his coat tails to a championship last year and kept him long term.

But the Brewers likely will not likely resign Sabathia and expecting to win three rounds in the baseball playoffs is maybe the least sure thing in all of post-season sports. However, once I realized the Brewers likely will not resign Ben Sheets or hold onto Prince Fielder once he becomes a free agent then it made sense.

Sheets and Sabathia could be the two headed monster that rolls through the competition like Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson did in 2001. The trade was a good play, but their is no denying that the Brewers pushed all their chips to the center.