Interchangeable Standings

As the regular season winds down, the playoff races continue to shape up providing some clarity in an otherwise obsturcted view. Teams go on streaks and pick up steam, and others continue to fall into a deeper hole. The problem with all of this is that there is no one pattern that baseball can rely on. This is actually the best thing about baseball because it provides constant suspense and gives the fans just as much motivation to watch game 162 as they did for Opening Day.

There are many examples every season of teams who make some noise then fall off, and vice versa. The last two weeks of baseball has been some of the most exciting and meaningful, in my opinion, of the season and have offered what were thought to be solid indications of the postseason field. As always, we must think again, or just wait until September runs out on the calendar.

Never have I seen any one team go from so hot to so cold in two weeks as the Seattle Mariners just have. Two weeks ago they were the talk of baseball and they were being tabbed "for real" as they kept piling up the wins to get within 1 game of the AL West leading Angels. After being swept at home by the Angels earlier this week, the Mariners have officially hit the mother load of all landslides. Seattle has dropped 10 games straight, is 6.5 games behind the Angels in their divison, and are barely holding on in the Wild Card as they trail the Yankees by 2 games. This ship is capsizing and unfortuanately this team does not seem capable of finding enough energy to grind out the last 4 weeks.

The New York Yankees have been the rollercoaster of the year as they have climbed back into the AL East race and are leading the Wild Card. The Yankees pulled within 4 games of the Red Sox after they swept them in the Bronx this week, only to lose 2 out of 3 to Tampa Bay when the Red Sox were hosting the bruised Baltimore Orioles. The Yankees are more of an honorable mention for this topic because they do have the leadership, talent, and experience to still catch the Red Sox and they should almost certainly win the Wild Card. With only one series left against Boston, 6 games could be quite difficult to make up. But who would of thought they would be the Wild Card leaders when they were 14.5 games out of their division?

The Philadelphia Phillies have played great baseball as of late and have taken advantage of the stumbling Mets to get back into the NL East talks. They came out of nowhere to sweep a four game series from the Mets at home and pull within 2 games of the divison leaders. Plenty of hope made that Brotherly Love much sweeter, but only for a short period of time as they lost 2 of 3 to the Florida Marlins this weekend and go into Monday 4 games back of the Mets.

On the other side of the NL East is the New York Mets. The Mets are the deepest team on paper in the National League, but we are reminded time and time again that baseball doesn't care about what is on paper. The Mets took control of this division for the most of the season only to recently slide and let Philadelphia and Atlanta back into the picture.

After being swept by the Phillies, the Mets divison lead was on the line as they went into Atlanta for a 3 game series in which they would be facing both John Smoltz and Tim Hudson. The odds were stacked against them, undoubtedly, but they promptly swept the Braves and pulled their lead back to 4 games. This looks much like an experienced team putting the house back together.

There hasn't been many other significant changes to note, as the Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals are all stuck within 2 games of each other. That may be the best race down the stretch even if it isn't the best baseball being played among the most talented teams.

The San Diego Padres and Arizona Diambondbacks are tied in the NL West and will battle it during the stretch run. Arizona has been a great story about a team filled with role players and a lot ton of youth, but I have a feeling that their run is coming to an end. The Padres have more pitching, especially if Chris Young can stay healthy and pitch like he did before he was injured, and seem to find ways to pull out wins and ultimately pull out that divison each year.

The Dodgers are only 4 games back of both the divison and the Wild Card and they do have the talent and depth to make a run. With the second half emergence of Chad Billingsley, the Dodgers have a legitmate 1-2-3 punch with Billingsley, Penny, and Lowe which should be enough to win a lot of games in Septmeber. The offense needs to be at its best, even as modest as that may be, and we may find Los Angeles in the postseason some way.

Don't take your eye off of the action as the regular season finished up. These were recent swings that effected the postseason, but the standings are guaranteed to change as the hot teams fade away and the quiet teams find a way to emerge.