MLB SEASON REVIEW - NEAR HALF-WAY MARK

WILL THE WORLD SERIES VISIT WRIGLEY FIELD THIS SEASON??

A few surprises so far as we near the mid-season point. On the positive side, why not lead-off with the Rays who are playing at a 90-95 win pace? This should be enough to put them in the playoffs for the first time in team history. That qualifies them as the biggest positive surprise in baseball so far.

Next, as strange as this sounds, even though I picked the Cubs to win their division and advance to/win the World Series, their best record in baseball status qualifies them as the next biggest positive surprise.

Not to be outdone, the South side Chicago entrant, the White Sox, leading the AL Central has to put them at or near the top of the positive surprises this season as well. A Chicago vs. Chicago World Series would certainly be a great match up. But, there's a long way to go.

The other positive also-rans so far would have to be the Cardinals, the A's in the AL West, and the Astros.

OK, the Giants too. By using some form of twisted, convoluted logic, since they are not on a 100+ loss pace, are currently in third place in their division, they have some credibility to claim themselves as a positive surprise. This does seem like damning the team with faint praise though, does it not? Also, the fact that they are in third place in their division says more about the fortunes of the Padres and the Rockies this season than the Giants......

Which provides a smooth transition to the negative surprises this season.

The Rockies and the Padres, by virtue of their being behind the Giants in the standings, have got to be the front-runners. You don't see anyone else struggling behind the Royals or the Pirates or the Nationals now, do you? So who else should I pick?

Maybe from amongst the Tigers, the Indians and the Brewers? Fair enough, but only on the basis of their pre-season expectations. And in fairness, all three of these would be contenders have started to show signs of life lately, especially the Tigers.

How about the New Yorkers, with both the Mutts and the Yankees treading water around the .500 mark? Perhaps, but I'm not sure either of these two have or had much more to give then that. They seem to be right about where you would have expected them to be.

Give the salary and the expectation level, how long will it be before either of these two teams start making serious roster moves? My guess is the All-Star break, plus or minus a couple of games.
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In fairness, I had the Cubs and D-Backs as Division winners :) along with the Mutts :(, with the Brewers in the Wild Card spot. Hey, two for four so far.

In the AL, we had the Angels and Red Sox as Division winners :), with the Tigers :(, and the Indians as the Wild Card, damn White Sox. Again, two for four.