AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME....

OK, now that the trade deadline has come and gone, we can separate the contenders from the pretenders.

In the National League:

The Phillies and Dodgers are loaded up for the playoffs, having pretty much locked up their respective divisions. The Cubs, who made a tepid effort to improve the roster and may lose the Central to the Cardinals, who made one of the best moves in acquiring Matt Holliday.

The loser of the Central division run, likely the Cubs, will front run the wild card chase with the Rockies and Giants looking to be the main competition.

The Giants helped themselves with Garko/Sanchez. The Rockies reinforced the bullpen. It remains to be seen which teams tinkering has the best effect.

The Marlins and maybe even the Braves remain in the chase, but both teams have to go to the whip pretty soon.

Thanks for participating medallions can go the the Mets, Brewers, Astros, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Reds, Padres and Nationals.

Amazingly, the Pirates garage sale may have the biggest impact on who is looking in and who is making an early tee time when the playoffs begin.

In the American League:

Two divisional races here. The East features the Yankees / Red Sox, the Central may come down to the Tigers and White Sox. The Angels appear to have the West locked up.

This may leave the Rays, Rangers, Twins on the outside looking in come October. The Mariners, Jays, A's, Indians, Orioles and Royals are looking forward to auditioning September call-ups and 2010 visions of grandeur. Here the Indians played the role of the Pirates with their fire sale prices for major league quality talent.