| AL Playoff Preview |
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| Written by cochise | |
| Tuesday, 07 August 2007 | |
With only a couple of weeks left in the regular season of baseball, division races are tightening up in both leagues and true contenders are distancing themselves from pretenders. Late-August and early-September is the time for playoff teams to emerge and to take control of their own fate. Up to this point in baseball, no team has put themselves into the postseason picture with a hundred percent certainty. With that in mind, here is a brief look at how each of the four American league playoff berth races are shaping up.
AL East – Its no surprise that the Red Sox and Yankees sit one and two in the standings in this division. One can almost pencil them into those positions each and every year for the majority of the season. After a very rough start in which the Yankees were, at one point, fourteen games out of first place, they have bounced back to have baseball’s best post-All-Star record and are within six of winning the AL East. Meanwhile the Red Sox have been at the top of the East almost all year and have just added former Cy Young winner Eric Gagne to their bullpen. In addition, Curt Schilling has finally returned healthy and should make a big impact to their starting rotation. In the long run, this race will come down to who wants it more. The Red Sox made a splash in the trade deadline, but not for a piece they needed. Their offense is still mediocre and their bullpen was already one of the best in baseball before the trade. With an extremely hot hitting Yankees team behind them, and six games remaining against this same New York team, Boston would be wise to find their bats fast. Overall, the nod goes to the team with the decently-big divisional lead and the better pitching, but the Red Sox need to shore up their offensive problems for the playoffs or they made be facing an early exit. AL Central – One of the tightest divisions in all of baseball, the AL Central features two good offensive clubs striving for the right to represent their division in October. The Cleveland Indians have seen a resurgence this year reminiscent of the Tigers’ last season. They win close ballgames, get timely hits, and genuinely have the label of team of destiny at times. Their pitching problems, however, are a major reason why the team has slumped recently. The Tigers are an odder puzzle to solve. AL Champions last year, the Tigers returned with perhaps the best roster in baseball, but have yet to show it. When the Indians slumped, so did the Tigers. When the hits are pouring in, the pitching is abysmal. And when the pitching is fantastic, the team forgets how to get runs. This is a better team than the record indicates, but in the long-run that doesn’t count for much. It is hard to imagine the Tigers losing this division in the upcoming months in any case. They have the better pitching staff, even if their bullpen is terrible, and they have more experience in getting to the postseason. This should be a close race until the end, just like last year, but Detroit should win it out. AL West – The Angels have seemingly had an iron grasp on this division all season long but Seattle has threatened several times. Both teams work by using all their players and making the small plays necessary to win the game. Los Angeles, in particular, has no problem winning 1-0 games where the one run is off a squeeze play. This really hasn’t been, however, as close of a race as the numbers indicate. Seattle has been a good team but too streaky and inconsistent to ever seriously challenge the Angels. In addition, Los Angeles has had a reliable rotation, consistent management, and a good offensive ball club all year. Its hard to imagine them letting up their divisional lead, even if it is just four games. Wild Card – This race is wide open. As it stands now, the Indians, Tigers, Yankees, and Mariners are all in close contention for the fourth and final playoff spot. Unlike last year, the wild card can be won by any division and any of the four mentioned teams. As the baseball season progresses, the team with the better pitching staff is usually the one that prevails. In this case, however, neither of the three teams we have predicted to be left (all but the Tigers) have terrific pitchers.
And with the tear the Yankees are on and their playoff pedigree, it is just hard to imagine an October without them. New York should, at some point, solidify their status as playoff contenders and take the American League wild card spot.
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