here are my contenders and pretenders heading into the final stretch runs.
nl
mets, phillies, braves
cubs, brewers, cardinals
dbacks, padres, dodgers, rockies
al
red sox, yankees, blue jays
indians, tigers, twins
angels, mariners
if your team is not on the list, then too bad, your playoff chances are about slim to none.
of the teams on the list, i expect the blue jays, dodgers and rockies to drop off in the next week or so. i personally think the twins need to go on a tear if they want to stay in the race going into the final month.
but once again, the nl continues to be a more leveled league than the al with big gaps between haves and have nots. also note that the cardinals are still below .500 and that i think the nl central winner will not have more than 85 wins. dbacks are playing great ball right now as i said earlier, and the mariners came out of nowhere and are leading the wild card, while oakland and the white sox have disappointed.
enough of my blather, here's my predictions.
nl
east: mets (unfortunately)
central: cardinals (they will win this last day)
west: dbacks (i think they will start to pull away from the others pretty soon)
wild card: padres (phillies will choke, and i honestly don't think the braves have the pitching this year, they clinch with about 4-5 days left)
al
east: red sox (they fend off the yankees barley)
central: tigers (indians are stumbling a bit, will likely go down to final day)
west: angels (solid team, win by 5 games)
wild card: mariners (yankees collapse, miss wc in last weekend)
ws: dbacks vs. angels, dbacks win in 5
any questions?
