Premature Prognostications: October Baseball

August 12th - Premature Prognostications: October Baseball

American League

Some change, albeit only one new team, but it causes a change in the bracket. The Tampa Bay Rays are making their first appearance on the PP's this season. They've been playing well of late and have surged into a tie for the WC lead. They're a team that was expected to compete for a playoff spot prior to the beginning of the season and now in mid-August they appear to be there. The victims of the Rays being promoted are the Angels. Two weeks ago I had the Angels in the World Series and now I don't even have them playing in the 1-game WC Playoff. Things change quick.

Just like last week I still have the Rangers representing the AL. Despite the fact they have a new opponent (the Rays as opposed to the White Sox) in the first round I still think they are the team to beat in the AL. The Yankees manage to get past the White Sox.

The A's still cling to a spot in the bracket but I fear that could change in the coming weeks.

National League

Or should I say the "Nationals League" ... haha (blank stare). Yes bad joke but that's how things are shaping up. For the first time since I created the PP's a mere 3 weeks ago the Cincinnati Reds are not the NL representative in the World Series. The Nationals strong play as of late necessitated the change.

Nothing else changed in the NL bracket however I should mention I did seriously consider swapping the Pirates and the defending Champ Cardinals. For this week I'll leave the Pirates in the second WC but I'm predicting that spot could change quite a bit over the final seven weeks of the season.

MLB Power Rankings

Once again there's a new team atop the Rankings as the Nationals have surged past last week's #1 the Reds.

Aside from the top spot being in constant movement the last few weeks there is an ongoing shift throughout the rest of the Top 15 teams. With the added Wild Card and teams having hot and col stretches teams are flying up and down the rankings. The bottom half is actually much more stable than the top half.

The biggest reason is the glut of teams in the 8 through 15 spots. All 8 teams are in playoff contention and have almost identical records. From week to week they make pushes forward while some cool off a drop back.

The Angels are a prime example having fallen out of the Top 10 going from 7 to 13 this week. The Cardinals on the other hand make their first appearance in the Top 10 this season having swapped spots with the Angels, moving from 13 into the 7th spot. The Braves moved one spot up and make their first appearance in the Top 5 this season.

Let's get on with the rest of the rankings.

1. Washington Nationals (70-43) Last week: 2 - Stephen Strasburg is now at 133.1 IP for the season. Can the Nationals really afford to shut him down at 160 or 180 (whatever the number is now)?

2. Cincinnati Reds (67-46) Last week: 1 - Had lost 4 in a row before beating the Cubs on Friday. Fortunately their next 10 games are against the Cubs and Mets.

3. New York Yankees (66-46) Last week: 3 - The lead in the East is down to 5.5 games (over the Orioles). On July 18th that lead was almost double (10 games).

4. Texas Rangers (65-46) Last week: 4 - Are 6-3 since the trade deadline and have extended their lead in the West back up to a healthy 5.5 games.

5. Atlanta Braves (65-47) Last week: 6 - How amazing has closer Craig Kimbrel been this season? He's sporting a 1.26 ERA with 31 saves. He's struck out 75 batters and only walked 11 in 43 IP.

Chicken and Beer Scandal Returns to Red Sox

According to a report on Boston.com at least one half of the Chicken and Beer scandal has made a return to the Red Sox clubhouse.

After a 5-3 loss to the Indians last night SP John Lackey, who is out for the season, was seen walking aroung the clubhouse "double-fisting".

Lackey has been on the DL since undergoing Tommy John surgery in February but has traveled with the team for the majority of the season. He was one of the three pitchers who took the majority of the blame for the Chicken and Beer episode last September when the Red Sox collapsed and missed the playoffs. In March new manager Bobby Valentine banned all alcohol from the clubhouse as a result of the previous season.

The Red Sox signed Lackey to a 5-year/$82.5 million dollar deal as a free agent in December of 2009. In his first two seasons with Boston he started 61 games, posted a 26-23 record with an awful, awful 5.26 ERA. In his previous 8 seasons with the Angels his ERA was 3.81 in 234 appearances.

Lackey has two more seasons remaining on his deal and is owed $30.5 million.

It's hard to imagine a guy who's not even on the active roster is causing problems for a team who is a walking soap opera.

It's just one more issue to add to the on-going drama that is the Boston Red Sox the last two seasons.

Premature Prognostications: October Baseball

August 4th - Premature Prognostications: October Baseball

American League

I've been losing faith in the Angels for the last few weeks but continued to give them the benefit of the doubt. No more. My World Series representative in the AL is now going to be bounced from the playoffs in the ALDS by the Yankees. I still think the Angels will end up winning one of the two Wild Card spots and manage to secure a victory in that matchup.

It was hard for me to choose who to take in the AL after bumping the Angels. I don't think the Yankees are strong enough to make the World Series but I also fear how difficult it might be for the Rangers to make their third straight.

I left the Tigers in last week despite falling out of the lead in the AL Central. They still haven't climbed back into the lead and as such I had to bring back the White Sox as the division winners there.

National League

The National League hasn't seen any changes this week. I'm convinced the Giants and Dodgers are going to battle it out for the remainder of the season in the West. For now I will give the Giants the nod but I feel like the Dodgers will be in that spot sooner rather than later. The NL is suddenly looking like the stronger league with the likes of the Reds, Nationals and Braves all in playoff contention. Even the Pirates look like they could make noise this season.

MLB Power Rankings

Having seen the July 31st Trade Deadline come and go a number of teams have positioned themselves for a run at October. Of course that also means a number of teams appear to have accepted their fate - a season without playoff baseball.

We have a new #1 atop the rankings in the form of the Cincinnati Reds. They've been surging lately and hold the best record in the Majors.

The biggest fall belongs to the Detroit Tigers who appeared as they'd returned to form. They've since dropped back in the standings and subsequently these rankings. They fell seven spots from 5 to 12.

1. Cincinnati Reds (62-41) Last week: 4 - A 19-7 month of July has seen the Reds rocket to the top of the standings in the NL. As of the moment they appear to be the team to beat in the NL.

2. Washington Nationals (61-41) Last week: 3 - Stuck behind the Yankees and Rangers in the Rankings for a month the Nats have finally surged into 2nd as they have a better record than both AL foes.

3. New York Yankees (60-43) Last week: 1 - Since Ichiro joined the Bombers they've gone 3-5 and ichiro has only scored 3 runs. Not exactly what they were hoping for.

4. Texas Rangers (59-43) Last week: 2 - The Rangers were easily the most active at the deadline rumored to be involved in talks for Cliff Lee and Josh Beckett. They didn't get either but won the Dempster sweepstakes.

5. Pittsburgh Pirates (59-44) Last week: 6 - OF Travis Snider needed a fresh start after being up and down from the minors with Toronto. Now the Pirates OF is packed with young talent.