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Pujols leads Cards

How are the division and Wild Card races breaking down as we approach the halfway point of the 2006 MLB season? Let’s take a division-by-division look at the contending teams:

American League East

As predicted the Toronto Blue Jays have made the AL East a three-team race, but whether of not they can keep pace with the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees through the dog days of summer remains to be seen. A successful comeback by starter A.J. Burnett (who gave up only five hits and two runs in six innings with seven K’s in his return to action on Thursday night) would help the Blue Jays immensely, but they’re probably going to need to pick up another pitcher at some point to carry them through the end of the season. The Red Sox and Yankees have been up-and-down this season, trading first place back and forth over the first few months. Expect both to start making moves in the next few weeks to shore up roster holes. The Yankees especially are in dire need of help in the outfield, with plenty of players sitting on the market. And with two teams doing exceedingly well over in the AL Central, finishing second in the East this season might get you nowhere.

American League Central

Everyone has been waiting for the Detroit Tigers to fall back down to Earth, but it hasn’t happened yet. They’ve recovered from their stumble against the top AL East teams of a few weeks ago and continue to hang tough with the Chicago White Sox at the top of the Central. While most predict that the ChiSox will eventually pull away from the upstart Tigers in the division, if Detroit’s pitching can stay strong they should be able to continue at their current high level. The Minnesota Twins have been making noise in the division of late, but there’s minimal chance they’ll be able to catch up to the two leaders.

American League West

A hot streak by the Oakland Athletics has pushed them back up to the top of the AL West division, where they’re joined by the Texas Rangers. Also not far back of first place are the Seattle Mariners, thanks in equal parts to recent solid play and the slow start of the A’s. Oakland has been beating up on division opponents this season, and if that trend continues they should be able to win the West and advance to the playoffs. The Rangers, as always, could use some help on the mound, and if they’re serious about taking a shot they might have to deal away one of their elite hitters for a quality pitcher. The Los Angeles Angels continue to populate the division basement, and with three teams ahead of them will find it difficult to make it back to the playoffs this season.

American League Wild Card

Right now it’s looking like the American League’s Wild Card team will come from the Central division, where the Tigers and the White Sox have the two best records in the junior circuit. However, a stumble by either of them (and the most likely candidate to fade is Detroit) would open the door for one of the three contending teams in the East.

National League East

The NL East isn’t looking like it’s going to go down to the wire this season, as the New York Mets have the biggest division lead in all of baseball. In fact, as of this writing they were the only team in the division to be above the .500 mark. If the Philadelphia Phillies could snap out of their doldrums they could at least prevent New York from clinching before September, but as of right now there’s zero reason to expect a race in the East.

National League Central

The NL Central is the St. Louis Cardinals’ division to lose, and with Albert Pujols now back from the DL and in the lineup it’s likely that they’ll be able to cruise to a first-place finish. Their biggest challenger, though, might not be the Cincinnati Reds team that has been dogging them for the past few months, but the Houston Astros team that now has Roger Clemens back in its rotation. The Astros have been known for their late-season surges, but even that might not be enough to catch and overtake a Cardinals squad that is top-to-bottom solid. The Reds have most likely been playing over their heads in 2006.

National League West

Everyone’s still in contention in the NL West, with teams taking turns going on hot and cold streaks over the past couple of months. The San Diego Padres won the division last season, and should be considered the favorite to hold off the challengers and grab first place again in 2006. However, each of the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Colorado Rockies have their positives (to go along with quite a few negatives) as well. Basically right now it’s looking like the last team to get hot will win the West, so don’t expect to hear about magic numbers anytime soon.

National League Wild Card

The Reds as the NL Wild Card? Hard to believe that that could happen, but they’re one of the frontrunners right now, if only by default. The non-Mets teams in the NL East have been terrible lately outside of the Marlins (who might have too far to go to get into contention). The NL West teams are hovering around .500, and can’t make much progress in this race if they keep taking turns beating each other. That leaves the Reds and Astros as the top contenders right now, with Houston probably the current best bet.