[W.HI.P]

Half way through the season now, and this is how the divisions look.
Highlighted in Green are my pre-season picks.

AL East
1)New york Yankees --
2)Tampa bay Rays -2
3)Boston Red Sox -5
4)Toronto Blue Jays -11.5
5)Baltimore Orioles -28

The Rays will end up winning this division.
The Yankees should also make the post-season as the wild card, unless the tigers challenge them a little.
The Red Sox have not done that bad, but key injuries (Martinez, Ellsbury),and the general age of the players, forbid any hope for anything more than an above .500 record.
The Jays simply suck....there's not much more to say about them..... their batting average, their rotation, their bullpen, their closer, their best players age ...there's just nothing there, its a disgrace.
The baltimore orioles, since the start of the season, have been without their lead-off man speedster brian Roberts, and without their closer Mike Gonzales, so it looks like another drafting season....and good for them, its the only way they're ever gonna be able to compete in this division.

AL Central
1)Detroit Tigers --
2)Chicago White Sox -0.5
3)Minnesota Twins -2
4)Kansas City Royals -8
5)Clevland Indians -14

After a very weak start, the Chicago White sox have been on a tear, and now have caught up, and will eventually take the lead in this division.
It won't be without competition though....i must admit, that i underestimated this tigers team a little bit.
Miguel Cabrera is having the season of his life!! Austin Jackson came out of nowhere, and is a very good lead off man.
Boesch has also come out of nowhere, and has added a serious bat to this line-up.
I can't say they came out of nowhere as they did catch my eye at the start of the season, its just that i didn't expect them both to be in such form early on.
All this though will fall short as the Tigers face some serious pitching problems, both in the rotation, as well as their bullpen.
103 mile/per hour throwing relief pitcher Zumaya is out!
Other than Verlander and perhaps Sherzer, the tigers simply do not have starting pitchers capable of keeping this team in contention for this season.
The Twins are still there, despite their recent slump. Should Mauer find his power again, i wouldn't put it past this team to be around at the end of the season.
Royals fans are starting to feel good about this team.....they should start losing some games though as the they should be considering some of these draft targets.
The Clevland Indians are rebuilding at this time, but are at a very early stage.

AL West
1)Texas Rangers --
2)LA Angels -5.5
3)Oakland A's -9.5
4)Seattle Mariners -16

I did predict the fall of the Angels, but I thought it would probably be the A's that took them over.
For now, early July, its the heavy hitting Rangers, who just added Cliff Lee to their rotation.
Lets keep in mind how weak texas has played in late summer these past seasons.
This division is still open, even to my injury struck angels.
The A's, despite being 9.5 games behind, are a very serious young team, that just keep making the right moves for the future.
The Mariners got the right idea adding speedster figgins to the start of the batting order to compliment ichiro suzuki, but they forgot to add some power in there, so there's no one to bring them in.
Lets see if this team collapses or rebuilds in the off-season.

NL East
1)Atlanta Braves --
2)New York Mets -4
3)Philadelphia Phillies -5.5
4)Florida marlins -10.5
5)Washington Nationals -12.5

Wow! The Braves are ranked #1 in the National league! ....all this, without their #1 bat Jason Heyward, who has been on the DL these past few weeks...He's on his way back as we speak.
The Braves are 5.5 games ahead of their main rivals Philies!
The Mets have found some form from some unexpected pitchers in their rotation.
I always liked Pagan to be a lead-off man, and here he is doing it.
Jose Reyes, still faces some health issues.
David Wright is looking pretty good out there, and is the main reason why this team is still around coming into mid-season.
I'm not suprised that the Mets are in 2nd, and i won't be suprised if they end up in 2nd.
The reason is that the Phillies have some serious issues.
Halladay, who always been overated, is proving to be less than people thought.
Hamels still has a year or two before he reaches his full potential.
J.A Happ has been on the DL since day 1, and despite his rehab, does not look to be his old self.
The rest of the rotation have no buisness in the major leagues.
The line-up see's the God of 2nd basemen Chase Utley on the DL for another month.
Rollins is just a mediocre shortstop, despite his great season a couple years ago.
What exactly does that leave in the line-up? Howard? ...sure, but one powerfull strike-out batter is not gonna win any pennant for you.
Especially when the team you're playing for has a non-existant bull pen.
The Phillies bullpen is sooo weak, that they've got starting pitcher Contreras as the main man....like wtf dudes, get some relief!!
So yeah, forget the phillies.
The Florida Marlins, despite their under .500 record, are looking pretty good!
If this team can hold on to Hanley Ramirez for a couple more years, and fill in some of the holes in their rotation and bullpen, they might just be the team to take command in this division in the up-coming years!
Finally some good news in Washington!
Young superstar starting pitcher Strasburg is selling out the park in Washington, and wherever else he pitches.
He is a strike-out artist who has everyone convinced that he will be one of the absolute elite pitchers in baseball for years to come!
Not much else to say about the team, but its a good start.

NL Central
1)Cincinnati Reds --
2)St.Louis Reds -3
3)Chicago Cubs -10.5
4)Milwakee Brewers -11.5
5)Houston Astros -13.5
6)Pittsburgh pirates -18

Now here's something to feel proud about!
The Reds are 11 games ahead of the 3rd place cubs, and are currently in a two horse race for the NL central!
Phillips, Votto and Bruce are getting it done producing runs like theres no tommorow.
The bullpen, as mentioned before is elite, with Cordero, masset and Rhodes.
The Reds find themselves in this position, playing half the season without their #1 starter Volquez, who is in re-hab as we speak, and should be returning to the rotation just after the mid-season break!
The Cardinals are clearly not the favorite to win this division.
The line-up is overall weak despite the 2 heavy bats.
It was the rotation that was gonna put them in contention, and its not looking quite as good as it did when the season started.
Garcia started off the season as their best starter(Quoting the cardinals general manager), and he was....but he's lost something out there, command, velocity, and i don't think he'll keep it up.
Chris Carpenter is clearly not the pitcher he was last season, so, as you can see, this cardinals team is not as strong as they seemed.
The rest of the division is kinda weak.....the Cubs, the Brewers, the Astros, all on the decline......while the pirates seem to be doing all the right things(Drafting), and will be above these other teams in the next couple seasons.

NL West
1)San Diego Padres --
2)LA Dodgers -3
3)Colorado Rockies -3
4)San Fransisco Giants -5
5)Arizona Diamondbacks -17.5

I could say that i underestimated the Padres, but i don't think i did.
To me, the Padres remain one of the worst teams in baseball, and will finish this season in 4th place in this division.
If i ran the team, i would be dead last rubbing my hands together looking at the draft.
The Dodgers and the Rockies are the real contenders.
I wouldn't be suprised if the rockies won it in the end should Tulowitzki come back from the DL in full form.
The Giants depend a lot on Lincecum, who has faced a few problems this season......Giants, get some bats!
I'm not fond of the way the Diamondbacks are being run.