JULY 1st - MLB Standings Check, quick NBA take

It's July - wow, closer to fall...I love it.

Just a quick MLB check today - here we go:

AL EAST
NYY have taken over this division from TB and BOS has made a nice charge. However, BOS has injuries now and I still don't trust their staff. TOR has fallen off and will no longer be a factor (as if they ever were). TB continues to be tough on the road and average at home, but I like their chances to be in the playoffs.
NYY AND TB ARE PLAYOFF TEAMS.

AL CENTRAL
Twins have dropped 3 games from their lead on June 1st - but seriously is anyone worried? The pitching will figure it out or has figured it out. DET and the SOX both have too many holes and both have played really well lately while the Twins have struggled. DET/SOX will both hit multiple cold streaks down the stretch run and the TWINS ARE A PLAYOFF TEAM.

AL WEST
OAK, what happened? Hate to say I told you so, but this club obviously couldn't compete for too long. They have gone from division leaders to 10 GB in 1 month! TEX and LAA will continue this fight through the dog days, but I still an on board with TEXAS AS A PLAYOFF TEAM.

NL EAST
My Hotlanta Braves continue to lead the way in the East. Mets and Phils held serve and both will be there through July at least. I have a hard time seeing the Mets as long term players, but stranger things have happened. The Mets are already seeing some key metrics decline, so I doubt they will last much beyond July. ATLANTA IS A PLAYOFF TEAM. PHILLY IS A PLAYOFF TEAM.

NL CENTRAL
Reds and Cards continue to fight it out at the top. The rest of the division might as well pack it in for next year. STL still has a huge edge in my mind over the Reds because they pitch better and have aces. The Reds have a lot of nice young arms, but no experience and no Pujols. CARDS ARE A PLAYOFF TEAM.

NL WEST
SD continues to be on top, but I still am not a believer. LA is 3 out and COL is 5 out, and SF is 5.5 out. I was all on board with COL last month, and I'll stick with it even though I am having doubts. SD looks like the only team that can play on the road in this division and their pitching has been insanely good (correaltion?!?). I'LL PENCIL IN COLORADO FOR THE PLAYOFFS.

No major changes from last month, but I bet there will be for August. Trade deadline is in July I believe, so the power may shift in one or two of the divisions based on what happens.


Now, onto the most talked about free agency period ever. So a few signings have already happened, and your T-Pups have made 2 of them. Unfortunately, they are a couple of snoozers / head-scratchers. So Pekovic I like, he appears to be a legit C in Europe, but we'll see if it translates. How long has this team been looking for a C? (since 1989 and year 1 of the Timbaaawolves). But giving Darko $5M a year for 4 years based on a small sample we saw at the end of last year? I'm just not sold that this is the best use of our money. So we're down to about $10M in cap space (before the inevitable AL trade) but I'm not sure we're going to be a major free agent player even though we have some $$$. David Lee and Rudy Gay are apparently our 2 targets. If either of these guys is signing on for the KAHNival of fun, that means AL has to be dealt and we will be out of money. There's a lot left to play out, but so far I'm not sure the Summer of 2010 has lived up to the hype from KAHN. We'll see...stay tuned.