Contender or Pretender?

With baseball at its halfway point, I felt it was time to bring out my favorite cliche. Let's play playoff Contender/Pretender for the AL. Hopefully Ben will write one on the NL.

Tampa Bay- Contender. The team has a great 1,2,3 in Kazmir, Shields, and Garza as well as a fantastic bullpen. They play solid D and have Dioner Navarro who suddenly morphed into a good catcher (teams with good catchers are almost always playoff threats). What worries me about this team is the lack of power. They only have 1 guy on pace to hit 30 and maybe another 3 more who will hit the 20 mark. One slump from a guy in the middle of the order, especially if that guy happens to be Longoria, and this team will not be able to score the 4 or 5 a game it needs. This team reminds me of the Twins of 2 years ago, who made the playoffs and swept the As in the first round.

Boston- Contender. You spend that kind of money not to contend for the playoffs. Papi's banged up (that's what happens when you get off the juice) and Varitek looks like he belongs in the Beer Leagues, but this is still on paper the best team in baseball. I think they end up taking the division.

New York- Contender. For anybody else I say pretender. Their lineup is too strong to be counted out. Their starting pitching is bad but if they can keep their ERAs around 4, the hitting will win games for them. I would love nothing more than to see this team flounder and miss the playoffs. Can you imagine it? Last home game of the year, the entire New York crowd chanting "Yankees Suck!", when suddenly they hear a thunderous boom coming from the skybox! It's Papa George Steinbrenner! He's in a wrestling costume that he stole from Ric Flair and the floppiness is almost too much. He sprints in, throws his son off the balcony, then gives the finger to everyone in the stadium! The crowd loves it, especially Vin Diesel who for some reason the camera zoomed in on. Hank is still alive, but he has been banished to Pittsburgh, where he takes over the team and runs it further into the groud. Sorry Pittsburgh.

Chicago- Conteder. The 3-7 hitters can all hit 30 HRs, the 8 hitter is batting .300, Swish and Orlando are coming around, and AJ is a great catcher. The bullpen is one of the best in the majors and Buehrle looks like an ace again. I worry about Vazquez and Contreras, who both look finished, and was worried that we couldn't manufacture runs. Up until last night when Dewayne Wise singled with two out, stole second, and Cabrera knocked him in to win the game. This team is rolling right now.

Minnesota-Contetnder. Are a bullpen and defense enough to get you to the playoffs? It looks like it could be that way with the Twins, who have terrible starting pitching and 2 players on pace to maybe hit 25 long balls. They do have timely hitting though and Justin Morneau could reach 130 RBIs. They will be in the race the whole way, but the odds that the have a seat when the music stops are slim.

Detroit- Pretender. No #%$@#&% way this team makes the playoffs. Magglio is hurting with the dreaded oblique strain, the pitching is awful, and they play bad defense. Why would you build a bomb squad when you play in Comerica park? The Tigers go .500 and have to be blown up a year from now, just like Justin Timberlake should be. Hear that JT, I want you out of the game, you have 1 year. Ready! GO!

Los Angeles of Anaheim- Contender. Vlad can still swing, Torrii Hunter is patrolling center, Chone Figgins sets the table, and someone else will step up at some point. I'd like to introduce the readers to Joe Saunders, the Angels pitcher who is 11-4 with a 3.06 ERA. He makes this a really strong rotation along with Lackey, Santana, Garland, and Weaver. They also have K-Rod who may break the single season saves record.

Oakland As- Pretender. Duchscherer, Eveland, and Smith have been pleasant surprises. Unfortunately the lineup is terrible. As the Duke comes back to earth and Harden has another inevitable injury, this team will begin to lose ground. The team built around OBP has four starters with OBPs below .330. The return of Frank Thomas and Chaves could help but this team looks like an overachiever right now.