The Second Half and Sox Banter

I think the AL (the only league that matters for one or two more years--the NL is starting to catch up) will come down to five teams: Red Sox, Angels, Indians, Tigers, and...I guessssss the Yankees. The Twins, Mariners, and A's have shots, but I don't think they're gonna do it (I'll explain why in a second). The Yankees are probably not going to catch the Red Sox or win the Wild Card, but I think they're dangerous because they could have a very solid starting rotation in the second half, they're only one game below .500, and have a great run differential. I expect the first four teams I listed to make the play-offs, but there's still a chance that Wang, Hughes, Pettitte, Clemens, Mussina, and Mo Rivera can win some games, as long as that offense starts helping ARod, Jeter, and Posada, whose backs must be getting mighty sore. The Yanks could very easily flame out and win 80 games, but they could also catch fire and start to burn some heels on their way up.

Why the other contenders won’t make the play-offs:

The A’s: over-achievers. Their pitching staff has been too nasty and will get hurt or revert somewhat to previous norms, and Jack Cust, while he may be a legit Major Leaguer, is no Chris Drury in the Little League World Series.

The Mariners: JEFF WEAVER. He’s on their team, so they can’t be good. Their offense isn't great and the end of their rotation is scary bad. They're over-performing and at some point will have a bad stretch and fade, so enjoy it while it lasts, M's fans.

The Twins: they're pretty good, but I don't think pretty good is going to catch the Indians and Tigers, who should continue to play as well as they have the rest of the season.

Sox banter: I'm really excited about our pitching prospects. While “pitching prospect” is probably the worst term in the world because it's like being called an aspiring actor--as in you'll probably end up failing and making gay pornos to pay the bills like that Japanese pitcher in the Indians organization did a few years ago--the Sox could be set up for a while in the rotation and pen. With Beckett and Matsuzaka holding down the front of the rotation at only 26, and Wakefield at the back end at a million years old (doesn't matter, he throws as slow as me anyways so nothing to worry about), there are two spots left in the next couple years, and Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, 23 and 22 respectively, could fill those spots nicely. That'd be a filthy staff with Papelbon and a slew of other young arms in the pen, and the team could concentrate its resources on finding bats to replace Manny and Papi, et al, rather than signing the Matt Clements, Carl Pavanos, Barry Zitos, and soon to be Carlos Zambranos of the world. Jyeah.