MLB Midseason Report

It is the midseason in baseball already, so it's a good time to look ahead at the division races to see who could pull out on top.

Let's start with the AL East. The Red Sox are still the most complete team in baseball and best suited to do what it takes to win the division and that's avoid losing streaks. They are set to get David Ortiz back from injury in a one or two weeks and he'll greatly help them. The Rays might take over the division lead a couple of times before the season is over, but their late schedule will be too tough for them to win the division. They'll have to contend with the Twins, Tigers, Yankees, and A's in a Wild card race that I think they can win. The Yankees are known for late season comebacks, but this year they seem to be getting less healthy into the summer instead of more, with Chien Ming Wang and Hideki Matsui out for the season and Johnny Damon out for several more weeks. And, I don't know if Joe Girardi is capable of lighting the same kind of fire under these veterans as Joe Torre has in recent years. The Blue Jays pitching staff gives them hope, but their offense is horrible. They could finish over .500 and win 80-85 games, but the only way they make the playoffs is if they move to the NL West, a division they would lead if they were in now. The Orioles have a solid future now with the prospects they got for Miguel Tejada and Erik Bedard, but they should finish 20 games or so out this year.