All-Star break...finally!

The first half of the season took WAAAY too long this year, and it wasn't just arduous for Mets' fans, but fans of almost every team.

A reminder of my preseason predictions (current standing at break):
AL East: BoSox (half a game up on the Rays)
AL Central: Tigers (7 games behind ChiSox)
AL West: Angels (6 games up on Oakland)
AL Wild Card: Injuns (14 out of Wild Card race, second worst team in AL)--I'll pat myself on the back for that one
NL East: Mets (half a game back of the Phillies)--pardon me for assuming they win tonight. When you're playing the NL West's bottom-feeders, you're allowed to assume the W.
NL Central: Cardinals (4.5 behind the Cubbies)
NL West: D'backs (1 game up on the Dodgers)
NL Wild Card: Hotlanta (7.5 out of Wild Card race)


Though that is how my results will be judged at the end of the season to decide how much money Barrows owes me, here's what I really think will happen now that we're halfway home. Each race is going to be very interesting in its own right except for the AL West:

AL East: Red Sox will maintain first, Yankees will give it a good run and finish second, Rays will fade to third place, finish about 10 games over .500, yet still not get any respect. They'll be laughing last, however, because they'll have three aces at the beginning of next year, and none of their starting pitchers will be over the age of 27. They're going to be really good for a really long time if everyone in St. Pete stays healthy. Side note: Is Dice-K really 10-1 with a 2.65 era?? WOW.

AL Central: None of these teams can get it together. The ChiSox don't seem like they can keep their swagger, the Twins' pitching isn't good enough, and the Tigers can sneak in and win if they keep playing consistently. With all three teams having a legit chance, I'll take the Tigers. Verlander is starting to pitch really well, and good pitching is contagious.

AL West: Angels. Angels. Angels.

NL East: Mark Teixeira is a second half hitter, so he'll vault the Braves into contention. Ryan Howard is heating up at the wrong time, but Rollins and Utley have yet to have their second winds. Of course I'm picking the Mets because everything seems to finally be coming together, but I know they're going to hit another rough patch, so it should be another good race. Hopefully whichever team wins doesn't win by default because the other teams keep losing.

NL Central: The Cubs are up at the break, but they're also like the only team in all of baseball that hasn't suffered serious heartbreak so far this year. Their suffering will come again, as it has for the last 100 years. Milwaukee and Chicago both made huge acquisitions for front-line starters. Who do I think wins? Sticking with my original pick--the team that hasn't made a move yet. The trades for Harden and C.C. will cancel each other out since these teams are only going to be beating up on each other the rest of the way. The Cardinals will be getting their big pitchers back from the DL, they've got great role players in the form of Ludwick and Ankiel, and oh yeah, they have that guy...what's his name? Albert Pujols.

NL West: The Rockies and Padres are the only teams that want to win this division, but they suck. The Giants are just in a world of hell without Barry Bonds. The D'backs and Dodgers will lose their way to the finish line...I don't see Arizona making a big roster move before the deadline, and the Dodgers have been getting great pitching performances lately. Can they keep it up? Their offense can only get better, so I'll take the Dodgers. Plus, I don't want to see Webb and Haren in the postseason...if I'm even in the postseason.



I'm picking the NL to finally win the All-Star game by a score of 6-2, and I'm picking Lance Berkman to take the home run derby in one of the least impressive fields we'll ever see. Josh Hamilton will be in the finals against him, and the three right handers (Uggla, Longoria, Braun) won't see a second round. I hope Mariano Rivera starts the game like everyone wants him to and then gets lit up for a couple runs. Then I hope Derek Jeter makes a couple errors to allow the other runs. %#$&ing Yankees.