Baseball 2010 (Already in Progress)

Since I was out-of-commission blog-wise, I was unable to post a baseball season preview in April like I do every year. It seems a little cheesy to pick everything now that we're a quarter of the way into the season and some teams have clearly separated themselves from the pack (both good and bad). However, I should say SOMETHING about how everything's turning out, so with an eye toward September and what may be then, I give you my in-progress review of the 2010 baseball season.

My New York Mets do not look good right now, plain and simple. This of course has the New York media and Joe from Long Island calling WFAN out for their yearly pound of flesh, saying that things will turn around if the Mets just fire manager Jerry Manuel. I'm pretty sure that our pitchers who have gotten injured would have been injured regardless of who the manager was, and Jason Bay would not suddenly remember to start hitting home runs under a new manager. David Wright has some issues with striking out, and many say that these are lingering effects of the beaning he took from Matt Cain of the Giants last season. Unless the next manager has a Ph.D in psychology, a new manager isn't going to fix this either. Had I written this before the season, I would have told you that the Mets' best hope is to finish at .500 or slightly above this year. Nothing has changed. Citi Field has ruined another power hitter as Bay can't find his power stroke, Wright's only Citi Field homer was in his first home at-bat of the season, and Jose Reyes is still trying to get his legs under him after thyroid issues derailed his spring training. Johan Santana has suddenly become quite mediocre.

But there are some things to be happy about, like Mike Pelfrey's improvement and the surprising Takahashi out of the bullpen (soon to become a starter). Jenrry Mejia has been rocky at times out of the bullpen, but his future is in the rotation, and it's not exactly fair to come to Flushing as a 20-year old being compared to Dwight Gooden. Most of all, Ike Davis has been a great lift to the team offensively, and will likely be the first baseman for years to come. All of which proves that this franchise has a future, it's just not this year, so try to be patient. I know that's impossible for the media and fans in NYC, but try.

So the NL East belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies. The fact that they are playing .600 ball right now is pretty impressive considering that they A) don't have a closer, and B) usually struggle in the first half of seasons before turning it on after the All-Star Break. If they keep up their current pre-break pace, they should win over 100 games and take the division by a good 15 games. Nobody challenges. The surprising team in the East by far is the Washington Nationals. When they beat the Mets early in the season, I was embarrassed, because the Nats lost over 100 last year and for a while were threatening the '62 Mets standard of 120 losses. Now they continue to pummel by team and it's simply because they're the better team. The Nationals have been just over .500 and contending for 2nd place all season... and their best pitcher is currently in Syracuse and blowing Triple-A hitters away. When Stephen Strasburg arrives in DC on June 1, Washington becomes a legit Wild Card contender.

Florida has to deal with the many moods of Hanley Ramirez. The recent spat over his failure to hustle is not the first confrontation between the Marlins superstar and management. Eventually, Ramirez gets traded... the question is will it be this year? The Braves have some good young talent like Jason Heyward, but not enough to contend right now. Like the Mets, their future looks good, but Bobby Cox's last season will be a long one.

The NL Central also has a big surprise, the Cincinnati Reds. A solid young team with good pitching (Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake) and up-and-coming slugger Joey Votto joining veterans Brandon Phillips and Scott Rolen to form an offense tailored for homer-happy Great American Ballpark. St. Louis is strong as always with Pujols, Matt Holliday, and company terrorizing pitchers. Will this stay a two-team race down to the wire? The Cards need to avoid the injuries that have hampered their pitching staff in recent years, and the Reds have to hope their young stars don't wilt in the spotlight. Elsewhere in the division, the Astros are pathetic and penciled in for a last-place finish. My biggest question in the Central is what happened to the Brewers? They were the exciting team of the future just a couple years ago. Now J.J. Hardy is in Minnesota, their best pitchers have all left, and Prince Fielder alone is not going to carry Milwaukee anywhere. The Cubs show signs of righting the ship but there are so many problems with that team that they won't contend. And the Pirates... are in 3rd place right now. Good for them.

The NL West has taught us why you need to be patient with good teams. The Los Angeles Dodgers were probably being written off by a lot of people a couple weeks ago. Now they're right back near the top of the division, although Manny Ramirez is drawing boos and has already spent time on the DL, and Andre Ethier just went on the shelf. The division standings favor the Golden State right now, with the surprising Padres on top, led by Adrian Gonzalez who was once trade bait but now could make a run at MVP, and reborn Jon Garland and rookie Mat Latos leading the pitching staff. San Francisco is in position to make a run as well, but their young ace pitchers can't do it themselves. The Giants have not had a reliable offense since Barry Bonds was smashing steroid-fueled homers (allegedly) by the Bay, and their top hitter, Pablo "Kung Fu Panda" Sandoval is mired in the first prolonged slump of his career. With some more consistent hitting to back Lincecum and Cain, the Giants have a shot at the playoffs. Colorado and Arizona continue to disappoint, but their division is pretty tough and someone has to finish on the bottom.

Speaking of tough divisions, the AL East continues to be the best in baseball. They have 4 really good teams... and the Baltimore Orioles, who may finally pull off that 100-loss season I've been predicting for them every year since the millennium. They almost got there last year with 98 losses. But why start at the bottom? I should be talking about the contenders. The Tampa Bay Rays needed to win this season, with Carl Crawford and Carlos Pena facing free agency, and indeed they are winning, more than any other team in the majors at this point. They have postseason experience, solid pitching, and a sense of urgency. It's going to be tough to stop them. Just ask the Yankees, who were pummeled 10-2 by the Rays last night and now stand 4 games back and dropping fast. The Yanks continue to age, and it's becoming more clear that their starting rotation of Phil Hughes, Javier Vazquez, C.C. Sabathia, and Andy Pettitte will have to make up for their banged-up hitters if they want a shot at the playoffs. Toronto got off to a fast start last year and faded, so their impressive 2010 to date has to be considered in this context. That being said, they seem to finally be getting both halves of their team going at the same time. Their young starters like Ricky Romero and Shawn Marcum have electric stuff, and Vernon Wells has finally turned it around to lead the hitting attack. Boston is a mess right now but Jacoby Ellsbury is coming back from injury and as long as the Red Sox can find someone else to close against New York and save Papelbon for everyone else, they could creep back into contention.

The AL Central has already claimed one manager this season, with Kansas City's Trey Hillman getting a pink slip. Expect Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox to follow. Cleveland's Manny Acta is only in his first season as manager there, so he's safe for now, although his team is currently bringing up the rear in the division. Detroit was written off by many after trading Curtis Granderson to the Yankees, but Granderson is on the DL in the Bronx and Austin Jackson is a Rookie of the Year candidate in the Motor City. Jackson, Miguel Cabrera, and Magglio Ordonez pace a high-scoring offense and Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello give the Tigers a good top of the rotation. Just like last year, it will be Detroit and Minnesota duking it out down the stretch, and both teams have their strengths and weaknesses. For the Twins, it's their rotation: Francisco Liriano can be great one day and pathetic the next. Their other young starters are similar. Jon Rauch has been a pleasant surprise stepping in for injured closer Joe Nathan, and of course they have Mauer and Morneau in the middle of their lineup. Also, Target Field is a gem of a new ballpark.

Lastly, the AL West has given us Dallas Braden. I mean he's the biggest story of the division. One day he's yelling at A-Rod for... being A-Rod. The next he's proving he has more than "15 minutes of fame" and tossing a perfect game... and his grandmother then told the press, "Stick it, A-Rod!" So we have front-runners for AL Rookie of the Year and Grandmother of the Year in Oakland. And the Athletics are in contention, continuing to add to the Gospel of Moneyball. The Angels and Mariners are both budget-busting disappointments; Mike Scioscia is experiencing losing for the first time as Anaheim manager, and the biggest story in Seattle is Ken Griffey falling asleep in the clubhouse during a game. Texas may win the division by default, because they have all kinds of problems, not just the manager occasionally snorting during games.

Is it easier to pick teams when they have 40 games in the books? Sure, but if I was doing this in March, there was no way I could have seen the Nats and Reds coming, so I'll take all the help I can get.