The Cheap Seats: MLB Contenders

We’re at the quarter-poll in the Major League Baseball season, and this week’s view from the Cheap Seats has us looking at the contenders and pretenders in each league’s divisional and wildcard races. There is still a lot of baseball to be played, but teams have started to separate themselves. You can fool the masses through April, but by Memorial Day weekend, the contenders and pretenders can not hide. Weaknesses have been exploited, and teams are already looking to deal, one way or the other.
AL East:
Contenders- New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Redsox and Baltimore Orioles
Pretenders- Toronto Blue Jays
This is the most wide open division from top to bottom. Even Toronto has a mathematical chance, but their pitching is awful. The Yanks and Rays look like the best two teams, especially with Tampa’s pitching looking elite again. Jake Odorizzi would be a Cy Young candidate anywhere but Tampa Bay.
Boston’s offense is spectacularly deep, but they have to address their pitching. Expect Boston to bring on two starters and at least one bullpen arm by July’s end if they stay in it. Baltimore is definitely missing Cruz. The Orioles might be shopping for a bat to add to their arsenal all the way through the waiver period of August. Regardless, fasten your seat belts, this going to be a wild race to the end!
AL Central:
Contenders- Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Whitesox
Pretenders- Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians
I know, I know, the Twins are just a few games out. The Whitesox are about 5. So what gives? The Sox are much deeper and starting to gel. Minnesota is bound to sputter out. They may be able to hang with the Sox all summer, but KC and Detroit are way too loaded. Both the Royals and Tigers will make the playoffs, and it’s doubtful that two teams grab a wildcard from the central. The Sox’ 1-2 punch of Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija are what keeps Chicago in this great race that will surely go three wide into late September.
AL West:
Contenders- Houston Astros, LA Angels and Seattle Mariners
Pretenders- Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics
This is almost a one team race. Somebody better wake up the Angels and Mariners, fast! The Astros are primed to run and hide from everybody in this division if they don’t. Only because they were both on the short list for preseason World Series contenders were they not put in as pretenders. The Astros have the best record in the AL and are rumored to be looking for upgrades via trade. If Houston adds depth to that already strong, young rotation, ‘Katie bar-the-door’, that race is over.
NL East:
Contenders- Washington Nationals, NY Mets and Atlanta Braves
Pretenders- Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies
It took a few weeks, but the Nats are awake and it may be a long summer for the rest of the division. Bryce Harper is MVP-ready and the starters are rolling. The Phillies have surprised nobody and the Marlins have decided to play spin the bottle to decide who manages this team. One thought around South Beach still bugs me: Giancarlo Stanton has complained that the team has been flat, with no fire. He has threatened that he wants to be a part of a contender if he is going to stay past his player opt-out in a few years. Shouldn’t the man making $325 million be the one that lights the spark and ignites the fire? Why is he looking around for others?
The Mets and Braves are still very much NL East contenders, but a realistic focus might need to be set a tad lower. Getting into the dance via wildcard would be a huge deal for either city. New York is still looked upon as an offseason away before they can contend with a slew of young arms.
Atlanta is in the middle of a wait-for-2017-park-opening rebuild. If the Braves cracked the wildcard, they would be doing back flips all the way down I-75. Don’t laugh; this team has adequate pitching and contact hitters with speed, a recipe for success in today’s baseball pitcher’s climate.
NL Central:
Contenders- St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs
Pretenders- Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers
The Cardinals look like a team that will run away from the pack and have begun that journey. Even with Adam Wainwright lost for the year, St. Louis is pitching like a championship team. Jaimie Garcia coming back this week only helps the cause. There is still a real possibility that the Cardinals will add an arm come July, too.
The Cubbies were looked upon as a team that was too young and still a year or two away. Then Joe Maddon broke down the door and all hopes rose to the heavens. Staying with St. Louis all summer might be a tall order, but Maddon will have them right in the thick of the wildcard hunt all year.
As for the other three, the realism of quiet offseasons has set in. Pittsburgh may hang in, with a gritty team that could hang around a wildcard slot, but the division is lost. Cincinnati will be big time sellers by early July as too many pieces are set to hit the free agent market. Milwaukee is just wishing they could hit the reset button, like a bad video game gone awry.
NL West:
Contenders- LA Dodgers, SF Giants and San Diego Padres
Pretenders- Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies
The Dodgers received bad news this week when they learned that Hyun-Jin Ryu is most likely lost for the season, as he requires shoulder surgery. That just means that the Dodgers go to the front of the Cole Hamels sweepstakes. The Red Sox and Yankees did not want to hear this, as they have their eyes set on him as well. With LA having the money and prospects to compete in an east coast trade, the race for Cole will start to heat up before July.
The rest of the division comes down to San Francisco and San Diego to compete with Los Angeles. Arizona and Colorado are total rebuilding projects with almost double digit deficits already. San Diego was the busiest team this winter, and now it’s time for all those pieces to produce. If not, Justin Upton and Matt Kemp will be on the trading block sooner than later. The Giants are a once again a riddle. They are the team that has few stars and an aging lineup of arms and bats. Yet, they’re just a few games behind LA. One thing is for sure, if they find a way in, nobody wants to face Madison Bumgarner in a winner-take-all wildcard play in game.
That’s this week’s view from the Cheap Seats, now lets handicap the field going into Memorial Day weekend :
AL East- Tampa Bay Rays
AL Central- KC Royals
AL West- Houston Astros
AL Wildcards- LA Angels and New York Yankees
NL East- Washington  Nationals
NL Central- St. Louis Cardinals
NL West- LA Dodgers
NL Wildcards- NY Mets and Chicago  Cubs