First Timers

The Houston Astros, who never won a World Series, are in first place in the AL West have own the best record in baseball. The Colorado Rockies, who never won a World Series, are in first place in the NL West and own the best record in the National League. The Washington Nationals, who never won a league championship (neither as the Nats or the Expos) are in first place in the NL East with the third best record in baseball. The Milwaukee Brewers, who never won a World Series, are in first place in the NL Central. The Minnesota Twins, who have not won a World Series since 1991, are in first place in the AL Central. The Yankees, who won more World Series titles than any other baseball team, are in first place in the AL East.

Of those six first place teams, the Nationals are really the only one doing as expected. That’s great. Surprise teams help bring out the fans. The Indians, Cubs, Red Sox, and Dodgers should all be doing better, and likely they will make adjustments or regress to their true talent level. That should make the races more exciting as the season wears on.

What’s really fascinating is that every team in the AL is in contention for a playoff slot. The White Sox, at the bottom of the league, are just six games out of a wild card berth. That may change over the next month, but right now no AL team has a reason to give up on the season.

In the National League, however, there is no Wild Card race at the moment. The NL West teams have large leads over the other second place teams, and the four trailing NL East teams and two trailing NL West teams have no good path to the playoffs. Teams that have never won and teams out of it early should set the league up for a very active trade deadline. All of the bottom dwellers have good players they could flip for prospects. When a team has never won a World Series, they should be in win now mode. It’s going to be a fun deadline.

from baseballmusings.com http://ift.tt/2rckc8c