AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
ED: Ed Agner
BB: Bill Barnwell
PR: Phil Rippa
NEW YORK YANKEES
Record at the All-Star Break (55-31)

First Half Review
PR: Coming into the season, all eyes were on the Yankees starting pitching. Midway through the season and all eyes continue to be on the Yankees starting pitching. The random hodge podge throughout the first half has been fascinating if not wildly inconsistent and not at all comforting for supporters. Kevin Brown was to be the squad’s anchor but because he is Kevin Brown ended the first half on the DL.

BB: Ah, but has Kevin Brown ever been befallen by intestinal parasites before? Maybe one of the few things we CAN’T blame on Tommy Lasorda or Kevin Malone. Unless maybe Tommy slipped him some Slimfast when Brown was in LA and Brown just decided to give it a shot in June. Everyone has to lose their four pounds sometime, I guess.

ED:  I've got a hunch that the Clemens-Brown flip will turn out like the Yanks '97 flip of Jimmy Key-David Wells, where the guy the Yanks cut loose has a great first half then comes to earth while the guy the Yanks picked up does the reverse.  But then, that all depends on Brown being healthy, of course.  Then again, if the Astros fade even more - and with Phil Garner their new manager, odds are good for that to happen - Clemens could be a Yankee again and Phil's sister would be in a real quandary.

PR:  Javier Vasquez has been good, showing that he (CLICHÉ ALERT!) can handle the pressure of pitching in NY. He has also shown that he still gives up far too many home runs and will just have some flat out bad starts.

ED:  Vazquez was pretty much the only mostly-consistent guy in that rotation.  What's interesting about him is that he loves the dong as much as...well, I won't continue that analogy.  Anyway, he gives up the taters and tends to give them up on a lot of 0-2 counts - at first, from what I saw, because he had a real flat curve ball which he was trying to use as his "out pitch" but which, in fact, screamed "Make me a souvenir."  Later on, after scrapping the curve to an extent, he was killed on fastballs down in the zone when up 0-2.  Someone should really tell him to waste an 0-2 pitch now and then.  Even then, Vazquez doesn't really have an "out pitch" other than occasionally being able to blow a high heater by guys.  A splitter or getting that curve ball back might make him lights out.

BB: Well, he’s got a good changeup. That’ll get out lefties. Righties, he’s got a slider. This shouldn’t be THAT hard. Vazquez’s strategy, from what I heard someone (maybe Michael Kay?) telling me was that he throws his fastball up and in and low and away, and when he’s behind in the count, he gets his curve over. Now – I know what to wait for if I’m a hitter. Ed’s analysis, by the way, would appear to be spot-on – hitters have a .639 slugging percentage against Vazquez with an 0-2 count, the highest such percentage in any count that Vazquez encounters.

PR:  Mike Mussina has been alternately stinky and… not so stinky. Either way, not as good as in years past. Jose Contreras may or may not have had his problems solved with the family reunion. Jon Lieber has been at least worth the flier that Brian Cashman took on him last year. Orlando Hernandez looked great in his first start in 48 years but El Duque is 76, so looking to him to plug holes might not be wise. Brad Halsey didn’t embarrass himself. Tanyon Sturtze and Donovan Osborne did. Not getting Freddy Garcia should be a blessing in disguise that few people will actually believe for two or three years.

BB: I guess you have to wait on Halsey getting that Vikings contract.

ED:  Moose is still above league average.  Sure, he's not being paid to be merely above league average but that's not a sin when money means little to the Yankees.  What is a sin is that he seems to have forgot that he had one of the greatest knuckle curves I've ever seen.  Contreras...meh.  Until he figures out how to pitch, he'll always be a swear word in the Rippa household, I'd reckon - and if Contreras doesn't know how to pitch, and it sure doesn't look like he does most of the time, what does that say for Cuban baseball?  Lieber will be inconsistent but serviceable the further along he is from the Tommy John surgery.  Duque...well...what Phil said.  FWIW, Sturtze actually looked better as a starter than a middle reliever from what I saw.  That still ain't a pretty rotation, though.  The REAL worry I would have if I were a Yankee fan is that the Yankee starters aren't eating innings - at the break, there were only 5 AL starting staff's who threw less innings than the Yanks - which is what the Yanks REALLY miss in losing Pettitte and Wells.

BB: I enjoy, Ed, that you talk about Mussina having one of the legendary knuckle curves you’ve seen. How many knuckle curves, exactly, have you seen? Is there some sort of lineage I’m unaware of? Do I need to buy the Neyer/James book for this? Are you really just secretly shilling for Bill James? You sad, sad man. You know I’m poor. In all seriousness – I’m not sure about Mussina playing that bad. He went 8-0 in May and June, with a 41/7 K/BB ratio in 62 innings. July…he’s 0-2 so far with a 9.82 ERA. You have a good month, you have a bad month.

PR: The Yanks struggled through the majority of April – including the infamous six out of the first seven to the Red Sox. This caused much glee and much early counting of ones chickens. NY found its offense which carried the starting pitching and lo’ and behold, the Yankees have a seven game lead on Boston and the best record at the All-Star Break.  

ED:  Being able to pound the weaker sisters of the league into submission masks a whole lot of things.  Just ask last year's Red Sox.

BB: Mmm…Kevin Millar…I can market this. THE DEVIL RAY DESTROYER! THE TIGER TERRORIZER! THE ORIOLE…WAY CRUSHER! Okay – maybe it needs some work.

PR: Much like the pitching staff, the offense too awhile to get going. Jorge Posada was the offense during the first few weeks. Then Gary Sheffield started to hit. Then Alex Rodriguez started to hit. Then Hideki Matsui did. There was the infamous Derek Jeter slump - bottoming out at around a .190 AVG and a .250 OBP. Of course, Jeter was treated to like 20 games against the Orioles and ended the first half hitting .277/.336/.451 – which is a lot more palatable. Plus, A-Rod grasped the concept of third base better than say Joe Randa or Dean Palmer or Jeff Cirillo.  

BB: You know that when Jeter got hurt on the tope into the stands, A-Rod was like “Hey! I get to play short now!” Maybe I stole that joke from somewhere, I don’t remember. I just hope I didn’t steal it from myself. Gary Sheffield playing third might’ve been the highlight of the first half - non-McLendon or Mondesi division.

ED:  I loved the panic about the offense that the media tried to instill after the Red Sox swept the Yanks early on.  Yeah, like those guys weren't going to hit.

BB: Why can’t Jorge Posada get any MVP candidate noise? The guy’s hitting .271/.413/.500 and he’s a catcher. His career numbers are at .270/.379/.477 and while he got started too late to have a realistic shot at the Hall of Fame, he’s going to have some pretty great rate stats even after the ride down.

PR: The one thing that sticks in my craw about the Yanks was the ridiculous reliance on keeping Giambi in the field. I (and Bill and Ed) have written small opuses on why Nick Johnson needed to stay with the team. But Cashman couldn’t work the deal for Vazquez any other way. So, Travis Lee was brought in to be the better defensive first baseman. Travis Lee turned out to be more of a cripple than Giambi and is out for the season. So now, the burden has been falling on Tony Clark – who at ??? isn’t scary bad but doesn’t make many people rest easy at night. There are never any assurances that Giambi will be in the lineup and when he is, there are no assurances that he will even come close to making contact. So yeah – this marriage might need to end.  

BB: It’s okay, he’s only signed until…2008 (with a $5 million buyout). His second biggest PECOTA comp is Willie McCovey, and I think that looks like a likely career path for him now – McCovey hit around .240 with power and walks for the rest of his career. It will be worth having in the lineup, but Giambi’s locking up that DH slot for three years, and the $71 million he’s owed in the next four years (in 2005, his contract bumps from $11 to $18 million) is a sunk cost.

ED:  Well, the Yanks dodged a bullet with Nick, really.  I love Nick to death, but he's fragile enough to get Kevin Towers wet.  He may end up having a couple of really nice years, but I think it's safe to say now that he has to show the world that he can get and stay healthy for a full 162 before we should go head over heels for him again.  But the biggest bullet the Yanks dodged was with Lee.  I didn't get the Lee signing to begin with.  He's never been the player the D-Backs paid way too much money for back in their early days and hasn't improved over the years - no patience at the plate with little pop and his supposed gift of glove at first base is merely the passing on of a useless myth that Keith Hernandez created and passed on to Mark Grace to bring them more value than they deserved.   The fact that Lee got hurt enough for the Yanks to write him off in favor of someone serviceable enough with the glove AND bat to fill in for the frequent Giambi break-downs, was a nice bit of luck, which proves that the Baseball Gods love the Yankees more than the rest of the world.

BB: Ed was maybe drunk when he wrote that – Lee walks a pretty decent amount, not anything to write home about, but better than 1 in 10 ABs. Lee’s one of the things that the Yankees can do with their money that other teams can’t, really – the Yankees can devote $2 million to signing Travis Lee, and if he gets hurt, or doesn’t work out, they can just move on. They can spend a bunch of money on Quantrill and Gordon, and when they work out, it makes the team that much deeper. I’m not complaining here – I’m just pointing out where the advantages of having a huge payroll lie, beyond being able to sign the top free agent talent. You can out pay everyone else for the spare parts, too. But then there’s Luis Sojo. So, I’m not really sure.

PR: Despite Joe Torre’s best efforts to drive me crazy with his management of the bullpen, this was the most reliable aspect of the entire squad through the season. Mariano Rivera has been… well… Mariano Rivera. Tom Gordon has become a fine, fine setup man. Paul Quantrill was every bit as good as the Yanks hoped when they stole him from the Dodgers, quickly earning the Torre “trust”. Quantrill eats innings with the best of him as long as he avoids pop-ups hit toward Rodriguez. Felix Heredia has been horrific, yet remains with the team and Gabe White got dumped, which was… disappointing. Bret Prinz helped for a while and maybe can produce again later in the season.

ED:  Yeah, Gabe White got Choate'd out of town.  I still can't figure that out.  If nothing else, he could've served the LOOGY role well enough.  But Torre never used him and when he did - after making White sit for a week at a time in between outings - he sucked.  Gee, go figure.  The top three, of course, have been exactly what the Yanks wanted.  The rest...well, Yankee fans have to hope they're not used unless the Yanks are drilling the O's or something.  The IP's for the top three though...I smell trap.

BB: Gordon has been flat-out fantastic this year. So has Rivera, naturally. Quantrill is a step below them, but he’s still been excellent. The fact that they’ve thrown 153 innings amongst the three of them in the first half would seem to point to their decreased effectiveness in the second half, but they’ll be able to relax a little bit with noted innings sponge Steve Karsay coming back to assist. Oh wait – my bad. The Yankees will grab another arm or two for the pen (Eddie Guardado, please pick up the courtesy phone) and they’ll be able to rest the big three for the playoffs.

Second Half Outlook
PR: Well, NY has survived pretty pedestrian starting pitching so far so any marked improvement they get, whether it be via trade (Randy Johnson or Russ Ortiz or Kris Benson or whomever) or even just starters getting healthy or pitching up to career levels, will be gravy and could help cover any drop in offensive production.

BB: I think Mussina’s going to be fine, assuming he can make it through his current elbow twinges. That leaves the Yankees with Vasquez/Mussina/Brown as a 1-2-3 punch. Considering the division is already theirs, the concern should be making sure Brown is healthy for the playoffs. Without anything to trade for Randy Johnson, it’s going to be difficult for the Yankees to get him; there’s no reason for the Braves to trade Ortiz when they have a very realistic shot of winning the division, and I’m not sure that Kris Benson would be an upgrade on anything the Yankees are going to throw out there in the playoffs. This is what it’s going to be unless the Yankees can pull Barry Zito or Jamie Moyer out of their hat. LEFTY STARTER!!!

ED:  The starting pitching along with that offense is good enough to guarantee a playoff spot.  As far as running through the playoffs though...I can't see it unless they get another arm or the starting staff shapes up.

PR: A-Rod is going to continue to hit. Matsui should continue to up his power numbers (his 17 homers are already more than he hit all last season and he is slugging .516. He was at .462 for all of last season). Sheffield hasn’t murdered a bus full of school children yet so that is good news. Flipping Kenny Lofton for Preston Wilson would be appealing at least in dumping Lofton but adding payroll just because you can isn’t my favorite way of running a club.

ED:  C'mon, you're a Yankee fan - money is no object.  And Kenny Lofton should be playing more CF than Bernie at this point in their careers.  Yes.  He should.

BB: The correct answer is Bubba Crosby should be playing more CF. Wait – you didn’t get that memo? Oh. In all seriousness, neither Lofton nor Williams are suitable center fielders at this point – I’d even recommend playing Matsui in center over either of them.

PR:  The same could be applied at second in regards to Bret Boone – who I want nowhere near the club. I like Miguel Cairo and still hold out hope for a weird Cairo/Erick Almonte platoon but I am goofy.

ED:  That would be something.  Especially considering the Yanks cut Almonte at the end of spring training and he is now property of the Rockies.  And Almonte hits RH, too.  But, hey, whatever.  Who am I to ruin Phil's dreams?

BB: Aww…you’re going to make Phil hurt. Don’t mention Brian Myrow. Cairo’s actually been pretty nifty so far (.301/.350/.446, with all the slugging undoubtedly coming in that Red Sox series), and Boone’s been…needle-free. I’d be casting glances in Junior Spivey’s direction. Or Craig Counsell. He’s World Series-proven, you know.

PR: I know Almonte was no longer with the club. That is why I was saying it would be weird. Of course, I haven’t figured out why Almonte was released yet. It was like “Thanks for filling in for Derek last year but you aren’t a PEDRO KILLER~! so we are going to have to let you go.”

PR: Maybe they club could finally throw Bernie Williams overboard… of course, Bernie being the DH would be great…. Oh right. Stupid Giambi.

ED: Yeah, Giambi's the snag in the plan.  But hey, he's playing for two, ya know.

BB: Is Giambi pregnant or something? Or have the parasites formed an entity? A union? What does Donald Fehr think about this?

PR: Jeter will hit .300 and his OBP will hover right around the .330 mark. And continued pretty catches will over inflate his RANGE FACTOR~! Again. This will send me in the usual tango of loving and hating him. My head throbs at the thought already.

ED:  I thought A-Rod covering the vast majority of the left side was what has bumped Jeter's range factor.  I am a dope.

BB: It’s not Jeter’s fault that STATS doesn’t count the foul territory to the right of home plate in SS range factor. Or the second row of the stands beyond third base.

PR: Steve Karsay might yet also return to the bullpen and eventually the Yanks should have enough people to throw Tanyon Sturtze back overboard. C.J. Nitkowski might get a call up. I, sadly, want to see that little experiment.

BB: Nitkowski has Jesus on his side. If it works for Julio Franco…

ED:  Like I said, Sturtze did yeoman’s work as a spot starter like, say, Ramiro Mendoza.  Unlike Mendoza, Sturtze doesn't know how to come out of the pen - or soak the Red Sox, for that matter.  I wouldn't bet on Nitkowski even being able to LOOGY, but I'd give it a shot over Heredia - who, of course, WILL get countless shots at lefties after striking out Ortiz in that July 1st game and WILL make Phil cry over and over again.  

BB: Hey – at least you’ll never have to think about Donovan Osborne again. Or Alex Graman. Or Scott Proctor. Or Domingo Jean. Oh. Sorry Ed.

Self Mockery
(A Look Back At Our Preview)
PR: The second base platoon hasn’t been as piss poor as predicted. Bill tried to justify Felix Heredia earning a paycheck. I have yet to buy it. He made up for it by stating that Gordon/Rivera had the potential to be a lights out bullpen combination. I hate that I predicted Robbie Alomar being traded for. I really really hate being right.

BB: I just want to get the idea that he’s good in your head so that he can disappoint you, Phil. I’m still bitter about you getting Youkilis in fantasy baseball. It’s gonna take a while for that to pass.
BOSTON RED SOX
Record at the All-Star Break (48-38)

First Half Review
PR: The short version of this story is that Red Sox had a similar first half to the Yankees. Struggled with starting pitching with the offense carrying the team. Injuries plagued them worse than their rivals in the Big Apple (shh…. Don’t tell the fans of that other cursed team).

ED:  The Angels are cursed?  The Curse of Spiezio because Orange County bands suck more than Candlebox?

BB: CAAAAAAAALIFORNIA…oh, whoops.

PR:  The bullpen was strong with the best offseason acquisition being a top flight closer. Boston had the hot first month and struggled in June. By the time they got out of their funk and everyone was back healthy, they dug themselves one heck of a hole to climb out of if they want to claim the division. They are still right in the thick of the Wild Card race.

BB: The bullpen’s been strong but the Red Sox big three – Foulke, Embree, and Timlin – have been as overused as the Yankees’. Like the Yankees, the Red Sox have an injury-riddled, semi-starter who might help out in the second half – unlike the Yankees, the Sox have two of them (Scott Williamson and…must not vomit….Byung-Hyun Kim). While the Yankees had three or four guys cycle through the bottom spots in the pen, the Red Sox have tried everyone but the Sausage Guy and me. In reverse order of ERA: Anastacio Martinez, Jamie Brown (who I never saw pitch, even though I’ve missed maybe two games this year, and he pitched in four), Bobby M. Jones (who recorded 10 outs and….allowed 8 walks), David McCarty (who worked out as well as you might expect Dave McCarty to work), Mark Malaska, Lenny DiNardo, Phil Seibel, Joe Nelson (who might be the Sausage Guy), Ramiro Mendoza, and, somehow, Frank Castillo. You know Paul Assenmacher’s playing catch with his kid right now.

PR: How they haven’t called Rich Garces is beyond me.

PR: The offense is scary good with Manny Ramirez leading the charge. (.344/.437/.682 – that translates to a 1.119 OPS kids). The only hole has been when Pokey Reese has been in. Now, Boston and/or Pokey defenders will talk about how Pokey wasn’t signed for his bat and how he was going to save the Red Sox 67 runs a game. I guess this means I can’t mention the times when his base running costs the team runs. Still he has the magical GLOVE~! Pay no attention to the six errors (of course, Nomar has five errors in an amazingly short capacity so this story keeps getting better and better).  

ED: I won't go into my Pokey hate any further.  I am glad others can share in my pain now.

BB: It hurts. The running joke I’ve gone with when I go to Fenway is, whenever a ground ball gets through, or a fly ball drops, I say to no one in particular, “Pokey would’ve had that”. This was the only thing that made Bob Ryan chuckle all night when I sat two rows away from him.

BB: The offense beyond Manny and David Ortiz (.303/.355/.597 – but he can’t field, and he’s not pasty, so what does Minnesota need him for?) has been pretty fantastic, Yankees series aside. Johnny Damon had his first half-season worthy of his $8 million salary, hitting .317/.397/.483. Mark Bellhorn has hit .267/.387/.440, been absolutely brutal in the field, and hasn’t shown any emotion or spoken to anyone on the team since he got to Boston. Jason Varitek had his OBP around .400 before a slump right before the break. Kevin Millar…just got his slugging percentage above .400. Not only that, he filmed a series of commercials for KFC that air locally that make the urge to car bomb just that much higher. Pokey’s got a. 599 OPS, by the way, and that was 210 points higher than Cesar Crespo’s. Love it.

PR: Curt Schilling was the source of all news for Boston. He joined the squad, befriended the internet nerdlings, ran Byung-Hyun Kim out of town again, question the heart of the majority of his teammates, made several bold predictions and putting up numbers befitting of… well… Curt Schilling.

ED:  You've gotta take the good with the bad with Schilling and Pedro.  Would IIII want to be around them all day?  No on your life.  Would I want them fronting my rotation?  More than a bootleg copy of Gammons rocking out - and I want that more than air.

BB: It’s difficult – I see rooting for Schilling to be like rooting for Gary Sheffield. Manny, somehow, ceased to be a problem after the A-Rod trade failed – it’s as if the city accepted that he was going to be here for four more years, and suddenly realized that you have this king of unintentional comedy who needs to be embraced. There are people around the city wearing Ramirez shirts this year when there weren’t any the last two years. Of course – I am rocking the Youkilis shirt, but I’m naïve.

PR: On the other side of the coin, you have Derek Lowe who has been as bad as the day is long. Of course, Lowe says he needs to find his chi or something. And Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball abandons him more than it helps him. The aforementioned BYK wasn’t effective. Bronson Arroyo is sorta productive, possibly even a little unlucky.  

BB: Arroyo’s been very hit or miss. Derek Lowe, on the other hand, has been very miss. Not really on the other hand, I guess, more just focusing on one hand. Tim Wakefield is having a pretty Tim Wakefieldish season, with a little lower K rate than normal.

ED:  Well, BYK was supposedly hurt.  So if he can come back healthy, that would not suck too much if he can at least go to the pen or something.  You have to figure Wakefield will come around, but who can tell with a knuckle baller?  That's the thing no one mentions when some announcer goof talks about there needing to be more knuckleballers - no one EVER truly masters the pitch and even Niekro and Wilhelm had lost seasons in the mix of HOF careers.  Lowe, though, I raised the questions about his declining K rates in the preview and stand behind them.  A couple of weeks on the DL to rest his arm would probably be a good thing.

BB: The thing about Lowe is that it’s constantly brought up how he’s not a strikeout pitcher – he was striking out 8 guys/9 when he was closing. Sure, there’s going to be a drop when he became a starter, but it’s not as if he never had a strikeout pitch. There’s no way he should’ve lost half his strikeouts. At this point, I’m inclined to believe that it would be a good idea to move Lowe to the pen, tell him to throw all he’s got for two innings, and leave Arroyo and Kim in the rotation.

PR: Personally, I think that Pedro Martinez continued to prove that Theo would be wise in not resigning him after this season. While putting up stats that most clubs would want, he still has one inning a game that provides headaches for all. His velocity will mysteriously disappear. He needs whole weeks off now to attempt to stay healthy for the entire year. He is petulant and has the frostiest of frostiest relationships with the media.

ED:  Not liking the Boston media is not exactly a negative, ya know.  I'm still thinking that Pedro is trying to hold something back so he can last the entire year without his annual August-September DL time.  As it is, his numbers are hardly Oriole-riffic or anything.

BB: I am thinking the Dominican mafia in the Sox clubhouse is going to…convince Theo to re-sign Pedro. I’m really ambivalent about the whole situation at this point.

PR: Thanks to all the injuries, Kevin Youkilis got a shot in the show and performed about as well as anyone pimped that heavily could perform. Now, everyone is health again and Terry Francona is baffled as to how to cram Youkilis back into the lineup.

ED:  The Greek God in left field with Manny DHing and Ortiz playing first with Millar not making outs on the bench would be the best solution, but who would Cowboy the team up?

BB: Now – I love Kevin Youkilis as much as anyone – at least, anyone who doesn’t need a restraining order – but he doesn’t have the bat for LF; and if you put Youkilis in front of the Monster…he’s going to lose some weight chubbing after balls. Since there will be crying if Reese isn’t in the lineup five days a week – I’d rather have (this hurts) Pokey at second, Manny at LF, and Bellhorn at DH at this point.

Second Half Outlook
PR: Well, supposedly we will all get to see the real Red Sox now with only Scott Williamson being the key missing cog (albeit a big one). Mind you, this is also assuming that Williamson won’t break his pitching hand when he punches Schilling in the face upon his return.

ED:  Gutless!  Gutless, I tell you.  Man, how Williamson didn't break the big albino's face, I'll never know.

BB: Poor guy. Maybe it’s Schilling’s sense of entitlement from having Francona nibble his arm off the first time around.

PR: I think two things are for certain. The offense is still going to produce and a deal will be made for a starter. The question remains if they can do so with out dumping Youkilis. It also remains to be seen if they can be the ones who land Randy Johnson. (I do see the Big Unit dead arm’s finally showing up. And then Bill will be inconsolable.)

BB: Oh yeah – that would hurt. The Sox have enough college hitting prospects to make the Diamondbacks happy, but the Angels system so far outweighs what either the Sox or Yankees have to offer that there’s no reason he’ll head East.

ED:  I dunno if the offense is a given.  Sure, Manny and Ortiz figure to continue to be awesome, if healthy.  Nomar will hit - at home, anyway.  And a healthy Mueller towards the top of the line up will be a big plus.  But then you've got some suck-holes on that team that Francona - and a lot of Sabergeeks - seem to ignore (and that I also pointed out in the preview).  David McCarty needs to be left by the wayside, RF needs to be a platoon with Nixon and a RH hitter preferably better than Gabe Kapler - probably Millar if the Sox won't make a deal.  Pokey Reese should only bat...ohhh, I dunno...once or twice a week, maybe.  And then there's the whole, "which Johnny Damon will you get this week," question.  My above idea of adding Youkilis to LF and shifting people around, thusly, would perk up the offense - and The Greek God couldn't be any worse than Manny, defensively - and hide the pitching problems better.  Of course, that probably makes too much sense.  As far as landing the Big Mullet - I can't see that unless the Angels get crazy and decide they don't want him.

BB: David McCarty can sock lefties better than Kapler – there’s no reason why he can’t be the right-handed side of that Nixon platoon. Ellis Bu…forget I said anything. Trading Youkilis now, at the peak of his value, would kill me but be the smartest thing Theo could do. If Youkilis can fetch an actual arm, or a legitimate bat, the trigger needs to be pulled.  

Self Mockery
(A Look Back At Our Review)
PR: We will gladly take credit for being the only three people to hate on Pokey Reese. Bill’s Schilling nightmare didn’t come true. Bill also projected about 850 runs for the Red Sox, they are just under 500 now so that looks to be accurate. While we were right to question whether they would find a 5th starter, we didn’t realize that they were going to need to find a 3rd and 4th starter too.
TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
Record at the All-Star Break (42-45)

First Half Review
PR: Tampa Bay was as bad as advertised in the first month of the season. Then they had that June with the 20 wins. And that strikes me as one of those things where even though Chuck LaMar insanely got a contract extension before the season started, the seven Rays fans and LaMar defenders will point to June as the reason he got the contract extension, thus completely ruining the space time continuum.  

ED:  It was fortunate for LaMar that Piniella had a say about the roster since Lou cut away a lot of the dead weight before the season started.  Left to his own devices, LaMar would have the D-Rays below the O's in the standings.

BB: But if they ever had to run the 4x100 relay versus the Orioles…no chance.

PR: The youngsters have continued to show promise. Carl Crawford is the 2004 Juan Pierre. (all average, no patience, no pop). Aubrey Huff is still good… and amazingly white. Rocco Baldelli is fine (as long as not compared to other center fielders). Ditto Julio Lugo. Jose Cruz has a .370 OBP thanks to 56! Walks. (Wait, I feel like we covered this already). They also got a little contribution from Tino Martinez and then Tino’s body decided it had enough.

BB: Everyone is lining up to anoint Carl Crawford as the next big thing – even Prospectus – but he’s got 19 walks in 367 ABs. A .130 Isolated Power isn’t anything to write home about. He is young enough and a good enough athlete that the power is eventually going to come – but unless he gets more patient, that power’s going to displace his bunt singles, not add to them, and there’s not going to be any boost in average – he’ll hit .290/.330/.460.

ED:  As much as the Saber-set hate it, you CAN win with the little ball and speed game too - provided you have the right players.  To an extent, there's not a whole lot of difference between the set-up of this years' D-Rays and Whitey's Cards - fast OFer's who can catch the pitcher's mistakes, solid-to-good defense in the middle infield, corner guys with some pop, etc..  Lou Ball took advantage of the modern baseball philosophy of teams sacrificing defense for boppers and forced the other teams to make mistakes when dealing with the speed game.  Of course, this crop of D-Rays isn't as good as Whitey's Cards - mostly on the mound and infield defense - but, in essence, Lou understood what he had and made the most with it.  I'd give him Manager of the Year for that.

BB: Any nominations for MotY besides Lloyd McClendon and you’re going on probation, Ed. Piniella’s getting outshown at his own game this year.

PR: The pitching has been… well… umm… not promising. They unfortunately have the wrong Pavano and Mark Hendrickson could still probably sign a 10-day with the Wizards. TB have had 11 different people make starts so far. One of them has to keep a spot in the rotation. It might be Dewon Brazelton assuming Pinella doesn’t get so angry as to send him to the Mexican league. Doug Waechter appears to have solidified a spot all while looking like a mental patient. Now he just needs to stay healthy.

ED:  Well, yeah.  That's the problem.  Other than Victor Zambrano - who has HUGE control issues - and maybe Brazelton, there's not a lot for opposing hitters to fear.  Getting Waechter right and back in the rotation will help give the Rays a shot at competing in three out of every five games.  Beyond that...it's a matter of hope or something.  Oh, and John Halama should be getting Hendrickson's starts.

BB: Forget a 10-day – Mark Hendrickson could get $35 million for 5 years from the Jazz or something. He’s from Canada, right? I’m not sure exactly what Pavano Rippa’s talking about, but I’ll humor him and agree. Their treatment of Chad Gaudin is pretty weird – they call him last year out of A-ball, he has a good end of the season, they anoint him as their pitcher of the future…and send him down after 30 innings. Ed is officially on a ledge with his John Halama love.

PR: Grr... that is what I get for writing this right after the NL East. I had Carl Pavano – fantasy savior - on my brain. Stupid Zambranos.

PR: The bullpen wasn’t much better than the starters. Jesus Colome managed to not commit vehicular manslaughter long enough to have a productive 20 innings. Danys Baez has officially earned his PVC card so I eagerly await a fringe contender (the Mets perhaps – or even better, the Reds) trading for him. I do question how much longer they are going to keep rolling out Jorge Sosa before they realize it isn’t working out. Does he have to walk 19 straight batters? What?

BB: Victor Zambrano’s 100/90 K/BB ratio is a thing of beauty. Absolute beauty. His 132-pitch, 4 2/3 IP start against the Red Sox in May (8 strikeouts, 9 walks) was the best and worst game I saw pitched all year.

ED:  And yet, the pen has been a D-Rays strength - which tells ya all ya need to know about the starters.  I actually like a Trevor Miller-Carter-Colome-Baez end of the pen, for what it's worth.  And all it has to be is better than the O's, right?

BB: Mark Hendrickson’s got a 2.74 K/9 ratio, and a middling G/F ratio. What do YOU think his ERA is?

PR: Fred McGriff did end up getting a shot with the big club yet again as his eternal quest for 500 home runs continues. I am sure after Fred throws out his back swinging for the fences, a phone call will be placed to Jose Canseco. Jose is allowed to freely roam Florida – right?

ED:  So, Jose can play all home games and let Fred travel for him?  That may be the Rays best DH platoon option, actually.  Well, it would keep Lou from giving Robert Fick any more AB's.

BB: Couldn’t SABR just “discover” four homers from 1994 for him, have no one question it, and let him retire? Would that really be the worst thing in the world? Where’s Chan Ho Park when you need him? In the trainer’s room. Right.

Second Half Outlook
PR: Umm.... the Devil Rays won’t have another month like June and they won’t finish above .500 but they won’t finish last thanks to Baltimore. Yeah.

ED:  Oh yeah, no question.  And I eagerly await the B.J. Upton call-up to see if his defense is as horrid as advertised.

BB: Pokey would’ve had that.

Self Mockery
(A Look Back At Our Preview)
PR: Well, the D-Rays threw the baseball plot line of Major League 4 into the entire first half of the season. (Team plays really poorly for awhile, then wins like 90% of its games). Too bad there are still four months to go. Ed astutely pointed out how little Baldelli and Crawford walk. Jeremi Gonzalez is no longer putting up shockingly decent numbers so that is another wrong one for me. Bill’s love of Chad Gaudin seems a little misplaced too.

BB: No – the DEVIL RAYS love of Chad Gaudin is a little misplaced. Now – my love of, say, Quentin McCracken? That’s a little misplaced.
TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Record at the All-Star Break (39-49)

First Half Review
PR: Yeah, the Blue Jays sure brought the disappointment. And on a variety of levels. It should be noted that the most productive member of the offense is Vernon Wells. Eric Hinske has been poopy. Carlos Delgado has been crippled and poopy. Josh Phelps has been poopy and still not qualifying for catcher. Reed Johnson has been young and poopy. Frank Menechino has been putting up good numbers since coming over from Oakland but can’t break his way into the starting lineup for some reason. Not a single starting pitcher has an ERA under 4 or a WHIP under 1.33. They have had about nine different closers.

BB: Wells is hurt now, which doesn’t make things any easier. Orlando Hudson’s been pretty good - .261/.356/.430 with excellent defense isn’t going to hurt your team. And Gregg Zaun has a .800 OPS, I guess. In the deepest organization for catchers in the majors.  

ED:  YEESH!  I really didn't see that coming whatsoever.  Oh, we all knew the Jays had too many holes to compete - well, Bill and I did, anyway.  But man, this is ugly.  Between injuries, bad luck and poor performances from just about everyone, the Jays are only fortunate that the O's suck worse.  When Orlando Hudson is arguably your team MVP, you have problems.  I want to like the Jays, but...what's to like here?  I'm almost at the point of fearing for J.P.'s job.

BB: That hockey lockout isn’t going to go over pretty in Toronto. No sir.

Second Half Outlook
PR: Well, it only took 15 starts but Pat Hentgen was finally taken out of the starting rotation. That has to help. And I would go ahead and assume the offense can’t be as dreadful as it has been. J.P. really needs to work some of whatever it is he does.

BB: PIMP!

ED:  Somehow trading Delgado for prospects is the best thing that could happen in Toronto at this point.  I have no other ideas.  Just ride it out and hope the decent prospects in the minors start to move through.  As it is, I wonder if the Jays can even hold off the O's.

BB: It doesn’t really matter at this point. Finishing fourth is no different than finishing last. A lot of people – you two included – fell for the trap that an overachieving Jays team created last year. The Jays will go on a little streak at the end of the year and probably go 78-84 and that’ll be their last losing season for about eight years.

Self Mockery
(A Look Back At Our Preview)
PR: I guess my idea of the Blue Jays making the playoffs isn’t going to happen. I would say that Kelvim Escobar is a touch better than Miguel Batista but Ed could argue otherwise. This one will probably have to be determined at seasons end.

ED: If I ever enter an arguement about Batista or Escobar, I want someone to just shoot me.

BB: So wait – which one is the hoss?
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Record at the All-Star Break (37-48)

First Half Review
PR: The Baltimore Orioles have always been a constant source of entertainment for me and this year has been no different. Heck, this year might be more magnificent than any of the years past. And I saw the entire 1988 season and watched Arthur Rhodes implode in person.

BB: Arthur Rhodes always seemed more likely to explode than implode to me – somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just spontaneously combusted one day. Like – I’d turn on SportsCenter and they’d be talking in hushed tones and Rhodes’ picture would be up in the corner and I’d immediately figure – oh, Arthur Rhodes finally exploded.

ED:  I have a buddy who is an O's fan.  I remember him flaunting the Glenn Davis trade as making the O's a sure thing for the 90(?) WS.  I too know the joys of Baltimore.

PR: The Orioles decided to make a splash in free agency by going after a big three of hitters – Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez and Rafael Palmeiro. Tejada has been the most effective SS outside of Detroit (.311/.358/.506) and Lopez is proving to not be Brady Anderson (.321/.375/.488). But speaking of Detroit – since Pudge is having an MVP worthy season, you have lots of folks still bemoaning that the Os selected the wrong catcher. Meanwhile, you have Raffy, who will popular with the fans… especially the ladies, hadn’t hit near what Baltimore was expecting when they brought him back. At least he too got to 500 Home Runs to mercifully end that local coverage.

ED:  Right, like Pudge over Javy would have made that much of a difference on this team.  For a guy who's played forever without getting to the WS, you'd think Raffy would have made a better offseason choice than go to a team where I might even be able to become a starting pitcher.

BB: Well, they got Sidney Pon-oh.

PR: The pleasant surprise for Baltimore this year has been the emergence of Melvin Mora. Mora finally found a home at third base. With a .989 OPS, the Orioles will now be visiting every mystic in town to make sure that the injuries that popped up in late June are none too serious. Oh and the fact that the front office can fend off Peter Angelos’ demands to reacquire either Jeff Conine or Tony Batista.

BB: Maybe the Orioles can hire a crew of babysitters to help Mora out.

ED:  Mora is a lucky man that B.J. Surhoff is ancient and made of rice paper or you know Angelos would force Mazzilli to put Mr. Manly-Meaty at the hot corner.  The other real bummer for the O's, on the offensive side of things, is the fact that Jay Gibbons has apparently contracted a case of age from Surhoff along with a case of fragility from Marty Cordova and David Segui, making this a lost season for the only O's OFer worth a dime at this stage.

BB: Well, surely Jeff Conine has a little bit of World Series cach…you mean Jeff Conine isn’t on the Orioles anymore?

PR: Pop Quiz Hot Shot. You have two players who play the same position. One makes the people sad with first half numbers of .254/.326/.345. The other hits .324/.390/.422 in little more limited capacity. What do you do? WHAT DO YOU DO? Well, if you are Baltimore, you start Brian Roberts at second base while jerking Jerry Hairston’s chain despite him actually producing and being a better fielder.

BB: Lee Mazzilli has received a considerable donation from the Fantasy Baseball Players Association to keep Mr. 22 Steals in the lineup on a regular basis.

ED:  Didn't everyone just tell the O's like, 2-3 years ago to pick ONE and go with it?  I can't believe that experiment continues or that they both play at the same time - one at second the other at DH.  Jack Cust will pay for eternity for going boom just shy of home, won't he?

PR: Baltimore also got lucky with David Newhan, who they grabbed off of waivers from the Rangers earlier this year. How could you complain about someone with numbers that say .433/.485/.678 (in approximately 100 at-bats)? Oh right – his fielding; not so good. Of course, once Mora is healthy again the Os have the same problem they have with Roberts/Harriston. Though in this case, both guys at least appear to deserve being in the lineup.

PR: Basically, Baltimore tried to distract the fan base with the shiny object that was the new offense while hoping everyone forgot that they didn’t improve the pitching. Not only did they not improve the pitching but the pitching dropped to the depths of unsightly. Sidney Ponson had his three month contract run and decided to eat the rewards. Rodrigo Lopez started the season in the bullpen and was the most effective pitcher the Orioles had. Then he demanded to be moved into the starting five – did so, and regressed. Add in that Erik Bedard and Matt Riley and Eric DuBose LOVE to issue walks and each game has been an adventure. It took Daniel Cabrera being called up straight from A ball to salvage at least every fifth game.

ED:  I remember when the Oriole organization used to be all about pitching.  That was a LONG-LONG-LONG-LONG-LONG time ago.

BB: Well there’s always John Steph-oh. And if it seems like I’m doing the make-a-statement-and-get-cut-off-by-realizing-something’s-different joke a lot, it’s because literally I’m thinking all these things and then I realize, for one reason or another, they’re untrue. But yes – having John Stephens or any of the other Bowie starters from last year just MIGHT have allowed the Orioles to try out some low-risk options in the rotation. But hey – Eric DuBose is 6’3. And he can almost hit 90.

PR: And just as bad as the starters have been, the bullpen has been no better. They never met a lead they couldn’t blow. Wait, I should be fair first. B.J. Ryan has been very good (12 K/9, 1.08 WHIP). The rest... not so much. Mike DeJean was so painful on the eyes that Baltimore actually brought in Jason Grimsley just to jettison DeJean into the roll of long reliever. Jorge Julio is a forgotten closer. Not that he doesn’t slam the door shut on the games that he does get into.

BB: B.J. Ryan has been flat-out nasty this season. 65 strikeouts in 48 innings??? He’s already approaching his innings pitched total from each of the last three seasons, so there’s going to be some regression or ligament replacement, but Ryan’s really the most underrated reliever in baseball right now. And for a guy who seems like he’s been around forever, he’s only 27.

ED:  Uhh...hmm...God, you'd think slapping the O's around would be more fun.  Buddy Groom still makes a lot of money for one good year there.  WHIP~!  I can't look at this much longer.

Second Half Outlook
PR: Since Ponson is the staff “ace” he will most likely make a run at 20 losses.

BB: And if you’re not going to eat that last donut, he wants it.

ED: I'm shocked his arm is attached.  But I can see Angelos forcing him out to lose his 20th game out of spite.

PR: It appears that for the first time in forever, the AL East isn’t finishing in the same order. And basically, it is because there is no way the Orioles are digging out of this hole. You would like to believe that Lee Mazzilli would get the full year you never know. He is doing the best with the hand that was dealt with him. But King Peter has decreed that he believes the team, as assembled now, should be contending. That isn’t great for your job security.

ED: Oh, I can see the O's possibly moving past Toronto.  But that's not a race I want to witness, thank you.  Looking on the bright side for the O's - Cordova and Segui have been expectedly injured and out of the way and, I believe, on the last year of their contracts.  That's a plus.  Putting a bullet in Surhoff's head would help, too.  Somehow getting rid of Groom (Hey!  Yankees!  LOOGY-licious!) and Grimsely for anything would help.  Deciding on one of those 2Bmen and trading the other would be MOST beneficial.  Other than that, there's not a lot to hang your hat on.  Maybe those kid pitchers come around next year, maybe they get crippled - who can say?  Treating them carefully should be Mazzilli's priority, but if he's under the cloud of possibly being fired, you'd be hard-pressed to blame him for a little mishandling.  The O's best shot - hope that Angelos gets suspended for conspiring with a gambler to dig up dirt on B.J. Surhoff's Manly-Meatiness or something.

Self Mockery
(A Look Back At Our Preview)
PR: My breathless oratory and how good Mike DeJean was going to be was by far and away the dumbest thing that we wrote and right up there with stupid thing I have stated, probably just beating out my arguing that the Yanks should have kept Mariano as a setup guy in 1997 and made Graeme Lloyd the closer. I should just let my sister make predictions from now on.

BB: Yeah – I was all ready to question that but then I said – maybe there is something Rippa knows that I don’t. Maybe he has a soft spot for Mike DeJean. Then I realized – PVC!!!! Mike DeJean will come around in the second half.

ED:  Oh that's...that's...oh yeah.
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