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American League Wild Card: A lot of news this week had to do with teams that are fighting for the American League Wild Card right now, so I thought I would touch on that this week. The AL Wild Card right now is the Boston Red Sox who sit 1 game ahead of the Twins and 5 games ahead of the Yankees. The White Sox have a half game lead on the Twins, so they are also a possibility for the Wild Card if the Twins pass them. The Blue Jays are 8 games out, so for now they are probably out of the picture. So let's take a look at each team and see what they were up to last week:
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have been able to hold onto the Wild Card despite getting hammered with injuries lately. Josh Beckett has missed a few starts because of numbness in his hand and now seems to have some elbow inflammation. I wouldn't be surprised if his shoulder was the next thing to go but this does not look good for the Red Sox either way. They are going to need Beckett to pitch good down the stretch, especially since Clay Buchholz has been struggling all season and that earned him a demotion to the minors. To make things worse for the Red Sox, J.D. Drew now has a herniated disk in his back, which is causing them to look for outfield help. Darin Erstad and Mark Kotsay have been two names that have been linked to the Red Sox. Also, Mike Lowell is still out with a strained oblique muscle. Eventually it seems as though the injuries will catch up with the Red Sox, so at this point I do not think they are a lock to win the Wild Card by any means.
New York Yankees: The Yankees had a big weekend on the road in Baltimore, where they swept a 3 game series with the Orioles. They also got a decent pitching performance from Carl Pavano in his first start this season, who went 5 innings and gave up just 3 runs. The Yankees are showing a sense of urgency now and had Mariano Rivera close out all 3 games. They have a big series coming up with the Red Sox this week, so if they can win that series, they can certainly put themselves right back into the thick of things for the Wild Card. The one problem I see for the Yankees is that they will need to jump ahead of two teams and right now Boston, Minnesota, and Chicago are all playing well enough to stay in front of the Yankees.
Minnesota Twins: The Twins being in the middle of the Wild Card race is probably even more surprising then the great season the Rays are having. Everyone knew the Rays had talent but most people didn't expect them to be able to compete right away and thought they were probably a year away from competing. However, nobody thought the Twins were going to be any good any time soon at all, so it's surprising the season they have put together. One player who has really helped the Twins since he has been called up is Denard Span. Span has put together a few good months and is hitting .316 with 3 HR, 27 RBI, and 11 SB. He also has a .394 OBP, .462 SLG, and .856 OPS. That comes out to a 131 OPS+, which means that Span is 31% better than the average major leaguer this season. That is definitely something to not look over and Span has been a spark plug for this Twins team since he arrived in the majors. Don't be surprised if Span is a key player down the stretch for the Twins. Minnesota also just made a move today, acquiring left-handed reliever Eddie Guardado from the Rangers. Guardado has a 3-3 record and 3.65 ERA this season and I think he was worth it for the Twins to pickup because the few times I saw him pitch, he looked pretty good out there.
Other MLB News:
- The Toronto Blue Jays optioned pitcher Shuan Marcum to Triple-A to work on his control problems. Marcum has been pretty solid for the Blue Jays this season and was 8-6 with a 3.60 ERA before being demoted. He only has 43 walks on the season, which is a little less than 2 a start, so I'm not really sure what their issue is with his control.
- The Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux from the Padres for two minor leaguers. Maddux is seen as someone who will help the Dodgers rotation but he was shelled in his debut, giving up 7 runs in 5 2/3 innings. On the season, Maddux is 6-10 with a 4.25 ERA.
- The Mets signed former Tampa Bay closer Al Reyes in hopes that he can help replace the injured Billy Wagner.
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox have been able to hold onto the Wild Card despite getting hammered with injuries lately. Josh Beckett has missed a few starts because of numbness in his hand and now seems to have some elbow inflammation. I wouldn't be surprised if his shoulder was the next thing to go but this does not look good for the Red Sox either way. They are going to need Beckett to pitch good down the stretch, especially since Clay Buchholz has been struggling all season and that earned him a demotion to the minors. To make things worse for the Red Sox, J.D. Drew now has a herniated disk in his back, which is causing them to look for outfield help. Darin Erstad and Mark Kotsay have been two names that have been linked to the Red Sox. Also, Mike Lowell is still out with a strained oblique muscle. Eventually it seems as though the injuries will catch up with the Red Sox, so at this point I do not think they are a lock to win the Wild Card by any means.
New York Yankees: The Yankees had a big weekend on the road in Baltimore, where they swept a 3 game series with the Orioles. They also got a decent pitching performance from Carl Pavano in his first start this season, who went 5 innings and gave up just 3 runs. The Yankees are showing a sense of urgency now and had Mariano Rivera close out all 3 games. They have a big series coming up with the Red Sox this week, so if they can win that series, they can certainly put themselves right back into the thick of things for the Wild Card. The one problem I see for the Yankees is that they will need to jump ahead of two teams and right now Boston, Minnesota, and Chicago are all playing well enough to stay in front of the Yankees.
Minnesota Twins: The Twins being in the middle of the Wild Card race is probably even more surprising then the great season the Rays are having. Everyone knew the Rays had talent but most people didn't expect them to be able to compete right away and thought they were probably a year away from competing. However, nobody thought the Twins were going to be any good any time soon at all, so it's surprising the season they have put together. One player who has really helped the Twins since he has been called up is Denard Span. Span has put together a few good months and is hitting .316 with 3 HR, 27 RBI, and 11 SB. He also has a .394 OBP, .462 SLG, and .856 OPS. That comes out to a 131 OPS+, which means that Span is 31% better than the average major leaguer this season. That is definitely something to not look over and Span has been a spark plug for this Twins team since he arrived in the majors. Don't be surprised if Span is a key player down the stretch for the Twins. Minnesota also just made a move today, acquiring left-handed reliever Eddie Guardado from the Rangers. Guardado has a 3-3 record and 3.65 ERA this season and I think he was worth it for the Twins to pickup because the few times I saw him pitch, he looked pretty good out there.
Other MLB News:
- The Toronto Blue Jays optioned pitcher Shuan Marcum to Triple-A to work on his control problems. Marcum has been pretty solid for the Blue Jays this season and was 8-6 with a 3.60 ERA before being demoted. He only has 43 walks on the season, which is a little less than 2 a start, so I'm not really sure what their issue is with his control.
- The Dodgers acquired Greg Maddux from the Padres for two minor leaguers. Maddux is seen as someone who will help the Dodgers rotation but he was shelled in his debut, giving up 7 runs in 5 2/3 innings. On the season, Maddux is 6-10 with a 4.25 ERA.
- The Mets signed former Tampa Bay closer Al Reyes in hopes that he can help replace the injured Billy Wagner.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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