MLB: First Half Review, Second Half Preview

The All-Star game is tomorrow night in Yankee Stadium marking the midway point of the long baseball season. It kicks off the final farewell for many baseball fans of Yankee Stadium. The All-Star game tomorrow is as much a celebration of past Yankee greats and memories the stadium conjures up as it is for the exemplary performances of the players playing in the game.

This season has been full of surprises. The Tampa Bay Rays, despite losing seven straight games heading into the break, are the most surprising team in contention. Their young stars have stepped up and matured beyond many peoples expectation this year. The National League West was arguably the most competitive division last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks winning the division and the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres playing a one game playoff to win the Wild Card. Arizona and Colorado would meet in the National League Championship Series with Colorado prevailing and making it to the World Series. They ended up losing to the Boston Redsox. However, this season is entirely different. Entering the All-Star break no team in the division has a winning record. Arizona is the division leader with a 47-48 mark.

Big pitchers have been traded to the two best teams in the NL in the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. CC Sabathia was traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Brewers while Canadian Rich Harden was traded from the Oakland Athletics to the Cubs. Both are called upon to help their new teams make a push to the World Series.

Despite all the fanfare at the beginning of the season for the Detroit Tigers, they currently do not hold a playoff spot in the American League. That doesn’t mean they still can’t sneak up and pass the surprising Minnesota Twins in the AL Central though.

The fans can look forward to another All-Star Game tomorrow with all their favorite players. But this time around there is something special. Yankee Stadium will be torn down at the end of the year. The Yankee mystique will be seen throughout the game. They will honour all-time greats and display future ones in Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

The Toronto Blue Jays are represented by staff ace Roy Halladay. He is one of the front runners for winning the Cy Young award for the AL’s top pitcher. Halladay has been the loan bright spot on a Jays team that had some great expectations falsely placed on them at the beginning of the season. This team from the start was nothing more than a .500 ball club and at the break they are currently 47-48. In a division with the Yankees, Redsox, and Rays, it is going to be hard to move any higher than fourth place this season.

The big question surrounding the Jays going into the second half is whether they will trade A.J. Burnett and what will they get in return. A group of two or three prospects is what the fans will expect. The Philadelphia Philles have expressed interest in Burnett but so far they are just rumors. Unfortunately it looks like the second half is going to be full of moral victories and trades that will only benefit the future for a team that has missed the playoff every year since their World Series win in 1993. Fans can look forward to a possible September call-up of Travis Snyder. The outfielder is regarded as the best prospect the Jays have and is projected as a big time future slugger in the majors. However, the Jays will not want to start the clock on his free agency and arbitration earlier than they have to, so he may not get the chance until next season.

The Burnett trade talk is keeping the Toronto baseball scene lively, but after the trade deadline passes there will be very little to look forward to until 2009.

Watch for the Boston Redsox to win a second straight division title. I have been a believer in the Rays since day one, but their recent slump and youth scare me. It is fair to assume that the New York Yankees will have another second half surge that will propel them into the Wild Card just ahead of Tampa by a game or two. Detroit will start to play better creating a three way race between the Chicago Whitesox and Minnesota Twins to see who wins the AL Central. The AL West is the Angels to win once again. Despite the Texas Rangers having amazing performances from Milton Bradley, Ian Kinsler and Jos Hamilton, they are third in the division, and will miss the playoffs. Oakland has played better than expected, but will fall short of the Angels a second straight year.

As for the NL, nothing is certain. The Cubs currently have the best record, but have proven time and time again to fail come playoff time. Milwaukee and St. Louis will push the Cubs to the brink making the Central the best division in the NL. The NL East has the surprising Florida Marlins making a push for the division title, but it will likely be a battle between the Phillies and New York Mets again to see which team wins the division. After the Mets collapsed last season they have to pull together and not let it affect them late this season. As for the aforementioned disappointing NL West, it too is a toss up, the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Arizona Diamondbacks could win with a record of .500.

The baseball season is a little over halfway done and the playoffs are just around the corner. But if you want to watch the most exciting races for division titles and the Wild Card, it would be best to look to the National League.

-Michael DiPetta