With the clock ticking on the trade deadline, let’s take a quick look at how the American League and National League wild-card races shape up. There’s no easy way to decipher how this will turn out. It might be easier a week from now after the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
For now, the NL division leaders each have comfortable leads. The Braves lead the Phillies by 5.5 games, the Brewers lead the Cubs by seven games and the Dodgers have a huge 12-game edge over the Diamondbacks.
Things are quite a bit dicier in the AL with the leads much more precarious and all division leaders (maybe not Tampa Bay) could have one bad stretch and end up on the outside looking in altogether.
The Rays lead the Yankees by three games, the White Sox have a 2.5-game lead over the Guardians and the Rangers have a 1.5-game lead over the Mariners and a two-game lead over the Astros.
If the season ended after play on Sunday, July 26, the AL wild-card teams would be the Yankees, Red Sox and Guardians. Right now, there are no fewer than five other teams in the wild-card fray. The Twins, Mariners, Astros, Orioles and Tigers are all within 3.5 games of the Guardians.
The NL wild-card teams would be the Cubs, Phillies and Diamondbacks, but there are five teams within three games of the D-Backs: the Pirates, Nationals, Cardinals, Padres and Marlins.
The trade deadline looms and the clock is ticking for teams to make one more or in some cases a couple last moves to shore up weaknesses and strengthen their chances at making a deep run in the playoffs.
The Nationals and Red Sox pulled off the first real deal of trade season this past Saturday night. The Red Sox sent 23-year-old lefty Connelly Early to the Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead. Mead had been picked up by Nationals first-year GM Paul Taboni when he was released by the White Sox at the end of spring training.
While a bold move by Breslow to strengthen his infield situation, Toboni has taken a waiver claim and turned it into a rotation piece for several years. Early was a top-100 prospect. He is on the IL right now but is expected back this season.
This week should be a wild one as we watch the haves and have-nots both try to make their teams stronger.
Here are my latest power rankings, which I worked on while recovering from hip replacement surgery:
1. Los Angeles Dodgers (67-39, No. 1 last week): Interesting to watch how Dodgers may pivot toward a starter not named Tarik Skubal with this Shohei Ohtani knee issue. Angels lefty Reid Detmers would be the perfect fit — if Arte Moreno allows interim general manager John Mozeliak to deal with the crosstown rivals.
2. Milwaukee Brewers (66-39, No. 2): If The Miz can pitch twice in a five-game series, the Brewers are going to be a very tough out.
3. Tampa Bay Rays (62-43, No. 4): New ownership will go all out to snag Tarik Skubal for two months and the postseason.
4. Atlanta Braves (62-43, No. 5): I watched the Braves all weekend against the Orioles. They need another starting pitcher and yet another arm in the pen with Robert Suárez weeks away from returning. I see them as in need of an impact outfield bat, too. They do get Ronald Acuña Jr. back on Monday.
5. Philadelphia Phillies (57-49, No. 3): GM Dave Dombrowski has work to do at the deadline, needing to add a starter or two to fill out the back end of the rotation, an outfield bat or two to add some thump to the lineup and a reliever or two to serve as a bridge to closer Jhoan Duran.
6. New York Yankees (59-46, No. 6): With Aaron Judge already sidelined for close to two months and now Cody Bellinger on the injured list with a hamstring strain, the Yankees have to add impact offense at the deadline.
7. Boston Red Sox (54-50, No. 8): Giving up controllable lefty starter Connelly Early for Curtis Mead is ballsy by GM Craig Breslow, to say the least. It shows a lot of confidence that they have more pitching in the pipeline.
8. Chicago Cubs (59-46, No. 7): The Cubs are playing at a very good clip (19-9 in their past 28 games). I’m interested in seeing how GM Jed Hoyer improves their chances at the deadline.
9. Chicago White Sox (55-49, No. 11): Due to a 3-7 stretch in their past 10 games, the White Sox have jumped back in front in the AL Central. Japanese first baseman Munetaka Murakami had 20 home runs through the first 57 games of the season, but he missed 34 games with a Grade 2 right hamstring strain. He’s been back for 11 games, not hitting a home run in the first 10 games. He hit two on Sunday. That’s bad news for the Guardians. But GM Chris Getz has to deliver a starting pitcher. Detmers fits here nicely.
10. Arizona Diamondbacks (55-51, No. 15): A 14-9 run and some bad play by some other teams has the Diamondbacks sneaking back into the top 10. But when you look closely at their individual stats, especially on the pitching side, it makes you appreciate the talents of skipper Torey Lovullo. The Diamondbacks have a big week ahead with three games in Pittsburgh and three in Cleveland. They are just 24-29 on the road.
11. Texas Rangers (53-52, No. 14)
12. Cleveland Guardians (54-53, No. 9)
13. St. Louis Cardinals (53-52, No. 12)
14. Pittsburgh Pirates (54-52, No. 13)
15. Minnesota Twins (53-54, No. 17)
16. San Diego Padres (53-53, No. 22)
17. Washington Nationals (54-52, No. 19)
18. Miami Marlins (52-54, No. 10)
19. Houston Astros (52-55, No. 21)
20. Seattle Mariners (52-54, No. 16)
21. Baltimore Orioles (51-55, No. 18)
22. Detroit Tigers (50-56, No. 20)
23. Cincinnati Reds (49-55, No. 24)
24. Toronto Blue Jays (48-58, No. 23)
25. San Francisco Giants (44-61, No. 25)
26. Kansas City Royals (45-62, No. 26)
27. Colorado Rockies (42-65, No. 27)
28. Athletics (44-61, No. 25)
29. New York Mets (44-62, No. 29)
30. Los Angeles Angels (42-64, No. 30)