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We’re a little more than a third of the way through the season, and now is a good time to re-evaluate where the teams lie and we can probably make a more accurate prediction as to where they will finish come the end of September.

AL East

Current Leader: New York Yankees

Division Winner: Tampa Bay

The Rays are still my pick to win the AL East despite being back 5 games at the moment. Mariano Rivera’s age will stop the Yankees from winning a few games, which will be costly in the long run. The Rays need to pick someone up to enhance their bullpen, but David Price is only going to get better and better and so will the rest of the rotation. Jeff Niemann has proved fairly reliable and if Kazmir can recover from his injury and remember how to pitch well they will have an excellent rotation. I see Boston beating out New York for the wild card after they make a couple moves to get a better defensive shortstop (Jack Wilson?) and a hitter to replace Ortiz. Toronto will fall out of it. Their rookie pitchers will be good soon, but not yet, the flashes of brilliance we saw in the beginning were exactly that, flashes. Aaron Hill is for real though.

AL Central

Current Leader: Detroit

Division Winner: Detroit

Detroit is going to win this division by default. The Royals semi-hot start has dropped off, and probably won’t be reinvigorated until next season. The White Sox would have been contenders had they completed the deal for Peavy, but they didn’t, and I can’t see them recovering. The Twins are the only team that has a shot here I think, and it rests on Francisco Liriano’s left arm. If Liriano can be as great as he was a couple years ago, the Twins can challenge, though I still don’t know if they would catch the Tigers. Cleveland will do nothing except deal Carl Pavano to a team that will almost certainly regret it.

AL West

Current Leader: Texas

Division Winner: Los Angeles Angels

Yeah I know, I would rather have Texas win too, it would be nice to get some new blood into the playoffs. But unfortunately, the Angels are still a dangerous club. Kelvim Escobar just came back from injury and had a good first start. Not to mention the team was hurting without Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey. Once they get back their A-game, which they will, the Angels will pull away a little bit. Oakland’s young pitchers won’t be good enough, and the Mariners just aren’t good enough, even with Erik Bedard having a very good year.

NL East

Current Leader: Philadelphia

Division Winner: New York Mets

I really wanted to give it to Atlanta actually, and could see it happening too, but they will need luck on their side. The Nate McLouth trade definitely helps their cause though. The Mets just have too much talent, despite history working against them. The Phillies need to figure out their closer situation, and fast, because Brad Lidge is self-destructing and its getting ugly. I like the Fish and I think they have a lot of potential. I am going to make an early prediction that they win this division next year with Josh Johnson, Anibal Sanchez, Andrew Miller and Ricky Nolasco leading the way.

NL Central

Current Leader: Milwaukee

Division Winner: St. Louis

I actually already wrote about this division in a more in-depth post very recently, you can see it here.

NL West

Current Leader: Los Angeles Dodgers

Division Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers

Really a no-brainer here. The Dodgers are playing great baseball, even without Manny Ramirez. Billingsley is pitching great and Juan Pierre is filling in very well, which means the Dodgers can use him in an upgraded role even when Ramirez returns. The rest of the division is floundering. Arizona is missing Webb, the Padres and Rockies don’t have the talent, and the Giants are recovering from last year, but it won’t be enough.