WINDING DOWN THE YEAR

The dog days of August are about over for baseball. Trading deadlines, waivers and call-ups are just about set, and where do we stand with it all. There are some surprises such as Philadelphia and Miami being big busts, and some no surprises such as the Mets annual collapse and the Yankees holding on to first place.

A lot of money was invested in players who did not perform well enough to warrant the contracts they signed, leaving teams in poor positions and bad shape. Loria of the newly minted Miami Marlins, with Jose Reyes and all the acquisitions they did get proved to be a disaster. Makes one wonder if the whole front office is gone by December and replaced by new people.

The Phillies have to be unhappy how they fell free falling out of the National League East from contention. They did lose a lot of the key players to free-agency, the parts that made them whole are gone. The Nationals, after recruiting some of the best talent in drafts, trading for some of it, and signing on free agents seem to be the talk of the Majors, and could be World Series contenders. The talent is all young, very talented and look like they will dominate for years to come. But that can also fall apart in a hurry, nothing is forever.

Yankee GM Cashen

The Yankees are supposed to be too old, with a suspect bullpen, yet they bludgeon you to death in their ballpark, ‘Homerun Paradise’ home of the Bronx Bombers. Jeter has had a fantastic year, and now I wonder if he had any help. Just saying.

The White Sox look formidable and so do the Texas Rangers once again. Detroit is in the mix and may still pull it out with Prince Fielder. The Angels had won it all in March when they signed Albert Pujols, but so far second place in a division race is as good as last place, if you don’t qualify for the playoffs. Speaking of big surprises, the Cincinnati Reds look like they will make for an interesting playoff and even dare I say: World Series. You have to admire the job the Orioles front office and owner did this season especially retaining Bucky Showalter who I think is one of the best managers in baseball.

If there was one team that felt the ouch so to speak in free-agency, besides the NY Mets losing Jose Reyes, it has to be the St. Louis Cardinals loss of Albert Pujols. But they did get Carlos Beltran, who is having a better season than Pujols. The Cards always seem to surprise the world and this season may not be any different.

That’s all I wrote, folks!