Is it possible that we’re only going to get one division race to watch the remainder of the season in Major League Baseball? Well let’s take a look.
Let’s start out west where the Los Angeles Dodgers currently have the largest lead out of any of the division leader. The Dodgers are 14 1/2 games up on the Colorado Rockies in the NL West. Over in the American League West the Houston Astros have a 6 1/2 game lead over the Oakland A’s. Moving back east the Atlanta Braves are at the top of the NL East and they have a 6 1/2 game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies. In the AL East it’s the New York Yankees who find themselves in 1st place. The Yankees have built a 8 1/2 game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays. Looking at the AL Central you’ll see that it’s the Minnesota Twins at the top of the division and they hold a 6 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Indians.
It’s in the NL Central where thigs get interesting. With a win last night the Milwaukee Brewers took over 1st place in the division by 1/2 game over the Chicago Cubs. Now it’s not just a two team race in the NL Central. The St. Louis Cardinals are in 3rd place, but find themselves just 1 1/2 games out of 1st place. You can even go as far as saying that the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds are still in the division race even though both teams have under .500 records. Both the Pirates and the Reds are 4 games out of 1st place in the NL Central.
This is easily the best division race in baseball and you have to wonder what one of these teams have to do to separate themselves in the pennant race. If there is a team that can separate themselves from the division.
The Cardinals played well early and looked like the best team in the division. Then it was the Brewers turn in 1st place and I actually saw a host on the MLB Network call the division over once the Brewers took over the division lead. I don’t think we need to go into how dumb of a statement that was or why this moron still has a job, but Brewers lead didn’t last as the Cubs found their way into 1st place for a short period of time.
Who knows how this division is going to end up playing out, but it seems like it’s going to be the only division that’s undecided down the stretch this season. Well I guess there’s always the wild card races.
In the American League wild card race it’s the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians who hold the two wild card spots right now.
Cleveland is just 1/2 game ahead of the Oakland A’s while the Boston Red Sox and Texas Ranger are 2 games back. Let’s even throw in the Los Angeles Angels who are 4 1/2 games out of a wild card spot and the Chicago White Sox find themselves 6 games out of a wild card spot.
There are even more teams hanging around in the National League wild card race. Currently it’s the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies who are holding onto the two wild card spots, but it’s a tight race.
There are actually nine teams that are less than 8 games out of the final wild card spot. Now obviously it’s going to be tough for the team towards the bottom of the wild card race to jump all these teams, but since it’s so close I’ll throw them in.
The Washington Nationals are 1/2 games out. The St. Louis Cardinals are 1 game out. The Colorado Rockies are 1 1/2 games out. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 2 1/2 games out. The San Diego Padres are 3 games out while the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati reds are 3 1/2 games out. While it seems like it’s been a down year for the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets they’re both technically still in the wild card race. The Giants are 6 1/2 games out of a wild card spot while the Mets are 7 games out of that final wild card spot.
The NL Central and the wild card look like the races to watch for the remainder of the season and will have to see which teams try to improve themselves to get into the playoffs.
While nothing is official yet it appears as Kawhi Leonard will be signing with the Los Angeles Clippers. As well as bringing Leonard in as a free agent the Clippers have acquired Paul George in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Leonard had meetings with the Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers and the team he just won the NBA title with the Toronto Raptors and he made it clear that he wanted to sign with a team that could contend for a championship.
It had also been reported that Leonard and George had express interest in playing together. This help facilitate George being traded to the Clippers. Apparently George’s agent recently approached the Thunder about a trade and it’s believe that George is the perfect piece to pair with Leonard.
I was quite surprised to see what the Clippers gave up to get George. Oklahoma City will receive point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a number of draft picks. The Thunder will also receive five 1st round picks. They’ll get unprotected picks in 2022, 2024 and 2026 from the Clippers along with two picks the Clippers acquired in trades from the Miami Heat. Those are an unprotected pick in 2021 and a protected pick in 2023. Oklahoma City also has the option to swap picks with the Clippers in 2023 and 2025.
That may seem like a lot of draft capital to give up and the first thought that comes to mind is did the Clippers mortgage their future. Don’t forget that the Clippers acquired multiple draft picks in the deal that sent Tobias Harris to the Philadelphia 76ers last season.
So a California team has added some more star power. Do you think the addition of Leonard and George males the Clippers a contender for the NBA title? Also are you disappointed that this is where Leonard ended up?
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