MLB Standings at This Stage

I am interested in how the major league baseball standings are unfolding this year. I suppose that, at this late date in July, this would be a good time to assess where we are, especially regarding those teams I tend to follow and root for.

In the American League East, the defending World Series champions New York Yankees have a 3-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays, with Boston still in the playoff hunt 7.5 back. Tampa Bay, although in 2nd place, does enjoy a 7-game margin over the other 2nd place teams in the league for the final wild-card playoff position. In the Central division, there is an interesting 3-way struggle for the lead going on between the currently-leading Chicago White Sox ("my" team here), the Detroit Tigers, and the Minnesota Twins (last year's divisional champions). In the West, Texas is 6 games ahead of the Los Angeles Angels.

Looking at the National League East, my Atlanta Braves are surprising everyone by enjoying a 7-game lead over the NY Mets and Philly, along with the best record in the league. The Florida Marlins are experiencing a difficult season, languishing in 5th place at 47-48 (although they are showing signs of a surge). The Central division is a two-team contest between the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals with the latter enjoying a narrow 1.5 game lead due to a recent 8-game winning streak. The West has San Diego surprisingly in front, with San Francisco, Colorado, and the disappointing Los Angeles Dodgers still in the race.

For the rest of the season, I see the standings pretty much holding to the way they are now. I'd like to see the Chicago White Sox hold on to win their division, but I suspect that Minnesota will pull ahead at the end. St. Louis should put some distance between themselves and Cincinnati, while anyone could win in the West.

I may do this a month from now to see where things stand.