Pirates Will Challenge Nationals For "Championship"

Wait, Who Plays 1B, 2B, SS, LF, CF, RF, SP, RP, Bat Boy For The Pirates?

There is an interesting “pennant race” developing that not many people are talking about: The Race For The #1 Pick In 2010. The Nationals looked like they had a stranglehold on this race, but recent events leading up to today’s trade deadline have the Nats in serious jeopardy of losing this race.

Here are the standings as of today:

Team..............................Record.........Games “Behind"

1. Washington Nationals . . . . 32-70 . . . . . . . . --
2. Kansas City Royals . . . . . . 40-61 . . . . . . . . 8.5
3. San Diego Padres . . . . . . . 41-62 . . . . . . . . 9.5
4. Cleveland Indians . . . . . . . 42-60 . . . . . . . 10
T5. Oakland Athletics . . . . . . 43-58 . . . . . . . 11.5
T5. Pittsburgh Pirates . . . . . . 43-58 . . . . . . . 11.5
T7. Baltimore Orioles . . . . . . 44-57 . . . . . . . 12.5
T7. Arizona D’backs . . . . . . . 44-57 . . . . . . . 12.5

While at first glance it looks as though the Nats have this one in the bag, in the last 10 games they actually “lost” ground in the standings by picking up one game on Arizona; two games on each of San Diego and Oakland; and three games on Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The only team they “kept pace” with is Cleveland.

We need to handicap this division and look at our chances here in “The Division of Suck”:

1. Washington Nationals. Current frontrunner and defending champions. The Nats have made losing an art form early this season. However, the lack of moves near the trade deadline gives this handicapper pause. Are the Nats serious about backing up their Strasburg pick with Bryce Harper or not? Seems to me they could be off-loading what little talent they have if they were.

2. Kansas City Royals. Perennial doormat. Always a threat in the Division of Suck and the only reason they are so far back right now was they had a torrid April going 12-10 and ending the month on top of the AL Central. In the end, I think the Royals can’t even LOSE the right way and end up a distant third in this race.

3. San Diego Padres. Pre-season favorites for the Division of Suck with the sale of the franchise up in the air and the pending Jake Peavy trade (that never happened). After a decent start though, Peavy ended up going down with an injury and hasn’t pitched since June. Now comes the rumor that the Padres lone offensive talent, Adrian Gonzalez, is about to be traded to the Red Sox. No Peavy + no Gonzalez = INSTANT CONTENDER.

4. Cleveland Indians. So much hope and so much promise. So little delivered. This team went into the season looking at the MLB playoffs, not the MLB PAYOFFS. The Indians have already traded Ryan Garko and now their ace Cliff Lee. Rumors have Victor Martinez possibly moving before 4:00 p.m. today. Can that be enough to make up 10 games in the Division of Suck standings? I think so.

5. Oakland Athletics. Well, they trade FOR Matt Holliday in the pre-season to avoid being in the Division of Suck. Now they traded AWAY Matt Holliday to win the race. Don’t know if they can make up 11 games though. They do play the Mariners a bunch of times……

6. Pittsburgh Pirates. THE DARKHORSE. Ladies and gentlemen, I challenge you to name all nine starters of Pittsburgh’s opening day roster. Go ahead. I’ll wait…… You only came up with four or five names didn’t you? Well, don’t worry, they don’t play for the Pirates anymore anyway. Any recognizable name that was on the Pirates earlier this year is now gone. Away: Freddie Sanchez, Jack Wilson, Tom Gorzellany, Adam LaRoche, that other guy you could name. Hell, even the Nationals got Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett. This team is my sleeper and YES I think they can make up a measly 11.5 games with Lastings Milledge playing LF for them now.

7. Baltimore Orioles. I think the O’s end up in last place in this division; in fact, if the Blue Jays trade Roy Haladay I think the Orioles move into the American League East and the Blue Jays move into the Division of Suck. The Orioles have way too much talent to win this division.

8. Arizona Diamondbacks. With the Rockies coming back to earth, I predict the D’backs move out of this division and into the major leagues again. Too much pitching to be here but the fact that Brandon Webb hasn’t pitched certainly helped them get here.

In the end, I still think the Nats wind up near the top. 8 ½ games clear of the next “best” team is a lot of ground to lose. Of the teams here I think the Pirates have the best shot and the Nats play the Bucs starting tonight. If the Nats can pull of the sweep of the team that apparently would sell their sister into prostitution if they could, I bet the Pirates can pull it off.

So, who do you root for here?