As the baseball season keeps chugging along, races in every division (except one) are getting tighter and tighter. The only division that I’m ready to declare a winner in is the American league West. While there is still a lot of baseball left to be played, it seems that the Oakland A’s have pretty much conceded the division to the Anaheim Angels. I know the A’s wanted to get something of value from one of their best pitchers and that’s why they traded Haren to the Cubs, but still, they let one of their best pitcher’s go. Now they find themselves 5 games back and with a much less talented team.

In all the other divisions I’m not ready to give any one team an edge. In the AL East it looks like either the Tampa Bay Rays or the Boston Red Sox will win the division. However, let’s not count out the New York Yankees just yet.

In the AL Central the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins are sitting one and two in the division. But the Detroit Tigers can’t be counted out yet. The Tigers have been playing good ball and they’ll have a chance to make up major ground on the Twins when they host them for 4 games this weekend.

In the NL East, the Philadelphia Phillies or the Florida Marlins or the New York Mets could all win the division. Luckily for the bottom teams in the division the Phillies aren’t playing great ball either. So even the Atlanta Braves (at 5 games under .500) have a shot to win the division.

In the NL Central there is a great race going on. The Chicago Cubs are the strongest team in the NL. The Cubbies are followed by the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers. All three of these teams are very solid.

Then in the NL West, it’s anyone’s division. This entire division is pathetic. So any team could win it and I’m not sure any baseball fan cares unless they live in a NL West city.

So the races are looking very good as we move along in the season. We’re about to start the final series before the All-Star Break and things are looking exciting.