MLB: Yankees In First for Good?

After a long and somewhat strange trip, the New York Yankees have finally risen to the top of the American League East. They’re currently tied with the Boston Red Sox. The Blue Jays continue to drop off the map and the Rays are now 5 games back, thanks to a 4 game losing streak.

So the questions is this: Will the Yankees ever drop out of 1st place?

Well, I do think the Yankees will win the AL East. I also think they’ll win it by a few games. But I don’t know that they’ll stay in 1st from this point on. A major reason for this is because the Yankees are off today while the Red Sox finish a 4 game series against the Minnesota Twins. So right there the Yankees might drop a half game back.

But I will say that I don’t think the Yankees will drop more than a couple games out of first again. And I do think they’ll control this division by August. The Rays just don’t have the same pitching this year. And the Red Sox don’t have enough pitching or hitting. Of course, that might change but right now the Yankees are clearly the best team in the AL East.

How about the rest of baseball? Will the Tigers, the Rangers, the Mets, the Cards, and the Dodgers all stay in 1st? No. I think the Dodgers will and I like the Tigers a lot right now. But the AL East, the NL East, and the NL Central are far from over. Even the Tigers are far from being a dominant team in the AL Central. But the Dodgers will win the West by at least 20 games.

So, things are starting to take some shape in baseball. It is, after all, almost June. Things should be shaping up a little bit. We will see how much this shape holds over the summer.