Anthony's midseason grades and prediction analysis

AL CENTRAL

It is time for my midseason grades and prediction analysis. I chose the Chicago White Sox to win the division, and I did so because of their pitching rotation. Well, they went from 9½ games back to ½ game in first place in a month. In the span, the starting pitching had a 2.35 ERA.

Grades:

White Sox B / I cannot ignore the first few months. They were treacherous. However, if they continue pitching like they have, I am in good shape with my prediction.

Tigers B- / They had a few good weeks, and the offense has been solid. However, the pitching has been inconsistent, and the team failed to make sustained runs because of it.

Twins B / The best defense and a rotation with decent results. They have two MVPs in Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, but they were surprisingly below average after a tough month. They lost a nine game lead.

Royals D / They were finally supposed to make a run. Yeah right. Zack Greinke couldn’t buy a win, and the bullpen failed keep leads. Scott Podsednik is a good leadoff hitter, but you need more than that to win.

Indians F / Poor Cleveland. They will never have a championship, will they?

AL EAST

The Boston Red Sox were supposed to be the division champion, according to me. Well, they made me look a little better with a decent month and a half. They are five games back, but they are only three games back in the Wildcard. The problem, the pitching still isn’t what I expected, and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are dominating the mound.

Yankees A+ / You cannot argue against anything the team has done. They win, and they win with pitching and a dangerous lineup. George Steinbrenner dying will only put fuel in the fire. He was a great owner, and he was a baseball icon.

Rays A / No one thought the Rays would have been in first place for so long. No one thought their pitching would match the Yankees. I thought they would be good and rival both the Yankees and Red Sox, but not like this.

Red Sox B / They are lucky the Rays and Yankees had slumps at one point, or they would be out of the race. The pitching needs to do better.

Blue Jays C / I am sorry, but better than expected and .500 baseball is not going to get you higher than a C. They have pitched well, but they can’t rival the top. Good luck doing so anytime soon.

Orioles F / I am sorry, but I really thought they would be one of those teams who win like crazy in the last two months and reach .500. Now, they need to win like crazy to avoid 100 losses.

AL WEST

The first true debacle of the baseball season has to be the Seattle Mariners. Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez should have been one of the best one, two punches in the league right? Wrong. The offense was abysmal, and they have now traded Cliff Lee to the first place Rangers. What a miserable excuse for an organization. I was WRONG!

Rangers A+ / They have always been able to hit. The offense can put 10 runs up on good pitching any night. However, they never had good pitching. It has changed. They not only had good pitching, but they picked up Cliff Lee and should be able to hold off the Los Angeles Angels. Look out for this team in the playoffs.

Angels B- / They are a team with a great manager. They have good pitching. They can play defense. But, they can’t consistently score runs. If they don’t pick up a bat, and redeem themselves for stupidly giving up Vladimir Guerrero to the Rangers, the season will end prematurely for the first time in a long while.

Athletics C- / They were better than expected, and the pitching has been pretty solid. But, they cannot score runs. They will need to retool the lineup or they will always just be mediocre.

Mariners F- / They are by far the biggest disappointment in the majors. What a bust of a franchise? They can’t score, and they wasted great pitching.