- Where would the Cubs be without Derek Lee? He has to be the NL's leading MVP-candidate, as Chicago deals with the Nomar injury and the struggles of their bullpen and lingering injuries to their starting staff. - Four out of the six divisions will go down to the final week of the season, but the AL West and NL Central are already set and done. The Angels have the best balance and they will be able to weather any run that Texas? young and powerful line-up can put together. The Cardinals pitching staff is much improved from last season?s NL Champion club. Mark Mulder anchors what might be the strongest pitching staff not only in the NL Central, but all of baseball. - The pleasure that Yankee haters are deriving from their mediocre baseball, should thoroughly enjoy it because the Yankees will not miss the playoffs. As long as Joe Torre is manager, the Yankees will never fully self-destruct. The team that is on the field, is the team that will finish the season. They are clearly flawed, but they still have way too much talent to be denied. - By saying the Yankees will make the playoffs, this of course means that either the Red Sox or Orioles will miss out on the October season. The Orioles are in many ways for real, yet in many ways they are clearly not. They will score runs all season long, as Miguel Tejada continues to anchor their offense, putting up MVP numbers, but their pitching will not hold up over a 162-game season. - With Curt Schilling and David Wells on the shelf, the Red Sox are fortunate to get ace-like pitching performances from Bronson Arroyo and Matt Clement. - The Giants are somehow managing to keep their heads above water and that's been because of the consistent hitting of Pedro Feliz. - The Braves are in first place in the NL East and there is not much to suggest that they won't be in October yet again. Tim Hudson is a Cy Young candidate each and every season and Mike Hampton is beginning to look like his Mets self. - The Twins are eight games over .500 and yet 4.5 games behind the White Sox. Might this be the year the Central Division steals a Wild Card from the AL West or East? - Red Sox closer Keith Foulke is a shadow of his 2004 self right now, as his ERA has skyrocketed to almost 8.00. - The Twins are closing in on a new ballpark, which will greatly help their bottom line. They have heaps of talent over the last few years, but their state as small-market wonder child as prohibited them from keeping what they have. Christopher Reina is the Managing Editor of RealGM.com and may be reached at [email protected].