Sweet Temptation

Well, it’s a month into the season, and so far, so good. Two of the four teams I have already eliminated are still in last place and appear to not be going anywhere, let alone to the World Series. But there are two that are not complying with my prognostication. The Devil Rays have climbed out of the cellar, and the Mariners are actually in Second Place! This must end! Don’t they know that they cannot fight the power of The Blog?

So, who’s next? There are four teams in last place that have not been eliminated yet: The Rangers, the Cardinals, the Rockies and the Yankees. Oh, it is so tempting to pick the Yankees. I don’t know the last time that a team was in last place at the end of April and went on to win the World Series, if it ever happened at all. So I should be safe, right? The Yankees won’t win. It’s virtually impossible.

Until it happens. The Yankees are always a very strong second-half team. And as much as I would love to see the Yankees miss the playoffs, I’ll reserve judgment. I’ve got the luxury.

The Cardinals are another surprise. Defending World Series Champs in the toilet? Wow. Granted, the White Sox didn’t even make the playoffs last year, but they were close. But again, I’ll wait.

This week, I’ll have to go with the Colorado Rockies, for much the same reason that I eliminated the Mariners. They have a nice, young offense, but they need more maturity and more consistency in their pitching before they can compete for the biggest prize. The NL West is spoken for.