The derision funneled Seattle's way for rolling out the golden carpet to free agents Robinson Cano and Fernando Rodney, and making fat-wallet pitches to several others, has stood the test of half a season. The weak-hitting Mariners are bobbing along at two games over .500, a million games behind the Oakland steamroller.
But those two acquisitions have a middling team in the middle of the playoff hunt. On the first day of summer, Seattle stands two games out of the Wild Card, part of an eight-team scrum.
Except for Oakland and Toronto on the plus-side and Houston and Tampa Bay in the negative, the entire American League is within three games of even. That means that Cleveland, who can't win on the road; Detroit, who've lost 20 of 30; and Boston, who dropped 10, won seven and lost five straight; are all still very much in the mix.
Ditto
in the senior circuit. The Dbacks, Padres, Mets and Cubs have recused
themselves from the 2014 playoffs, but it's a free-for-all besides that.
In the NL East, the phading, phourth-place Phils are phour notches
under .500, the phiphth-worst team in the NL. And they're just 3.5 games
shy of their division's lead.
It makes the competition wondrous for fans, not so much for general managers. If you're the last-place White Sox, are you buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? You're just five games out of the lead in the AL Central. How about the Yankees, currently in the lead for a Wild Card, but living large off luck and bracing for the next cascade of injuries to your geriatric club?
If you're the Rays, you're plying every contender, pretender and upender with visions of David Price hurling them to victory. There could be a long line vying for trade bait capable of helping a team win that extra game or two.
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