June: The Line of Death Cometh
by Keith Glab, BaseballEvolution.com
June 1, 2008

The Line of Death is back! Tremble in fear!

I hear you snickering. I can't really blame you. Last season, four of the eventual eight playoff teams fell below the Line of Death, signifying that the team didn't have the right stuff to reach the postseason. A 50% success rate isn't too great.

This year, we hope to do better. With two months in the books, we find five teams, or one-sixth of the teams, without any realistic hopes for the playoffs. One of these squads just demoted their most promising young hitter after enduring an 11-game losing streak. I don't know whether a team has ever had a losing streak like that and made the playoffs, but either way, this team isn't going to. Another team fell below the LOD due to being further behind the first place team than any other in the majors. Still another fell off because their team OPS was the lowest in baseball, while the other four teams in their division ended May playing .500 ball or better.

The final two Liners simply fell prey to the injury bug excessively in the early going. They play in an absolutely atrocious division, so anything's possible, but it just doesn't look like these two squads have enough depth to recover.

In more pleasant news, the Chicago Cubs are off to their best start in 90 years and the Tampa Bay Rays are off to their best start ever. And both teams can breathe a little easier, knowing that neither will become this year's 2007 Brewers. That team has already been identified below.

So whether you're a fan of one of the teams that fell below the Line of Death or one of the two teams that jumped more than 15 spots in the standings over the past month, feel free to comment.

Rank	Team	Comments	Prev
1		Chicago Cubs May Record: 18-11 (.621) | Overall Record: 35-21 (.625) C. Marmol fanned absurd 31 batters in May	3
2		Tampa Bay Rays May Record: 19-10 (.655)| Overall Record: 34-22 (.607) Mitch Talbot (54 K/14 BB at AAA) is ready to step in, but ML rotation has no holes	7
3		Boston Red Sox May Record: 17-12 (.586) | Overall Record: 34-24 (.586) Winning despite starting rotation in disarray	5
4		Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim May Record: 15-13 (.536) | Overall Record: 33-24 (.579) Passing the torch: Kotchman & Kendrick leading offense, not Guerrero & Anderson	2
5		Philadelphia Phillies May Record: 17-12(.586) | Overall Record: 32-25 (.561) NY fans are chastised for booing A-Rod, but Phils get off the hook for booing Burrell?	11
6		Florida Marlins May Record: 16-11 (.592) | Overall Record: 31-23 (.574) Add J. Willingham, A. Sanchez, S. Mitre, and J. Johnson to this squad...	13
7		Toronto Blue Jays May Record: 20-10(.667)| Overall Record: 31-27 (.534) Best ERA in baseball, and not by fluke, either	29
8		St. Louis Cardinals May Record: 15-13(.536) | Overall Record: 33-24 (.579) Only bigger surprise than Todd Wellemeyer is Ryan Ludwick	4
9		Chicago White Sox May Record: 16-13 (.552) | Overall Record: 30-25 (.545) Konerko, Thome, and Swisher will hit; pitching will regress	8
10		Atlanta Braves May Record: 17-12 (.586) | Overall Record: 29-27 (.518) Soriano, Smoltz, and eventually Gonzalez will improve 2-16 mark in 1-run games.	17
11		Cincinnati Reds May Record: 15-12 (.556) | Overall Record: 27-29 (.482) Bruce over Patterson biggest upgrade since Gehrig over Pipp	22
12		Houston Astros May Record: 17-11 (.607) | Overall Record: 30-27 (.526) Can we just give Lance Berkman his MVP Award now?	21
13		Texas Rangers May Record: 19-10 (.655) | Overall Record: 29-28 (.509) Easily the best offense and worst pitching in the AL	30
14		Oakland Athletics May Record: 12-15 (.444) | Overall Record: 29-27 (.518) Big Hurt got hurt just as he was getting hot	6
15		New York Mets May Record: 13-15 (.464) | Overall Record: 27-27 (.500) It's a bit premature to execute Randolph, don't you think?	9
16		Minnesota Twins May Record: 15-13 (.536) | Overall Record: 28-27(.509) Only Tigers pitches have struck out fewer batters	19
17		New York Yankees May Record: 14-12(.538) | Overall Record: 28-27 (.509) Giambi: .315/.446/.644 May after .164/.315/.411 April	20
18		Arizona Diamondbacks May Record: 11-17 (.393) | Overall Record: 31-25 (.554) Brew Crew of '08, with Max Scherzer as Ryan Braun	1
19		Pittsburgh Pirates May Record: 15-13(.536) | Overall Record: 26-29 (.473) 23-10 (.536) when they aren't playing the best team in baseball	28
20		Los Angeles Dodgers May Record: 13-15 (.464) | Overall Record: 27-28 (.491) C. Kershaw may have been rushed, J. Schmidt may not get there in time	10
21		Milwaukee Brewers May Record: 13-16 (.428) | Overall Record: 28-28 (.500) Astonishing .500 record given all that has gone wrong	14
22		Cleveland Indians May Record: 12-15 (.444) | Overall Record: 25-30 (.455) Once-proud offense has become a joke	16
23		Baltimore Orioles May Record: 11-16 (.407) | Overall Record: 26-28 (.481) Steve Tracshel making a strong bid for Josh Towers Award	12
24		Detroit Tigers May Record: 10-17 (.370) | Overall Record: 23-32 (.418) Zumaya and Rodney returning, but what they really need is Jurrjens	18
25		San Francisco Giants May Record: 10-17 (.370) | Overall Record: 23-33 (.411) Hey, I'm as surprised to find them above the LOD as you are	24
---------------- Line of Death! --------------
26		Washington Nationals May Record: 13-15 (.464) | Overall Record: 24-32 (.429) Grossly overachieving, yet still terrible	27
27		Kansas City Royals May Record: 10-19(.345) | Overall Record: 22-34(.393) Demoting Billy Butler to jump-start offense? Same old Royals	23
28		Seattle Mariners May Record: 8-20 (.286) | Overall Record: 21-35 (.375) Only one regular has OBP over .330: Ichiro at .351	15
29		San Diego Padres May Record: 12-17 (.414) | Overall Record: 23-34 (.404) Peavy and Young on the DL sealed the deal	25
30		Colorado Rockies May Record: 9-19 (.321) | Overall Record: 20-36 (.357) Way too many injuries for shallow team to overcome	26