by Keith Glab, BaseballEvolution.com
September 9, 2008
Will the inexperienced Rays continue to struggle down the stretch and let the
Red Sox overtake them in the division? Can the Chicago White Sox still win
the AL Central without Carlos Quentin? Can the Mets hang on without Billy
Wagner? Who prevails: Adam Dunn's Diamondbacks or Manny Ramirez' Dodgers?
Only the eight playoff teams remain above the Line of Death as we reveal the
Baseball Evolution Power Rankings for the final time this season.
In a way, it is bold to make playoff predictions with nearly three weeks
remaining in the season. In another, it's pretty chicken to have not made
them at the beginning of September, having waited for the weekend's Mets/Phillies
and Dodgers/D-backs series to finish and gotten news that key stretch players
Carlos Quentin and Billy Wagner would each miss the rest of the regular season.
The dust having settled, we do see a much clearer picture of who the
favorites are. Nearly as important as a team's current record at this
point is their remaining schedule. For instance, the White Sox and Twins'
respective schedules doomed the Sox even before Carlos Quentin and Paul Konerko
went down. To that effect, we are listing the split of remaining games
for contending teams in our rankings.
So if you want to be surprised at the end of the season, stop reading here.
If you'd like to know which eight teams will continue to play in October, read
on and feel free to comment.
Questions? Concerns? Comments? Keith lives in Chicago, IL, and can be reached at keith@baseballevolution.com.
