The Major League Baseball season is winding down, so it is time to take a look at the top teams who are expected to make some noise in the postseason.
The Los Angeles Angels are favored at +315 to represent the American League, and they appear to be ready to replace the Boston Red Sox as the dominant team in the league. The Angels have a deep rotation of pitchers with double-digit victories, the best closer in the game in Francisco Rodriguez, and the addition of Mark Teixeira gives them another big bat. They can also afford to rest some players as they have built up an outstanding 15.5-game lead in the American League West.
The Chicago Cubs are the highest-rated National League club at +360, and they are another team with an amazing rotation, which was bolstered with the acquisition of Rich Harden from Oakland. Alfonso Soriano is finding his stride after missing a month of action, and his power at the top of the lineup is what sparks the Cubs.
The Red Sox, who are the defending World Series champions, come in at +495, but they have been pushed hard by the upstart Tampa Ray Rays in the American League East. As of August 15, the Red Sox trailed the Rays by three games for the division lead, but they still held onto the wild-card spot despite trading away Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers. The Red Sox should be fine with Ramirez if Jason Bay swings the bat as he can, and they also need Josh Beckett to return to the intimidating pitcher that he has been over the past couple of seasons.
The Rays are rated at +550, but this young team has been rattled with injuries as of late. All-Star and probable Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria is out with a broken wrist, while Carl Crawford has also found his way to the disabled list. However, led by Scott Kazmir, the Rays have a great rotation and it should be enough to get them into the playoffs.
Milwaukee rounds out the top contenders at +715, and in C.C. Sabathia and Ben Sheets, the Brewers have one of the best pitching duos in all of baseball. But they will locked in a fierce battle for the wild-card spot unless they can catch the Cubs in the National League Central, and for that, they will need their bats to get hot really soon. An injury to All-Star slugger Ryan Braun is a huge concern for the Brewers.
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