By Jim Kelly Jr.

The trade deadline has come and gone and as we saw Manny Being Manny out on the west coast and the man too old to be called Junior move to Chi-town it was interesting to notice how MLB shifted in just a couple of weeks. Still the top two aren’t going anywhere in what looks to be a potential World Series matchup that will face a rally monkey vs. a cursed goat. Only time will tell, but until now let’s check in on the Race to the Top…

1. Angels in the Outfield
Who needs Danny Glover when you’ve got Mark Texieria? The Angels are officially a powerhouse, filled with young dominant pitching, a closer that never runs out of gas, and a lineup that never seems to end. The scary thing about the Angels is that they don’t need the Thunder Sticks to win; they’re 17 games over .500 on the road, 7 games better than their home record. A solid lineup with balanced power backs a staff headed by Joe Saunders, who’s stat line this year looks like it was aided by Christopher Lloyd.

2. The Bartman Bunch
I really didn’t think the Cubbies had it in them. The Brew Crew with all of their big midseason moves and fan buzz around them closed in on the Chi-town gang quickly, and the C.C.-Prince combo must have been looming over Wrigley- literally. But the Cubs stroll into the town of sausage and hand Bernie Brewer a sweep, leaving them the clear favorite in the National League to potentially blow a World Series. As of this minute I’m typing Rich Harden isn’t injured, so the Cubs are still playing on borrowed time.

3. The Fred McGriff All Stars
August 1st has come and gone and the Rays are still in first place. There’s no other fan base in MLB that is hoping for the regular season to end faster than those of the Rays, who pray the pitching staff holds up and Evan Longoria will date them, be they man or woman. They love their baseball inside in Tampa Bay, and the Rays have fended off a push from the Sox and the Yanks to keep a comfortable albeit shaky lead in baseball’s most publicized division. The team finds a way to win, even when the highest average on their team is .279 and their highest paid player makes a chump change $6 million, and they’ll need to keep holding on throughout the fall.

4. Ozzie Guillen’s Old Men
Adding Ken Griffey Jr. to an already aging and crowded lineup is like adding another guy to the old folk’s home rocking the latest model from The Scooter Store. This was a good team without Junior though, and while adding him to the lineup might be like adding too many cooks to a kitchen, he can still produce runs. The Sox will have to find a way to win on the road though, being 7 games under .500 when they’re away from the windy city, and they’ll have to find it soon as the Twins are breathing awkwardly on the back of their neck.

5. Sausagefest
How can they crack the Top 5 after having such a poor couple of weeks? It’s simple, because even with the Brewers getting swept by the Cubbies and then fighting in their dugout over the last vegan tofu sausage the team is still a major threat to the NL Central race. Ryan Braun is a beast at the plate, and by the looks of him nowhere else, and his offensive production has been the key to the Brewers remaining in the race to the top complementing C.C. and Ben Sheets at the top of the rotation. Maybe fighting is just what this team needed to do, as they were comfortably winning and riding the most media attention they’ve had since the Regan administration.

Right on their heels…

Little Big Leaguer’s
The Twins are making their patented late season push, as copyright infringed upon by the A’s in past years, and the White Sox are now sweating out the top spot in the AL Central. The Twins, A’s, and Braves are probably the best teams in recent years to make the playoffs and know for a fact they won’t win the World Series. They are small market teams built for the regular season and having orange slices and trips to Dairy Queen after the game. Plus playing with a tarp for an outfield wall diminishes your creditability.

The Jason Bay Allstars
They can win without Manny, but for how long? Jason Bay has always been a productive player stuck on an unproductive team, and look for him to contribute throughout his tenure in Boston nicely. The firepower from this lineup is lost though; no more are the Sox the team with the fearsome lineup and odds on favorite. Boston will now have to rely a little more on small ball and total lineup production, and a fingers-crossed mentality when it comes to Big Papi and the lack of protection for his bat.

The City of Brotherly Mediocrity
The NL East is just not a good division, but it’s a fact to easily look over when you look at the Quadruple A division; the NL West. Still the Phillies lead the way with the Marlins and Mets hot on their tail down the road to average baseball.

The Bottom 3San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners
Enjoy the Jason Taylor tenure in Washington.