Major League Baseball’s All-Star game is right around the corner (damn, time flies doesn’t it?). When I look back on the first half of the 2012 MLB season, one thing comes to mind.
Bizarro world.
Look at the American and National League standings. In the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles are in second place and is in Wild Card contention. The Orioles, really? In the NL East, the Washington Nationals are cruising in first place by four and a half games. And finally, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in first place in the NL Central by two games.
The Pirates? Really?
Welcome to the alternate universe that is the 2012 Major League Baseball season.
It actually is the result of good drafting and allowing good baseball people to run those drafts. It happening for the Tampa Bay Rays, and it’s happening for the Orioles, Nationals, and Pirates.
It goes to show that you do not have to always have huge payrolls to win in baseball (see the Philadelphia Phillies). Even though it’s good to see teams like my New York Yankees and (gag) the Boston Red Sox win and win often, it is good to see teams doing things the right way: drafting well and making smart trades (A.J. Burnett to the Pirates anyone?) and free-agent signings.
Maybe this could work for the Kansas City Royals? Then again…
Categories: baseball, MLB, sports story
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