5-4-3 Baseball Roundup

With the Confed Cup behind us, it's time to turn our attention from the global pastime to the national one. The summer months are baseball's time to shine and as we approach the All-Star Break it's a great time to see where we are at in the majors. Throughout the season RSS will go around the horn in our Baseball Roundup. Here are 5 Observations, 4 Surprises (good and bad), and 3 Predictions from the big leagues.

5 Observations

1.) The Steroid Era is Behind Us - Did you know... gasp ...Sammy Sosa was on the juice?! What a surprise! Honestly, does anyone care at this point? All known users should be banned from the Hall of Fame, but after several years everyone is ready to move on. Manny's suspension, A-Rod's comeback, etc. have all been viewed with a collective yawn from the American sporting public. The attendance numbers have shown that fans still want to go to games. Fans have reached the exhaustion point with two things: steroids and Brett Favre.

2.) If Joe Mauer Bats .400 in the Woods... - The Twins ace catcher is batting .386, and it isn't making a sound. At the moment, he doesn't have the ABs to officially qualify, but he will soon. The SI cover story this week is his first national publicity this year, as he has flown completely under the radar. A chase for .400 might be the best thing for baseball as we head into the post-steroid era.

3.) Parity is Coming? - 19 of the 30 teams sit within 5 games of their respective division leaders throughout the majors. Only LAD and Boston appear to be elite, post-season locks at this point. While this may be what baseball has been striving for, parity also brings mediocrity as it's safe to say this has been a less than compelling season so far. What is the top moment thus far, Luis Castillo dropping the ball in the Subway Series?

4.) Baseball Needs a Rookie Wage Scale - For #1 Pick Steve Strasburg and agent Scott Boras to demand $50 Million from the Nats for a guy who's never thrown a pitch in MLB is ridiculous. It's not like stud pitchers have flamed out recently, cough...Mark Prior...cough. Uncle Bud needs to step in and install a rookie wage scale to prevent this insanity.

5.) The Nats Stink - Sorry Yard Yoder, but at 22-52 and a -100 run differential, the Nats are a joke at this point in their existence. It's sad that our nation's capital can't get a good baseball franchise. At this rate, by the time the Nats right the ship, they could be playing in Portland.

4 Surprises

1.) Zack Greinke - Leading the AL in Wins and ERA, and 2nd in K's, the Cy Young frontrunner is the best story in baseball. Coming back from depression and personal demons to become the best pitcher in the bigs is an outstanding achievement and an inspirational story.

2.) NY Mets - With their bagel in the most recent Subway Series and a 6-14 record in their last 20, the Mets sit a game below .500. Has any team underachieved more the last 3 years than the Mets? The infamous '07 choke appears to have a vicegrip on the franchise. Somewhere Willie Randolph is getting the last laugh.

3.) LA Dodgers - They are running away and hiding from everyone in the NL, even without Manny for 50 games. Nobody expected them to be able to succeed this well without Manny being Manny, and they should be even better when he returns.

4.) The House that Johnny Damon Built - 119 HR thru 35 home games is an embarrassment for the New Yankee Stadium. In fact, I refuse to call it that, Coors Field East is more appropriate. Babe Ruth would hit 130 HR a year in this facade of a ballpark. For the most iconic stadium in the world to be replaced by some sort of mutant tee-ball park is sad for baseball and American sports.

3 Predictions

1.) Albert Pujols Won't Win the Triple Crown - There's a reason why it hasn't happened since Yaz 42 years ago, it's just too hard. While Pujols will take the HR and RBI crown, the best player in baseball you don't know, (mainly because he plays in front of 5,000 people nightly in Miami), Hanley Ramirez, will win the NL Batting Crown.

2.) The Yanks Are Going Back to the Postseason - Sure, they can't beat the Red Sox, but the rest of the AL outside the East is not looking so strong. NYY should be able to hold off Tampa Bay for the Wild Card spot with a solid starting rotation of Burnett, CC, Joba, and Pettitte... as long as they stay healthy.

3.) The Cubs Will Right the Ship - If anyone can handle turmoil, it's Lou Piniella. While bringing in knucklehead Milton Bradley wasn't a bright idea, this team has too much talent not to win a weak NL Central. The June/July schedule sees their division rivals visit Chicago where the Cubs will put a nice run together in front of the Wrigleyville faithful.