American League Update - Through 6/6/09

The American League has featured some changes in the division races over the last few weeks. Let's look:

Division Roundups

Quick notes on the stats below: All runs data are park adjusted using Patriot's park factors. PythWins is from Hardball Times, and so is PythagenPat. XtrapWins is the wins that the teams' current winning percentage would provide at the season's end. Wif500 is what the team's record should be if they win half of their remaining games. %for90W is the winning percentage the teams will need to get to 90 wins at the end of the season.

East

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	RS*	RS/G*	RA	RA/G*	PythW	XtrapW	Wif500	%for90W
BOS	33	23	0.589	0	286	5.1	241	4.3	32	95	86	0.538
NYA	32	23	0.582	0.5	317	5.8	287	5.2	30	94	86	0.542
TOR	31	27	0.534	3	287	5.0	263	4.5	31	87	83	0.567
TB	29	28	0.509	4.5	324	5.7	274	4.8	33	82	82	0.581
BAL	24	32	0.429	9	257	4.6	314	5.6	23	69	77	0.623

After the Yankees' own hot streak, the Red Sox had their own little hot streak, winning four of the last five. The Blue Jays went through a 9-game losing streak, and have since played 0.500 ball, falling out of first place. The beset Pythagorean record in the division continues to belong to the Devil Rays, who have only just gotten themselves above 0.500, winning 6 of their last 7.

Central

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	RS*	RS/G*	RA	RA/G*	PythW	XtrapW	Wif500	%for90W
DET	29	25	0.537	0	268	5.0	235	4.4	30	87	83	0.565
MIN	28	29	0.491	2.5	280	4.9	273	4.8	29	80	81	0.590
CHA	26	29	0.473	3.5	216	3.9	243	4.4	25	77	80	0.598
KC	24	31	0.436	5.5	222	4.0	260	4.7	23	71	78	0.617
CLE	24	34	0.414	7	300	5.2	313	5.4	28	67	76	0.635

The story in this division: despite having outstanding pitching, the Royals have won just five games in their last 25. But they are still just 5.5 games back. Wow. The Twins are the only team on a reasonably hot stretch, and have pulled within three games of the stryggling. The Indians continue to be an underperforming team.

West

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	RS*	RS/G*	RA	RA/G*	PythW	XtrapW	Wif500	%for90W
TEX	32	23	0.582	0	282	5.1	257	4.7	30	94	86	0.542
LAA	28	26	0.519	3.5	257	4.8	262	4.8	27	84	82	0.574
SEA	27	29	0.482	5.5	218	3.9	245	4.4	25	78	80	0.594
OAK	24	30	0.444	7.5	247	4.6	266	4.9	25	72	78	0.611

The Rangers are on a two-for-six skid, and the hobbled Angels are creeping closer, which makes it seem more likely that they can catch Texas once they get a bit more healthy. The A's are on a modest hot streak, but are talking about trading away Holliday already.