After looking at a few less traditional forms of standings, today's look will be a straight-up update on how the league is sitting right now. First up, the NL Central.
After taking two out of three from Houston this week, the St. Louis Cardinals remain in first place in the Central at 14-11. Cincinnati and Milwaukee aren't far behind at 13-12 and 12-12 respectively. Plus, the Brew Crew get to face off with Houston this weekend to pad that win column a little. Both Pittsburgh and Chicago are falling a bit off the pace and are both under .500 now. Houston is bringing up the rear at 9-16 and is now five games out of first place.
The Colorado Rockies hold the National League's best record at 16-7. They're currently atop the NL West, 4 1/2 games better than the Los Angeles Dodgers, who sit at 13-13. San Francisco has made a furious charge from the bottom of that division to .500 and is also 4 1/2 games behind Colorado at 12-12. Arizona sits in fourth place at 11-13 while San Diego has nose-dived into last place at 9-16. They're currently tied with Houston for the worst record in the league.
Philadelphia has the same number of wins as Colorado, but one more loss puts them a half-game back for the NL lead. A half-game is also all that stands between the Phillies and a hard-charging Florida Marlins team who's at 15-8. The Phish are talented, but it remains to be seen whether they can run with the big boys all season. Atlanta sits in the weeds, four games back of Philly at 13-13 while both Washington and the Mets bring up the rear at 11-13 and 11-14 respectively.
On the American League side of things, the Texas Rangers got knocked off their perch with the best record in the league going to Cleveland at 16-8. The surprising Indians have taken control of the AL Central and have a 4 1/2 game lead over Detroit at 12-13 and Kansas City at 12-13. Chicago and Minnesota are still struggling mightily at 10-16 and 9-15, respectively.
Texas has hit a rough patch without Josh Hamilton, going 5-5 in their last 10 games. That's still good enough to keep the best record in the AL West at 15-10, a game ahead of the Angels at 14-11. Oakland is also just three games back at 12-13 while Seattle rallied with a strong week to move to 11-15.
In everyone's favorite overhyped division, the New York Yankees have taken over the AL East with a 14-8 record. That puts them a game and a half ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays and their 14-11 record. Toronto sits in third place at 11-13, while the Boston Red Sox are finally showing signs of life, passing Baltimore for fourth place at 11-13. The Orioles led this division very early in this process, but now sit at 10-13.
In the race for the first overall draft pick, Houston and San Diego are tied for the worst records, followed by Minnesota, Baltimore, Chicago and the Mets.