Biggest Jumps of the Week: Astros +4

1. Dodgers – I never expected the Dodgers to be the best team in baseball at the All-Star Break with their young and inexperienced pitching staff.
2. Red Sox – If they get rid of Brad Penny and start one of their prospects at #5 in the rotation I can see them winning the WS, yet again.
3. Angels – Owned the Yankees this past week as usual, but come back from the break without Vlad and Hunter.
4. Yankees – Trail the Red Sox by 3 games heading into the break.  Adding Roy Halladay right now would make them instant WS favorites.
5. Giants – Giants pitching leads the league in ERA – 3.51, CG – 8 and SHO – 13.
6. Phillies – 9-1 in their last 10 and are likely to sign Pedro Martinez before the All-Star Break.  This team is going to increase their lead immediately after the break.
7. Rangers – Tied for 1st place in the league with 132 HRs, yet again.
8. Rays – Currently in 3rd place in the East but expect Upton and Pena to pick it up and carry this team to a Wild card birth.  Lead by over 40 steals in the Majors.
9. Tigers – Verlander and Jackson are both Cy Young candidates this year who combined have 246 Ks on the year.
10. Cardinals – Albert Pujols is within .018 points of being the Triple Crown leader.  I say he wins it.
11. Rockies – A run like 2007 will put the Rockies in the playoffs edging out the Giants in all likelyhood.
12. Brewers – Only two starters (Gallardo and Looper) having a .500 win percentage or better.
13. White Sox – Carlos Quentin is expected back after the ASG which will provide a big boost to this lineup if he can raise his .229 AVG.
14. Twins – Saw themselves a half game out of first a week ago and are now in 3rd place and 4 games out.
15. Mariners – The only AL team in the top 5 in ERA with a 3.73 ERA.
16. Astros – Finally pulled within .500 and currently sit in 3rd place.  A typical August run could land the Astros in first place.
17. Marlins – Hanley Ramirez is rolling in success in the #3 hole in the Marlins lineup.
18. Cubs – Soriano needs to be benched if his average doesn’t get up to .250 in the next 2 weeks.
19. Braves – Ryan Church is off to a great start going 1-9 in his 1st two games.  He will need to provide some power for the Braves to make the playoffs.
20. Blue Jays – After being in 1st place for the first 6 weeks the Jays have no slipped below .500 and will likely trade Halladay.
21. Reds – Just like the Blue Jays, the Reds are on a steady decline and now sit in 5th place in the NL Central.
22. Mets – If Reyes, Beltran, Delgado and Maine come back before August this team can make a run at the NL East.
23. Royals – Really Greinke is the only piece of this team to build around.
24. Orioles – Being 14 games out of 1st place, it’s about time to bring up the pitching prospects to see what they are made of.
25. Padres – Not even Jake Peavy can save this team from the basement of the NL West.
26. Indians – The Indians are almost 20 games under .500.  Cliff Lee will be traded within the next 2 weeks because of it.
27. A’s – Matt Holliday is intentionally sucking so he can be traded to a contender for near nothing.  It’s all part of his plan.
28. Pirates – This team won’t win for years because they keep dumping their everyday players for guys who are years away.
29. Diamondbacks – Mark Reynolds is becoming Adam Dunn Jr: 24 HR, 123 Ks.
30. Nationals – This team is quite pathetic.