A third of the way in- Anaheim on a power trip

A third of the way into the season, the MLB rankings look dramatically different from each other in many divisions. Anaheim has been the bright star of the season, leading the majors in victories with their revamped line-up… despite masses of injuries. Of course, the AL East looks remarkably familiar, as always, with Boston and New York at the top. But who could have imagined seeing the Seattle Mariners sitting at the bottom of their division? Who would have seen the San Diego Padres ahead of the San Francisco Giants? There are many surprises so far in this young season, and many of them will not continue. Teams may heat-up back to their potential, and some teams may fall back down to Earth (not to mention any names… Detroit). Here's an attempt, 30 games into the season, to predict what will happen with the division rankings, given the progress of the teams so far.

AL East – Righting the ship, somewhat

The ship is beginning to right itself in the AL East. At one point in the season, Tampa Bay was in first. As expected, they have fallen to fifth place, and the Yankee/Boston duo has risen back to their places at the top. Baltimore has shown its growth by leap-frogging the pitching-weak Blue Jays.

At the current pace, Boston will reclaim first place solely by merit of its superb pitching staff led by Aces Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, and the imminent return of SS Nomar Garciaparra and DH Ellis Burk, among others, will only help their cause.

The Yankees, with a struggling hitting line-up and a lack of depth at pitching, with Kevin Brown probably getting injured and their rather horrible bullpen likely coming back to haunt them, will realize the futility of loading up on only hitters, falling into the same pennant problems as the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Orioles, on the other hand, are in a similar position as the Marlins were last year- young pitching, strong bullpen. They need to show a bit more patience and smart thinking with their young starters, and confidence needs to be restored. Fast. Exemplified is the demotion of Kurt Ainsworth and the three day promotion of Denny Bautista.

Toronto, despite having Roy Halladay, still has major pitching problems, and having Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells will not help their cause, especially if the Cardinals cannot do it with Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Reggie Sanders, and Tony Womack.

While the Devil Rays have immense potential, they are still a couple years off from fully completing the birth of a successful team, and too much relies on the hitting of slumping slugger Aubrey Huff. They will end up last again, but likely will have an improved record over last year.

AL Central - What in the world is going on over here?

The AL Central will give an exciting, entertaining pennant charge, but will be marred by the inevitable breakdown of the Kansas City Royals.

A surprise last year in challenging for the division, the Royals have simply fallen apart this year, exemplified by the sending of former All-Star rookie closer Mike MacDougal to the minors. While MacDougal will likely make a triumphant return to the majors later this season, this does not bode well, neither for the already damaged bullpen nor their below-average pitching staff. For a team with firepower reliant on April Player-of-the-Month CF Carlos Beltran, this is not good. Beltran will probably be traded, likely to the Yankees or the Red Sox, unless the team re-routes itself. Look for Beltran to leave, especially with only one year left on his contract.

Minnesota's low-key but steady pitching staff will continue to help their challenge for the division, but they lost their bullpen, and the departure of players such as setup-man LaTroy Hawkins will damage their drive in the long run.

Chicago, coming off of an emotional charge towards the division crown late last season, has all the momentum possible, as well as the tools. Their up-and-down hitting needs to stabilize, and they are extremely streaky.

Detroit, in third place, has made significant strides since the last season, but is not good enough yet to overcome the underachieving Cleveland Indians. Both teams are perfectly capable of locking up that third place slot, however, and if their managers make any deals, do not be surprised if they both begin challenging for the division crown late into the season.

AL West – When the world turned upside down

Last year at this time, the rankings looked almost the opposite. Texas was cellar dwelling, Anaheim was falling, Oakland was its usual pitching-dominant hitting-lacking self in second, and Seattle was on pace to break the wins record. This year everything has changed.

Anaheim, coming off an exceptionally busy and glorious off-season symbolized by the signing of All-Star OF Vladimir Guerrero, is leading the division, and the league, in wins. Their 11-2 romp of the Yankees is a show of their revamped power, and they will hold that slot. The injuries to 3B Troy Glaus, All-Star OF Garret Anderson, 1B Darin Erstad, and 2B Tim Salmon, among others, are potentially season crushing. But with the help of their deep farm and now-famous utility-man Chone Figgins, the Angels are still soaring.

Texas is riding its hot-hand, securely sitting in second place in the division and being one of the best hitting and pitching teams in the league. Look for that to falter, as the team, especially with their only prominent off-season change being the trade of A-Rod for Soriano, has not exactly improved since last year. They are, however, fully capable of achieving a solid 500-plus record, and may end up actually surprising us all by seriously challenging for a wild-card spot.

Oakland's pitching must step up to the challenge posed by Texas and Anaheim, especially former Cy Young winner Barry Zito, who has fallen to third in the rotation and has won only twice this season. Acquired pitcher Mark Redman will need to show his mettle in the fifth spot, and hitters Eric Byrnes and Eric Chavez must continue hitting the ball. Jermaine Dye needs his bat to heat back up.

Seattle has fallen behind, with their team unwilling to make any big acquisitions. Bret Boone is so far showing that the last season was a fluke, and their team is like-wise struggling mightily. They will turn around their fortunes, and soon, but that will not be enough in this suddenly loaded division.

NL East – The fall of a dynasty

Oh how the mighty have fallen! Atlanta, after a long dynasty atop the NL East division, finally topples.

2003 World Series Champions Florida Marlins are showing that their run was no fluke. Miguel Cabrera has come into his own, and the team has begun to show bite in its small-ball philosophy. Look for the Marlins to continue their success, especially when former ace A.J. Burnett returns from his injury. The blister injury to ace Josh Beckett may be hampering, but assuming the team has learned from the past, he should return soon at full strength.

Philadelphia desperately needs some leadoff hitting, as much of their run support has been generated by home runs. Pitchers Kevin Millwood and Randy Wolf are returning to their form, and the Phillies will make a serious run towards either the division title or a wildcard slot. This team was built to win, and are a few steady hitters away from being a solid power.

The Mets will continue to struggle, but the fall of the Braves will bring them to third place. While the Mets will not challenge this year, they will not really change their losing record, but in the next few years, with the shedding of horrible player decisions and their salary ramifications, will hopefully fight back towards success.

The Braves must be feeling pretty bad. Not only did they lose Javy Lopez and Gary Sheffield, but also they whiffed 18 times to Ben Sheets and gave Randy Johnson a perfect game on the next game. Their dynasty is a lock to crumble if Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones cannot pick up their games (both are hitting less than .270). That's if their dynasty can even mount an attempt at a comeback.

Montreal has fallen mightily with the departures of ace Javier Vazquez and All-Star slugger Vladimir Guerrero. Re-signing All-Star 2B Jose Vidro to a four-year extension is a start towards trying to achieve stability. But they need a home, soon.

NL Central – Hitting, hitting, hitting, and oh my gosh, pitching!

This may be the one division in the entire Major League where there are two powerhouses fully capable of winning the World Series this year. Too bad one of them is saddled with a curse.

Houston gladly takes Andy Pettite and Roger Clemens towards a play-off run, helped by the slugging of 2B Jeff Kent and 1B Jeff Bagwell. Their pitching staff of Pettite, Clemens, Roy Oswalt, and Wade Miller is ridiculously over powering, and if Tim Redding can pull out of his struggles, will easily jump past the pitching line-up of Mark Prior, Kerry Wood, Matt Clement, Carlos Zambrano, and Greg Maddux. The Astros also carry with them a potent bullpen, led by closer Octavio Dotel and setup man LaTroy Hawkins.

St. Louis, although filled with immense hitting talent, simply does not have the pitching to hold up in the NL Central, especially with their ace having as high an ERA as Sidney Ponson.

Cincinnati is having a hitting renaissance, with Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn displaying slugging power, but, like the Cardinals, they have lost their pitching staff. Trading closer Scott Williamson last year did not help. While they are on a glorious streak right now, you can almost expect them to fall at some point. Griffey and Austin Kearns have both been injury prone, and their starting pitching will begin to expose their struggles after the run support wanes.

Enter Milwaukee, led by sensational sophomore leadoff hitter Scott Podsednik and his 19 steals. With a pitching staff led by the steady Ben Sheets (of recent 18 strike-out fame), the Brewers have the tools, assuming Geoff Jenkins can somehow stay healthy for a good portion of the year, to secure the third spot in the division.

Pittsburgh will stay Pittsburgh, living in the cellar for at least another season despite the pitching of Oliver Perez. They need to do something about Jason Kendall, although they have been trying for the past several years to do so.

NL West – Dodgers with power, Padres with a lineup…

For the first time in… forever, Los Angeles has firepower, led by usually late starting 3B Adrian Beltre.

While the great hitting cannot last forever, the Dodgers have to be sleeping easy considering their pitching staff is actually struggling despite their good record. Hideo Nomo will not keep his bloated 8 ERA, and the breakout of Kaz Ishii and return of Wilson Alvarez can only mean good things for this potent pitching staff.

San Diego has likewise turned its team around, acquiring a line-up that will make a solid run (Brian Giles, Ryan Klesko, Phil Nevin, Jay Payton…) and a pitching staff that can hold games close. The return of closer Trevor Hoffman cannot have come a better time. PETCO Stadium being a pitcher's park is debilitating to the morale of their slugging team (Giles, Klesko, Nevin, and Payton all have the potential to knock 40 homers had they had any other stadium but PETCO at home), but they will still bat in their share of runs.

San Francisco, despite having Barry Bonds, will once again fail to make a run towards the World Series, this time due to the lack of positive change during the off-season. As the season so far is proving, their pitching rotation has been dreadful (Jerome Williams and Jason Schmidt are blanking offenses, however), and the loss of half their starting hitting line-up is making even Barry Bonds' monster games useless. Bonds, incidentally, is on pace to destroy his previous record of 198 walks, as he is on pace for around 230. It's a pity that Pedro Feliz is the only other hitter on that lineup that can actually hit the ball.

Arizona and Colorado have not made significant strides, although Arizona could make a comeback with the returning health of its players, including Steve Finley. Randy Johnson is pitching like he is still 25, showcased by his brilliant perfect game against the Braves. The talent-gap between Arizona and Colorado and San Francisco is likely too great to overcome this season, however. Look for Arizona and Colorado to fight to get out of the cellar and nothing more.