Bragging rights: Rating the divisions

Jason Michael Barker

What's the strongest division in baseball? It's certainly a question open for some discussion, and unlike trying to nail down the "best team" in baseball, you can't always just look at each division's winning percentage and rank them. I suppose you could, but you'd only be getting part of the story. Let's look at the big picture, shall we?

	W	L	Pct.
AL East	214	184	.537
AL West	164	159	.508
NL Central	246	240	.506
NL West	204	207	.496
NL East	197	202	.493
AL Central	182	215	.458

A quick look at the percentages and some relatively easy mental math should let you know that these standings make sense. The AL East is very good, the AL Central isn't; their winning percentages basically cancel each other out. In the middle you've got two divisions slightly over .500 and two slightly under, and again it's a wash.

AL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
Yankees	55	20	.733	-
Red Sox	47	32	.595	-10
Blue Jays	41	41	.500	-17.5
Orioles	37	45	.451	-21.5
Devil Rays	34	46	.425	-23.5
Division	214	184	.537

The American League East, led by the New York "Best Team in Baseball" Yankees, has the best record of baseball's six divisions, and by a fair margin. This is a case where you can indeed just glance at the winning percentages and see that indeed, the AL East is the best division in baseball. A closer look will show that not only does it contain the Yankees, but wild-card leading Boston as well as Toronto, a .500 team. The Orioles have taken flack this season for their losing, but really they aren't that bad. Finally, Tampa Bay has won nearly 43% of their games, not too shabby for an expansion club. Put them all together, and tada! You've got the best division in baseball.

NL East	W	L	Pct.	GB
Braves	53	29	.646	-
Mets	43	34	.558	-7.5
Phillies	40	39	.506	-11.5
Expos	33	47	.413	-19
Marlins	28	53	.346	-24.5
Division	197	202	.493

Despite its sub-.500 cumulative winning percentage, the National League East deserves credit for being the home of the Braves, a good Mets team, and a solid Phillies squad. Of course, the division is weighed down by two truly bad baseball teams, Montreal and Florida. Right now the only things separating the NL East and the AL East are the Marlins and Orioles - the Birds are decent, while the Fish are anything but. Other than that, the two are pretty evenly matched (Yankees/Braves, Red Sox/Mets, Blue Jays/Phillies, Devil Rays/Expos).

NL West	W	L	Pct.	GB
Padres	53	29	.646	-
Giants	48	35	.578	-5.5
Dodgers	39	42	.481	-13.5
Rockies	36	47	.434	-17.5
D' Backs	28	54	.341	-25
Division	204	207	.496

The situation in the National League West is remarkably similar to that of the NL East. One stellar team (San Diego), one good team (San Francisco), one solid team (Los Angeles) and two, um, not so good teams (Colorado and Arizona). The comparison isn't perfect - the Giants are slightly better than the Mets, and Colorado isn't quite as bad as Montreal - but it's darn close. As an aside, I'd love to see a Braves-Padres NLCS match-up. Right now I'd take the Braves in seven games, but that's subject to change.

NL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB
Astros	49	32	.605	-
Brewers	42	37	.532	-6
Cubs	43	38	.531	-6
Cardinals	39	41	.488	-9.5
Pirates	39	43	.476	-10.5
Reds	34	49	.410	-16
Division	246	240	.506

I'd love to list the National League Central (formerly "Comedy Central") higher, because it's a division with tremendous balance. The division as a whole is separated by only 16.5 games, a remarkable number when you consider that the division has six teams. Five of those six teams are winning at or better than a .476 clip, and there are only 10.5 games separating those same five. With the Cardinals and Pirates only slightly under .500, it's conceivable that five teams could finish above .500 in the division. At least, St. Louis should be able to reach the .500 mark. LaRussa's crew is just two games under at this point, and should get back some key pitching after the All-Star break. All that said, without a marquee team the NL Central can't be considered on par with the three top divisions. The Astros are a good team, but not the caliber of the Yankees, Padres or Braves. Sorry, 'Stros fans.

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB
Angels	48	32	.600	-
Rangers	46	35	.568	-2.5
Athletics	36	44	.450	-12
Mariners	34	48	.415	-15
Division	164	159	.508

Despite having the second-best winning percentage among the divisions, the American League West just isn't that good. You could make a case that the Mariners are better than a .415 team, but on the other hand both Anaheim and Oakland appear to be playing at least somewhat over their heads. It's possible that the A's really are a decent team, although they seem to be doing it a year or two early, and without very much pitching help. After their hot start the Rangers seem to have come back to earth, and they still have their nearly annual summer swoon to suffer through. There are just too many question marks to rate the AL West any higher, and it's also difficult to evaluate a division with just four teams.

AL Central	W	L	Pct.	GB
Indians	46	33	.582	-
Twins	38	42	.475	-8.5
Royals	35	45	.438	-11.5
White Sox	33	47	.413	-13.5
Tigers	30	48	.385	-15.5
Division	182	215	.458

Is there even really a debate about this one? The American League Central has just one team over .500, a Twins squad which has achieved a .475 winning percentage based on smoke and mirrors, two dreadful teams in Chicago and Detroit, and a Royals club that isn't much better. Division-leading Cleveland is a good team with a great lineup (Lofton, Thome, Ramirez, Justice), but their starting rotation is an injury away from falling apart. That injury just might be Bartolo Colon, who has thrown 118.1 innings (including 5 complete games, along with quite a few high-pitch starts) this season, 24.1 more than the did all of last season. And did I mention that the White Sox and Tigers are really bad?

Jason Michael Barker had a dream last night in which Armando Benitez decapitated Bud Selig with a 100 MPH fastball, and Donald Fehr charged the mound in retaliation. Davey Johnson watched from a luxury suite, laughing with glee. Offer to interpret at jmb@strikethree.com.