Do not even look at the wild card standings now. The wild card race doesn't even start until August.
True. I know it's still early but it looks like the AL East is lost for them this year. But the wild card is going to be just as hard with the Indians, White Sox, Tigers, A's, etc all gunning for that spot. As of today, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees miss the playoffs. Even when they get Clemens and IF they make a splash at the trade deadline, they have a lot of fixing to do. I don't even think they need to make a big trade this summer. They have the pieces, they just can't put them together. Plus it doesn't help when they have 11 or 12 different starting pitchers and we're not even in the month of June yet.
The division will be tough to win, and may require a collapse from the Red Sox. The season is still early, and while Torre's Yankees have never been in this position before, they can still trim the Sox lead with enough time to make a run for it.
The deceptive thing about the Wild Card is that while it sometimes look as though you're right there 5 or 6 games out, there are so many other teams with you that you can't seem to break free from the pack. It might be a little more pronounced in the NL with the 2 extra teams.
I caught the last couple of batters in the Yankee game yesterday, and had to stop what I was doing to watch the 2-out battle between Jeter and Francisco Rodriguez, which reminded me why I'm a baseball fan. With the winning run on third, it was quite a confrontation between two exceptional talents.
