With Manny outta Boston, the AL now a complete tossup

It didn't really seem to matter to me that from the start of the season the Boston Red Sox had some important pieces injured, such as Dice-K, Big Papi, or Schilling's career ending injury. It didn't matter that Tampa a team that had finished higher than last place once was having their best season ever. I knew all that Boston needed to do was just get in the postseason and homefield or not they would take the AL easily. They were the team I worried about the most when it came to future World Series matchups for the Cubs.

Flash forward, the complaints from Manny about wanting to be traded out of Boston, which we had heard for the last couple of seasons and that I had never taken seriously finally became a reality. And all of a sudden, thinking about the Cubs future World Series opponent hits me like a blank slate. The AL just became completely wide open.

While Jason Bay is a solid player, he is not Manny by any means. And now the Red Sox are just like every other team in the AL, where they will end up come postseason is anybody's guess.

Everybody's new favorite is the LA Angels due in large part to a solid top 3 starters of Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana and John Lackey. But I have to be honest as great of a season it has been for the Angels, I still an not completely impressed. When you have an outfield consisting of Vlad Guerrero, Torii Hunter and Garrett Anderson, the offense should be unstoppable. But they all seem to be underachieving. They did get major help acquiring Mark Texeira, though. But they are on the verge of not even getting homefield throughout the AL. Are they this year's AL champs. It is far from clear.

When you look at the team currently with the best record in baseball, not just in the AL, it's the Tampa Bay Rays, not Devil Rays that was the name of a franchise going nowhere. The Rays however, are a young team on the rise. This team is the biggest mystery to me. Not only will they have the least postseason experience, but when Evan Longoria, the potential AL Rookie of the Year and Carl Crawford both go down with injuries, that was where there luck was supposed to finally run out. But this team continues to get it done and are looking at homefield throughout the postseason! But can I tell where they will end up. No way.

The last 3 teams that are competing for two playoff spots are the White Sox, the Twins and the post-Manny Red Sox. If I was close to certain of anything, I don't believe either of the two Central teams have what it takes. They won't be able to go on the road, the Sox starting pitching is extremely up and down and the Twins bullpen can't be relied on. But can I say this with 100% certainty. No I don't think I can.

As for Boston, without Manny I don't see it. They still have Big Papi and a potential MVP in Pedroia. But Josh Beckett going on the DL is a huge loss since he thrives on postseason play. This team needs Manny if you ask me in order to do any playoff damage at all. But can they be completely counted out? I don't think so.

I didn't care that Boston was not having as great a season as expected. When Manny was still there I was positive we would see a Cubs Red Sox World Series. But now that Manny is off in Hollywood, this just makes the AL a complete tossup. And it is way too hard for me to predict who I believe the Cubs will be facing in the World Series. Because the American League seems completely even to me.