The Season Within the Season

As of Wednesday, August 23, there are six teams with more than 70 wins: Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners, Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants. Of these six teams, only the Giants and the Mets have been playing very well during August. Seattle (9-11), Chicago (10-11), Atlanta (9-11), and Arizona (12-8, thanks to a 7-game win streak) have August records hovering around .500, while the Mets (15-7) and the Giants (14-7) have been on a tear. The Yankees (12-10) and the Cardinals (11-9) have also struggled in August, but still maintain leads in their divisions.

DETROIT SURGING

Maybe GM Randy Smith didn't do so badly in the Juan Gonzalez trade. During the month of August, the team has a record of 13-6, a team batting average of .301, and a staff ERA of 3.68. Not to mention they're only 5.5 games out of the wild card spot. Although it could be a case of too little, too late, perhaps this could carry over into next year, if they can resign Gonzalez. There has been conflicting reports about the possibility of resigning Gonzalez. Some have quoted Gonzalez as being 80% sure he'll resign, and other say that Detroit has accepted the fact that they won't get to keep him.

FREE AGENT WATCH

With the huge free agent class available after this season, baseball agents are drooling over the prospect of escalating salaries. With Chipper Jones signing a $15 million a year extension with the Braves, could we be seeing the salaries top out in the $15 million range? With so many great players coming out and so few teams about to carry such big salaries, the market has to reach a limit somewhere. On the other hand, Manny Ramirez turned down a 5 year, $75 million dollar offer from the Indians.

THE BRENT MAYNE FILE

In a 12-inning battle between the Braves and the Rockies, catcher Brent Mayne got the win by pitching the 12th inning in his first major league appearance as a pitcher. He becomes the first position player to notch a win since Rocky Colavito did it for the Yankees in 1968.

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