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Here's an overview with 50 games to go:
We have a 4 1/2 game lead over the Reds after taking 3 out of 4 over them. The last month has sorted things out in the NL East where the Phillies are 9 games up and the Rangers are 6 up on the Angels. In the AL East, the Yankees are 1 up on the Tigers and 5 over the Sox.
My experiment of playing a sub-par fielding shortstop who can change the game offensively is over after a week. I use 20-80 ratings and Jeff Carter is just a 40. Roberto Kelly is a 50 but has been a disappointment at the plate. The fact that we lead the league in HR and are 2nd in runs has made me realize that I need the glove at short.
Poor Carter. He's just a rookie at 23 and is actually a 2b. He's gone .310/.397/.415 6 HR and is 57 out of 67 in steals. But we have Mike Cole at second. He's 26 and played a ton in LF before we traded for Gwynn. He's been an all-star and has gone .271/.396/.338 and is 40 out of 48 in steals. Carter has been better, but Cole has been the man I think I should stick with him. But I am trading him in the offseason and go with Carter long term.
Some highlights around the league, Allen Sigler has 50 HR, but his pace has dropped to 70. Heh. Horner is having a great season for the Reds, leading the leading in hitting and RBI and has 37 HR's as well. Our Andy Araujo leads the league in wins and ERA, 14-5 with a 2.28 ERA. Kevin Houston is right behind him at 14-2 and a 2.59 ERA. After them, our rotation is a bit of a mess.
We signed a free agent as a bullpen arm in the offseason and has been good, so we moved Michael Elliott into the 4th spot. After a very bad 1st start and a meh 2nd start, he only gave up 1 run in 7 innings in his last start. For our 5th spot, we signed released Bill Gullickson in June and after some time in AAA, he was solid from the bullpen and in his 1st start, he only gave up 4 hits and 1 run in 7 innings. All I need are decent 4th and 5th guys.
In the AL, my off-season UFA target Fred Lynn leads the league in hitting and 23 year old Barry Bonds is leading the league in HR and RBI's again. There are no pitchers having a great year, Tom Hume leads the league in ERA at 3.32.
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