Indian Givers

Well, that didn't take long. While we were all wondering whether the Cleveland Indians were for real, their entire team signed with the Miami Heat.

Since jumping out to a seven game lead over the rest of the AL Central and a 17-game advantage on the woeful Minnesota Plan B, the Indians have dropped 14 of 18 while the Twins' substitutes have begun competing. Detroit, 11-4 in its last 15, has caught the Indians, and the Twins, though still looking up at the rest of the league, are within seven games.

It's not just bad luck in Cleveland, which would be redundant anyway. The Indians have scuffled on both sides of the ball, tallying under three runs per game while allowing more than six during their slide. Minnesota, meanwhile, has discovered itself, though most of itself is on the DL (Joe Mauer, Denard Span, Jim Thome, Jason Kubel). The two leading sluggers on the team are Michael Cuddyer, 9 home runs, and Danny Valencia, 5. (Yes, that Danny Valencia.) That's an annual rate of 25 and 12 respectively, which is roughly what your bank CD is paying these days.

Even if staff ace Francisco Liriano continues his comeback on the mound and manager Ron Gardenhire remembers where his bullpen went, it's going to take a paradigm shift for the Twins to become relevant again. The same can not be said for Detroit or the White Sox, who are now within three-and-a-half of the division lead. They both look capable of looking capable over the last 100 games and making the early aptitude of the Indians and scuffling of the Twins ultimately irrelevant.

But they had us wondering for a minute there. 

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Snoozing Through Elimination

For the second year in a row, it's coming down to the last day of the season for the Twins...and no one outside of Minnesota and Michigan much cares.

Last year, the Twins and and White Sox needed a 163rd game to settle the AL Central, which the Sox captured in a thrilling 1-0 game, only to be obliterated by Tampa in the first round of the playoffs.

This year, it's the Twins and Tigers knotted after 161 games and possibly headed for seasonal overtime. This should be high drama, but even the one tight race is failing to capture our imagination. The reason is obvious: the victor simply earns the right to become Yankee cannon fodder.

The squad that prevails in this race will stand alone among playoff teams without 90 wins. Moreover, they will sport just the fifth best record in the American League, and arguably occupy just sixth place in team quality, behind Texas, Tampa and the contenders.

Just look at the pitching options facing Jim Leyland and Ron Gardenhire in the critical last days of the season. Gardenhire has sent to the mound Jeff Manship, a rookie with a 5.68 ERA, and Francisco Liriano, who is still recovering from TJ surgery and sporting a 5-13, 5.84 line. Leyland was forced to counter with the likes of rookie Alfredo Figaro, a rookie with 17 inings of experience and a 6.35 ERA, and Eddie Bonine, whose 61 lifetime innings and 4.81 ERA make him the star of the group. You think the Yankees are even scouting these two teams?

On the other hand, the rest of the playoffs could be a doozy. The Rockies won the right to avoid the Cardinals by virtue of their loss to the Dodgers last night. That leaves two first-round NL series -- LA-St. Louis and Colorado-Philly -- that are as wide open as Ozzie Guillen's mouth. The remaining AL series -- Boston-L.A. -- also promises fireworks. It's shaping up to be a fabulous post-season, which, as I've mentioned before, seems to vary inversely with the quality of the regular season.

The Yankees and, to a lesser degree, Cardinals have to be viewed as the favorites, particularly considering the special importance of the top three starters, the closer and experience in the postseason. As someone who finds nothing intriguing about one team dominating the sport by signing all the best free agents, I can think of much more compelling matchups, including any Phillies redux and a freeway series in LA. First though, we have to find out who survives that last elimination game.
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