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ken -- I agree Yanks pitching ain't pretty, but in reality the team ERA is almost exactly the same as the Red Sox -- which is no work of art either. Three guys the Yanks got for nothing off the scrap heap -- Leiter, Chacon and Small -- all pitched very solidly, much better than some of the bigger names they replaced. And while the Unit was lousy yesterday, his start before that was his best of the season, 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 runs. Despite what it looked like earlier in the season, it may very well be once again that the Wild Card comes out of the East. Minny is struggling, and losing Hunter really hurts. Says here the 4 AL playoff teams will come from among these 5 -- NY, Boston, Chi, Oak, and the artist formerly known as Anaheim. The A's have that great pitching, but I'm not sure they can keep this pace up. I'm a bit surprised at the Angels travails -- at times they look like the best team in baseball, albeit one with little offense -- but they also have the capacity to unravel. They have 10 games left with Oakland and 6 with Boston, and that internecine warfare could help the Yanks slip in there. As a Yanks fan, I was really hoping that original Manny trade would have gone through, but I knew Theo would never be dumb enough to take Huff and Cameron for Manny. I agree that in the off-season he will rejoin his fellow headcase Pedro and live happily ever after in Queens. And my sympathies to TB and Fla fans, having to put up with front offices that hem and haw and won't pull the trigger. TB had a golden opportunity for nice prospects in the original Manny deal. And now Fla gets nothing for Burnett, unless they have some understanding about re-signing him.

I'm not an NL guy, but I have to say the Braves continue to amaze. Where they dig these arms up, only Leo Mazzone knows. And Houston stays dangerous with its own well-armed staff. I think one of those two can take out the Cards in the playoffs.