Transaction League Update

Carpenter & the Cards have the league seeing red.

Here is a breakdown of each of the MLB Divisions in my Transaction League. Once again, the Transaction League, is a 2013 Season Replay with real-life 2014 MLB Transactions.

• The A.L. East: The Boston Red Sox have the best record in the entire league, with a 88-41 record -- They lead the division by 13 games over the current wildcard Tampa Bay Rays. Boston has gone 16-5 since the July 31st Trade Deadline. If the season ended today, Tampa Bay (73-52) would host the Detroit Tigers for a one-game wildcard playoff game. The Baltimore Orioles have descended since the deadline, going 8-11 during this stretch, and now find themselves 3 games behind Detroit for that second spot.

• The A.L. Central: The Kansas City Royals have took first place, despite the fact that the Detroit Tigers landed David Price at the deadline. Tigers have gone 9-12, while K.C. has gone 14-8 during this stretch -- with the Royals leading the division with 70-55 record (1.5 games up) on 69-57 Detroit.

• The A.L. West: The Texas Rangers (81-46) are running away with the division, 19.5 games over Oakland. The Oakland Athletics, at one point after the trade, won 7 straight games, but in the other games from their 10-9 period, makes them 3-9 in a 12-game stretch. The team is not completely out, but at 61-65, and 8 games behind the 2nd wildcard spot, the A's are running out of time.

• The N.L. East: The Atlanta Braves (68-58) hold a slight 2 game edge over the Washington Nationals. Atlanta is idling at 10-9, while Washington (66-60) has done a little better at 12-7. The New York Mets have been hanging around at 62-63, only 5.5 games out of first -- but it's going to be tough for them to compete with both teams down the stretch. I think Washington has made the best deals to pull it off at the end, and I believe only one team will go to the playoffs from this division. Washington is currently 6 games behind the 2nd wildcard slot, that happens to be sliding Pittsburgh.

• The N.L. Central: The St. Louis Cardinals were nipping at the Pittsburgh Pirates' heels right before the trade deadline -- since then, the Cards made some good moves & have now gone 15-6 in their last 21 games, all while the Pirates have gone 8-12 in that span. St. Louis now leads with a 78-48 record (6 games up).

• The N.L. West: The Los Angeles Dodgers have the National League's best record at 82-44, and have also been red-hot (17-4) in their last 21 games. They have made some distance now (8 games) between the second-place Colorado Rockies (who have been playing .500 ball during the last 20 games). Colorado currently is in position to host the one-game wildcard playoff against the Pirates. The San Francisco Giants are starting to find themselves to be a long-shot with a 65-61 record, and is going to have a difficult time getting past Washington or Atlanta, Pittsburgh & Colorado to get into the playoffs -- especially if they keep losing, 9-12 in last 21 games.

The Tigers have depended a lot on Cabera.

A.L. STATISTICS

• Miguel Cabrera (DET) currently leads the league in batting average at .371 over Boston's Daniel Nava. Even though Cabrera's Runs (82) & RBI (86) numbers are a bit low, his total average of 1.233, Runs Created (127.3), Runs Contributed (67.2), On-Base Percentage (.456), Slugging (.652) & 161 hits, all lead the American League. The runs & RBI's might be down, due to the fact that the Tigers only average 4.4 runs per game, slightly below the mid-level mark in the A.L. They also have the 2nd lowest HR totals (96) to Kansas City's 95 HR's.

• Despite K.C.'s lack of power, they do lead the league in batting average as a team (.272), Detroit ranks 6th at .261. The Tigers also don't have the bullpen that the Royals do. The team's lineup is lead by Eric Hosmer (.331 Avg/4th) with his 15 HR's & 84 RBI, he is 2nd with 160 hits.

• Evan Longoria (TB) currently leads A.L. in Home Runs with 35. Jose Bautista trails with 33, Miggy has 32, and Chris Davis has 30. Despite Longoria's power, he has stranded a league's worst 225 men left on base.

• Adrian Beltre (TEX) leads the A.L. in RBI with 102, with Longoria second at 99, Josh Donaldson of Oakland at 96, and David Ortiz (BOS) at 92.

• Ortiz's former teammate Jacoby Ellsbury of the Yankees leads the A.L. in Stolen Bases with 56, while Texas has a pair of 40+ steals by Alex Rios (44) & Leonys Martin (41), while their teammate Elvis Andrus is 6th with 33 steals. Former Rangers player Craig Gentry is 4th with 37 steals. The Texas Rangers easily leads the league with 141 steals -- they also are 2nd in batting average, lead the league in scoring, and are 2nd in OBP.

• The Detroit Tigers have the top 3 ranking pitching leaders in ERA with Anibal Sanchez (2.04), Max Scherzer (2.24) and newly-acquired David Price (2.40). Scherzer and Sanchez currently rank 1&2 in strikeouts with 244 & 219 K's -- while Scherzer and Price both have 15 victories a piece. Justin Verlander ranks 4th in K's with 187.

• The Top 3 Saves Leaders are not your usual leaders: Neal Cotts (TEX) leads with 36, Alex Torres (TB) - 2nd with 34, and the computer went with Louis Coleman (KC) over his teammate Greg Holland to close out games with 33. Holland still has played his part with a league-leading 21 Holds, while Luke Hochevar (another Royal) is averaging 11.5 K's per 9 innings when he comes out of the pen. Cotts for the Rangers, also leads the league in ERA for relievers with a 0.63 mark.

All Smiles for Ryu, Kerhsaw & Dodger Blue.

N.L. STATISTICS

• When you think Jhonny Peralta, you don't usually think batting title, but in his first year in the N.L., he might get a chance to win one. He currently leads with a .342 average over teammate Yadier Molina, while fellow Card Matt Carpenter is 6th (batting .313). Peralta also leads the N.L. in RBI (80) & Slugging Percentage (.548).

• Bryce Harper (WAS) leads the N.L. in Home Runs with 30, while Lucas Duda (NYM) has 23, Joey Votto (CIN) - 22, and Dominic Brown at 21. Votto currently has an edge on Carpenter (STL) in On-Base Percentage at .402 to .397.

• Carpenter is putting together a solid all-around year with .313 BA, league-leading hits (157), Runs (93), doubles (45), Multi-Hit Games (50), Runs Created (104.6) & Runs Contributed (39.5).

• San Diego's Everth Cabrera leads the league with 52 steals, over Milwaukee's duo of Jean Segura (48) and Carlos Gomez (36). In other areas of speed, Denard Span leads N.L. with 16 triples (24 steals).

• Clayton Kershaw (LAD) is running away with the N.L. Cy Young with his ridiculous 1.25 ERA, going along nicely with his 17-5 record & 260 strikeouts. The combination of Kershaw & teammate Hyun-Jin Ryu, have a combined record of 34-9!

• Mark Melancon (PIT) leads N.L. with 31 Saves, over the Giants' Javier Lopez (26) & the Brewers' Brandon Kintzler (25). Lopez owns a microscopic ERA of 0.19 in 47 innings.