THT Dartboard: June 15, 2008

I have to again plead the readers forgiveness for being tied up with baseball-related events this weekend that ate into my time to peruse the going-ons amongst each team in baseball. For the time being, I will point out how dramatic of a surprise the playoffs would be if they ended up as the Dartboard currently predicts. Boston, Tampa, Chicago and Oakland in the American League? Three of four of those teams were expected to finish in the lower half of their respected divisions. The National League is going a bit more like expected as Chicago and Arizona were both favorites and the Phillies were expected to vie with the Mets.

Dartboard
Divisional Picture

Dartboard

Welcome to The Hardball Times Dartboard, our weekly attempt to rank all the teams in baseball. The Dartboard Factor is how many wins a team would be expected to have at the end of the season if it played a neutral schedule. Next to that, you’ll find the Dartboard Factor from the previous week. An explanation of our method can be found here.

#1 Chicago Cubs (Dartboard Factor = 101, 101)

#2 Boston Red Sox (Dartboard Factor = 98, 97)

#3 Tampa Bay Rays (Dartboard Factor = 97, 97)

#4 Philadelphia Phillies (Dartboard Factor = 95, 93)

#5 Chicago White Sox (Dartboard Factor = 93, 93)

#6 Arizona Diamondbacks (Dartboard Factor = 92, 88)

#7 Oakland Athletics (Dartboard Factor = 91, 92)

#8 St Louis Cardinals (Dartboard Factor = 89, 89)

#9 Atlanta Braves (Dartboard Factor = 88, 91)

#10 Toronto Blue Jays (Dartboard Factor = 86, 88)

#11 Los Angeles Angels (Dartboard Factor = 86, 85)

#12 Florida Marlins (Dartboard Factor = 84, 83)

#13 New York Yankees (Dartboard Factor = 84, 82)

#14 Milwaukee Brewers (Dartboard Factor = 83, 85)

#15 Texas Rangers (Dartboard Factor = 82, 81)

#16 Baltimore Orioles (Dartboard Factor = 80, 79)

#17 New York Mets (Dartboard Factor = 79, 79)

#18 Cleveland Indians (Dartboard Factor = 78, 75)

#19 Cincinnati Reds (Dartboard Factor = 78, 78)

#20 Detroit Tigers (Dartboard Factor = 77, 71)

#21 Houston Astros (Dartboard Factor = 77, 78)

#22 Pittsburgh Pirates (Dartboard Factor = 76, 76)

#23 Los Angeles Dodgers (Dartboard Factor = 76, 79)

#24 San Diego Padres (Dartboard Factor = 74, 70)

#25 San Francisco Giants (Dartboard Factor = 74, 72)

#26 Minnesota Twins (Dartboard Factor = 71, 73)

#27 Colorado Rockies (Dartboard Factor = 68, 65)

#28 Kansas City Royals (Dartboard Factor = 64, 65)

#29 Seattle Mariners (Dartboard Factor = 62, 61)

#30 Washington Nationals (Dartboard Factor = 59, 61)

Divisional Picture

The playoff picture takes the above ranking and reforms the teams back into their leagues and divisions including the wild card. This is in no ways a prediction, this is an assessment of how teams have played so far this season, not how each team is going to play.

AL EAST
Red Sox – 98
Rays – 97
Blue Jays – 86
Yankees – 84
Orioles – 80

AL CENTRAL
White Sox – 93
Indians – 78
Tigers – 77
Twins – 71
Royals – 64

AL WEST
Athletics – 91
Angels – 86
Rangers – 82
Mariners – 62

AL WILD CARD
Rays – 97
Blue Jays – 86
Angels – 86
Yankees – 84

NL EAST
Phillies – 95
Braves – 88
Marlins – 84
Mets – 79
Nationals – 59

NL CENTRAL
Cubs – 101
Cardinals – 89
Brewers – 83
Reds – 78
Astros – 77
Pirates – 76

NL WEST
Diamondbacks – 92
Dodgers – 76
Padres – 74
Giants – 74
Rockies – 68

NL WILD CARD
Cardinals – 89
Braves – 88
Marlins – 84
Brewers – 83