The Minnesota Twins lead the AL Central, while the Phillies and Marlins are battling it out in the NL East, pushing the powerful Mets and Braves towards the bottom of the division. The A-Rod-less Mariners continue to win, while everybody’s World Series pick out west, the Oakland A’s, are the worst team in baseball right now. This week’s top stories:

The Yankees’ reign was supposed to be over, right? The mighty Athletics of Oakland were going to dismantle the World Champs with ease and bring the World Series trophy back to the Bay Area. Whoever made these predictions (i.e. every preseason baseball magazine on the market) should be checked for a pulse and a cerebrum. The Oakland A’s do have a strong team, but World Series-caliber, are you kidding me? The A’s are stuck in the cellar in AL West and were completely dismantled by the Seattle Mariners over the past two weeks. At weekend’s end, the A’s were 2-10, having been swept by the Mariners and the Rangers in consecutive series, while losing seven straight overall. So far the “stacked” A’s lineup is averaging barely over three runs per game. Johnny Damon, the leadoff hitter that will stir the drink in Oakland, is getting on base at a .292 clip. Ouch. Jason Giambi, last season’s MVP, has only knocked out one tater. Tim Hudson and Barry Zito, the two young star hurlers, each have only one win and ERA’s well above 5.00. The A’s need to pick up their offense now, while the pitching need to improve if they want to have a chance to fulfill those preseason predictions.

The Minnesota Twins have shocked everyone so far this season. They are 9-2 and leading the AL Central after a three game sweep of the Chicago White Sox, last year’s central champs. The Twinkies play in the same division as the Indians and White Sox, each teams looking for playoff success this season. Everyone on the Twins has performed so far. Brad Radke is finally living up to his potential, as he has posted three victories in his first three starts. The team is slugging .542 and scoring six and a half runs per game. Joe Mays, Christian Guzman, and Eric Milton are all off to good starts which is vital for the Twins to keep winning games. You read it here first: 20 wins for Radke this season.

If anyone was able to see the highlights of the Orioles-Red Sox game last Wednesday, they would have seen a frustrated Jose Mercedes knocking over water coolers in the dugout after being taken out due to an ineffective start. There is no place in baseball for this type of behavior. A police officer manning the dugout actually had to move out of Mercedes’ way so that Jose could trash the rest of the dugout. Players who resort to this type of outburst to relieve poor playing deserve harsh punishments. Mercedes ought to fined $25,000 and suspended 10 games for his outburst. Why should someone have to clean up after this spoiled overpaid brat? Mike Hampton is another example of a guy who is unable to control his emotions after poor performances. He loves to throw stuff around and slam his glove everywhere after getting hit hard. Teams should invoke more rules against these useless tantrums to abolish them from baseball.

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