No winner as Southwest launches lineal in 2019

After a full 2019 season of attempting to play down the Southwest Conference for a lineal champion, the task was not yet completed. The Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks each ended the season with four of the eight title shares.

The basis of the four-by-four baseball standings on these pages is a division of the big league baseball markets into four ordinal directions (northeast, southeast, southwest and northwest, going clockwise) and, intending the most equal distribution and geographic integrity possible, placing the teams into these four new "conferences."

In addition to playing each year for this important conference championship, these ordinal conferences also are purposed as divisions in corresponding new leagues based on cardinal directionality (north, south, east and west). Thus, the Northeast Conference is simultaneously the North Division of the East League and the East Division of the North League. 

As the East Division of the North League, the Northeast partners with the Northwest, which is the West Division of the North League. As the North Division of the East League, the Northeast partners with the Southeast, which is the South Division of the East League. The Southeast Conference, in turn, also is the East Division of the South League. And so on. This pattern of relationships between ordinal conferences and cardinal leagues generalizes across the four-by-four.

In addition to their own composite regular season championships, these conferences and leagues also are tracked for lineal championships. The standard practice for starting a lineal is to begin it with the league's champion from the previous year. Sometimes, though, like this, there is no such pre-existing entity as a North League, East League or Northeast Conference that has an established champion.

For these conference lineals, this means there is no obvious team to be "it" as we begin this perpetual game of tag. How is that decision reached?

For these new baseball lineals established in 2019, we took a mixed approach. For the cardinal leagues, we just started it with the teams for which the best argument could be made based on the 2018 results. For these ordinal conferences, we're doing it the better, harder way, which is to put it up for grabs.

Consider the Southwest Conference. It has eight clubs – the Dodgers and Angels from Los Angeles, the San Diego Padres of far Southern California, the Arizona Diamondbacks of the desert Southwest, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers of Texas, the Kansas City Royals of cattle country, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who owned the American Southwest before any of these other clubs arrived and before all but the Dodgers even existed.

We began the lineal championship by giving each of these clubs one share of it. When any of these two clubs met, each put up its shares, winner take all. Eventually, all of the shares will consolidate with one team. At that point, we have a champion.

In every other cardinal conference lineal we launched in 2019, a decision was reached before the end of the season, sometimes, well before then. But not the Southwest.

At the end of the 2019 season, the Astros and Diamondbacks each held four shares. How those shares ended up in those two places is two different stories.

The Astros actually lost their share to the Texas Rangers at the start of the season, so they were empty-handed entering a rematch April 19-21 in the Metroplex, which the Rangers entered with three of the title's eight shares. And the Rangers won again.

So, the Astros had nothing when they went to Anaheim during the first week of May to play the Angels, who entered with one share. This time, the Astros won. After that, they were scorching.

The Rangers still had their three shares when they met with the Astros in Houston for four games May 9-12. The Astros won all four. Now, they held four shares, half of the championship. And they have guarded them jealously. The Astros ran the table, winning each of nine series against conference teams through the end of the season. However, none of the teams they played held any of the championship, so the Astros ended the year with their same four shares.

The story of the other four shares begins right after the Astros consolidated their four shares. Within a week, the Dodgers defended their two shares from the Padres and the Rangers swiped two shares from St. Louis. A week after that, the Angels took those two shares from the Rangers. The Angels and Dodgers met at Dodger Stadium for two games June 10-11, each club putting their two shares on the line. The Angels won both, so the wait was on for the moment when the only teams with shares would meet to narrow it down once and for all.

It never happened. Instead, these four shares owned by the Angels changed hands twice before July, once to the Cardinals, then the Padres. The Dodgers won those shares at the start of August, then lost them to the Diamondbacks at the start of September. Then, the Diamondbacks defended those shares four times ending the season.

The chase will resume in 2021. In 2019, the Astros were, by far, the best performer in this group, going 31-12. But they don't have a championship to show for it, and nor does anyone else.

Yanks prevail with interleague baseball traveler for 2019

The New York Yankees had only one shot at the interleague baseball traveling championship in 2019, and did more with that than the Arizona Diamondbacks did in several. The Yankees won the bid for the Elite League, not that they needed it.

Like a good Gleyber, Torres is there — John Sterling (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license). 

The 2019 traveling championship across big league baseball went into the books at the end of the regular season with the Chicago White Sox in possession, the Arizona Diamondbacks on top of the pile in games of title and the New York Yankees as the top club across the competition.

The Yankees won on criteria established here in 2018 for determining which clubs should receive the traveling championship bids to the next year's Elite Division. In the old days, we'd just make a valedictory announcement naming a Team of the Year based on the data and the general drift of the season, not unlike how we chose the national champion in college football not so long ago. But the establishment of the Elite Division forced some tighter focus, so we worked up criteria.                                                                                                                                                   

The criteria should naturally demonstrate how we value performance with the traveling championship. It would seem, for example, that simply having the championship for the most games might be sufficient. But what we really value is being good at playing for the championship (that is, winning it) and being good at defending it. Could it be that the club with the most games of championship is not the best at winning it and defending it?

Well, look at our standings. The Diamondbacks are way ahead of everyone else with 28 games holding the title. But the Diamondbacks actually were a middling performer with the traveling title on the line. 

They were reasonably good at winning it, succeeding in four out of five challenges. But their overall record in games for the traveling title is less than stellar, 21-23. They only defended the championship on five of nine occasions. And three of their successful defenses were absolutely the weakest kind. In each of those cases, the series ended in a draw, the other team scored more runs and the DBacks held it because that's how it works with the interleague championship. You have to beat the champion. In the traveling title across either of the leagues, the run totals would have broken these ties away from the Diamondbacks.

Arizona won its second traveling title of the season May 3-5, taking two of three from the Colorado Rockies in Denver, then lost it right away by dropping two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg. Next, the Yankees dropped in on Tampa Bay and won two of three, becoming the new champions.

From there, the Yankees tore it up with six defenses, finally losing two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto June 4-6. The Yankees never saw another chance at the traveling title. But their output already was 21 games of title, six defenses in seven attempts and a 17-7 record. At that point, the Yankees were well ahead in the main categories. Arizona was 9-9 with two titles, 12 games and only two defenses in four attempts.

The Diamondbacks continued accumulating, but all of it put together didn't seem to match what the Yankees did with just that one turn, and the criteria supports that. Of course, the criteria worked out great for the Diamondbacks in 2018, as it put them ahead of a 48-game season by the Dodgers in the National League traveler and kept the Dodgers out of the Elite Division. This time, the criteria turned back the Diamondbacks.

The criteria before the criteria are the standards for being included in the "stat-off," which are one title with six defenses or at least two titles with three defenses. Only the Yankees and the Diamondbacks made the standard. 

The Cincinnati Reds fell one defense short of six in mid-August, losing to the Washington Nationals. Then the Nationals came through with five defenses before losing to the New York Mets in early September. The Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres each won two titles, but they totaled two defenses between them.

So, here are the criteria, and here is how the two eligible clubs, the Diamondbacks and Yankees, measured up to them.

1. Most championships (Arizona 4, New York 1).

2. Most title defenses per championship (New York 6, Arizona 1.25).

3. Best winning percentage in traveling championship games (New York .708, Arizona .477).

4. Most victories per time playing for the championship (New York 2.13, Arizona 1.5).

5. Most games as champion per time playing for the championship (New York 2.63, Arizona 2).

6. Fewest failed challenges (New York 0, Arizona 1).

7. Head-to-head record in traveling championship games (No head-to-head).

The last of those goes to neither side, and the Yankees carry five of the other six. So, the Yankees get the bid here, but they don't really need it. At this point, they are almost certain to win this year's Elite Division and take the first bid next year as the defending champion. Moreover, there is all but no chance that the Yankees will fall from the top half of the First Division, and they would be in that way.

However, the result is fatal, in this limited sense, to the Diamondbacks, who had no other chance of returning to the Elite Division. The Diamondbacks were the only club out of the top eight in this year's Elite Division to miss the Major League playoffs, and they'll finish in second place if the Yankees go all the way. In that event, they would finish second to the Yankees by much more than in the traveling championship. 

But it's still second place, and that's the outside looking in. 

D-Backs nudge Dodger in NL traveling title decision

Because a new league is being introduced, new criteria are needed to make firmer decisions about who actually is the Team of the Year in these baseball traveling championships. The criteria worked out badly in 2018 for the Dodgers.

The introduction of a new championship division that would over-arch the traveling, pyramid and regional baseball championships on these pages will impose the most dramatic adjustments on the traveling championships.

The traveling titles shall continue to function as always, but the process of deciding which team is the best traveling championship team of the season has long been in need of refinement. Until now, the need has never been pressing and the decision has been more amusing than not. The process wasn't designed altogether for justice or accountability. After all, absolutely nothing was riding on being named Team of the Year.

The brand new elite division changes that, holding open a championship berth for each of the several traveling champions -- those tracking the two major leagues and the one across the major leagues, all of which will enter their ninth year in 2019, and the new titles going through our mythical West, East, North and South Leagues. The new leagues are running traveling championships for the first time in 2019, so their winners will be in the mix for the 2020 Elite Division.

When we say each of these traveling competitions receives a "championship berth," we mean that the champion is guaranteed entry into the Elite Division, not that the traveling competition gets a berth. That is, if the season's traveling champ in some league has qualified by some other means, the next team down doesn't receive an invitation.

Needing some kind of objective, measurable criteria by which to determine a champion, it turns out we have plenty to take from the information published here. Thus, the following seven criteria are set out for determining the championship. Whatever team comes out on top in the most criteria is the champion.

First, of course, it's necessary to winnow down our participants to the few contenders who meet some minimum standard. To be eligible for the "stat-off," a team must have won at least two championships and posted at least three defenses, or one championship with at least six defenses. That will lop off 80 percent of the teams and still include everyone who could plausibly claim to be the best.

Next, the criteria:

1. Most championships.

2. Most title defenses per championship.

3. Best winning percentage in traveling championship games.

4. Most victories per time playing for the championship.

5. Most games as champion per time playing for the championship.

6. Fewest failed challenges.

7. Head-to-head record in traveling championship games.

In the event that no winner is decided through this process, the trump criterion shall be head-to-head record. If there is no head-to-head, then we shall revert to total championships plus successful defenses, then total games of championship.

It makes a difference, which comes through when we look at the traveling title among National League clubs in 2018. Any other year, we would look at these standings and the Dodgers stand out as, obviously, the Team of the Year. How often do we see 48 games in a baseball season with a traveling championship? Four titles in one year? 

So, we apply the criteria and, you know, the criteria generate an evidence base amounting to an argument for the team they select, and they give due credit to the Dodgers for four titles and 48 games with the title -- and, yet, it's not the Dodgers. It's the Arizona Diamondbacks.

So, just as in the First Division, the Dodgers are denied entry to the Elite Division for their inability to handle the Arizona squad. It came down to head-to-head. By the criteria, the Diamondbacks and Dodgers came up even, each winning three. But one of the categories belonging to the Diamondbacks trumps the rest.

1. Most championships (Dodgers four, Arizona two).

2. Most title defenses per championship (Arizona 3.5, Dodgers 2.5).

3. Best winning percentage in traveling championship games (Arizona .595, Dodgers .560).

4. Most victories per time playing for the championship (Dodgers 1.85, Arizona 1.83).

5. Most games as champion per time playing for the championship (Dodgers 2.4, Arizona 2.33).

6. Fewest failed challenges (one each).

7. Head-to-head record in traveling championship games (Arizona, 9-4).

In addition to importing the title from 2017, the Dodgers won four more and held the title at some point in every month of the season except August. With 48 games of title defense, the Dodgers far outpaced the second-best team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who had 28.

Though the Dodgers whipped Arizona in the standings, the Diamondbacks whipped the Dodgers on the field during this competition. The two clubs met four times for the championship, with the Diamondbacks winning three and the other ending in a 2-2 draw.

Two of those Arizona victories ended Dodger championships. The first of those was a three-game sweep in Arizona April 2-4 to take the title to the desert for a 25-game defense that included turning back a challenge from the Dodgers April 13-15 at Dodger Stadium. Another Diamondbacks victory ended a 13-game Dodger title run in September.

The one time the Diamondbacks didn't win, it was just barely. A four-game series in Arizona had to go into tiebreakers. The first, total runs, was tied, 15-15. The second is total strikeouts, which went 35-32 for the Dodgers.

Red Sox make mark, fly through First Division

The Boston Red Sox won their second First Division title in 2017, setting the record for the largest winning margin in the games behind column. The San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers fell to the bottom.

New to the First Division in 2017, the Boston Red Sox cruised to the title by five games on their partner in promotion, the Cleveland Indians.

The First Division title normally is a pretty tight affair, but the Red Sox ended the campaign with the largest margin in the history of this competition. The Red Sox won the inagural First Division in 2010 by four games on the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays claimed the 2011 top tier title by the same margin over the San Francisco Giants in the two previous largest margins.

The 2010 title was Boston's only previous First Division championship.

The Giants and Texas Rangers fell to the bottom of the First Division in 2017 and are headed to the Second Division in 2018. Coming up from the Second Division to the First Division are the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees.

The Diamondbacks will be in the First Division for the first time in their history. The Yankees were an original First Division team in 2010 but finished last in the tier in 2013 to be demoted and are headed back to the top level for the first time since then. The Yankees won the Second Division in 2017 by one game over the Diamondbacks and the Milwaukee Brewers, who missed the second promotional spot by percentage points.

The Detroit Tigers and New York Mets both won promotion to the Second Division for 2017, but both found the soup a little too thick at the higher level and they're both going back to the Third Division in 2018. In their place are the last two World Champions, the Chicago Cubs (2016) and the Houston Astros (2017), the top two Third Division clubs of 2017.

The fight to stave off relegation to the Fourth Division came down to two losers and one survivor, with the Miami Marlins coming out of it in the preferred position. The Seattle Mariners and Atlanta Braves are going down to the Third Division in 2018.

The Colorado Rockies and Minnesota Twins, easily the best two Fourth Division teams in 2017, are going up to the Third Division in 2018.

Yanks, D-Backs hold Second Division lead

It's still early, of course, but the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks are the top two clubs right now in the Second Division across big league baseball. The First Division, meanwhile, is as tight as ever, with five clubs within a game of the top.

Starlin Castro is batting .368 (14-for-38) for the New York Yankees in their Second Division games this season (Arturo Pardavilla III/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

Where our ordinal divisions with promotion and relegation are concerned, the big winner has to be the First Division champion, obviously. Next in line, though, are the clubs that win their way into the First Division for the following season.

So, the early returns in the baseball season point to the Arizona Diamondbacks and the New York Yankees, tied on top of the Second Division, each at 6-3. But it is early, and there's nothing to be gained from calling favorites.

The entire rest of the Second Division, excepting the New York Mets, is within two games of the top. And because of how inter-league play is set up this season (NL West vs. AL Central, NL Central vs. AL East and NL East vs. AL West), all of the Second Division has a thick schedule.

That is, every Second Division club except the last-place Mets. But the Mets still have another 20 games within the Second Division. They're not done, either.

The First Division has tightened up a bit since we checked a couple of weeks ago. Now, the top five clubs are within a game of each other.

The same can't be said in the Third Division, where the Houston Astros have opened up a three-game lead.

The Third Division lines up in an oddly balanced way. The Angels, the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners all are in the AL West, so they will play each other a lot. The Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies all are in the NL East, so they will play each other a lot. The remaining two clubs are the Chicago clubs.

The Chicago clubs are lightly scheduled in the Third Division this year, which means they must make the best of the few opportunities out there. Entering May 19, the Cubs have 21 more games, and the White Sox have 20, including their May 19 game against the Mariners.

So, it is early for the White Sox, but they are in relegation position and it isn't that early. And it's early for the Cubs, but they are in promotion position and it isn't that early.

BoSox, DBacks win Second Division bids for 2016

The Boston Red Sox rallied and the Arizona Diamondbacks held firm to finish 2015 as the top two clubs in the Third Division and win promotion for 2016. But the Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics are going down.

The Boston Red Sox won five of their last six games in the Third Division and rallied to the championship in 2015, overtaking the Minnesota Twins for promotion.

The Red Sox finished 16-10 in the Third Division to prevail over the Arizona Diamondbacks (21-16)  by one-half game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks finished second in the Third Division to take the second promotion to the Second Division for 2016. Ordinarily, placement is decided by winning percentage, but the Diamondbacks made it in on a rule that went into effect before the season to compensate for the inequities in baseball scheduling.

The rule says that if the third-place team by percentage finishes within one-half game of the top, plays 150 percent as many games as the second-place team by percentage, finishes ahead of that second-place percentage team in the games column and is within 20 percentage points of that second-place percentage team, then that third-place team by percentage gets second place and the promotion.

In this case, the Diamondbacks played 37 games, compared with 24 for the Twins. The DBacks finished one-half game behind the Red Sox, while the Twins finished one game behind. The Twins had the better winning percentage, .583 to .567.

The rule isn't ideal, but we have to work with what's really there. The Diamondbacks participated more fully in the Third Division than the Twins (or the Red Sox, for that matter) and won at a rate just below the Twins. We can argue with the rule, but we can't argue that the Diamondbacks don't deserve promotion.

The Twins led for much of the year, but stumbled out of a promotional spot by losing three of their last four while the Red Sox surged. The Chicago Cubs also came up fast, winning six of their last eight games.

The Cubs (12-10) and Seattle Mariners (22-20) finished in fourth, two games out.

The Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics were, without contest, the two lowest teams in the Third Division. Both are being relegated to the Fourth Division in 2016. Coming up from the Fourth Division are the New York Mets and the Chicago White Sox.

While the Red Sox and Diamondbacks go up to the Second Division in 2016, the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers are coming down from the Second Division to the Third Division.

Dodgers win wild West League in 2015

The Dodgers rallied through the final two months of the 2015 West League season, while the Houston Astros faltered on the road. Thus, the Dodgers overtook the Astros to claim the West League championship.

Adrian Gonzalez led the Dodgers' batting order through a championship campaign during the 2015 West League season (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

The Dodgers looked finished in the West League after the Houston Astros swept them three Aug. 21-23 in Houston, starting with a no-hitter for Houston hurler Mike Fiers in the Friday night opener.

After that series, the Astros were 42-26, four games up on the Dodgers, who wallowed at 37-29 second place. 

But the road took a toll on the Astros in the final month, as two three-city trips through the circuit yielded combined results of 4-15. 

The better seasoned Dodgers campaigned on their big road trip, a Sept. 3-13 three-city swing through San Diego, Anaheim and Arizona that went 7-3, one loss in each location.

By the time the Astros took a 2-8 beating going through Oakland, Anaheim and Arlington, TX, Sept. 7-17, the Dodgers were in command.

The Dodgers went to the final week of the season with a two-game lead on the Astros and a three-game lead on the Angels and San Francisco Giants. The Dodgers then split four in San Francisco before sweeping three at home against the San Diego Padres to secure a 5-2 week, which no one else surpassed and only the Astros matched.

Ending the regular season, the Dodgers remained two up on the Astros. The Dodgers, Astros and Rangers remained alive in the Major League playoffs. Though the Rangers won the American League West at 88-74, two games ahead of the Astros and three ahead of the Angels, they were also-rans in the West League.

The Rangers finished 47-49 in the West League, sixth out of 10 clubs. So, the Rangers didn't hold up very well against their regional competition, but they were 41-25 outside the West League. The Astros were 32-34 outside the West League. The Dodgers were 36-30 outside the league

As the playoffs began, the possibility existed that the Astros and Rangers could meet again for the World Series berth, also giving the Astros one last run at the Dodgers in the West League. But the Astros couldn't get past the Kansas City Royals and the Rangers couldn't get past the Toronto Blue Jays.

Thus. the Dodgers prevailed in the first year of playing out the West League, which will next play out when the interleague divisions align for it in 2018. Meanwhile, it has been decided here to track a different disalignment in the next two seasons, based on whether clubs are original or expansion franchises. If we applied it to the 2015 season, the results are quite surprising.

With their league win, the Dodgers also claim the title in the league's South Division. In the North Division, the Giants prevailed by one game over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

D-Backs cruise to top of Third

The Arizona Diamondbacks are one of the game's hottest clubs right now, holding the Dick Allen Award for 10 games and taking the lead in the Third Division. Remarkably, they're doing it with first baseman Paul Goldschmidt producing like something a little better than an ordinary hitter.

David Peralta batted .471 for the Arizona Diamondbacks from July 26 through Tuesday (Grant Dawson/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Yes, the Arizona Diamondbacks are having a nice run with the Dick Allen Award, but the concern here is the Third Division, in which they have emerged as the club with the best chance for a promotion in 2016.

The Diamondbacks have won the first two games of this week's series with the Philadelphia Phillies with ease before losing the finale Wednesday afternoon. The series victory improved the Diamondbacks to 15-9 in the Third Division, increasing their lead on the Minnesota Twins to a full game.

And, by the way, the Diamondbacks now have defended their Dick Allen championship three times since taking it with three wins in four games against the Milwaukee Brewers July 23-26. The Diamondbacks now have held the award for 10 games, bringing themselves into a tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates for third most in the National League. Of course, the Diamondbacks will hold third place all to themselves once they begin a three-game series on the road against the Atlanta Braves Friday night.

From July 23 through Tuesday, the Diamondbacks were 12-6, including 5-0 in Third Division games. Starting pitchers led the way, posting five consecutive quality starts entering Wednesday's games after tossing seven straight quality starts from July 23-29.

Take note, though, Dodgers fans: The big winner for the Diamondbacks is former Dodger Rubby De La Rosa, who tossed three of the quality starts and three of the wins. For all that, he now is 10-5, though with a 4.55 ERA.

Oddly enough, this run of good games for the Diamondbacks have not included super-human performances by Paul Goldschmidt. He hasn't been bad, hitting .300 with an .853 OPS from July 23 through Tuesday. For Goldschmidt, though, maybe that is bad. He only hit one homer. He was still leading the National League with 81 RBI, 88 walks and a .337 batting average.

But they have other hitters doing it. Like David Peralta, who batted .471 (24-for-51) with four doubles, a triple, two homers and 17 RBI from July 26 through Tuesday. And there's Welington Castillo, the catcher who came over from the Seattle Mariners on June 3 and has since hit 13 homers. In his last 12 games through Tuesday, Castillo hit eight homers with 14 RBI to go with a .366 batting average (15-for-41).

The outstanding question, for which the Diamondbacks should hope to be half of the answer, is which two clubs in the Third Division will win promotion to the Second Division. The Diamondbacks still have plenty of chance to blow it, while the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs still have time to earn another rung on the ladder.

The Twins can do nothing. They're in the clubhouse with their 14-10 record, having no remaining games against the Third Division.

The Phillies entered the week with their best chance to make a move in the Third Division, but they needed to chop wood on the road against the Diamondbacks. They were the division's third-place club, only 1 1/2 games behind Arizona.

Instead, though, the Diamondbacks have chopped up the Phillies in the first two games, winning 13-3 Monday night and 13-1 Tuesday night. With their 7-6 win Wednesday, the Phillies moved within 2 1/2 games of the Diamondbacks at 10-9.

Here is a look at the standings and the remaining games in the Third Division through Wednesday's games:

W   L Pct   GB
Arizona   15   9 .652   –
Minnesota 14 10 .583   1½
Boston         11   9 .550   2
Philadelphia 10   9 .500   2½
Seattle   14 13 .519   2½
Chicago      7   8 .467   3½
Colorado       13 18 .419   5½
Oakland      9 17 .346   7

Remaining schedule:

Arizona (13 games): August 28-30, three at home against Oakland; August 31-September 2, four at Colorado; September 4-6, three at Chicago (NL); September 29-October 1, three at home against Colorado.

Boston (six games): August 14-16, three at home against Seattle; September 4-6, three at home against Philadelphia.

Chicago (NL) (seven games): September 4-6, three at home against Arizona; September 10-13, four at Philadelphia.

Colorado (10 games): August 31-September 2, four at home against Arizona; September 11-13, three at Seattle; September 29-October 1, three at Arizona.

Minnesota: No games remaining.

Oakland (12 games): August 24-26, three at Seattle; August 28-30, three at Arizona; September 4-6, three at home against Seattle; October 2-4, three at Seattle.

Philadelphia (seven games): September 4-6, three at Boston; September 10-13, four at home against Chicago (NL).

Seattle (15 games): August 14-16, three at Boston; August 24-26, three at home against Oakland; September 4-6, three at Oakland; September 11-13, three at home against Colorado; October 2-4, three at home against Oakland.

2014 Second Division standings and summary

The Toronto Blue Jays have won promotion for the second straight season, finishing with more wins than any other Second Division team in 2014. The Blue Jays will join the San Francisco Giants in promotion to the First Division in 2015, while the Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks are going down.

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Toronto Blue Jays, who were stuck in the Third Division for four years, suddenly are headed to the First Division after two consecutive years of promotion.

The Blue Jays will join the San Francisco Giants on their way to the top tier. The Giants won the Second Division in 2014, and they did it without a single postseason game on their way to the World Championship counting in their Second Division totals.

The Giants were solid throughout the year in Second Division games, finishing 22-9. The Blue Jays played a lot and won a lot, going 32-22 for second place. The New York Yankees made a strong bid for promotion back to the top tier, but finished 31-24, 1 1/2 games down to the Jays.

The season went down disastrously for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox, both of which are going down to the Third Division for 2015. Since their promotion to the Second Division after the 2011 season, the Diamondbacks made little impact at that level. The Red Sox, demoted to the Second Division after the 2012 season, now have a long road back to the top.

West League: Who are these Houston Astros?

The Houston Astros lead not only the American League West at the moment, but also the West League, though in a very close race. The Astros made a big move during the past week with a successful road trip through Seattle and Oakland.

Houston Astros left-hander Dallas Keuchel is about as good as any pitcher going right now (Keith Allison/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Just who are these Houston Astros who we spy now at the top of the West League standings?

They don't seem like much. They are 11th in the 15-team American League in scoring with 70 runs. And, though they are second in the American League with a 3.18 ERA, most of their pitchers are pretty weak in that basic category.

But when you have a left-hander getting people out the way Dallas Keuchel is doing it, it's going to make those team numbers look good. Keuchel has allowed only two earned runs in 29 innings — both of those runs in the same game — ranging over four starts. He's only 2-0 after a no-decision on April 24, when he tossed nine shutout innings before the Astros rallied for a 5-4 win at Oakland in 11 innings.

So, Keuchel has a 0.62 ERA. He has given up only 13 hits, four per nine innings.

The Astros have won eight of their last 10, all in the West League, and this last week has been quite a feat — five wins on a six-game road swing through Seattle and Oakland. The Astros began the week 2 1/2 games behind the Dodgers, but the Dodgers lost three straight in San Francisco before winning two of three in San Diego. So, the Astros now have a lead of one-half game in the West League and the league's South Division.

The San Francisco Giants now visit the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium the first half of this week, so we shall see if the Dodgers pin them back.

The Arizona Diamondbacks still lead the North Division by one-half game on the Colorado Rockies, but neither club is setting the West on fire. The Diamondbacks are 8-7 in the league.

Games of April 20
San Diego 14, at Colorado 3.
Oakland 6, at ANGELS 3.
Houston 7, at Seattle 5.

Games of April 21
San Diego 7, at Colorado 6.
Texas 7, at Arizona 1.
at ANGELS 14, Oakland 1.
Houston 6, at Seattle 3.
at San Francisco 6, Los Angeles (NL) 2.

Games of April 22
Oakland 9, at ANGELS 2.
at Seattle 3, Houston 2.
at Arizona 8, Texas 5.
at Colorado 5, San Diego 4.
at San Francisco 3, DODGERS 2.a

Games of April 23
at ANGELS 2, Oakland 0.
at San Francisco 3, DODGERS 2, 10 innings.

Games of April 24
at ANGELS 3, Texas 2.
Houston 5, at Oakland 4, 11 innings.
at Colorado 6, San Francisco 4.
DODGERS 3, at San Diego 0.

Games of April 25
at ANGELS 4, Texas 1.
Houston 9, at Oakland 3.
San Francisco 5, Colorado 4, 11 innings.
DODGERS 11, at San Diego 8.

Games of April 26
Texas 5, at ANGELS 4, 11 innings
Houston 7, at Oakland 6.
at San Diego 3, DODGERS 1.

2011 Third Division standings and summary

After getting thumped out of the Second Division in 2010, the Detroit Tigers dominated the Third Division in 2011 and they will go back to the second tier in 2012. Joining them in promotion will be the Arizona Diamondbacks, even though they barely broke better than even in this group.

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Detroit Tigers won their first of four straight American League Central titles in 2011. Let's see how fast they rise through these ranks.

For now, they won promotion back to the Second Division for 2012, winning the 2011 Third Division with a 25-15 record. Joining the Tigers in their rise to the Second Division will be the Arizona Diamondbacks, by a nose.

The Diamondbacks (16-14, .533) got the nod by percentage points over the Florida Marlins (24-22, .522). The New York Mets, fresh to the Third Division, finished just a game behind Arizona and Florida, while the Toronto Blue Jays again just missed rising a level after finishing 1 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks and Marlins.

The Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox each had light Third Division schedules in 2010, which might have helped them escape relegation. In 2011, both teams had heavy Third Division schedules, and both did poorly enough to earn Fourth Division relegation for the 2012 season.

2010 Third Division standings and summary

The Cincinnati Reds blitzed through the Third Division to win easy promotion to the Second Division for 2011. The San Diego Padres beat out the Toronto Blue Jays by one game to earn the second promotion. Going down to the Fourth Division in 2011 are the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros.

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Arizona Diamondbacks had a bad enough record in 2009 to be assigned the Fourth Division in 2010, but they won a tiebreaker with the New York Mets.

Somehow, though, the Third Division suited the Diamondbacks. Although they finished their Major League season 65-97 for the second worst record in the National League, they finished 19-23 in this Third Division group and easily escaped relegation for 2011.

The Cincinnati Reds, who won their first full-season Major League division since 1990, were the class of this group, earning the first promotion to the 2011 Second Division by five games. The San Diego Padres won a close race with the Toronto Blue Jays for the second promotion.

On the bad side, the Houston Astros were starting their long downward slide and got themselves kicked down to the Fourth Division for 2011, but they didn't struggle in the Third Division quite as badly as the Milwaukee Brewers, the last-place team in this group and, therefore, the first to be relegated for the following season.

2010 Fourth Division standings and summary

The New York Mets were clearly the best team of this bad lot, winning more than two-thirds of their Fourth Division games to win easy advancement to the Third Division for 2011. The Washington Nationals won the second promotion, beating out the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals by less than two games.

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

The Fourth Division in this competition began with the three teams in each Major League with the worst records from 2009 — the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals in the American League and the New York Mets, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals in the National League.

(The Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks actually tied for the third-worst record in the NL at 70-92, but the Diamondbacks were placed in the Third Division for their 5-2 record against the Mets in 2009).

The Mets quickly and easily outclassed this tawdry field, blitzing to a 21-10 campaign to win easy promotion to the Third Division for 2011. No one else was especially good, but the Nationals at least finished with a winning record (19-17) to win the second promotion.

This was a bad lot in 2009 and remained that in 2010, except the Mets, who made a bid for .500 at 79-83 during the regular season. Every other team in this group won fewer than 70 games during the Major League season.

Aaron: Giants reach record streak 24 games

Inevitably, someone will stop the San Francisco Giants and wrestle away the Henry Aaron Award, but the Giants have once again defended the title this week and now have held it for 24 games, setting the all-time record.

Brandon Crawford had a big series for the San Francisco Giants against the Arizona Diamondbacks, going five-for-13 with a homer and three RBI (SD Dirk/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

Coming off of a spectacular 2014 in the Henry Aaron Award competition, the San Francisco Giants are continuing to streak with the prize in the early days of 2015, and they're doing it in record-setting fashion.

The Henry Aaron Award is the interleague traveling distinction, established in 2011.

The Giants won two of three on the road this week against the Arizona Diamondbacks to continue a run with the award that began last Sept. 25-28, when they took it from the San Diego Padres at home during the final series of the regular season. Thursday, the Giants squeaked past the Padres, 1-0 in 12 innings, to begin a four-game series for the Aaron in San Diego.

After winning the Aaron from the Padres at the end of last season, the Giants took it all the way through the postseason, including their seven-game World Series victory against the Kansas City Royals. The 2014 World Series marked the third time in four years of the Aaron that the prize was on the line during the fall classic.

The Giants now have held the Aaron for 24 straight games, eclipsing the previous record of 23 games set by the St. Louis Cardinals at the start of the 2012 season. The Cardinals had taken the Aaron from the Texas Rangers with a seven-game victory in the 2011 World Series.

The Giants compiled the greatest Aaron season in history with their 2014 effort, during which they won the honor every time they had the chance, then defended it ferociously. The Giants won the title four times and were successful in 10 of 13 defenses, accounting for all of the 17 series they played with the Aaron on the line. The Giants were 41-18 in Aaron games and held it for 48 games, the all-time record.

Henry Aaron standings, through April 9

Here are the results and standings in 2015 for the Henry Aaron Award, which distinguishes the team holding the interleague traveling prize going back to 2011.

A rendering of Henry Aaron's 1969 Topps baseball card.

2015 Henry Aaron (interleague) standings and results through April 9

Standings

                        W    L    P    T    G    D    A
San Francisco   3     1    2     0     4     1     1
Arizona             1     2    1     0     0     0     0
San Diego         0     1    1     0     0     0     0  

W — Wins. L — Losses. P — Times played for title. T — Titles won. G — Number of games that team held title after winning it. D — Title defenses. A — Title defense attempts.

Results
San Francisco 2, Arizona 1 — April 6-8 at Arizona.
San Francisco 1, San Diego 0 — April 9 at San Diego (ongoing).

NL West: Dodgers, and no one else, according to WAR

The 2013 season went badly for most of the National League West. Only the Dodgers prospered and, if we subtract that 42-8 period, it wasn't so great for them, either. But the Dodgers are back with obviously the strongest team in the NL West for 2014, according to the 2013 WAR values of their 2014 players.

By WAR, Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw was the best player in the NL West for 2013, carding a 7.9 (kla4067/Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license).

By BILL PETERSON
Big Leagues in Los Angeles

If we're just looking at 2013 player value, there's no one else to look at but the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West this season.

If we're just looking at payroll, it's the Dodgers, who hold the new all-time record at $234 million. If we're just looking at 2013, it's the Dodgers.

The Dodgers certainly have areas of vulnerability, but they have no match within the NL West.

Following is a list of each team in the division, giving each club's "top half" position players by 2013 WAR, its "second-level" position players, its top-level pitchers and second-level pitchers. For the top-half position players, we give the player's position and where he ranked at the position across big league baseball in 2013 WAR, then the actual WAR value for the player. For every other category, we give the player's overall 2013 WAR ranking, understanding that pitchers and position players are ranked separately.

More about all of this, including some important clarifications, can be found here. Bear in mind, though, that the 2013 WAR totals for each club only include these top players, and every club will have players with little, no or negative WAR value that actually would drag down its totals.

Los Angeles Dodgers (50.1 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 1B: Adrian Gonzalez, 10, 3.9; SS: Hanley Ramirez, 2, 5.4; 3B: Juan Uribe, 7, 4.1; RF: Yasiel Puig, 3, 5.0; C: A.J. Ellis, 12, 2.3. Totals: five players, 20.7 WAR.

Second-level position players — Andre Ethier, 90, 2.7; Carl Crawford, 154, 1.8; Scott Van Slyke, 214, 0.9; Justin Turner, 215, 0.9. Totals: four players, 6.3 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Clayton Kershaw, 1, 7.9; Zack Greinke, 25, 3.9; Hyun-jin Ryu, 37, 3.3; Kenley Jansen, 62, 2.6; J.P. Howell, 118, 1.6. Totals: five players, 19.4 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Paco Rodriguez, 126, 1.5; Jamey Wright, 188, 0.9; Chris Withrow, 214, 0.7; Brian Wilson, 230, 0.6. Totals: four pitchers, 3.7 WAR.

With three starting pitchers among the top 37 by 2013 WAR, the Dodgers are loaded in front of their pitching staff. With six relievers on this list, they are loaded in their bullpen.

Who would have ever thought the Dodgers would put four outfielders on these lists, and none of them would be Matt Kemp?

These categories show us that the Dodgers still have areas of need, particularly second base, where they are trying Dee Gordon at the moment. But they still have fewer holes than anyone else around.

Arizona Diamondbacks (42.9 in 2013 WAR)

Top-level position players — 1B: Paul Goldschmidt, 2, 7.0; 3B: Martin Prado, 15, 2.3; RF; Cody Ross, 12, 2.5; CF: Gerardo Parra, 4, 6.1; A.J. Pollock, 11, 3.5; LF: Mark Trumbo, 14, 2.2. Totals: six players, 23.6 WAR

Second-level position players — Mark Trumbo, 125, 2.2; Cliff Pennington, 151, 1.8; Aaron Hill, 198, 1.1. Totals: three players, 5.1 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Patrick Corbin, 57, 2.8; Bronson Arroyo, 66, 2.5; Brad Ziegler, 109, 1.7. Totals: three pitchers, 7.0 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Wade Miley, 135, 1.4; Addison Reed, 161, 1.2; J.J. Putz, 197, 0.9; Josh Collmenter, 200, 0.9; Will Harris, 206, 0.8; Matt Reynolds, 219, 0.7; Trevor Cahill, 225, 0.7; Joe Thatcher, 231, 0.6. Totals: eight pitchers, 7.2 WAR.

This everyday lineup has nice depth, though the Diamondbacks need a big bounce-back season from catcher Miguel Montero, barely a replacement player last year with 0.1 WAR. Also, Cody Ross is out of the picture right now as he tries to come back from a nasty hip contusion.

The starting rotation is weak, especially with Corbin missing the entire season with Tommy John surgery. Fortunately, the Diamondbacks signed Bronson Arroyo, who was about as good last year.

Colorado Rockies (43.1 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — SS: Troy Tulowitzki, 3, 5.3; 3B; Nolan Arenado, 3.9; LF: Carlos Gonzalez, 2, 5.0; C: Wilin Rosario, 13, 2.3. Totals: four players, 16.5 WAR.

Second-level players — Michael Cuddyer, 137, 2.0; Justin Morneau, 138, 2.0; Brandon Barnes, 159, 1.7; DJ LeMahieu, 179, 1.4; Charlie Blackmon, 224, 0.8; Corey Dickerson, 230, 0.7. Six players, 8.6 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Jhoulys Chacin, 9, 5.9; Jorge De La Rosa, 19, 4.3; Tyler Chatwood, 33, 3.4; Adam Ottavino, 78, 2.2. Totals: four pitchers, 15.8 WAR.

Second-level pitchers: — Wilton Lopez, 195, 0.9; Boone Logan, 225, 0.7; Matt Belisle, 239, 0.6. Totals: three pitchers, 2.2 WAR.

There is some talent here. The Rockies have 10 position players between the two position player lists, where the average club would have eight. And, because WAR accounts for park factors, these players aren't inflated by Coors Field. The Rockies should score some runs.

The Rockies have three All-Star level performers in Tulowitzki, Gonzalez and Chacin. They've got value throughout the lineup. Behind Chacin in the rotation, the Rox are in good shape with De La Rosa and Chatwood, but they could use a couple more. The bullpen has some nice performers, especially Ottavino.

It doesn't seem that there's quite enough here. In particular, there's to be no obvious relief closer. But this is a decent club that could rally to a playoff spot, if all breaks right.

San Diego Padres (32.2 in 2013 WAR)

Top-half position players — 2B: Jedd Gyorko, 2.2; SS; Everth Cabrera, 11, 2.8; 3B: Chase Headley, 11, 3.4; RF: Chris Denorfia, 6, 4.3; CF: Will Venable, 15, 3.2. Totals: five players, 15.9 WAR.

Second-level position players — Carlos Quentin, 140, 2.0; Yonder Alonso, 189, 1.2; Nick Hundley, 211, 0.9; Tommy Medica, 225, 0.8. Totals: four players, 4.9 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Joaquin Benoit, 53, 2.8; Andrew Cashner, 70, 2.4; Alex Torres, 96, 1.9. Totals: three pitchers, 7.1 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Tyson Ross,155, 1.3; Nick Vincent, 170, 1.2; Huston Street, 183, 1.0; Eric Stults, 210, 0.8. Totals: four pitchers, 4.3 WAR.

As always under manager Bud Black, the Padres have to pitch, run the bases and play defense. They can put a lineup together just from these lists, which is more than some other last place clubs from 2013 can say. However, the game does involve hitting, and the lack of a big bat is poison, even if the Padres are playing in a pitcher's park.

When you play in a pitcher's park, though, it helps to have pitchers, and the Padres are short on pitchers who can take the ball at the start of the game. Andrew Cashner is a big arm in front of the rotation, but he only has 33 career starts, including the 2014 opener against the Dodgers, and there's not much behind him. The bullpen has some achievement between Benoit, Torres, Vincent and Street. However, the last couple spots in the rotation and the bottom shelf pitchers in the bullpen stand to lose games for the Padres before their better relievers will be able to save them.

San Francisco Giants (35.2 in 2013 WAR)

Top-level position players — 1B: Brandon Belt, 7, 4.4; 2B: Marco Scutaro, 12, 2.4; SS: Brandon Crawford, 14, 2.4; 3B: Pablo Sandoval, 14, 2.5; RF: Hunter Pence, 8, 4.1; C: Buster Posey, 2, 5.2. Totals: six players, 21.0 WAR.

Second-level position players — Gregor Blanco, 101, 2.6; Juan Perez, 196, 1.1; Angel Pagan, 212, 1.0; Joaquin Arias, 219, 0.8. Totals: four players, 5.5 WAR.

Top-level pitchers — Madison Bumgarner, 26, 3.9. Totals: one pitcher, 3.9 WAR.

Second-level pitchers — Santiago Casilla, 176, 1.1; Tim Hudson, 180, 1.0; Jean Machi, 181, 1.0; Javier Lopez, 186, 1.0; Sergio Romo, 214, 0.7. Totals, five pitchers, 4.8 WAR.

We always say the Giants will go as far as their pitching takes them. If that's true, based on these lists, the Giants can't go far.

Starting pitchers Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Ryan Vogelsong aren't even on these lists. Their decline in 2013 explains plenty about how the Giants fell so far last season. If they can rebound, that changes everything. But we have to see it first.

Good everyday lineup here with six players in the top half of their positions across the big leagues. And the Giants always bring fire out of their bullpen.

Bruce Bochy is about as good as it gets for a field manager. And it remains that the Giants have won two of the last four World Series. See how it goes.

Editor's note: All numbers in this piece are from or are extrapolated from Baseball-Reference.com, unless otherwise indicated.