Now for a quick review of contenders, imposters, and already cooked geese.

AL EAST

First, let us dispose of the New York Yankees. Last season it took 96 wins to capture the AL East. The Bronx Bunglers enter June with 28. To get those other 68 wins will require a team that is16th in runs and 19th in ERA among all MLB teams to play at a .642 pace the rest of the season. Alex Rodriquez may be Super Man, but the Red Sox have a pocket full of kryptonite. Write New York (and Brian Cashman) off.

Tampa Bay? Three of their top 5 RBI guys are hitting less than .250. The pitchers keep control of the game, but Troy Percival's injury is a heavy blow. A good showing, but no ring. The better bet here is the Toronto Blue Jays, a carbon copy of the Rays with a healthy closer in B.J. Ryan.

You can pick your perspective on Boston. Be concerned about a 14-19 road record, or (more realistically) be in awe of the 21-5 mark at Fenway. Too good, too deep, and a contender for the whole ball of wax.

AL CENTRAL

When I was a kid my parents played cards alot with the neighbors. My dad had a expression, "Who dealt this mess?" That about says it for the AL Central. You want to believe a team as talented as the Tigers can come back, then hear yourself making this statement. "The team with the worst ERA in the AL is about to put it together and play .626 baseball which will get them to 90 wins." Ah, no.

There are no atheists in fox holes, they say, but there are the Cleveland Indians. They are hunkered down next to the Tigers waiting for the shelling to stop. Ryan Garko has to hit to give them even the longest of long shots.

How to choose between the Twins and WhiteSox? Easy. The Twins pitchers have gone about 500 innings and only struck out 300 batters. Strikeouts are just outs, but they are outs that don't put the ball in play. Over a long season you need those. Chicago gets them, Minnesota doesn't.

The WhiteSox have more talent than the Twins, maybe even more than under performing Detroit. They also have Ozzie Guillen. He's nuts, that's a given. But I've finally come to the realization there must be a reason for keeping a manager who is a few twinkies short of a snack pack around. The guy is sneaky smart, and keeps pressure off his players by being the focus of attention.

AL WEST

I'm sold on the Los Angeles Angels of Pasadena, or whatever they call Anaheim these days. Except for their lack of power, lack of speed, and inability to get on base they are a great team. I keep looking for a reason this team is 9 games above .500 and it's not there. Call it the Yankee effect. Back in the early 60's New York won games based on the other team looking at all that talent in the other team's batting cage. Only in this case you have to believe Guerrero, Hunter, Matthews, and Anderson will hit their stride at some point later this season. Until then, having Francisco Rodriquez and a solid rotation doesn't hurt.

Quick, name the Oakland A's starting position player hitting .260 or better. Trick question, there is none. If anyone thinks Oakland is going to parlay a 30-27 start, some pitching, and a handful of magic Beanes into the playoffs they need to cross the bridge and see if there's anything left in Haight Ashbury that can get you there. A real dog of team with the potential to get much worse by season's end.

Which leaves us with the Texas Rangers. Their pitching rotation looks like a K-Tel Records compilation. "Order now and you get what's left of Kevin Millwood's career. But wait, there's more! Sid Ponson. Jason Jennings. Vincente Padilla. And if you're one of the first 900 callers, we'll even throw in Eddie Guardado and this versatile Jamey Wright that has a thousand and one uses. It starts. It relieves. It even gets hitters out."

The pitching masks what is actually an acceptable little team. Josh Hamilton is putting up MVP numbers. The fuse on Milton Bradley's annual explosion has some time left, and the middle infield is solid. But at 29-29 we're talking .600 baseball to get to 92 wins. Not going to happen.

THE END OF AN ERA

Don't want to hear anymore talk about American League supremacy. On June 1st the races are about over, and there are really only four serious contenders (Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles) left. That's not a great league, that's a garage sale.