How are you with handling conflicting emotions? Well, the Angels may be 8 games removed from a playoff spot, but every frustrating loss brings them one game closer to winning a race that could mean a lot for the future: the race for the last protected first-round pick. Maybe it's wrong to root against the Angels, but this particular contest is a lot closer than the AL West. They're even in first place! Click through for upside-down standings.
The teams who finish with the 15 worst records in 2010 will earn the luxury of not having to surrender their first-round pick in the June 2011 amateur draft as compensation for signing a Type A free agent. This is pretty important because it allows a team to sign at least one top-shelf free agent in the off-season and still keep its top pick. (Such a team would give up its second-round pick instead, but the talent pool drops significantly after the first round.) How potentially important is this for the Angels?
The last time the Angels accomplished this anti-feat was 2003. That off-season they signed the 2004 American League MVP and the 2005 American League Cy Young, all while turning the #12 overall pick in the June Draft into some guy named Jered Weaver. Not saying that's likely to happen again, but it's something to think about.
Let's take a look at the standings:
Rank Team League Games Wins Losses WPCT
1 PIT NL 117 39 78 .333
2 BAL AL 118 41 77 .347
3 SEA AL 118 46 72 .390
4 ARI NL 119 47 72 .395
5 CLE AL 118 49 69 .415
6 KCR AL 118 49 69 .415
7 CHC NL 118 50 68 .424
8 WSN NL 118 51 67 .432
9 HOU NL 116 51 65 .440
10 MIL NL 119 55 64 .462
11 DET AL 117 57 60 .487
12 OAK AL 116 57 59 .491
13 FLA NL 116 57 59 .491
14 NYM NL 117 58 59 .496
15 LAA AL 119 60 59 .504
16 LAD NL 118 60 58 .508
17 COL NL 117 61 56 .521
18 TOR AL 117 62 55 .530
19 CHW AL 118 65 53 .551
20 STL NL 116 65 51 .560
21 SFG NL 119 67 52 .563
22 BOS AL 119 67 52 .563
23 PHI NL 117 66 51 .564
24 CIN NL 118 67 51 .568
25 MIN AL 118 68 50 .576
26 TEX AL 116 67 49 .578
27 ATL NL 117 68 49 .581
28 SDP NL 116 69 47 .595
29 TBR AL 117 71 46 .607
30 NYY AL 117 72 45 .615
The Angels are currently sitting on the 15th pick overall (plus whatever compensation picks for amateurs who don't sign today), the last protected spot. It's close though. The Dodgers are just half a game behind and tanking hard. Colorado is probably too good to finish under .500, but the Blue Jays could make a late run. Are the Mets as good at coughing up draft picks as they are at choking away division leads? Will Mike Stanton's rookie performance cost the Marlins in the end? (Nah, they'd never sign a Type A anyways.)
For answers, keep watching the MLB standings...in reverse!