Ranking The Best 2006 Divisions

[Captain America]

For quite some time, a lot of people here have argued over which division is the best, worst and most/least competitive. Well let's settle this debate for once and for all...at least for this season! This will probably become an annual article I will now do at the end of each regular season going forward.

To come up with these rankings, I factored in the average records for each division, the number of teams with winning records and the number of teams within 10 games of the division leader (to factor in competitiveness).



6. NL West

Best Team: Colorado Rockies (95-53)

Worst Team: San Diego Padres (45-103)

Average Record: 64-84

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 2 (Colorado, San Francisco)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 0

The NL West has clearly been the weakest division this season, with the Padres and Diamondbacks currently having the worst and fourth-worst records respectively. The Dodgers' struggles didn't help the cause as well, with the seventh-worst record in the league. The Rockies have carried the division for pretty much the entire season, while the Giants got off to a slow start, but have been playing much better in the second half of the season.



5. AL Central

Best Team: Detroit Tigers (83-65)

Worst Team: Chicago White Sox (46-102)

Average Record: 70-78

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 3 (Detroit, Kansas City, Cleveland)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 2 (Kansas City, Cleveland)

The AL Central has been terrible this season, but the fact that the Tigers, Royals and Indians have all been competing closely with each other all season makes this division more competitive than the NL West. The division crown here could very well decided on the final game of the season, so any of these three teams has a chance to get in right now. Meanwhile, the Twins have been continuing their rebuild and currently have the eighth-worst record and the White Sox, who have just begun a rebuild of their own are tied for the second-worst record.



4. AL East

Best Team: Toronto Blue Jays (96-52)

Worst Team: Boston Red Sox (52-96)

Average Record: 76-72

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 2 (Toronto, Baltimore)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 0

The AL East used to be the most competitive division early on. But then the Red Sox' winning years ended, the Yankees followed with what could now be consecutive losing seasons and the Orioles will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. As for the Rays, they tried to compete this season, but their efforts did not end up going particularly well. Nonetheless, they have already set a new franchise record in wins this year. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are cruising to their second consecutive AL East title. The Blue Jays are one of the best teams around and the Orioles have won enough to help the AL East become the 4th best division.



3. AL West

Best Team: Oakland A's (103-45)

Worst Team: Anaheim Angels (51-97)

Average Record: 79-69

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 2 (Oakland, Seattle)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 1 (Seattle)

The AL West includes the teams with the two best records in the AL. The A's and Mariners have both been very dominant all season long. However, the Rangers will finish with a worse record than in 2005 and have the tenth worst record in the league. The Angels, who won 85 games in 2005 had an even worse fall this season and currently have the fifth worst record. For as awesome as the A's and Mariners have both been, there hasn't been a third team in the division that could have helped the AL West rank even higher.



2. NL East

Best Team: Florida Marlins (99-49)

Worst Team: Philadelphia Phillies (46-102)

Average Record: 77-71

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 3 (Florida, Montreal, New York Mets)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 1 (Montreal)

The NL East going into this season could have been viewed as the best division around, but the Mets' slow start, among other things prevented from becoming a reality this season. The Marlins have been phenomenal this season and the Expos have been very good, yet very streaky at times. The Mets have recently rebounded and currently have at least a respectable record. On the losing side, the Phillies are tied with the second worst record and the Braves have the ninth worst record.



1. NL Central

Best Team: Chicago Cubs (104-44)

Worst Team: Milwaukee Brewers (63-85)

Average Record: 81-67

Number of Teams with Winning Records: 3 (Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh, St. Louis)

Number of Teams within 10 Games of Division Leader: 0

This shouldn't be too big of a surprise. The Cubs have now clinched an eighth consecutive season of 100 or more wins and will extend their run atop the NL Central to seven straight division titles. The Pirates are a rather distant second place but have been battling hard for the Wild Card. The Cardinals have managed to be relevant all season, despite rarely ever being a strong postseason contender.

The top 3 in the NL Central is very comparable to the top 3 in the NL East. But what exactly separates the NL Central from the NL East (besides the fact that the Astros and Brewers have better records than the Braves and Phillies)? It's possible that the NL Central could end up having four teams with winning records by the end of the regular season. That's right, the Reds are the difference maker. They are 73-75 right now, but if they play well in the final two weeks, the NL Central could very well end up with four teams with winning records.

Now, of course, the fact that the NL Central has six teams, while the NL East has five teams and the AL West has 4 teams could make it look like the divisions with more teams have an advantage toward being a stronger division. This may look possible, but the fact of the matter is that the AL West has two teams with winning records, the NL East has three and the NL Central could possibly have four. Case closed.

Debate away, everyone!

[jahallstar]

Friendly advice : Check your math on average records.

[Spencer]

Hmm.

[Captain America]

Mar 20, 2014 11:31:05 GMT -5 jahallstar said:

Friendly advice : Check your math on average records.

All numbers with decimals got rounded up by the way. Should have mentioned that before.

[Captain America]

1 more vote fellas

[jahallstar]

So the NL west , AL Central and AL East have averaged 148 games played so far while the AL West , NL East and NL Central have averaged 128 games played so far?

[Darell]

Suprised NL West isnt ranked #1 tbh

[Steve]

^^^lol

[Steve]

Mar 20, 2014 16:24:34 GMT -5 jahallstar said:

So the NL west , AL Central and AL East have averaged 148 games played so far while the AL West , NL East and NL Central have averaged 128 games played so far?

[Steve]

voted this a 2 since shale can't do math

[Darell]

Math is hard

[Captain America]

Mar 20, 2014 16:24:34 GMT -5 jahallstar said:

So the NL west , AL Central and AL East have averaged 148 games played so far while the AL West , NL East and NL Central have averaged 128 games played so far?

I had the wins added up properly, but fucked up the losses for the top 3 divisions. The wins were right though, so it was just a minor fix in the number of losses. My bad there.

[Captain America]

Mar 20, 2014 17:37:24 GMT -5 Steve said:

voted this a 2 since shale can't do math

The important part was that the wins were added up properly from the beginning.

[Birdie Sanders]

Non counting motherfucker