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Life is good in Texas and Florida. No state tax. Great weather (if you like it hot). And baseball teams that are on fire. The Marlins, Rays, Astros and Rangers all had a torrid week, combining for 21 wins against just 4 losses.

Life is also good in Boston, as we have a new number one team. The defending champs have been the best hitting team in baseball and are only getting better as their valuable backups (Cora & Casey) come off the DL. The starting pitching has been excellent while their bullpen needs work. The Baby backs need to right the ship to regain the top spot as they've lost a fair amount of games over the past couple weeks.

1.
Boston Red Sox 24-16 (3)
-(4-3) Yoooouuuuk! Kevin Youkilis just had himself one hell of week, hitting at a robust .419 clip with 6 homers and 13 RBIs. He currently leads the Sox in these categories, which is a hell of an accomplishment considering the Sox are leading the league in team batting (.293) and are one of top run-scoring teams. The blown saves this week hurt, but they were a collection of key errors and well-placed bloop hits. So if Julio Lugo can stop making key errors …

2.
Arizona Diamondbacks 23-15 (1)
-(2-5) They couldn’t keep the juggernaut rolling, because they ran into some tough competition (NYM, Phi, ChC), that culminated in a sweep in Chi-Town. ON a positive note that lead in the NL West still looks cushy, RJ got a W and Webb just keeps on dealing.

3.
Chicago Cubs 22-15 (7)
-(4-2) Look who is in first place in the NL Central! Has the 100-year “curse” run out? Is this the year? The Cubbies ended the week with a sweep of the mighty Diamondbacks. Alfonso Soriano hit .421 for the week and is starting to look like his old self. The team’s pitching was phenomenal last week (2.77 team ERA) but outside of 3 culprits (Marshall, Gallagher & Leiber), the rest of the staff gave up just 3 ER in 41 innings (0.66 ERA!).

4.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 22-17 (2)
-(2-4) - Its been a tough road trip getting swept by the smoking hot Rays at Tropicana Field. Vlad “The Impailer” Guerrero surprisingly only has 4 RBI’s over his past 25 games played. Gary Matthews Jr. is also in a bit of a slump going 5-for-47 (.106) in the past 15 games

5.
Oakland Athletics 23-16 (9)
-(4-2) So many young players with tons of talent are finding a way to get things done in Oakland. Taking the top spot in the AL West back from the Angels made a statement that this team didn't just get off to a fast start but just may be the real deal. A team ERA of 3.29 is nothing to shake a stick at. The A's can pitch and pitching is all that matters right now.

6.
New York Mets 19-16 (4)
-(3-3) Welcome back, Carlos Beltran, it’s about time you started hitting. You too, Carlos Delgado. The Carloses both hit very well this week and helped the Mets win. But it was an up and down week, as they scored just 6 runs in their 3 losses (they scored 32 in their 3 wins). More consistency is needed from this immensely talented team. And in a shocking turn of events, Ryan Church has emerged as their offensive leader (.321, 7 HR, 26 RBI); he should not be the offensive leader on a team that has David Wright, Joes Reyes and the aforementioned Carloses.

7.
St. Louis Cardinals 23-16 (5)
-(3-4)Isringhausen is 1-4 with 5 blown saves... The Cardinals, theoretically, could have 28 wins right now! Even if Ryan Franklin is good, not great, expect the Cardinals to keep on rolling. I know they've lost 4 out of their last 5 games but every team goes through these slides so let's assume that this is just a hiccup until further notice.

8.
Florida Marlins 23-14 (16)
-(6-0) The Marlins went 6-0 this week and are firing on all cylinders. Signing Hanley to a 6-year - $70 million extension was a bold statement for the Marlin's organization. Maybe ownership is serious about keeping star players from now on. Although, it's not like they couldn't trade Hanley a few years down the road with this contract if he's still playing the way he is now.

9.
Tampa Bay Rays 21-16 (17)
-(5-1) - When you sweep home series’ with the Red Sox and the Angels that are arguably the top two teams in the AL at home, you would not expect the Rays. Maybe getting rid of the “Devil” from their name was a good omen.

10.
Philadelphia Phillies 21-18 (6)
-(3-4) Ryan Howard’s slump continues to roll along. Although he has 7 home runs this season, Ryan is batting an awful .171 at the plate with 54 K’s in 140 at bats. There also has been a trend lately with the Phillies not being able to get much going when opposed by a left-handed pitcher.

11.
Atlanta Braves 18-17 (11)
-(3-2) Chipper Jones is still leading the majors in hitting, right on the magical .400 dot, but he’s 4 for his last 17. About a quarter of the way through the season, and this is a perfect example of how hard it is to hit .400 and why it hasn’t been done in 67 years. Jair Jurrijens emergence as a top-notch starter probably has eased the minds of the team and their fans that it will be okay when John Smoltz returns to the team as the closer, a role that has been less than stable for this team.

12.
New York Yankees 19-19 (8)
-(2-3) Not a good week for the Empire. It started with Joba blowing a game to Dave Dellucci and Wang getting outpitched by Cliff Lee. It featured a return to the majors start by Kei Igawa and went as well as all of his 2007 appearance went. And they got more bad news when they learned A-Rod is still at least a week away from returning to the lineup. On the plus side, Robinson Cano showed signs of life at the plate and Jason Giambi's corpse hit 2 HRs. So they have that going for them, which is nice.

13.
Minnesota Twins 19-17 (13)
-(3-3) The Twins leveled off this week but showed their never-quit attitude when the came back and stole one from the Red Sox Friday night. Joe Mauer continues to tear up pitching, as he sits 3rd in the AL in batting at .330. Their starting pitching needs to get more consistent and pitch deeper into games because, while their bullpen is excellent, it is being taxed.

14.
Chicago White Sox 18-18 (14)
-(4-3) The White Sox are 4-4 since the infamous blowup doll debacle. Either Carlos Quentin absorbed all the magical blowup doll powers and left none for the others or he's just playing well and the team just isn't as good as we once had thought. The only reason they're at even at .500 is because of their bullpen.

15.
Los Angeles Dodgers 19-18 (10)
-(2-4) - Ouch! 0.1 IP 6H 6ER for Jonathan Broxton in relief against the Astros. The Dodgers should have a bit of concern for Broxton. Is he really ready to be relied upon when Takashi Saito is removed from the closer role?

16.
Houston Astros 21-17 (22)
-(5-1) What a difference a month makes! The Astros open May 8-1, and find themselves right in the thick of things in the NL Central. I’m still not sure how they’re getting it done on the pitching side…Pitchers who qualified for a win this week; Byrdak, Brocail, Valverde, Moehler, Sampson, and Geary.

17.
Milwaukee Brewers 18-19 (12)
-(2-4) Poor Eric Gagne; he needs a “mental break” from doing his job; apparently the 10 million reasons to do it weren’t enough. Poor Brewers; they paid 10 million dollars for a closer who doubles as a head case. Who won in this deal? Scott Boras, as always; can you imagine if Gagne had pitched well for the Red Sox? The Brew Crew also took a huge hit, losing young starter Yovani Gallardo to an ACL tear and their rotation struggled (the starters combined for a 5.91 ERA & 1.69 WHIP for the week).

18.
Cleveland Indians 18-18 (20)
-(4-1) They find themselves one back of the Twins heading into the week, and they can thank their SP for that. CC is back on track, Dr. Fausto is dealing, and red hot Cliff Lee just handed Wang his first loss of the season.

19.
Toronto Blue Jays 17-21 (15)
-(2-4) It’s tough to imagine that with their pitching staff they are currently last in the AL East. Pride isn’t the only thing hurting the offense, as Vernon Wells will miss significant time with a broken wrist.

20.
Baltimore Orioles 19-19 (19)
-(3-4) The Orioles are tied with the Yankees for 3rd in the AL East, just like I said would happen. I'll admit the O's hung on for a bit longer than expected but it's no surprise to anyone that they're heading to the AL East cellar. Also, keep in mind that they're 9-2 vs. Kansas City and Seattle, so they’re 10-17 against the rest of the league. This little stat should put the O's in a better perspective for all the fans who complain we rank the O's way too low.

21.
Detroit Tigers 16-22 (18)
-(2-4) Verlander isn’t showing any signs of improvement, and the only highlights of the week were more like breaks of the week as they were aided by a Lugo error, and the Yankees still being stupid enough to start Kei Igawa.

22.
Pittsburgh Pirates 17-19 (28)
-(5-0) Is this for real? A 5-0 week! Oh wait they just swept the Giants... I think I could organize a pickup team and sweep the Giants. Good for the Pirates though. At least they're one of the best worst teams in the league.

23.
Texas Rangers 18-21 (27)
-(5-2) Same old story for the Rangers, the name of that story is entitled “Sloppy Baseball”. Ironically the Rangers have won five consecutive series. At least we can be happy that Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s name shows up in the box score.

24.
Colorado Rockies 15-23 (24)
(3-4) We all continue to wait for the Rockies to have that break out week were we get to see the Rockies that made it to the World Series last year. They're 8 games under .500 and disappoint once again. They only have 27 home runs combined as a team. I thought they played at Coors Field?

25.
Kansas City Royals 16-21 (21)
-(2-5) Just to emphasize how bad the Gil Meche signing was last year. Meche is 2-5 with a 6.31 ERA and is making 11 million in 2008. On the other hand Zach Greinke’s 2008 salary is 1.4 million he is 4-1 with an ERA of 1.80. Joakim Soria has an ERA of 0.00 and has 8 saves and is making 426 thousand. The Royals better not have bled the bank dry with the Meche signing and allow these young stars to sign with other teams.

26.
San Francisco Giants 16-22 (25)
-(2-4) It’s just getting worse in San Francisco. They finally get a quality start out of their 100 million dollar man, but it didn’t matter as they were swept by the lowly Pirates.

27.
Seattle Mariners 15-24 (23)
-(2-5) Their bullpen was excellent this week. Too bad their starters either struggled or got no run support. Going 2-5 over a week is bad; Going 2-5 against the Rangers and White Sox is terrible. Their offense was horrid this week (20 runs in 7 games). At least they lead the league in awkward charges of the mound and helmet throwing; thank you, Richie Sexson, for providing the most entertaining Mariner moment of this year!

28.
Washington Nationals 15-23 (26).
-(1-5) How bad is the Nationals offense? Well Christian Guzman is leading the team batting .308, second is Felipe Lopez at .265 and third on the team is Lastings Milledge is at .252.Other notables are Ryan Zimmerman batting .240 and Nick Johnson at .223. Terrible.

29.
San Diego Padres 14-24 (29)
-(2-4) Their pitching was great this week (2.98 ERA). How did it translate into a 2-4 week? You guess it – offense! Maybe it is because the team batting average is .233 with runners in scoring position. Maybe it is because that average drops to .204 when there are 2 outs. Maybe it is because they are dead last in team OPS, at .650 (for comparison, Julio Lugo’s OPS is .690). And if Adrian Gonzalez, their only offense bright spot, were to ever get hurt, they would have the worst offense in the history of baseball.

30.
Cincinnati Reds 15-23 (30)
-(3-3) Well they had a tough schedule this week (ATL, NYM, ChC), and they almost came out looking respectable until they pulled a Munson and batted out of order. They should really just trade Griffey already, who wouldn’t love to see him on a contender and back in the playoffs?

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