High 5
1. Boston Red Sox
Schilling strong in first start
2. Chicago White Sox
Lost home series to Cleveland
3. Oakland Athletics
Rebounded to win 2 of 3 from N.Y.
4. New York Yankees
Errors cost them series against A's
5. St. Louis Cardinals
Sweeping success in Philadelphia
Low 5
26. Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Hendrickson good; Kazmir bad
27. Pittsburgh Pirates
Only nine runs in Brewers series
28. Florida Marlins
Put up seven runs on Pettitte
29. Colorado Rockies
10 runs in three games at Coors
30. Kansas City Royals
Beaten badly by Tigers
This week
BLUE JAYS at RED SOX
Toronto made headlines with its offseason moves. This week, the Blue Jays will be tested at one of baseball's toughest venues. Josh Towers (0-1) and Josh Beckett (1-0) are the probable starters for Game 1.
Corner infielder
First, a disclaimer.
There's absolutely no way to draw any type of accurate conclusions about the Major League Baseball season after one week. It's like judging a trip to Disneyland on the first day while driving toward the airport. Evaluating a 162-game season requires more than a handful of contests.
But that's all we have, and fans need something to talk about. Besides, jumping to reckless conclusions is part of the game. Just ask Yankee fans who wrote their team off after the first month of the season last year.
So here's an unscientific analysis of the season so far:
Billy Wagner's a bust! The Mets' high-priced closer blew his second save opportunity with the club Wednesday night in a 9-5 loss to the Nationals. Wagner, who has six 30-plus save seasons, gave up a tying homer to Ryan Zimmerman in the ninth inning. Early the next morning on national sports talk radio, at least one Mets fan was voicing his "here we go again" discontent.
Speaking of the Nationals, Jose Guillen is a model of maturity and a true leader in the clubhouse. The once-troubled outfielder, who was kicked out of Anaheim for showing up Angels manager Mike Scioscia two seasons ago, provided the voice of reason after his new manager, Frank Robinson, pulled Alfonso Soriano for not running out a popup. "Everyone knows how Frank is," Guillen told the Associated Press. "He doesn't ask for much."
The Dodgers' season is falling apart. Nomar Garciaparra, a former batting champion who signed with Los Angeles in the offseason and moved to first base, started the season on the disabled list after getting hurt in the Dodgers' final exhibition game. Garciaparra has played in just 143 games over the past three seasons. Now, closer Eric Gagne may miss the season due to a nerve injury in his pitching elbow.
The Rangers still have pitching problems. Texas, which always has a lineup full of pop but few effective arms, appeared to have improved its staff this season. But prized free-agent signee Kevin Millwood gave up five runs in five innings on opening day, while R.A. Dickey surrendered six homers to the Tigers on Thursday, dropping Texas to 1-3. Another key pitching acquisition, Adam Eaton, recently underwent surgery and could be out for four months.
The Tigers are the best team in the American League Central. While the defending champion White Sox were losing their opening series to the Indians, Detroit started 3-0. On a serious note, while it may be too early to judge the Tigers, it's not a stretch to say that former Cottonwood High and University of Utah standout Chris Shelton is an emerging star. The first baseman went 9 for 13 with four homers in his first three games. Any wonder why the team released Carlos Pena?
E-mail: ashill@desnews.com