EDITOR’S NOTE: Boyd Bergquist was the sports director at KETS-TV in East Tree Stump, Nebraska for almost 40 years.  Known across the Husker state as the voice of the Boy’s High School Basketball Tournament, Bergquist was a four-time winner of the Marv J. Butz “Golden Cob” Award For Excellence In Nebraska Broadcast Journalism.  That background, along with his quick if not cliché-riddled wit and love of single-malt scotch makes Bergquist a perfect fit to be our “Question” guy.  

As we find the calendar flipping to Independence Day weekend, we also find ourselves roughly half-way through the Major League Baseball season. Being at the mid-point of the season means it’s time to take all 30 MLB squads and stack them up in my own categories based on expectations at the beginning of the season weighed against performance during it.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; baseball season is like a long horse race, which is why I like to break it down in four parts.  We’ve already seen the start, we’re half-way home, and later in the season we will revisit this on Labor Day which is all about heading into the “home stretch.”  But today is all about half-way or so, which means going back to my initial categorizations of all 30 major-league baseball teams, look at where they were on Memorial Day, and compare that to where they are today.

As we get closer to the wire which marks the end of that horse race, it only makes sense the categories would change. If you recall, I’m not about the usual “power ranking” stuff.  Instead, I started this season by breaking down all 30 major league squads into six easy-to-understand groups based on what I thought these teams could realistically expect in 2023. Those original six categories were as follows.

• Ready To Win Right Now: These are teams which are ready to climb the mountain right now…no ifs, ands or buts.
• There’s Just One Thing Missing: Did you ever almost complete a jigsaw puzzle, but the three pieces you have remaining don’t fit the holes you have left? Welcome to the stories of these teams.
• Need Some Things To Go Their Way: Welcome to a collection of clubs who almost have the goods to win on their own; but anything is possible if they get more than one “lucky break.”
• At Least They Don’t Suck: Do I really need to explain this one?
• Why Wait For Next Year? One way or another, these teams need to make a decision about the future.
• It’s Going To Be A Long Summer: Everybody has hope on Opening Day, but some lose it far faster than others.

Once we got to Memorial Day, I had six new categories at the “far turn.” which again should be fairly self-explanatory.

• Just As We Expected: Teams performing just as expected.
• Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left:  Read this as teams potentially over-achieving.
• So Far, So Good: Teams which are very much in the thick of the race at this point.
• It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet:  This is for teams who may have stumbled out of the gate, but still have plenty of time
• Better Figure It Out Quick: A category for teams whose problems are severe, despite the fact there a lot of race left.
• It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over: Even at this juncture, it’s a safe bet these teams are finished.

Half-way through the race, there really only two categories to worry about; is your team a contender or a pretender.  A few years back, I was on a flight and read one of those in-flight magazines which had an article about a bunch of business management mumbo-jumbo I didn’t really understand, but it did include this grid about categorizing things based on two criteria and the relationship between them.  I’m certainly no captain of industry, but this approach made perfect sense to me for this baseball breakdown.

Here’s all were looking at today; is your team a play-off contender, and should you buy or sell on their immediate future?

American League

Contenders: Buy

Boston Red Sox

• Original Category – At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good

Speaking of Boston, the Red Sox are the definition of a .500 team. That’s exactly what they would be if one removed their games against the Blue Jays from their total.

Contenders: Sell

Minnesota Twins

• Original Category – At Least They Don’t Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected

The Good News: Heading into today, Griffin Jax hasn’t allowed an earned run in 17 straight appearances. The Bad News: That series against Atlanta showed where the Twins are relative to the “Buy” contenders.

Cleveland Guardians

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet

This team has more of a power outage than North Korea at night…they have an inside shot at not hitting 100 team home runs; they only have 55 after 85 games played. As for the pitching, Emmanuel Clasé was named as Cleveland’s All-Star representative literally hours before notching his league leading seventh blown save. They are two games under .500, but only one game behind the almost-equally lackluster Twins in the definitely-lackluster AL Central.

Pretenders: Buy

Pretenders: Sell

Chicago White Sox

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

Second consecutive year I’ve had to say this: While it may be a bit early to write off the White Sox completely, it’s not too early to ask what went wrong. The Mighty Whiteys have a loaded line-up, seemingly adequate pitching, but nothing is working. But because they are in the AL Central, anything is still possible.

Detroit Tigers

• Original Category – It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good

This team’s All Star representative is a pitcher (Michael Lorenzen) with a 2-6 record. Staying out of last place is the realistic goal for the Motor City Kitties. The Royals should prove rather useful toward that end.

Kansas City Royals

• Original Category – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

See the immediately preceding comments. Is this the year they finally trade Salvador Perez?

Oakland Athletics

• Original Category – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

Even after an eight-game winning streak, this team is still 40 games under .500. If that’s weren’t bad enough, there are four former A’s in this year’s All-Star Game.

National League

Contenders: Buy

Atlanta Braves

• Original Category – Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected

The Braves started June losing three out of four games. Since then, Atlanta has notched a 24-3 record. That feels like a team headed for a “Secretariat” style lead.

Arizona Diamondbacks

• Original Category – Why Wait for Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left

Once again, Zac Gallen looks like a guy to figure prominently in the Cy Young discussions, but (recent injury notwithstanding) can Corbin Carroll be the first guy to win the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in the smae year since Ichiro Suzuki

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – Just As We Expected

The Good News: Max Muncy just ended his 14-game homerless streak. The Bad News: Injuries continue to plague the pitching staff; Clayton Kershaw’s being the most recent. The Troubling News: When this team needed wins in their quest to catch Arizona, they dropped a series to Kansas City.

San Francisco Giants

• Original Category – At Least They Don’t Suck
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick

After a 30-game stretch which saw the Giants go 21-9, they head into the second half coming off a 4-7 slump, including back-to-back series losses to Toronto and the Mets. Once this team can figure out consistency, anything is possible. Also, let me know when it is no longer “too soon” to put Patrick Bailey on the “Breakout/Budding Star” watchlist.

Philadelphia Phillies

• Original Category – Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not “Panic” Time…Yet

Apparently, nobody told the Phillies the season starts at the end of March, not the beginning of June. They’ve been 18-9 since then.

Cincinnati Reds

• Original Category – Why Wait for Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

The Reds have completely flipped the script. They now look like the the team to beat in the NL Central…for whatever that’s worth. By the way, Elly De La Cruz is a freak.

Miami Marlins

• Original Category – Why Wait For Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left

Is what the Marlins are doing sustainable? Are they going to sell at the deadline anyway? Keep this in mind…they are 1-9 against the Braves.

Contenders: Sell

Chicago Cubs

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good

How can a team with two starting pitchers in the All-Star Game, a tremendous middle infield combination and an emerging star in Christopher Morel not be running away with the NL Central?

Milwaukee Brewers

• Original Category – Need Some Things To Go Their Way
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again…this team is baseball “fools’ gold” and I’m done falling for the banana in the tailpipe, which is why I’m not buying the Brewers even with Christian Yelich’s recent resurgence.

Pittsburgh Pirates

• Original Category – It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category – Off To A Great Start, But There’s A Lot of Season Left

Welcome to the tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Pirate. In 2023, this team has had stretches where they went 20-8, followed by a 6-19 run, a 6-game winning streak, and a 3-15 stumble.

Pretenders: Buy

San Diego Padres

• Original Category – Ready To Win Right Now
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick

This might be my biggest whiff of 2023. This team is clearly not ready to win, and I think the problem is in the dugout. Bob Melvin proved himself to be a genius handling young and developing players in Oakland, but he doesn’t seem to have the first clue for dealing with seriously under-performing billion dollars worth of contracts in the heart of his line-up

St. Louis Cardinals

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – Better Figure It Out Quick

Leadership matters, and this team clearly lacks it. Whether it was the firing of popular manager Mike Shildt a few years back, the departure of respected pitching coach Mike Maddux, or the retirement of future Hall-or-Famer and “field general” Yadier Molina, it is the absence of leadership causing this team’s complete lack of identity.

Pretenders: Sell

New York Mets

• Original Category – There’s Just One Thing Missing
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good

For those of you who were wondering, it’s now official. The implosion of the of New York Mets is now more complete than the Titanic submersible (don’t groan…we all knew that joke was coming at some point.)

But no matter what, we are nowhere near retiring out Gregg Gianotti meme anytime soon because it’s still as true as it ever was..although it may need an update since he’s no longer a Vogelbachian gastropod.

Colorado Rockies

• Original Category – Why Wait Until Next Year?
• Memorial Day Category – It’s Not Too Early To Say It’s Over

Simple math is the only reason this team won’t lose 60 games before the All-Star break. They’ve dropped 53 so far, but there’s only 5 .left to play before the Midsummer Classic.

Washington Nationals

• Original Category – Original Rating: It’s Going To Be A Long Summer
• Memorial Day Category – So Far, So Good

Perhaps the Nats should become a “Harlem Globetrotter”-type barn-storming team that doesn’t have a home. They are nearly a .500 club on the road, but a dismal 20 games under that mark in Nationals Park

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