Mavericks and Kings Keeping it Tight

[Kevin]

Since April, only two teams have held the top spot in the DTBL standings. Marc's Mavericks and Kevin's Kings continue to be the league's two best teams. In the early summer, the Kings broke away from the pack and held the lead for an extended period of time. But in July, the Mavericks made a run and took the top spot. In fact, just in the last week, the Mavericks held a fairly comfortable lead. That is no longer the case. With almost exactly two months to go, the Kings and Mavericks are tied for first place.

The Kings and Mavericks have so much in common, you wouldn't expect anything less than a first place tie. The two teams are ranked back to back in four categories and are very close in several others as well. Both teams have struggled a bit offensively, but continue to provide great pitching. On top of that, they each have had their fair share of injuries. Heck, both teams are missing an injured White Sox slugger, Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez.

Eventually, one team figures to come out on top. However, Kelly's Cougars may have something to say about that. Unlike the Kings and Mavericks, the Cougars have been healthy most of the year. Their starting pitching has helped vault them to a single digit deficit in third place. While the top two teams have fallen back a few points over recent weeks, the Cougars continue to make up ground.

The outlook is not as good for the other seven teams. The Demigods, Choppers, Moonshiners and Darkhorses are by no means out of it, but it will take an extended period of excellent stats for these teams to get back in the hunt. Also, they had better make up some ground quickly because the later we get, the more difficult it becomes to make big jumps in the standings.

With just a week and a half left before the trading deadline, look for some trade talks to heat up. Unlike previous years, the top teams have some noticable holes that need to be filled so trade activity may be necessary. Also unlike previous years, future draft picks can be dealt. This could lead to some big shakeups for teams at the bottom of the standings as well.