David Sampson

There is no exact reason other than some years the Western Conference and the NBA is stronger than the Eastern Conference.

Some years the Eastern Conference is stronger.

Generally, we've seen what I would call league parity, where you had generally at the end of the season,

X number of teams below 500, X number of teams above 500, but mostly within what we call the 4-6 collar.

The 4-6 collar in a front office, when we talk about that, generally teams are going to be 600 winning percentage or lower and 400 winning percentage or better.

And if you're lower than that, you're definitely...

you're going to lose over 100 games.

And if you're higher than that, you're clearly going to win the division to be a favorite to win the World Series.

And so when I look at that collar, which is how I examine the standings, and you look to see Tampa at 674, but sort of in the four to six collar, the only teams in baseball are the Astros and the Angels and the Rockies.

There's three teams below that collar and there's no teams really playing.

You know, you've got Atlanta higher than 650 and you've got, of course, the Tampa Bay Rays higher than 650.

And what I'm enjoying thinking about that is what it means for the rest of the season, because baseball is at its best when interleague is a part of life.

It's part of the math.

But the dog days of summer are manageable when you've got enough teams that can actually play competitively against each other.

And to do that, you have to have as few crappy teams as possible.

Well, think about our Marlins from 03.

We fired Jeff Torborg and we were 10 games under 500.

That's where the Phillies were at nine to 19.

We brought in Jack McKeon and we were the best team in baseball starting in May.

And that lasted all the way through October.