16: Status Quo--Rays, Red & White Sox, Angels in ALCS; Mets, Cubs, Brewers, Dodgers in NLCS

AL
EAST	WP	P WP	P W	P L	OPI
Tampa Bay	.604	.568	97	65	6
Boston	.586	.611	95	67	-4
Toronto	.538	.579	88	74	-7
NY Yankees	.527	.525	85	77	0
Baltimore	.444	.467	72	90	-4
CENTRAL
Chicago Sox	.559	.564	91	71	-1
Minnesota	.552	.561	90	72	-1
Cleveland	.493	.532	81	81	-6
Kansas City	.424	.396	68	94	4
Detroit	.479	.491	78	84	-2
WEST
x-LA Angels	.607	.548	97	65	10
Texas	.486	.459	78	84	4
Oakland	.462	.471	75	87	-1
Seattle	.396	.416	64	98	-3
NL
EAST
NY Mets	.566	.564	92	70	0
Philadelphia	.541	.568	88	74	-4
Florida	.507	.479	82	80	4
Atlanta	.438	.481	72	90	-7
Washington	.384	.384	62	100	0
CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs	.600	.626	98	64	-4
Milwaukee	.568	.552	92	70	3
Houston	.541	.490	87	75	8
St. Louis	.538	.539	87	75	0
Pittsburgh	.414	.401	67	95	2
Cincinnati	.452	.433	73	89	3
WEST
LA Dodgers	.514	.526	83	79	-2
Arizona	.490	.505	80	82	-2
Colorado	.459	.454	74	88	1
San Francisco	.448	.415	72	90	5
San Diego	.384	.409	63	99	-4

19: The Suspense Is Building, Though Really Only for the Twins/White Sox, Mets/Phillies and D-Backs/Dodgers

AL
EAST	WP	P WP	P W	P L	OPI
Tampa Bay	.603	.569	97	65	6
Boston	.592	.613	96	66	-3
Toronto	.535	.575	87	75	-6
NY Yankees	.531	.530	86	76	0
Baltimore	.447	.467	73	89	-3
CENTRAL
Chicago Sox	.563	.570	91	71	-1
Minnesota	.545	.554	89	73	-1
Cleveland	.489	.533	80	82	-7
Detroit	.483	.490	78	84	-1
Kansas City	.430	.403	69	93	4
WEST
LA Angels	.606	.544	97	65	10
Texas	.486	.456	78	84	5
Oakland	.458	.472	74	88	-2
Seattle	.394	.417	64	98	-4
NL
EAST
NY Mets	.559	.563	91	71	-1
Philadelphia	.545	.574	89	73	-5
Florida	.503	.476	81	81	5
Atlanta	.431	.477	71	91	-8
Washington	.389	.384	63	99	1
CENTRAL
Chicago Cubs	.601	.627	98	64	-4
Milwaukee	.573	.554	93	69	3
St. Louis	.538	.539	87	75	0
Houston	.531	.482	85	77	8
Cincinnati	.448	.431	72	90	3
Pittsburgh	.423	.406	68	94	3
WEST
LA Dodgers	.510	.522	83	79	-2
Arizona	.500	.509	81	81	-2
Colorado	.465	.456	75	87	1
San Francisco	.437	.409	70	92	5
San Diego	.385	.412	63	99	-4

What Does the Loss of Carlos Quentin Mean to the White Sox' Playoff Chances?

According to BaseballProspectus, Carlos Quentin has a WARP of 7.4. For those of you not familiar with WARP, it stands for Wins Above Replacement Player. In Quentin's case, it would mean that he will help his team win 7.4 more games than your average left fielder, or in the case of the Sox, more than, say, Griffey. With only 22 games left in the season for the Pale Hose, that means that his injury will cost the team approximately one game in the standings.

As you see below in today's predictive standings, the Sox have a two game lead on the Twins, so dropping that prediction by one basically means that it shouldn't hurt them too badly, but it definitely means they don't have any wiggle room and need to continue to play at their pythagorean expectation, or the Twins will be able to tie or pass them in the standings by the end of the season. Good luck.