Let's Take A Look At The Standings

I just want to savor it for a moment, thanks:

American League
AMERICAN	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10
NY Yankees	65	42	.607	-	35-17	30-25	594	517	+77	Won 3	6-4
LA Angels	63	42	.600	1	32-20	31-22	596	523	+73	Lost 2	6-4
Boston	62	44	.585	2.5	35-17	27-27	554	462	+92	Lost 2	5-5
Texas	59	47	.557	5.5	37-21	22-26	506	470	+36	Lost 3	5-5
Tampa Bay	60	48	.556	5.5	36-18	24-30	564	479	+85	Won 3	6-4
Detroit	56	50	.528	8.5	33-17	23-33	488	470	+18	Won 1	4-6
Seattle	56	51	.523	9	27-22	29-29	423	464	-41	Won 2	5-5
Chicago Sox	56	52	.519	9.5	32-24	24-28	503	486	+17	Won 2	6-4
Minnesota	53	54	.495	12	31-23	22-31	522	520	+2	Lost 1	5-5

It can all change pretty quickly, but you have to be happy as a Yankees that the Yankees are returning from their road trip with the best record in the American League, a 2.5 game lead on Boston for the AL East and a 5.5 game lead on Texas for a playoff spot.

I only listed these teams because I think that after all the jockeying, these are the 9 teams that have a chance of playing in October. 3 in the East, 3 in the Central, and 3 in the West. And I think you can go ahead and cross Seattle off the list after trading Jarrod Washburn and sporting a very ugly -41 run differential and Minnesota off the list after the Tigers went out and got Washburn, the ChiSox went out and got Jake Peavy and Minnesota sat on their hands for the most part (Orlando Cabrera was their big acqusition).

So do that and you have 7 teams for 4 spots. The Yankees winning 3 out of 4 against the Red Sox this weekend would go a long way towards helping their attempt to be one of those 4 teams to play in October.