American League
Central Division
White Sox: Rush hour: Promote top draft pick Carlos Rodon from Class A to Triple A after four appearances.
Indians: Surgery on both knees ends disappointing season for Nick Swisher. Still two years left on $56 million deal.
Royals: Second in AL in hitting and 15th in home runs make Royals the quintessential Punch-and-Judy lineup.
Tigers: Brad Ausmus on pitch counts: “I think the system is flawed, considering we still have a bunch of guys (having) surgery.”
Twins: Not-so-hot seat: GM Terry Ryan tells Minneapolis Star Tribune that manager Ron Gardenhire will be back in 2015.
East Division
Blue Jays: That early-season 26-9 run looks like an optical illusion at this point. Put a fork in ’em.
Orioles: Manny Machado lost for rest of season with knee surgery, but Orioles were doing just fine (26-18) without him.
Rays: Clueless Grant Balfour tips cap to booing Rays fans, then says he doesn’t go to their jobs and boo them.
Red Sox: Aggressive signing nets 27-year-old Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo to go with Yoenis Cespedes.
Yankees: Getting ready for a whole lot of Derek Jeter tributes in September.
West Division
Angels: Garrett Richards’ season-ending knee injury may be the biggest blow to any contender this season.
Astros: Chris Carter becomes first Astro with 30 homers since Lance Berkman and Carlos Lee in 2007.
Athletics: ALCS preview? A’s skip struggling ex-Cub Jason Hammel for big series against Angels.
Mariners: Entered weekend with stunning 1.99 ERA in August and 2.24 ERA since All-Star break.
Rangers: Shin-Soo Choo got $130 million for seven years, was hitting .244 with 39 RBIs. Only six years left, though.
National League
Central Division
Cubs: Tarp fiasco fallout: Cubs become first team to win a game, help the opposing team overturn the win, then win again.
Brewers: Hank Aaron finally gets chance to meet Brewers mascot, Hank the Dog. Bernie Brewer is jealous.
Cardinals: Yikes. Adam Wainwright’s ERA without Yadier Molina catching was 4.59 over last 78 1/3 innings.
Pirates: Entering biggest series of season against Brewers, Bucs were 13-53 at Miller Park since 2007.
Reds: Faltering Reds already lost a league-leading 31 one-run games entering the weekend. Record is 44 by ’68 White Sox.
East Division
Braves: Kudos to Upton brothers, who help bring parents of Jackie Robinson West players to Little League World Series.
Marlins: Giancarlo Stanton’s league-leading 21 intentional walks nearly doubled the next guy, Ruben Tejada (11).
Mets: All hope lost for Rolling Stone magazine after “A Day in the Life of Mr. Met.”
Nationals: Nats become first team in 28 years with five walk-off wins in a six-game span.
Phillies: Soon-to-be-ex-Phillie Kyle Kendrick apologizes for showing up manager Ryne Sandberg on mound.
West Division
Diamondbacks: Miguel Montero on baseball: “It’s kind of a slow game. I think it’s boring.” D’backs’ new slogan.
Dodgers: Easiest schedule down stretch with only nine of 36 games against winning teams. Not that it matters.
Giants: Perhaps relocating to NL East would help. Giants were 21-10 against East, only 13-17 vs. NL Central.
Padres: Their .271 average in August entering weekend was 100 points higher than their average in June.
Rockies: GM Dan O’Dowd catches heat for missing retirement of Todd Helton’s number.
