The Oakland A's: Even without Jason Giambi they are a powerhouse, with good hitting and great pitching. The offense is led by Miguel Tejada, who is turning the "Big Three" of AL shortstops into a "Big Four". He hits for better power than Nomar and Jeter, drives in runs, and hits over .300. He also plays stellar defense. Gold Glove 3B Eric Chavez is another dangerous power and RBI guy, and can be counted on to hit .275. Jermaine Dye has slumped somewhat this year, but he remains an offensive power and gold glove RF. And then...there's the pitching. Barry Zito is now the Staff Ace having won 18 games with an ERA of 2.84. Mark Mulder, another tough lefty, has the most wins the past two years of any big league pitchers. Tim Hudson has gone 11-9 but has a solid 3.25 ERA and like the rest of the A's pitchers, is just getting hotter. Cory Lidle has been unhittable of late and is pitching like his top of the rotation pals. The A's are currently in the midst of a 19 game winning streak! Now that's something the Sox could use. Strangely, the A's could actually help the Sox by beating up on the two other members of their division who are contending, the Angels and Mariners.

The Anaheim Angels: Only two regulars are hitting .300 but all the rest hit over .280. A small-ball team in the mold of the Mariners, the do the little things well. Spunky shortstop David Eckstien (who we gave up to keep Lou Merloni), star outfielder Garrett Anderson, and slugging 3B Troy Glaus lead them. Pitchers Kevin Appier and Jarrod Washburn anchor the rotation, and Troy Percival and Al Levine close and set-up, respectively.

The Seattle Mariners: Average to spectacular in all areas,. they have stars and unsung heros. Ichiro Suzuki leads the offense and is a key performer, leading off, stealing bases, scoring runs. DH Edgar Martinez is the offensive lynchpin, as always, and 2B Brett Boone is rebounding from an early season slump to put up decent power numbers. John Olerud, a rock solid 1B, hits for average and decent power, drives in runs, and plays great defense. Freddy Garcia is usually the team ace, but his performance has been lackluster this year. Picking up the slack have been rookie Joel Piniero and aging veteran Jamie Moyer. Moyer, a finesse pitcher, seems to get more wily with age and can be frustrating for the hitter. Piniero is no finesse pitcher. He throws 90+ with nasty movement. Hitters don't like to face him. Yet the Mariners, despite their talent, are falling of late. The Sox must capitalize.