Randy's fastball has lost a lot of hair off it and his slider no longer bites as hard as it used to. I'm sure his back is bothering him but his back has been bothering him for over a decade. Hell, his bad back is the reason the Mariners wouldn't sign him to a contract extension in what - 1997? (What a great decision that turned out to be, eh?)
I think Randy's big problem now is his knee. The knee on his plant leg basically has no cartilage left in it - it's literally bone on bone. It really bothered him toward the beginning of last year but he overcame it and had a big season. This year, he just looks like he's not comfortable out there. I'll bet Steinbrenner is regretting the big two year contract extension he gave Randy now, eh?
The AL playoff race is going to be fun to watch. The wild card could come from anywhere. The White Sox have the best chance of winning their division outright but they aren't playing great baseball right now and Cleveland is stalking them. The Twins are lurking in the weeds, hoping to take the race into the last two weeks of divisional play and make a move.
The Red Sox and Yankees have powerful batting lineups and major pitching questions. The A's and Angels are both flawed teams that are still capable of putting together big winning streaks.
The last two weeks of the season should be interesting to watch in both leagues.
