It's Mother's Day, a day for pink bats and an unofficial quarter pole to what's been an eventful regular season.
And if the season ended today, the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Washington Nationals would be in the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox are in last place.
So is it time to panic in Philly and Beantown? Ehh... maybe.
Buster Olney, in his Saturday ESPN Insider notes column, wrote that the Phillies have begun having talks to lay the groundwork in case they'd want to be sellers in a trade instead of buyers. They're just 6.5 back of the Nationals entering Sunday's games, but their lineup -- still without Ryan Howard and Chase Utley -- is one of the worst in the league. If they don't come back in a strong way, the Phillies will want to try to get something out of the season. That would mean trading Cole Hamels and/or Shane Victorino, who are both free agents in the offseason.
Still a little early, though, and the Nationals just lost their promising catcher Wilson Ramos for the season with a knee injury. The Braves are probably the favorite at this point, the Marlins are lingering, and the Mets probably aren't a serious threat. The Phillies have won the NL East for five years in a row. They get at least another month to show if they have a real intent in making it six.
The Red Sox don't have such a streak, and they're still a mess right now, although they have won two in a row over the Indians entering Sunday. Josh Beckett is being (deservedly) booed, they've got plenty of holes, and they're in a division that's stronger top to bottom. They don't have as much to shop, either, with all of their core players locked up for at least another season.
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