Future events such as these will affect you in the future

So far so good. Which of course means so far so relatively good, considering.

We sit atop the AL East with only Tampa breathing down our necks. Our record is precisely 1/2 game behind Atlanta and LA for the best record in major league baseball.

And now, a word about major league baseball.

Jesus, does it suck this year. At least in the American League, our ancestral home. Look at every single team aside from us and the Rays. EVERY SINGLE FUCKING TEAM. They all vacillate between complete mediocrity and somewhat worse.

The AL Central and AL West? What year is this? Detroit is in first with a .500 record, Oakland...er, Sacramento...er, Vegas...er, Pluto is one game above. Championships await!

We look at the East and assume that Baltimore (or Bmore), Toronto, and maybe, somehow, improbably, Boston (Has anybody seen our old friend Boston? Can you tell me where they've gone?) will come around and start kicking ass to challenge for the division. But why? Yes, I believe it, too, but I have no concrete reason aside from reversion to the mean, given their rosters. But what if this is their mean this year? What if they go the way of Scherzer?

Future questions that will affect us in the future.

Meanwhile, there are questions about us. As Carl pointed out, Michael Kay seems to seriously doubt that bringing back Volpe is a good idea, at least until Cabbie hits a slump. He's right, which means Cashman will do the opposite.That's one spanner in the works.

On the other hand, Lombard just got promoted to triple-A. Hmmm.

Stanton is already down. Can Judge put in another healthy season? One has to wonder.

Bednar? Our white-knuckle "closer"? Yeah, well. And then there's Camilo DaVille. Jesus Christ on a bike, how much rope do they give this guy? We'll lose games if Cashman puts his ego above winning.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! But of course Cashman will put his ego above winning! Which is why Volpe is coming back ASAP. And Jones will languish in AAA, while a slugger like St. Judge is allowed to strike out over and over, with impunity, in between his awe-inspiring at-bats. Something Jones may well be able to do, too. Judge will also hit for average, so we won't have two guys doing what Jones does. Myself, I'm kind of torn about Jones. But hey, ya never know.

Think we can release Goldie when he runs out of gas (assuming he has gas now)? Yeah, I dunno. Cashman.

And Boone is an idiot. That will continue to lose games for us.

None of this is news to any of you, I know. I don't illuminate insightful aspects of our present or future. I just get up in the middle of your night and have time on my hands. Sorry.

But we have Fried and Schlittler. Possible glimmers from Weathers and Warren. Elmer is starting today, and he's got to be better than Gil (famous last words). Maybe we'll see him hit 105 on the radar gun. As for Cole and Rodon, will they be any good when they get back? Will it take too long for them to scrape off the rust? Is Cole getting a little old for this kind of thing? Could, as Carl and others suggest, we bring up Lagrange?

The big question: do we sink into the mediocrity that surrounds us? Does that mediocrity turn into greatness?

The future is all there in front of us. Somewhere.