NICHOLAS HADLEY-KAMPTZ is a life-long American sports fan and works for ESPN America. He is actively involved in baseball as a player, manager and a member of the British Baseball Federation.  

With the All-Stars, future All-Stars and Home Run heroes congregating in Phoenix for baseball’s mid-season shindig, it’s an apt moment to have a look back at the first half of a very eventful 2011 MLB campaign. 

I’ll look at all 30 teams and how their finely tuned, or perhaps completely chaotic, off-season plans have turned out. I’ll also be looking at key additions, subtractions, superstars and superflops. 

We begin with the clash of the titans, a.k.a. the AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST. 

BALTIMORE ORIOLES (36-52, 5th in AL East, 18 games back) 

BUCK STOPS HERE: Showalter provides stability but no success.

Baltimore had an active off-season (although everything is relative in a division with the Yankees and the Red Sox), adding Derrek Lee, Vlad Guerrero and JJ Hardy to boost a line-up with all star Adam Jones and slugger Nick Markakis. Supported by a young but promising rotation, the plan initially paid off as they ended April near the .500 mark, three games behind the Yankees. However, in May things came crashing down as they slumped to the bottom of the division. 

With Markakis having his worst start to a season in his career, batting .236/.298/.304 by early June before returning to normal production and Brian Matusz having a torrid time on the mound the Orioles lost 12 out of 15 to end the month at 11 ½ games behind New York. The Orioles will have to decide in the next few weeks if they are sellers or buyers in the trade market. Despite the manager role having some stability and AL East experience with Buck Showalter, the last few weeks have also shown signs that Showalter might have lost the locker-room, something that can only lead to doom for a team. Ultimately I don’t think many things will change in Baltimore until Peter Angelos sells the team. 

BOSTON RED SOX (55-35, 1st in AL East) 

MOST VALUABLE PICKUP: Gonzalez has quickly repaid the Sox offseason mega-deal.

The Red Sox used John Henry’s substantial financial muscle and shocked the baseball world when they outspent everyone in the offseason and landed All Stars Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford for close to $300m over the next seven years, promptly making them the pundits’ favorites for a World Series birth. The Sox then began the season playing like a minor league team and in the always ultra-competitive AL East started with a 2-10 record. Still, in May the pre-season predictions more accurately mirrored reality, as Josh Beckett looked more like his 2003 self than the pitcher of the last two years helping the Red Sox to 13 wins in 15 games including a three game sweep at Yankee Stadium. A late slump in June saw them relinquish first place in the division to their fiercest rivals, but winning 6 straight and nine out of ten put them back on top, one game ahead of the Yankees. 

Going forward the Red Sox will have to decide what to do with the black hole in RF in potentially the most potent line-up in the majors while overcoming sub-par pitching performances so far by Lackey and Buchholz. Matsuzaka has most likely pitched his last game in a Sox shirt as he tries to rebuild both his arm (after Tommy John surgery) and his career; while JD Drew looks near to the end of his career, too. Both Reyes and Beltran from the Mets have been mentioned in trade talks as the Wilpons try to stave off the creditors, but even the Sox might have reached their financial ceiling. 

NEW YORK YANKEES (53-35, 2nd in AL East, 1 game back) 

BIG UNIT?: CC’s weight is less an issue in NY than his WHIP.

Being snubbed by Cliff Lee for the second time in less than a year threw the Yankees’ off-season plans into chaos. Although C.C. Sabathia solidly (too solidly considering the artistic license used in the club’s media guide where he’s listed at 290lbs!) occupies the pitching ace role, the rest of the rotation was in a state of flux. Instead of signing a starting ace, New York spent a ton of money on Rays’ reliever Rafael Soriano, a move Brian Cashman publicly opposed. However, despite the rotation questions, the Yankees took advantage of an early home-heavy schedule and carried a two game lead into May. In June they kept pace with the surging Red Sox, until their league leading 482 runs scored saw them briefly overtake the Sox, before going into the All-Star Break one game behind Boston. 

The Yankees are hoping that Burnett can pitch well in a year other than a contract year, that age doesn’t catch up too soon to A-Rod and Jeter and that any pitcher not named C.C. can support the rotation. Nova, Garcia and Colon have so far been relatively successful but as the season goes on cracks might become more noticeable. 

BET or FULD?: Sam leads the Rays' All In action heroics.

Tampa also struggled out of the gate but turned it around despite a flurry of off-season departures as – apart from Crawford and Soriano – Carlos Pena bolted for Wrigley Field and Joaquin Benoit left for the Motor City, while Jason Bartlett was traded to the Padres. The Rays tried to fill the departures by adding a pair of old Sox in Johnny Damon and Manny Ramirez and promoting some prospects. After their initial struggles, the Rays continued up the table when they took four out of six from a slumping Baltimore and won 12 out of 18 in interleague play. Approaching the All Star break the Rays have been playing solidly, but not spectacular, and remain five games behind the Yankees. 

Still, Sam Fuld has become a social media phenom with his stellar glovework and Matt Joyce has made everyone forget the whole Ramirez debacle; whose unsurprising retirement came as he failed a second drugs test – another bad pregnancy? James Shields has been the second best pitcher in the division after Beckett (3.1 and 4.2 WAR respectively) and the Rays are still in the mix. The big black hole in the line-up has been at shortstop where Reid Brignac has made nobody forget Bartlett, but the Rays’ limited finances give them little option to upgrade before the trade deadline unless they are willing to give up a stud prospect, something they’ve been unwilling to do in the past. 

JAY WALK OFF: Toronto's two-headed threat Bautista & Lind.

Luring John Farrell away from Boston’s bench not only gave Toronto a potentially great manager, but also gave them theoretical insight into beating their division rivals. They somehow managed to hoodwink the Angels to take on Vernon Wells and his enormous contract, which allowed them to sign bomber Jose Bautista to a $64m extension, only two years after being traded from the Pirates AAA roster for a player to be named later! They added Rajai Davis via a trade from Oakland to fill the gap left by Wells and traded for Frank Francisco from Texas. To shore up the bullpen they signed free agents Jon Rauch and Octavio Dotel. 

Offensively their thin line-up still relied on the two-headed power of Bautista and Lind and streaks of 4 and 6 wins allowed them to stay in contention for the first few months, but going 12 and 15 in June (and a below .500 home record) including two 4-game losing streaks have them languishing in fourth place, 10 ½ games out. Although new GM Alex Anthopoulos has moved in the right directions in the first two years of his stewardship, in a division with at least two, sometimes three perennial contenders, Anthopoulos will have to combine the draft skills of Tampa with a $100m payroll if the Blue Jays are to break into the top two. Bautista is a strong foundation to build upon, but the Jays will have to put faith in the development of Kyle Drybek and other prospects. 

Tampa is still above .500 but will need more offensive production in the second half to have any chance to close the gap to the top two. The Red Sox pitching infirmary looks more like a M*A*S*H unit day by day, but so far re-tread Miller has been solid while Wakefield and his baffling knuckleball is a handful of wins away from overtaking Clemens and Cy Young for most wins in a Red Sox uniform. With A-Rod out for at least a month the Yankees will have to somehow overcome the porous rotation. Showalter will attempt to salvage a locker room and the season for the Orioles while Bautista’s launching pad will be the highlight in an otherwise lackluster Jays season.

In the long term, will Toronto’s and Baltimore’s hopes lie in the rumored realignment, taking them away from the Yankees and Red Sox or will they actually be able to contend in the AL East? Although both the teams have had success in the past, for Baltimore especially it would take some drastic changes, such as Angelos selling the team for me to see any sustained success - perhaps the Cal Ripken Jr rumour will be enough for the crowds to once again flock to beautiful Camden Yards.

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