Ken Davidoff's Baseball Insider

Losing September

All right, with Labor Day coming up, who's ready for baseball's best time of the year -- when the weather cools and teams battle down to the wire for playoff spots? It's even more fun, arguably, than the actual postseason.

What? What do you mean all of the playoff spots already are settled? Well, what the heck are we supposed to do until October?

"I wish the races were closer, but I think we'll be fine," Bud Selig said Thursday in a telephone interview. "We could have terrific playoffs."

Of the eight playoff spots, only two are remotely up for grabs -- the titles of the American League West (with Texas leading the Angels) and the National League West (with Arizona leading San Francisco). And neither of those is a real nail- biter.

The closest division race is the AL East, but the Yankees and Red Sox both are extremely likely to qualify for the postseason, and thus their competition is merely for tournament seeding.

Selig pushed for the wild card in the early 1990s in part because he felt as though baseball was conceding September to football, and whether you like the wild card or not, you can't deny it has elevated baseball's September profile. This season's lack of drama represents a fluke, but it also could add momentum to the drive to add a second wild-card entry to each league.

Selig mentioned potentially superb playoffs; after all, if you have clubs dominating their competition in the regular season, the postseason games should represent a higher caliber of play. Alas, baseball would accept a thrilling September in return for more vulnerable October participants.

A Mets Mess, Again

Commisssioner Bud Selig declined comment on the Mets' parting of ways with David Einhorn, to whom the Mets bid adieu Thursday and consequently started anew their search for cash infusion. But one needn't be a genius to appreciate that the commissioner wishes the Einhorn transaction had gone through to completion.

Einhorn came with money, enthusiasm and a sterling reputation, the last of which can be difficult to maintain when you're pulling in the kind of dollars he does. Selig, like everyone else in baseball, understood that Einhorn aspired to eventually take over the Mets and was fine with that.

Selig's close friendship with Mets principal owner Fred Wilpon is well-known, but Major League Baseball's CEO has to answer to the other 29 owners, too. So just a few weeks after Selig said the Mets were virtually off his radar screen (at the owners' meetings in Cooperstown), the Mets have returned to "headache" status. We'll see how this plan to sell limited shares plays out.

Beantown Sweepstakes

We know that the Yankees are trying to figure out their postseason starting rotation beyond CC Sabathia, although Ivan Nova looks increasingly like a Game 2 starter, doesn't he? It's easy to forget that the Red Sox have some September work of their own to do.

With Josh Beckett and Jon Lester set to work the first two games, in an order to be determined, Boston has the edge over the Yankees. After that, however? There's much to be determined, as third starter Clay Buchholz has just started throwing after suffering a stress fracture in his back and might not pitch again until next year.

"We'll see," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We haven't had [Erik] Bedard here very long, so we want to see him get his legs under him. [John Lackey] has been doing better. Some of it will depend on hopefully who we play, where we play."

Lackey, the highly compensated third starter, has been less awful lately but still isn't very good. Bedard entered his Saturday start having pitched adequately in his first five starts in a Red Sox uniform after being acquired from Seattle in a July 31 trade.

Andrew Miller also is in the mix.

Fitting Tribute

Glad to see that the Mets, who did so much for the area after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks -- turning Shea Stadium into a staging area for Ground Zero -- will honor that day's victims a week from tonight, the 10th anniversary, before their game against the Cubs.

John Franco will throw the ceremonial first pitch to Mike Piazza.