You Won't Believe Your Eyes

The Pirates under .500? Not a surprise. Barry Bonds unable to find work? Not a surprise. (MLB owners' motto: "Use your collusion.") Hank Steinbrenner getting mouthy? A delight, but not a surprise. So, with the all-star break approaching, what were the eyebrow-raising developments of baseball's first half?

Tampa Bay Rays

It wasn't necessarily meant to be an exorcism, but when Tampa Bay dropped the "Devil" from its name during the offseason, it precipitated a turnaround fast enough to make Linda Blair's head spin all over again. Suddenly, this accursed franchise is looking like it has expelled a demon, even if the closest it actually came was expelling a Delmon -- outfielder Delmon Young, that is, who was traded away soon after the name change (and, for what it's worth, had been known to cause trouble). In 10 full years of existence, the Devil Rays never won more than 70 games and only once finished above last place in the AL East. But even while suffering through a 66-win slog last year, the youngest squad in baseball by far (average age: 25.9) showed signs of a bright future. However, few foresaw this year's Rays bursting to the top of a division that includes the defending champion Red Sox and the cash-wallowing Yankees. With more than half of the season's games played, Tampa Bay is not only in first place in the AL East, it has the best record in baseball. This despite a payroll of only $44 million, or about what A-Rod has set aside to pay his divorce lawyer and also despite seeing 2007's breakout star, first baseman Carlos Peña, well, breaking back in. So how are the Rays doing it? With a vastly improved bullpen, for one thing. Last year's relief pitchers got lit up for a collective 6.16 ERA, but the addition of closer Troy Percival this year seems to have inspired the crew, as so far they are all the way down to 3.18. The Rays' defense is also markedly better, but the biggest factor may simply be youthful talent coming of age. And the prospect of many more years squaring off against the likes of Evan Longoria (22 years old), B.J. Upton (23), Scott Kazmir (24), Matt Garza (24) and James Shields (26) will make rival AL East clubs want to sell their souls to you-know-who for some help.

Detroit Tigers

Surprised that a team picked by many to reach the World Series is muddling along at 44-44? That's not the (first) half of it. The Tigers made a huge splash in the offseason by adding Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis, then made a huge splat at the start of the season by losing their first seven games. By the time it reached 24-35, Detroit was left for dead, but then an 18-6 charge had it a winning unit at the midway point. Will the real hometown team of Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up?

Josh Hamilton and Edinson Volquez

Hard to know what's more amazing about the offseason swap that sent Vólquez to Cincinnati and Hamilton to Texas: a) that the Rangers got a guy with a shot at the AL Triple Crown and, given Vólquez's NL-leading 2.36 ERA, may have come out worse in the deal; or b) that the trade received so little attention when it happened. Actually, the answer is c) that Texas, which traditionally has as many quality arms as the Venus de Milo, was willing to give up a pitching prospect for any kind of bat, even one as scorching as Hamilton's.

Colorado Rockies

Just like Tampa Bay, only the opposite. After sprinting to the World Series last year, Colorado is challenging for MLB's worst record. The young talent that jelled so nicely in 2007 has largely turned to mush. All that's left for the team is to change its name to the "Devil Rockies."

Oakland Athletics

It's unlikely that "America's Got Talent" will ever actually unearth any, but it's best chance to do so lies in putting A's GM Billy Beane on the judging panel. As his latest successful round of top-players-for-prospects shows, the man knows talent. Replace the Hoff with the Beane!

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