NL West

Most fans in Los Angeles knew Brad Ausmus was going to retire before he did.

The 41-year-old catcher has missed a large part of the 2010 season with back problems and appeared more comfortable providing quiet advice to teammates than squatting behind the plate for nine grueling innings on aging knees.

Ausmus will get the opportunity to take the reins for the Dodgers in one their few remaining games.

Although you might not be able to hear it over the din of the early NFL season, Major League Baseball has opened the throttle for its stretch run.

Magic numbers are dwindling in the American League as the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins are days away from officially clinching the AL West and Central, respectively.

Over in the AL East, the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays are still tussling over the pennant, but the runner-up will be the proud owner of the Junior Circuit's Wild Card.

The Colorado Rockies are in the middle of what seems to be their annual September march to the playoffs.

Talk about a rarity. We saw a very surprising September trade over the weekend. The reason September trades are usually non-existent is because players traded after August 31st aren’t eligible for the postseason.

Despair and tragedy are usually just one or two relievers away when talking about the Arizona Diamondbacks. This fact was validated over the past road trip in which the Diamondbacks went 2-8, getting swept by the Colorado Rockies and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Watching your team go winless versus an opponent is never easy. It’s bad enough when that opponent is a divisional foe such as the Rockies, but you can at least justify it by rationalizing that the Rockies are the hottest team in baseball.

Three teams separated by 1.5 games. Three teams that have their strengths and certainly have their weaknesses. Three teams that have 12 or 13 games remaining and two of them play the final weekend of the season.

That is the National League West.

The San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Colorado Rockies will be battling it out over the final two weeks for the NL West crown. Let’s look at the tale of the tape over the next two weeks and try to find out who has the advantage in the NL West.

The Los Angeles Dodgers, hoping to somehow come back next season with a decent team, will try to re-sign left-handed pitcher Ted Lilly this winter. Lilly was acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a trade deadline deal that also moved Ryan Theriot to L.A. as well.

Via the NY Post:

Joe Torre and Don Mattingly will attend the unveiling of George Steinbrenner’s monument in Monument Park, according to multiple people with knowledge of the names who will be on hand at Yankee Stadium.