MLB Standings Show Just How Desperate the Red Sox Have Become

Bombshell news hit Major League Baseball over the weekend as the Red Sox pulled the rip cord and fired Alex Cora, along with a handful of other members of the coaching staff. It's a dramatic move and one aimed at driving home just how serious the organization is about just how unacceptable a dreadful April has been. Boston was able to begin the post-Cora era with a 5-3 win over the Orioles on Sunday despite all the turmoil taking place behind closed doors and also in public.

Top Red Sox brass understands that this is a very, very bold move. One of their reasons for doing it is because there are still 134 games left on their schedule. Heck, the season is just getting started even if it's felt like a long slog for fans who expected their team to compete for the top of the division, not to stay out of the bottom.

Elsehwere across baseball the Astros were able to get a victory over the Yankees to move closer to the pack after their own brutal beginning. Of all the teams struggling out of the gate, Houston may be in the best positon, though its 11-18 record doesn't scream optimism. The good news is the Astros are only 4 1/2 games out of first place, behind the Athletics, in a division where it is very unclear which team is going to rise to the top of the charts. While we're on that topic, did you realize that Yordan Alvarez currently leads the American League in all three Triple Crown categories?

Big-market meltdowns continue in the National League East as neither the Mets nor Phillies can snap out of their funk. Each remain 10 1/2 games behind the Braves, who stand alone with 20 victories already. Cleveland and Detroit continue to enjoy first-place perks despite hovering around the .500-mark in the American League Central while the Dodgers and Padres tangle atop the National League West.