John Lackey and the Angels had the AL West locked up back in May.

Week 24 of the fantasy baseball season finds all of the division races in MLB still active with the only exception being the AL West, where the Angels have had it locked up since May. Beginning first with the AL East, the Tampa Bay Rays are still hanging on the first place, but their lead is down to just two and a half games over the surging Red Sox. The Yankees are a distant third, and for all intents and purposes are out of it. The Rays and Red Sox begin the week with a three game set at Fenway Park which could find the Sox breathing down the Ray’s necks when it’s all over. Either that, or the Rays could potentially put the Red Sox away for good. After that series, the Rays go on to Yankee stadium for three games with the Bombers who took two out of three from the Rays this past week, helping the Red Sox in the process. How ironic is that? The Red Sox will remain at Fenway to play four games against the Blue Jays who have won seven of the eleven games between the two teams this season.

Moving to the AL Central, where the White Sox are maintaining a two and a half game lead over the Twins. The White Sox play four games against the Blue Jays and three against the Tigers, while the Twins get to face the chumps of the AL with three games each against the Orioles and Royals. Neither the White Sox nor the Twins have a prayer in the wild card race, so winning the Central division is the only way for them to make the post season. The White Sox will have to do it without the services of Carlos Quentin and Joe Crede. Look for the Twins to make things interesting this week, with the division race being decided in the final days of the season.

Over in the National League, the East division title race has whittled down to a contest between the Mets and Phillies. This week the Phillies have a tough schedule with three games against the Marlins who’ve won seven of twelve from the Phils, and four games against the Brewers, winners of their last two after dropping four in a row. Meanwhile, the Mets are scheduled for just five games this week, and they are playing some of the softer teams in the NL. They face the Nationals for a pair of games and the Braves, who are no longer a problem for the Mets, for a three game set next weekend. The Phillies have an opportunity to close the gap, which right now remains at two games.

The Cubs have been on a roller coast ride over the past two weeks, first ripping off seven wins, then going on a six game losing streak before they snapped it Saturday with a win against the Reds. They remain four games ahead of the Brewers. It appears that both the Cubs and Brewers will make the post season, with it just being a question of which team wins the division and which one the Wild card race.

The National League West has seen a change in lead this past week, with the surging Dodgers rattling off seven consecutive wins to over take the Diamondbacks. Neither team has a particularly tough schedule this week, and it appears this race will be decided during the final week of the season. Although, it does look like the Diamondbacks have the potential to have a monumental collapse similar to the Mets stumble of 2007. Stay tuned to this one folks, as it appears this one is going to be very interesting.

For those of you still in contention in your fantasy leagues, keeping a close eye on the division races is important because the teams that are still in it will continue to play all their best players. The teams that are out of it will be playing their rookie call-ups and players that they will be evaluating for next season. In addition, the teams that have clinched, right now just the Angels, will start to rest their better players for the post season. Keep this in mind when making your fantasy lineups.

Football begins in earnest today. Don’t forget to check out all the great fantasy football coverage we present here at Sports Grumblings. That’s it for this week’s Leading Off. I’ll be back next week with all the usual tips and information to help you DOMINATE your league.