Perhaps the second best day is upon us.  Trade Deadline Day is probably the Thanksgiving (where we fill up on rumors and deals until we fall asleep at 5 pm) to Opening Day's Christmas (replace with appropriate holidays for your nationality and beliefs).

While fun, all the movement throws these projections into havoc.  Please keep in mind that none of the trades are reflected here at all.

To continue the somewhat tortured holiday metaphor (and even mix it somewhat), Justin is the ghost of performance past. Nick is the ghost of performance future. And that makes me the ghost of the performance sorta kinda present but not really because it's only partially based in reality.  Anyway, moving on...

The AL Central tightened up quite a bit this week.  At this point it's anybody's game.  Well anybody on the White Sox, Tigers or Twins.  The Indians and Royals can rest up for next season.

In the NL Central the Cubs continue their resurgence in both the regular standings and the projected ones - jumping into a tie with St. Louis in both.  Milwaukee has fallen off the pace some and is fighting with Houston for the "we're not far enough out of it to give up, but we probably aren't really going anywhere" prize.  Forget I said all that if one of them lands Halladay though.

The AL East is still the big man on campus, although Tampa Bay has fallen out the three spot in the end of the season standings.  They're still in a tight race for the wild card with whoever doesn't win the division out of the Yankees and the Red Sox, with Texas sitting in the background biding their time.

The Mets halted their free fall this week, gaining three games.  Which was just enough to keep them solidly in fourth place in the NL East.  But I'm not sure anyone notices that they're still playing games there. 

The Giants have played well above their deserved record to this point.  If they can continue to do so, it will be quite a battle with Colorado for the NL Wild Card. San Diego actually improved a game this week, but because Washington improved by three, there's actually some competition for the first pick next season.

Full standings after the jump...

Disclaimer: These projected standings are based on Justin's Power Rankings. They do not accurately predict how the remainder of the season will actually unfold.  Things like injuries, timely hitting, teams playing each other, and just plain old chance can cause major fluctuations in these results.

AL East

AL Central

AL West

NL East

NL Central

NL West