Ken Davidoff

Ken Davidoff

MLB

The top 10 storylines that will dominate baseball’s second half

When baseball’s spiritual second half kicks off Friday, keep an eye on the team trying to make history.

No, not the Cubs. Their mission calls for them to end history (of 107 years without a World Series title), not make it.

We’re talking about the Giants. Who, at 57-33, turned out to be baseball’s best team before the All-Star break.

Who vie to win their fourth World Series in seven seasons or, if you want to sound cooler, their fourth consecutive championship in an even-numbered year.

“We’re aware of what these guys have accomplished, but we’re very much aware, too, that you can’t rely on what you’ve accomplished in the past to answer to what these guys are going to do,” Giants GM Bobby Evans said in a telephone interview. “I certainly appreciate the benefit of that experience. I think it brings with it a little bit of confidence. It builds some expectation within each of these guys.

“But it’s nothing that you really get too caught up in.”

That shouldn’t prevent you from getting caught up in it. Only two franchises have won four World Series crowns in a seven-year span or less. The Red Sox did so from 1912 to 1918. And the Yankees did so via myriad permutations between 1936 and 1962, when they won it all 16 times in that 27-year span, and again from 1996 to 2000.

Obviously, the Giants’ legacy would be even greater had they also won, or even qualified for the playoffs, in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Yet in this ultra-competitive era, when clubs no longer can blame their market size for incompetence, it speaks volumes about the Giants’ culture that they’ve been able to sit out every other October, use their championship-fueled revenues to go out and take huge risks — like signing Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to mega-deals last winter — and count on future Hall of Fame manager Bruce Bochy and his coaches to integrate the new guys and get the ship sailing smoothly again.

That aggressiveness figures to color the Giants’ moves as the Aug. 1 non-waivers trade deadline approaches. Evans said he wants “depth for the bullpen,” and the Yankees (see item 10) could shop closer Aroldis Chapman.

“All of us want to be aggressive, but we don’t want to be reckless,” Evans said. “That’s the balance.”

Here are nine other story lines, New York bias fully intact, to monitor this second half:

Corey KluberGetty Images

2. The Indians. Terry Francona frowns upon mythology, narratives and any other outside noise. So of course the guy who managed the 2004 Red Sox to their first title since 1918 now has to face questions about trying to turn long-woebegone Cleveland into a City of Champions after LeBron James and the Cavaliers broke the Midwestern town’s 51-year slump by beating the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

The Indians (52-36) lead the AL Central by 6 ½ games over the Tigers (46-43), and they won their first 11 games after the Cavs’ championship for a 14-game winning streak overall. I asked Francona whether he thought his team tangibly benefited from its basketball sibling’s success.

“I would say mostly no,” Francona said. “But what I do think happened was, the city just went bananas, which is cool. Right after that, we got hot. So I think there was a little carryover as far as fans go, because they were in the mood to be happy, and all of a sudden the Indians are winning. So when we came home, there were better crowds.

“I do think the guys watched it. I watched it. I walked the upper deck [of Progressive Field] and I followed [the victory parade] around. It was neat. How could you not be excited? It’s right in your backyard. I think they enjoyed it, but you still have to go to your job. But I don’t see how it can hurt.”

3. Ichiro Suzuki. While it has been quite the trudge to 3,000 hits — Ichiro hasn’t been an above-average offensive player since 2010 — he approaches the finish line with a flourish, sitting on a .335/.412/.390 slash line with the revived Marlins as he has 2,990 hits. He’ll reach his milestone as a relevant player on a relevant team. Good for him and good for baseball.

4. David Ortiz. The long goodbye, announced ahead of time and replete with parting gifts, has become a near-annual tradition in the baseball world: Chipper Jones in 2012, Mariano Rivera in 2013, Derek Jeter in 2014 and now Big Papi this year. However, none of Ortiz’s predecessors in this group departed on top, personally or team-wise. With the 40-year-old Ortiz as dominant as ever, and with the offensively prodigious Red Sox in the playoff mix, could Ortiz raise the bar for this gig?

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5. Cubs. A 6-15 record in their last 21 games has removed all references to the 1998 Yankees. Now it’s just a matter of whether this team is the one meant to end the schneid. President of baseball operations Theo Epstein figures to be active this month; the Cubs, like the Giants, could be suitors for Chapman if he becomes available.

6. Noah Syndergaard. He has turned into the Mets’ version of Wile E. Coyote. Instead of falling off cliffs and returning for more action, he experiences arm problems and keeps coming back. The Mets would prefer to limit his drama to strikeouts, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards at this juncture. Syndergaard’s ability to thrive amidst his right arm aches will help define this Mets campaign.

Nationals All-Star Daniel MurphyGetty Images

7. Daniel Murphy. The good news for the Mets is that they play the Nationals only six more times, which means Murphy can go deep off his old team only another 15 or 16 times, tops. How good can Murphy get in this career season? How high will he finish in the NL Most Valuable Player voting? How much more can he make the Mets regret their decision to not seriously pursue him last winter?

8. Michael Fulmer. There’s no Mets regret here, not with Yoenis Cespedes continuing to thrive. Nevertheless, the rookie right-hander, the main piece in the Mets’ trade for Cespedes last July 31, has been the Tigers’ best pitcher as Detroit tries to return to the postseason after last year’s 74-87 showing. Can he be the AL Rookie of the Year?

9. Royals. They exemplify just how difficult it is to keep a good run going. Banged up and underperforming, they’re fortunate to own a 45-43 record, as their run differential is 352-378. They’ll require a major boost of some sort to make a third straight World Series.

10. Yankees. They’ve already set one unofficial record: Earliest external invocation of the “Buy or sell?” debate. That happened when they dropped to, let’s say, 8-14. Will the Yankees sell off Chapman and Carlos Beltran if they don’t excel in their 10-game homestand out of the break? They’ve come too far, passing up on big free agents the prior two offseasons, not to do so, haven’t they? It’s up to the team to render this question moot.

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