Tony DeMarco

The first seven weeks of the season have shown us the following:

1. The American League no longer is a strict haves/have nots situation, as it has been in recent years. The Rays, Athletics and Orioles are off to surprisingly good starts, while the Tigers, Mariners and Yankees aren’t as good as expected — at least not yet, anyway.

2. The strength of the National League has shifted from the West to the Central and East, with the Rockies, Padres and Giants faltering while the Cardinals, Astros and Pirates are better than many anticipated. And when you figure out how the Marlins are doing it, let us know.

3. The overall balance of power is drifting back toward the NL, as the aforementioned AL power teams are struggling and NL teams have had a bigger influx of young impact talent.

So it follows that these shifts will result in different-than-expected forces with the onset of interleague play this weekend, and the two-week period in June. And we all know how important that can be come late-September, when division titles and wildcard winners will be determined.

Who will benefit, and who will face the toughest interleague schedules? In general, the discrepancies lie in the schedules of AL teams, while it’s a pretty balanced book across the board for the NL squads, thanks to the packed-tight nature of the current AL standings. Here’s a division-by-division look:

AL Central
No division gets a bigger break than the AL Central, thanks to the demise of the NL West. And nobody in the division will benefit more than the Indians. They will face only one team with a winning record (Dodgers) among six interleague series, including two with Cincinnati. Indians’ interleague opponents were a dismal 103-140 through Wednesday.

Minnesota draws San Diego, Colorado and Washington, but also Arizona and two series with Milwaukee. Twins opponents were 112-130 through Wednesday.

The Tigers aren’t nearly as fortunate, as they draw the Diamondbacks among their NL West opponents, and also have a series with St. Louis. Still, their opponents were 116-127 through Wednesday.

Thanks to two series against the Cubs, the White Sox face a slightly tougher interleague task, as their opponents were 119-121 through Wednesday.

But the Royals get the short end of the division’s interleague stick, thanks to two series with St. Louis, plus ones with Florida and Arizona. Royals opponents were 128-117 through Wednesday.

AL East
AL East teams by and large face the tougher NL Central teams, and that could hurt in the AL wildcard race. Not to dampen the enthusiasm of Rays fans, but no AL team has a tougher interleague draw, as their opponents were a combined 136-107 through Wednesday. The Rays will face the Cardinals, two series with the Marlins, the Cubs and Astros — four winning teams — plus the Pirates.

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Boston also gets a particularly tough draw (132-113 opponents record), with series against St. Louis, Milwaukee, Houston and Cincinnati, as well as Philadelphia and Arizona.

The Yankees buck the division trend, however, despite two series against the Mets. They will avoid the Cubs, Cardinals and Brewers in the Central, and instead face the Astros, Reds and Pirates. Their opponents had a losing 115-124 mark through Wednesday.

AL West
A soft interleague schedule offers the Mariners a chance to put something together in what has been a very disappointing season. Thanks to two series against San Diego and one against Washington, Mariners’ interleague opponents were a combined 110-130 through Wednesday.

Compare that to the very similar opponents’ records of the division’s other three teams: Angels (119-118), A’s (124-118), Rangers (125-116).

NL West
The Padres get the biggest break here, and they can use one about now. Thanks to two series against Seattle and one against Detroit, the Padres face the NL’s easiest interleague schedule, with opponents 109-135 through Wednesday.

The Rockies have the only "pure" interleague schedule among NL West teams, as they will face all five AL Central teams. That gives them a slight advantage over the other three NL West teams, as their opponents were 94-103 through Wednesday: Diamondbacks (101-101), Giants (120-120), Dodgers (104-99).

NL East
The biggest discrepancy record-wise lies between the two teams expected to fight it out for the division title — the Mets and Phillies. And the edge lies with the Mets, whose opponents are 101-108, as opposed to the Phillies’ 111-99 mark.

The Mets draw the Yankees twice plus the Angels, but also the Rangers and Mariners. While the Phillies get both the Angels and A’s, but not the Mariners, and also have a series with Boston.

There isn’t much difference among the opponents’ records of the other three NL East teams — Florida (103-99), Atlanta (103-106), Washington (122-123).

NL Central
There is very little difference in the opponents’ records of the six NL Central squads — in part due to the packed AL East, the primary interleague opponents.

The Cardinals get the slightly better draw, with opponents at 99-102 through Wednesday — the only losing record in the bunch: Astros (128-120), Brewers (105-98), Reds (106-101), Pirates (103-99) and Cubs (102-98).

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