Who Are MLB's Real Contenders, Pretenders?
July 18, 2017 at 3:39 p.m.
By Mark [email protected]
Or... not.
Mediocre baseball has a way of rearing its ugly head and showing us pretenders dressed as contenders.
As of this morning there are nine teams within six games of a wild card spot in the American League, and even the White Sox are within nine games. For a measuring stick, the Cubs are the first team out of the playoffs in the National League, and they are 5-1/2 back.
The White Sox have shown they’ve folded for 2017. If their play hadn’t demonstrated that, the Carlos Quintana trade did. It’ll be a year or two before progress is made on the South Side.
Oakland is in seller mode, having traded two big pieces of its bullpen to the Nationals over the weekend and openly shopping its two best remaining players, starting pitcher Sonny Gray and first baseman Yonder Alonso. The latter made it to last week’s All-Star game because someone from Oakland was required to go.
Detroit and Kansas City are in similar situations; each went in to this season with the intent of making one more run. The Royals are in that no-man’s land of being able to decide whether to buy or sell.
Barring a huge change in the way baseball does business between now and November (the kind of change that would immediately trigger a players’ strike) Kansas City is going to lose at least half of its everyday starting eight. At this point they Royals will need a run like they made in 2014 to get to the playoffs; that team was 50-51 before going on a tear.
I just don’t think that’s happening this season.
The Tigers are just old, and after this season a big rebuilding project will get underway. Detroit seems willing to trade Justin Verlander, but who wants him and at what price? Michael Fulmer is the more desirable commodity, and ultimately I think they’re out for 2017.
Oakland, the L.A. Angels, Texas, Seattle, Baltimore and Toronto are all out of consideration for a division title. Of these teams, only the Rangers seem to have the horses to make a run at the wild card and do some damage in the fall, at least right now. The road to the A.L. pennant goes through Houston, and the Astros seem to be the only threat to the Dodgers for the overall No. 1 seed.
Somebody has to win the A.L. Central, and the best bet remains Cleveland. Neither Minnesota nor the Royals have been anywhere near consistent enough to beat Cleveland without the Indians’ help. Between Boston, Tampa Bay and the Yankees, one will win the division and another will host the wild card game.
The National League is a lot more cut and dried than the Junior Circuit. The Dodgers are as close to a lock for the No. 1 overall seed (and home field throughout the postseason) as it gets in mid-July. Washington (East division) has a solid lead on Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed, and the Brewers have a surprising lead 3-1/2-game lead in the Central.
The Cubs are the first team out of the postseason at this point, and are much closer to the division lead than a road game in the Wild Card contest. On Friday, Theo Epstein and Company put their money where their mouths are with the Quintana trade. The Cubs are all-in for 2017.
It’ll be vital for the Cubs to win the division and not settle for a Wild Card spot. The play-in game means the ace of the pitching staff won’t be available more than once (barring an effort like Madison Bumgarner three years ago) in the Division Series with the Nationals.
The Rockies would host the wild card game if it were today, but they seem a little shaky these days. Playing the Dodgers all the time will do that to you.
Arizona can make a run, but they have to play a lot of games against the Dodgers and Colorado, which might work against the D-Backs in the search for a wild card spot.
The Cardinals will have to go on a big run to even see October baseball, and I don’t see a lot of reasons for the St. Louis faithful to make baseball-related plans for the fall. It seems like when the offense gets cranked up the pitching fails. When the pitching is on, the defense gives up a costly error.
Then again, it’s been proven that a wild card team going in to October red-hot is as capable of making a run as the teams with stellar records. The intent of adding a second wild card was to keep more teams in contention longer.
It’s safe to say that worked out, at least during this wacky season. It’d just be better if fewer teams would stop playing mediocre baseball.
Or... not.
Mediocre baseball has a way of rearing its ugly head and showing us pretenders dressed as contenders.
As of this morning there are nine teams within six games of a wild card spot in the American League, and even the White Sox are within nine games. For a measuring stick, the Cubs are the first team out of the playoffs in the National League, and they are 5-1/2 back.
The White Sox have shown they’ve folded for 2017. If their play hadn’t demonstrated that, the Carlos Quintana trade did. It’ll be a year or two before progress is made on the South Side.
Oakland is in seller mode, having traded two big pieces of its bullpen to the Nationals over the weekend and openly shopping its two best remaining players, starting pitcher Sonny Gray and first baseman Yonder Alonso. The latter made it to last week’s All-Star game because someone from Oakland was required to go.
Detroit and Kansas City are in similar situations; each went in to this season with the intent of making one more run. The Royals are in that no-man’s land of being able to decide whether to buy or sell.
Barring a huge change in the way baseball does business between now and November (the kind of change that would immediately trigger a players’ strike) Kansas City is going to lose at least half of its everyday starting eight. At this point they Royals will need a run like they made in 2014 to get to the playoffs; that team was 50-51 before going on a tear.
I just don’t think that’s happening this season.
The Tigers are just old, and after this season a big rebuilding project will get underway. Detroit seems willing to trade Justin Verlander, but who wants him and at what price? Michael Fulmer is the more desirable commodity, and ultimately I think they’re out for 2017.
Oakland, the L.A. Angels, Texas, Seattle, Baltimore and Toronto are all out of consideration for a division title. Of these teams, only the Rangers seem to have the horses to make a run at the wild card and do some damage in the fall, at least right now. The road to the A.L. pennant goes through Houston, and the Astros seem to be the only threat to the Dodgers for the overall No. 1 seed.
Somebody has to win the A.L. Central, and the best bet remains Cleveland. Neither Minnesota nor the Royals have been anywhere near consistent enough to beat Cleveland without the Indians’ help. Between Boston, Tampa Bay and the Yankees, one will win the division and another will host the wild card game.
The National League is a lot more cut and dried than the Junior Circuit. The Dodgers are as close to a lock for the No. 1 overall seed (and home field throughout the postseason) as it gets in mid-July. Washington (East division) has a solid lead on Milwaukee for the No. 2 seed, and the Brewers have a surprising lead 3-1/2-game lead in the Central.
The Cubs are the first team out of the postseason at this point, and are much closer to the division lead than a road game in the Wild Card contest. On Friday, Theo Epstein and Company put their money where their mouths are with the Quintana trade. The Cubs are all-in for 2017.
It’ll be vital for the Cubs to win the division and not settle for a Wild Card spot. The play-in game means the ace of the pitching staff won’t be available more than once (barring an effort like Madison Bumgarner three years ago) in the Division Series with the Nationals.
The Rockies would host the wild card game if it were today, but they seem a little shaky these days. Playing the Dodgers all the time will do that to you.
Arizona can make a run, but they have to play a lot of games against the Dodgers and Colorado, which might work against the D-Backs in the search for a wild card spot.
The Cardinals will have to go on a big run to even see October baseball, and I don’t see a lot of reasons for the St. Louis faithful to make baseball-related plans for the fall. It seems like when the offense gets cranked up the pitching fails. When the pitching is on, the defense gives up a costly error.
Then again, it’s been proven that a wild card team going in to October red-hot is as capable of making a run as the teams with stellar records. The intent of adding a second wild card was to keep more teams in contention longer.
It’s safe to say that worked out, at least during this wacky season. It’d just be better if fewer teams would stop playing mediocre baseball.
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