Random Baseball Musings

[Coach C]

Wade Davis ERA+ is 1654.

 

Wow.

[Guest]

Wade Davis ERA+ is 1654.

 

Wow.

 

Makes his 396 from last year look pretty pedestrian. He also hasn't given up a home run either of the last two years, 109 innings worth.

[Clem Fandango]

Wade Davis ERA+ is 1654.

 

Wow.

 

Makes his 396 from last year look pretty pedestrian. He also hasn't given up a home run either of the last two years, 109 innings worth.

 

I never expected to say this at the time of the trade, but the Royals did really well with that trade.

 

Royals total fWAR from Shields, Davis, and Elliot Johnson: 13.8

 

Rays total fWAR from Myers, Odorizzi, Montgomery, and Leonard: 6.7

 

Rays WAR will go up significantly when Odorizzi gets healthy, he's been pretty damn good so far. But Davis has been unreal. He was worth 3.0 fWAR last season alone. Only Dellin Betances was a more valuable reliever (3.1 fWAR), and he threw 18 more innings than Davis. If you go by rWAR Davis was worth 3.7 last year and is already worth 2.2 this season. He's absurd.

[Sammys Boombox]

The entire AL is projected to win between 77-88 games. There are only 5 NL teams that fall within that range. 3 of those are on the fringes (77, 78 and 87).

 

http://www.fangraphs.com/coolstandings.aspx

[Sammys Boombox]

Wade Davis ERA+ is 1654.

 

Wow.

 

Makes his 396 from last year look pretty pedestrian. He also hasn't given up a home run either of the last two years, 109 innings worth.

 

He broke Kelvin Herrera's Royals franchise homerless innings streak which was active up until May 5 of this season. So, the two longest homerless streaks in franchise history were running concurrently and coming from the 7th and 8th inning guys.

[Guest]

Entering Sunday, Kirk Nieuwenhius was hitting .106/.192/.182 this year with 12 TB in 66 ABs. He then went 3-4 with 3 HRs.

 

Because baseball.

[Guest]

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[Guest]

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i thought i posted that yesterday. must've gotten distracted or something. hilarious though.

[Brian]

The exit velocity for batted balls is about %50 Stanton

[Sammys Boombox]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

[Banedon]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

[SouthSideRyan]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

With 2 wild cards per league, top 2 division winners avoid the 1(or probably 3) game playoffs?

[apete6]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

With 2 wild cards per league, top 2 division winners avoid the 1(or probably 3) game playoffs?

 

Maybe keep the 5 teams and go like this:

 

Best Division Winner 1 vs. Wild Card 2 vs. Wild Card 3 Winner (3 game series) in a 7 game series

2nd Best Division Winner vs. Wild Card 1 in a 7 game series

 

Rewards both the best record as well as the best wild card team while keeping 5 teams making the playoffs. So, overall playoff odds go down (now 10/32 instead of 10/30), but those that make the playoffs get at least 3 games AND rewards Best Record and Top Wild Card (in the event that the 2 best teams are in the same division).

[Andy]

There are already multiple cities that really ought not to have teams. Not sure adding more is the best plan.

[Thurman Merman]

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Aroldis Chapman really hates Brian Dozier.

[jersey cubs fan]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

With 2 wild cards per league, top 2 division winners avoid the 1(or probably 3) game playoffs?

 

Maybe keep the 5 teams and go like this:

 

Best Division Winner 1 vs. Wild Card 2 vs. Wild Card 3 Winner (3 game series) in a 7 game series

2nd Best Division Winner vs. Wild Card 1 in a 7 game series

 

Rewards both the best record as well as the best wild card team while keeping 5 teams making the playoffs. So, overall playoff odds go down (now 10/32 instead of 10/30), but those that make the playoffs get at least 3 games AND rewards Best Record and Top Wild Card (in the event that the 2 best teams are in the same division).

 

I think the one game play-ins are a great way to build excitement immediately and are a television hit as a guaranteed elimination game. They outranked all division series games last year. 3 game play in series for wild card (with the 1 seed taking a full week off as a result) would quickly diminish interest.

[apete6]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

With 2 wild cards per league, top 2 division winners avoid the 1(or probably 3) game playoffs?

 

Maybe keep the 5 teams and go like this:

 

Best Division Winner 1 vs. Wild Card 2 vs. Wild Card 3 Winner (3 game series) in a 7 game series

2nd Best Division Winner vs. Wild Card 1 in a 7 game series

 

Rewards both the best record as well as the best wild card team while keeping 5 teams making the playoffs. So, overall playoff odds go down (now 10/32 instead of 10/30), but those that make the playoffs get at least 3 games AND rewards Best Record and Top Wild Card (in the event that the 2 best teams are in the same division).

 

I think the one game play-ins are a great way to build excitement immediately and are a television hit as a guaranteed elimination game. They outranked all division series games last year. 3 game play in series for wild card (with the 1 seed taking a full week off as a result) would quickly diminish interest.

 

Excellent point. Could they possibly do it at a neutral site (domed to eliminate weather issue though i really hate a neutral site game that screws hometown fans out of a playoff game) and include a DH the first day and then the 3rd game the next day to minimize time off? Though, admittedly, a DH also isn't ideal due to the impact on bullpens and the fact that seemingly every one ends in a split.

 

I understand the idea of the existing 1 game playoff, but just hate the idea of a 1 game playoff in a sport where even the worst teams win almost 40% of the time.

[jersey cubs fan]

Excellent point. Could they possibly do it at a neutral site (domed to eliminate weather issue though i really hate a neutral site game that screws hometown fans out of a playoff game) and include a DH the first day and then the 3rd game the next day to minimize time off? Though, admittedly, a DH also isn't ideal due to the impact on bullpens and the fact that seemingly every one ends in a split.

 

I understand the idea of the existing 1 game playoff, but just hate the idea of a 1 game playoff in a sport where even the worst teams win almost 40% of the time.

 

All that just eliminates what has been a successful TV pull. Nobody will watch a DH at a neutral site (nor will anybody attend a neutral site game).

 

Nobody will watch a play-in series until and unless there is an elimination game.

 

The 1 game playoff exists and is good for two important reasons.

 

1) Public interest (in the game itself and in the chance to open up the playoff race to more teams/cities/fan bases)

2) To differentiate between division winners and wild cards winners. You reward division winners for winning their division. If you don't want the vagaries of a one game playoff, win your division.

[Sammys Boombox]

I've posted similar variations before and I know a lot of people don't like it, but this is my dream scenario.

 

Add 2 teams so there are 16 in each league. Split into 2 divisions of 8 in each league. 2 divisions champs and 4 wild cards makeup the postseason for each league. The wild card round is a best-of-three in the higher seeds' stadiums. I would end the season on a Wednesday. Thursday is tiebreaker/off day. Friday night is game 1. Saturday afternoon is game 2. If necessary game 3 is Saturday night. In one day you would eliminate 4 teams. While I won't compare this to the first day of the NCAAs, it would be the closest thing in professional sports. This creates meaningful races for 1) the division 2) a top 2 wildcard spot and 3) a wildcard spot versus going home.

 

The schedule (I'll use the Cubs):

 

-Play every other team in NL 6 times (6x15=90)

-Play every team in AL West 6 times (6x8=48)

-Play every team in AL East 3 times (3x8=24)

 

90+48+24=162

 

The next year swap AL East/AL West.

 

You play every team every year. You host every AL team 2 out of every 3 years. You play the EXACT same schedule as your whole division. You play a very similar schedule to the other division that you are competing against for a Wild Card. The best teams get a huge advantage in the postseason (bye) - this is important because it's a marathon of a season.

 

Again, you would have to do some 2- and 4-game series, so it wouldn't be exactly 3 home and 3 away, but I don't think that's a big deal.

 

The fewer number of games between rivals makes those series more of a novelty and would make them more exciting.

 

I would sacrifice Cubs/Cardinals games for getting to play a whole range of teams instead of the Reds, Pirates and Brewers.

[Sammys Boombox]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

I hate small divisions. I don't want to see the same 3 teams 20+ times per season. And I sure don't want an 80-win team getting postseason spots while 95-win teams go home or play a 1-game play-in.

 

That last scenario would probably be pretty common with four divisions.

[Guest]

Manfred mentioned expansion again. If they go to 32 teams I really hope they have 8-team divisions and not 4-team divisions.

 

I'm just guessing, but I imagine they'll prefer having more division races, not less.

 

I hate small divisions. I don't want to see the same 3 teams 20+ times per season. And I sure don't want an 80-win team getting postseason spots while 95-win teams go home or play a 1-game play-in.

 

That last scenario would probably be pretty common with four divisions.

 

get rid of the unbalanced schedule

 

the second part is my real problem with it.

[Burt Macklin, FBI]

lol Padres

 

http://grantland.com/features/aj-preller-mlb-san-diego-padres-national-league-west/

 

I knew those trades were bad but when you list it all out like that...brutal.

[ConstableRabbit]

lol Padres

 

http://grantland.com/features/aj-preller-mlb-san-diego-padres-national-league-west/

 

I knew those trades were bad but when you list it all out like that...brutal.

Lolz at PTBNL being wiki-linked.

[treebird]

didn't everyone love the padres' offseason and the padres in general going into this year? this seems like a lot of revisionism.

[Guest]

I think most people thought they'd probably be a bit better. Personally I didn't really like it, mostly for the reasons that Rany articulated. I picked them last in the West in the bold predictions thread.